NHL 15 Review: C+

Back in 2008, I bought a used PlayStation 2 for about 60 bucks and a copy of "NHL '09" for 30. It was the first time I had played the series after the only other hockey videos games I had ever owned were "NHL Stanley Cup" for SNES, and "NHL Hitz 20-02" for GameCube.

If you're not a hockey/video game fan, play one game of Hitz and it'll change your life.

"NHL '09" delivered, and I've had ever iteration of the franchise since. I had high hopes for this season, considering Patrice Bergeron was gracing the cover. "NHL 15" was the first hockey game for the next generation consoles, but unfortunately its arrival has been met with much negativity.

First, the good news: "'15" looks absolutely amazing. Graphics and out of this world and the NBC Sports presentation is spot on. Gameplay is pretty realistic, although compared to older versions, this game takes a while to find your skating legs. Playing online has produced very few problems (except for the fact that I still have trouble finding the back of the net, and then that one time I was winning and Big Cat hit the router with a basketball and I lost connection), and overall the game runs really smooth.  

Relatively speaking, more players look like themselves, although with over 700 players in the NHL alone, there are only around 250 realistic character models; last year I'll bet the total was around 100. The realism is bumped up a notch when you hear the "NHL on NBC" jingle, see a live shot of the arena you're playing in and see the real Mike "Doc" Emrick and Eddie Olczyk in the booth. Unfortunately, Emrick doesn't use over 50 different words to say "pass," but its still cool hearing him freak out for a late-game equalizer. 

The bad news: Missing game modes and too big of a learning curve. Since EA had to build the engine from the ground up on a new console, things just feel different. While the controls are solid, they just don't feel like the NHL's of old.  

The list of omissions is pretty large for this game, and people have been all over EA for it. I, for one, typically just play online and dabble with a created player, but its nice to have a season with the Bruins to fight for the Cup or to play outside in a Winter Classic game once in a while.

Can't help but feel as though all of the eggs went into the presentation basket, with not a single one to stash anywhere else. EA Sports has owned up to a just a few issues and will be patching in content over the next couple of months, but overall "NHL 15" just feels like a rushed project that really wears the player's patience thin.

Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer Beat Up Would-Be Trophy Stealers

Ah, the ol' Omaha Spread.  "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14" is set for release on Tuesday, and what better way to promote it than by having its two cover athletes fending off a gang of trophy-stealers who try to interrupt the duo as they're walking to their helicopter. 

Newest world number one Tiger Woods and one of golf's greatest of all time, Arnold Palmer promote the newest game in the EA Sports series with a pretty great video. Who knew that an 83-year-old drink mogul had hand-to-hand combat skills like that?

As for Woods, for the first time since late 2010, he is back atop the world rankings after finishing first at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in Orlando on Monday.

This is Tiger's eighth win at the Palmer Invitational, finishing 13-under and two strokes ahead of Justin Rose.  Woods tied the record for most wins at a single tournament all-time, matching Sam Snead's totals at the Greater Greensboro Open.   The win also gives him 77 all-time, just five behind the career record, again held by Snead.

New Star Wars Video Game?

In keeping with the last post's Star Wars theme, awesome news came out in the video game world yesterday, possibly regarding one of the greatest video game franchises of all time.

Word on the street is that LucasArts, a video game company founded by George Lucas that mainly produces Star Wars-themed material, took out a trademark application to use the everything Star Wars within the title.  Then, cover art was leaked online, showing the games' title - "Star Wars: First Assault."

With that sort of name, and the cover art showing the city of Theed from Episode I housing stormtroopers from Episodes IV-VI, everyone's best guess is that this will be a continuation of the legendary Battlefront series.  Battlefront III has been rumored for years, but the company in charge, Pandemic, folded a few years back, and hopes were all but completely dashed for the series' return.

If this game is really coming out, whenever it does, the blog may be on sabbatical for any amount of time, but fair warning will be given.  If you're a video game nerd, then stay tuned, and we'll keep you posted.

Greg... Jennings...

