Small glitches and AI quirks suck some of the fun out of an otherwise near-flawless game.
Historically, EA Sports' hockey games have been atrocious. They were either too fast or too slow, included too much hitting or too heavy a reliance on the one-timer. Luckily, NHL 08 takes a big step towards changing these problems and providing an entertaining yet realistic simulation of the sport.
This time around, the speed of the game feels just right, and the new skating control is so smooth that it feels like the players are actually playing on ice. The turbo button is gone; all the skating maneuvers are pulled off with the left analog stick. Push all the way up and your player will drive his head down and charge up ice at full speed. A gentler nudge on the stick will cause the player to skate more slowly and wait for things to develop. Push the stick in the opposite direction of the direction you are skating to come to dead stop. The skating animations are really well done, too. Defensemen will slide laterally along the blue line when trying to open up passing or shooting lanes or trying to hold the puck in the zone. A player's momentum has a huge effect on his ability to turn and how quickly he recovers when being knocked to the ice. The faster the skater is moving, the wider his turning radius will be. And the harder he his hit, the longer it will take for him to stop sliding on the ice and get to his feet.
The overall animations are excellent as well. Players perform realistically and their sticks flex when shooting or passing. Goaltenders will cover loose pucks and will go down in a perfect butterfly. This is one area where the animation could use some additions. Every goalie hits the ice the same way: in the butterfly formation, regardless of their actual style. It would be nice if each goalie went down in a way that matched his style of play.
Scoring goals is a little more difficult than before, forcing you to rely on other ways to score besides the one-timer. But while its occurrence has been tuned down significantly, you can still exploit the one-timer early and often if you are patient enough to work the puck around in the offensive zone and get the defense moving. Shots from the point actually stand a chance of going in now, as forwards will crash the net trying to screen the goalie. Offensive players in the shooting lane will even attempt to deflect a shot, resulting in some spectacular goals. The skill stick works fairly well, but I found myself reverting back to the classic controls.
Defense, however, is hardly enjoyable. The poke-check is more dangerous than it is useful. The offensive player will either skate right past you for a scoring chance or will get tripped up, resulting in a penalty.
Why not just lay him out, you ask? Because that's even more risky. Nine times out of ten you will miss the other player, leaving you out of position and your opponent with a prime scoring chance. However, when timed correctly, it's extremely satisfying to see your player completely level his opponent.
The CPU's defensive play is just downright cheap. They stay with you no matter how you maneuver, and can someone tell me how Sean Avery can skate backwards faster than Alex Ovechkin can skate forwards?
Graphically, NHL 08 captures the look and feel of a real NHL game. All the big name players look just like their real life counterparts, and the new RBK Edge jerseys are here as well. A disappointing note is that some of the players look absolutely nothing like they do in real life. And when I say nothing, I mean nothing.
Overall, the sound is just okay. The sound effects are excellent and Gary Thorne and Bill Clement still have the best chemistry in the booth than any other pair in sports. But the fans never get very loud when the home team scores and the menu music leaves a little something to be desired.
While if features a stellar single player, NHL 08's online play suffer from terrible connection problems. I have never actually played an online match because I could never connect. Even when playing single player, you are constantly disconnected from Xbox Live.
With all the good NHL 08 offers comes some annoying and often frustrating bugs and glitches. The puck will go out of play quite often even though it is clearly still in play. The game also suffers from numerous freezes that become especially frustrating in Dynasty mode. The game randomly suffers from disc read errors, forcing you to start over. It also tends to freeze when you leave a game. Let's say you're in Dynasty mode. You've just won a hard-fought game in overtime or a shootout. In the post game menu, you scroll down to "Quit game." A box pops up asking you if you are sure. This is where if freezes. All the buttons lock up and you are forced to return to the dashboard and reboot the game. That would really suck wouldn't it? Well get used to it, 'cause it happens often.
The only real problem with Dynasty mode itself is the resigning of players. You re-sign everyone you want to keep, and leave the rest alone, expecting them to be released when the free agent period starts. Not gonna happen. The cpu will resign anyone you didn't re-sign manually in order to fill your roster. You are then forced to make trades and send players through waivers in order to take a dip in the UFA pool. EA should have let us release the players we don't want to keep and let us fill the holes in our roster manually.
All in all, NHL 08 is a huge leap in the right direction. While annoying glitches frustrate often, the game play is simply too addictive to stop. Whether you are a hockey fan or not, you definitely need to check out NHL 08.