The first thing to get to grips with is the new control scheme. Face buttons now play second fiddle to the shoulder buttons and analogue sticks. Player movement is still controlled with the left stick, but now stick movement is controlled with the right. If your player is carrying the puck, moving the right analogue will allow you to move the puck anywhere around your player’s body. This allows for countless deke opportunities, and is essential for beating goalies on the higher difficulty levels. It doesn’t feel quite perfect, but it is still awfully good. Meanwhile, on defense, the right stick is used to position your stick in the ice in order to block shooting lanes, while quick stabs at the stick execute poke checks in the direction of choice. This is serviceable, but it doesn’t feel as fluid as it short. As a result – like always – the over-powered checking becomes the usual method of dispossessing opposing players of the puck. The right stick also comes into play on face-offs. Press the stick in a direction to get ready for a face-off, and then drag it back when the puck drops in order to pass it. It works really well, and is a lot better than just pressing a button. Also new to the game are superstar moves. If you have a player with high enough attributes, you can hold the left trigger and tap a few face buttons to perform an elaborate move in the hope of a spectacular goal. They look nice, but don’t seem to be terribly useful in game. Or at all really, since the goalie will stop them most of the time.
A rare picture of cover athlete Jason Spezza considering a shot.
Shooting has become a lot more complicated. R1 will fire off a wrist shot, with the power behind it depending on how long you down the button down for. Simple enough. A more powerful slapshot on the other hand requires players to hold down the left trigger, than hit R1. The goal here is to make the game more realistic, and in that regard it succeeds, but does take some practice in order to co-ordinate shots properly. Passing has also been moved to the shoulder buttons – just press L1, and point the left stick in the direction of the player you want to pass to. L1 also changes the active player when not in possession of the puck. There are now two sprinting buttons. R2 will hurry your players up, while holding down A will send your player into an all out sprint – be careful with this though, as it does have a great affect on how it fatigues your player. Overall, the new controls are actually quite good. They give you more control over your active player, and make the game feel a little bit more realistic than in past games. They are far from perfect though, so some tweaking will be required for next year’s game.
The other big change this year comes in franchise mode. It is seriously deep. The collective bargaining agreement, as created by the 04/05 season lockout, has been implemented. This means a salary cap, rookie contracts, the whole shebang. Contract negotiations are now much more complex, with an elaborate offer/counter offer system between players and agents. Be patient and play it right, and you can get some really cheap deals. Or you can make horrible deals which eat away at your salary cap, if you prefer. It’s quite realistic, and unlike what has been attempted before, which is good. Scouting ahead of the draft has been completely removed, which may not impress some people. Training and playing games gets your players experience points, which apparently leads to improvements. It’s difficult to tell exactly how this works – the player progress screen just has a lot of up and down arrows, without giving any further detail of what is going on. Confusing. Players also have a habit of getting depressed, and there’s basically nothing you can do to improve their morale. The game suggests you give them more ice time, which never works, or that they may be unhappy with their contract, which can’t be renegotiated, so it all seems a bit pointless. Opposing teams will also make utterly ludicrous trades all season (and are awfully receptive to your offers, even if you offer them players on ridiculous, team-destroying contracts). Despite this, franchise mode is deeper than anything else out there and highly enjoyable for budding general managers – it’s just a shame that so many parts of it feel pointless.
Scott Niedermayer actually on the ice, taking time away from his busy schedule of contemplating retirement.
Aside from the new controls and franchise mode additions, nothing much has changed. Online still has the same modes. The mini-games are still the same. Multiplayer is still a lot of fun. The unlockable extras are still more or less identical to what’s been offered the past few years, which is a bit disappointing. Oh, the menus have been given a massive overhaul, and are much easier to navigate. But that’s about it for new content.
The visuals have been given a big overhaul this year. The most noticeable improvement is the constant, high frame rate – that’s right, no random stuttering for no apparent reason this year, and the game feels much, much more fluid as a result. Player detail has also been greatly improved. During goal celebrations, you can see the detail at ice level, with player facial detail in particular being very, very impressive. On the audio side of things, the game has a bizarre soundtrack – for instance featuring ‘Cum On Feel The Noise’ by Quiet Riot. Not a bad thing, but odd. Some new commentary has been recorded by Harry Neale and Bob Cole, but they still tend to be a bit repetitive and not terribly interested in the game. They even often call the wrong player’s name entirely after a successful face-off, which is a bit ridiculous.
NHL 2K8 isn’t that different from last year’s game, but Kush did focus its attention where it matters most – the gameplay. The new controls allow for a lot more control and creativity with the puck than NHL 2K7, which is a good thing because the goalies are a lot tougher to score on this year. They also push for offensive realism, rather than the usual hockey game nonsense of never-ending one-timers. However, the defensive controls are not in the same league, with poke-checking in need of refinement, and hip checking still being far more effective than it should be. The overhaul of Franchise mode is greatly appreciated, and will have hockey fans playing through countless seasons in the hope of building a dynasty. NHL 2K8 isn’t perfect, and it probably won’t convert any fans of EA’s series, but it is a damn good game of hockey, and a big step up from last year.
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