How this guy can get inside the mind of Greg Jennings is just as incredible as his mad Madden skills.  All he does is dial up that weird imaginary phone noise and boom, he's in.  Also love how Jennings isn't doing this for the Packers, rather he's running on that broken leg just for John Madden. 

NHL 13 Review: A-

After playing the NHL 13 Early Release until about 4am on Saturday, I think its safe to say that this is the best hockey game since Blades of Steel.

As I've said in an earlier post when the demo first came out, I've been playing the franchise since 2008, and those games have all been a build-up to this.  More realistic, more fair, more accurate puck play and more beating up on the Canadiens and Canucks.

When you start the game, the first thing you'll notice is the ability to choose your favorite team for the menus.  While it doesn't affect the game play at all, its cool to see your team's logo with the team lines flashing in the background.

Onto the real stuff, now.  The game still offers basic modes like "Play Now," "Be a GM" and "Be a Pro."  It also has the popular "Hockey Ultimate Team" mode, which I have never been a fan of (too much thinking), and the new "GM Connected" mode.  I'm most anxious to try out the GM Connected mode, because it let's you and virtually as many friends as you want play together or against each other in a giant league.  You can play with up to 25 user-controlled players on a team -- the entire roster of an NHL team, front to back -- or you can simplify it and just make it so each one of your friends has a team and you go head-to-head through the 2012-13 season.

You no longer have to play meaningless "Play Now" games against your friends or the computer, instead you can log into the league, set everything up the way you want it, right down to your breakout strategies, how aggressive you want your third line to play, and how cautious your goalie will play even when you simulate a game.

Another awesome new mode is the "NHL Moments" feature, when you can play the best performances from NHL history and either re-create them, or completely re-write them.  The NHL franchise had been missing a mini-game-esque feature, and they completely nailed it here.

The graphics have definitely improved a lot, as well.  It seems like last year, the developers didn't even spend time working on character models, and instead just threw a random face on a player.  This year, they spent more effort, at least on the more popular players, to make them look realistic.  The skate sprays, the visible breath when you're playing outdoors in the Winter Classic mode (which you can play at either Heinz Field or Citizens Bank Park this year), and the improved animations on checking and goalie play makes this game stand above the rest.

As far as sports games go, its tough to get a game that's truly realistic to the sport.  In NHL, poke checking the puck may cause it to appear spring-loaded at times, or checking someone might result in them flopping around with what appears to be a dislocated neck, but all in all, its very easy to overlook these things.

The explosiveness and the turning capabilities have been completely revamped to give skating a much more "real" feel.  You can no longer blast down the side boards, and slam on the breaks for an easy spin move (like my roommate used to do), because you'll fall flat on your face, or send yourself into a long slow turn where you'll meet a hungry defenseman.  Instead, the new physics-based skating will slow you down when you are turning, and account for speed in your turns so that the faster you go, the tougher it is to cut.

Of course all of these new features give the game a slight learning curve, even if you are very familiar with the franchise.  It makes for a much more even game among friends, but accounts for a lot of frustration when you are expecting to do things you knew you could in earlier NHL's.  Still, I can't get enough of it.

Overall, I would give the game an A- rating.  A tough learning curve and not enough time for fighting are about the only blemishes on this game, and I would highly recommend it to anyone.  Especially if anyone would like to join my GM Connected league... just let me know.  Game comes out on Tuesday.  Good luck.

NHL 13 Will Be The Greatest Sports Game to Date

Right after NHL Hitz 20-02 that is, but that's in a completely different league.

The NHL 13 demo was released yesterday for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.  With its new physics-based skating and improved AI and character models, even with 20 days before its official release, it is being labeled a front runner for Sports Game of the Year.

The NHL franchise has evolved drastically over the past several years.  I started playing the franchise back in 2008, back when Eric Staal graced the cover, and have bought the newest version every year (with the exception of 2011) since.  This year's edition seems to have maximized all of the efforts made for a more realistic and challenging game, while still having that fun, replayability (not a word, but it is now) that brings gamers back.

