Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

40 to 100 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Best in series"

Annual sports games always have a tough road. After all, the rules of sports have changed very little for centuries in some cases; how do you keep a game based on a sport fresh for year after year?

EA Sports' NHL series has always had a fierce rivalry with 2k's own ice hockey franchise. Each year, the companies continue adding new features and upgrading their engines, trying to out-do the other and stay on top of the virtual sporting world. The competition is healthy, advancing both series, keeping the games fresh and exciting. Traditionally, EA has produced more arcade-like games, with high-powered slap shots and very fast players, while 2k focused on a more realistic experience.

That all changed with NHL 08. EA Sports completely turned their game on its head, and the result was a much more visceral experience. Speed bursts were thrown out the window, and momentum became a factor. Dangles were less outrageous, shots less powerful, and passes were less perfect, but the game was anything but "less" than it was. It was a critical reinvention for a franchise that was getting stale and lagging behind the competition, and was received very well by critics and consumers alike. It also flipped 2k and EA's approaches to the NHL market; now EA was known for realism, while 2k games were more arcade-like.

NHL 09 is EA's chance to follow up on the success of last year, and stay ahead of 2k. As any professional athlete will surely attest, following up on a championship year is a difficult task. When a team wins, they garner much media attention and praise, and with it comes new fans and supporters, all wanting a piece of the championship pie. Has EA Sports managed to ripple the mesh two years in a row?

The answer is an ecstatic cheer of "GOOAALL!" EA Sports has logically built on what made NHL 08 so good, largely leaving the core gameplay as it was and adding new features that take the game to soaring new heights. The star here is the excellent "Be A Pro" mode, in which you take a created player from fourth-line, minor league tedium to NHL All Star status. You can also take a player online, in another new feature of NHL 09: EA Sports Hockey League (EASHL). Marketed as "the first console sports MMO," EASHL allows gamers to form a team and play full, six-on-six games, with a human player filling every position. It's a logical step for the franchise, and takes the online experience to another level. In addition, with the focus of gaming in general moving to online, it was also a necessary one.

With created players playing a much bigger role, there's a true sense of identity in NHL 09. There is controlling the player, and being the player, and this game has brought the two closer than ever before. Be A Pro is a truly emotional experience, especially for this little Canadian boy who grew up playing hockey and dreaming of skating next to superstars like Gretzky and Yzerman and Bure; now I can. There is also EASHL, which provides a different dynamic: teamwork, arguably an even greater step forward, for previously players would always go it alone, which is not how sports truly work.

That's not to say that the new additions are not without flaws. EA Sports definitely has room to hone their game for NHL 10. In Be A Pro, for example, the gameplay is superb, but the player management side of things is less impressive. You improve your player by merely distributing skill points, earned by scoring goals and making hits, among your stats. It's a functional, but ultimately unimpressive process. In addition, trades and signings could be handled better in the next instalment, and the overall presentation could use some polishing. For example, the awesome intro to Be A pro games was jaw-dropping the first time I saw it, but less impressive the next hundred. As we all know, variety is the spice of life.

Similar issues pervade the EASHL, but predictably, team management is the biggest problem here. Setting up a team is a relatively painless process, but actually getting people into games is frustrating. It's made worse by a lack of intuitiveness on the game's part. Like, why can I not drop down a list of team members, check who is online, and send them an invite to the dressing room? I instead have to open up the dashboard, manually select a friend, and send them an invite. Of course, this is just nitpicking. The new additions are great successes.

Outside of EASHL and Be A Pro, relatively little has changed. The old stalwarts like Dynasty and Tournament return for another season, and outside of minor tweaks they are the same. On-ice, things look, feel, and handle better than ever before. The realistic physics engine first introduced last year has been improved upon, and the result is satisfying body checks and believable interactions between different facets of the game. A defender's momentum going in to a hit affects the outcome, as does the angle at which he impacts. There are more ways to take out an attacker than hitting, though. Last year, NHL 08 focused largely on revamping forechecking. NHL 09 improves defending. There's the always-useful poke-check, but now you can also lift an opponent's stick, hook him, slash him, or knock the puck away with the new defensive stick controls.

This leads to a much tighter and more tactical game. It's still fast and exhilarating, but no longer can you merely muscle your way to the front of the net and poke the puck in. It can be undeniably frustrating when you are having trouble merely getting through the neutral zone due to the tight defensive checking, but in all honesty, that's professional hockey for you; a perpetual, neutral zone trap. Those gamers accustomed to EA's typical arcade-like style will be driven mad by it, but for a self-proclaimed purist like myself, it's just another step on the road to more realistic play. It encourages passing and dump-and-chase hockey, which is great.

Controls are more intuitive than before, too. Like last year, shooting is mapped to the right stick. Pulling it back and then shooting it forwards unleashes a slap shot; a quick flick to the front fires a quick snapshot; moving the stick side to side deals with deking. The greatest change to the controls is that offensive and defensive line changes are now mapped to the X and B buttons, respectively. The system is slightly cumbersome, as you can only cycle through your lines one way, but being able to change your forwards and defenseman separately is a welcome feature. In a throwback to the simple times of yesteryear, there is also the option to take on the classic controls from NHL 94.

Gameplay makes or breaks a game, but the best of the best games suck you right in with atmosphere. This is especially important in sports games, where being part of what we usually only dream about or see on TV is part of the experience. But what constitutes atmosphere? Well, for me, it's the difference between watching a game on TV, and being there in person. The difference between hearing the roar of the crowd, and being a part of it. The difference between controlling the player, and being the player. And EA Sports NHL 09 takes atmosphere to the next level. Be A Pro elevates you to being the player. And graphical and sound improvements take you into the stadium, into the crowd. The differences are subtle, but perceptible. I have had people walk into the room, glance at the TV, and assume that I am watching a real game. Between the phenomenal lighting effects, silky-smooth animations, and beautiful textures, it is difficult to imagine how EA can improve next year's game. Of course, there are a few minor hiccups. Player faces tend to rest in the "uncanny valley," largely due to creepy eyes and slightly jerky animations, and the frame-rate tends to falter at points, but that said, these are minor hitches in an otherwise beautiful looking game.

Audio is arguably as important as visual. A lukewarm reception from the crowd can damper the initial ecstasy of a goal quickly, and the same holds true in video games. Fortunately, NHL 09's audio can suck you right in to a game. Crowds and on-ice noise all sounds very realistic, and the commentators Gary Throne and Bill Clement deliver their best performance yet.

There's a ton of stuff to do in NHL 09, from the familiar Dynasty mode to the innovative Be A Pro. It's a fantastic package, and unbelievably manages to raise the bar even higher than its predecessor NHL 08 did. It has its fair share of problems, and there is definitely room for improvement in the new EASHL and Be A Pro modes, but they really are redundant when it becomes clear that EA is continuing to move the genre forwards. They could easily have thrown together a repackaged version of last year's superb game and still sold well. 2k is being left behind in the ongoing battle, and now EA is in the clear on a breakaway, ready to go for the hat trick with NHL 10.