A few days ago EA Sports released a whole host of images showcasing NHL 11‘s gameplay and the spiffy new addition of the CHL. Prepare yourself for an in-depth examination of changes (and unfortunately for anyone who isn’t a Bruins fan, a lot of Taylor Hall images).
Little is known about NHL 11 at this point other than that it will feature a revamped physics engine, broken hockey sticks (as witnessed in the first screen released) and the CHL.
However, we can garner a lot of information from the screens that have been released. For instance, we can tell that stick handling has already been made more realistic. Whereas in NHL 10 players would skate with the stick on the ice at all times, they now can clearly lift their sticks up and lay the blade at different angles, which suggests more realistic stick handling. This more realistic stick handling could lead to a better ability to deke, fake passes and control the puck when clearing the zone.
In addition, the screenshots show off what looks like improved board play. Players sticks leave the ice as they pin each other to the boards and fight for control of the puck.
While the board play was first implemented in the game last year, and was widely hailed, gamers also complained that it was a little too unrealistic. Many fans of the series felt that the board play could be improved by reducing how easy it was to pin someone to the board from a distance. Holding the “y” button down on an Xbox 360 controller would lead the player to drift in towards the player against the boards and unfortunately the player against the boards would have trouble skating away when a player was approaching. Board play is an extremely important aspect in hockey, and is a primary battling spot behind and around the net as teams try to cycle the puck, so improved board play looks to be a positive direction for the NHL 11 team to take.
Finally, there are some noticeable improvements to player models. Tape on players socks stands out a bit more, their hands appear to move realistically gauging by the angles seen in the screens, and their skates appear to literally lift off the ice, which adds a realistic look to their movements. Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin both look accurate, and as always, the jerseys look fantastic.
NHL 2K10 was, for the most part, not nearly as good a game as NHL 10, but one aspect in which the 2K series excelled was in creating realistic depictions of team’s rinks. It’s hard to judge the rinks in these screens as they are CHL rinks and not NHL rinks, but an improvement many have asked for and that will hopefully be implemented, is more realistic rinks. Fans love their individual rinks and hopefully these rinks showcased in the images are just placeholders for now.
While the screens tell us a lot, they can’t confirm anything. We just have to analyze them and hope for video soon. The only real news regarding the series so far is that the CHL will be implemented into NHL 11 and that NCAA hockey could very soon reach a deal with EA Sports as well. Hopefully, the two development leagues will add to the realism of all the Modes in NHL 11, which leads us to hope that what we’ve heard isn’t true: namely that Be A Pro Mode will implement the CHL in the Memorial Cup and only in the Memorial Cup. What that means is that players would begin their Be A Pro careers in the CHL and play several games in an attempt to win the Memorial Cup and improve their draft position. Unfortunately, many gamers, myself included, are hoping for more. It would be great to see the ability to play a full career in the CHL before being drafted in order to build skills and avoid spending years in the AHL developing.
Details should continue to emerge, and we expect a full reveal at E3. We’ll keep our eyes and ears open, but for now, hopefully, CHL enthusiasts will enjoy checking out the screens throughout and if you see anything we missed, add your insights below.