Certain presentation aspects have not changed much like the crowd and the sometimes ridiculous announcing by Gary Thorne and color commentator Bill Clement.  Luckily, it doesn't detract from the game.  Playing the game is almost a completely different experience from last year outside of mere presentation flaws.  The in-game animations and the character models have vastly improved from last year -- where Brad Marchand had a Jay Leno-sized chin with light brown hair.

The skating is the best part of the game for a few reasons.  It makes you really think about every inch of ice you cover when you skate, whether you're sprinting, gliding or attempting to change directions.  Turning will cause you to slow down, gliding will allow you to turn a little quicker, and sprinting will allow you to blow past defenders, but at the risky of sloppier puck-handling.

From playing the demo, the AI works pretty well, although the computer seemed to dump and chase every other possession.  Other modes, such as NHL Moments Live, will allow you to re-live historic hockey moments, such as the Kings Western Conference clinching game against the Coyotes.  And GM Connected boasts the ability to connect 750 players in an online league.  You can play as one team, join up to five other players on a completely user-controlled team, or watch from the bench and set your teams AI to your play style.

From the demo, I would give NHL 13 a solid 9.  Well, probably a 9.5 considering the varied game modes, added Winter Classic stadium and Zombie Nation being in the playlist. Go download the demo now.

Greatest Game Ever? Really? Yes.

So my blogging has become a little more spaced out of late, but for very good reason.  Yesterday was a holiday, I didn't open the office, and the other night I stumbled upon a game I have no played since before high school.  Rollercoaster Tycoon.  If you haven't played Rollercoaster Tycoon, there might be something seriously wrong with you, get to a doctor immediately.

For those of you that have, you know its easily the greatest game on the face of the planet.  At a time before Xbox and Playstation dominated the gaming world, but rose to success even during the Nintendo 64 days.  I have never been much of a computer gamer, I played King's Quest a few times, and a few other random games like Full Throttle, but never anything seriously like RCT.

For those of you who need to be brought up to speed, the object of the game is to put yourself into different theme park scenarios the game gives you, and reach goals by the end of certain time limits by building rides and shops and attracting guests to your park.  For instance, the first level, but the end of October, Year 1, you need to have 250 guests in your park with a park rating of 600.  Easy money.

I own a new MacBook, so finding this game literally took a few hours, but I hunted it down.  It cost 6 dollars, and 10 extra minutes of watching a video, but now that it's over, I have been playing nonstop.  If you're like to get down with it, thank this guy, Paul the Tall, and his blog that helped me figure it all out.

London 2012 Video Game Actually Not Terrible

With 28 days til the 2012 Olympic Games in London, the U.S. Olympic Trials are going on in full force.  Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to quell my need for the competition.  London 2012 is available for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, and compared to its predecessors, its actually a pretty fun and challenging game.

I'm sure everyone has played an Olympic game at some point, whether it be the old school Track and Field or something like Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games.  Both are awesome in their own right, but after a while you realize you're tired and sore and sweating profusely from the button-mashing or waving the Wii-mote around.

London 2012 takes button-mashing and makes it into more of a timing mechanism.  Rather than mash during a 100-meter sprint, now you will have to pace your tapping to fill up a meter and keep it above a line, or else your sprinter's strides will be affected.  In the swimming events, you use the left and right sticks to mimic the swimmers' arms through the water.  It works surprisingly well, and the learning curve to it makes this game a lot more enjoyable.

The game has 46 sports to offer, although a lot of them can be repetitive, like the diving and gymnastics events comprising of timed sequences in which all you do is hit a button at the right time.  All of the track and field events are awesome, the shooting events are just a fun, and even the repetitive sports like swimming (having both the 50m and 100m freestyle, men's and women's) keep you into it because you just want to crush everyone with the USA.

Overall, I'd probably put this game around a 7, maybe a little lower.  It can get repetitive, but if you play with multiple people, it makes it pretty awesome.  Only 50 bucks, too, as opposed to the normal $60 for a new game.  Go USA.