NHL 09 Initial Thoughts

Zach and I don't agree on much here, but here's one thing we've both gone on record saying - NHL 08 is the greatest hockey game ever. Truly a superlative effort, one that I really didn't know how EA could possibly top. Well, seeing as how it's a new year, they have to try. Okay, they really don't; they could just release the same game each year like they do with Madden.

NHL 09 is one of those games where you worry that they might change too much. Last year's game was so perfect that any change could take away the subtleties that made the game great. At the same time, nobody wants to play the same game for two years straight.

What to do?

That's what we're here for. While NHL 09 isn't hitting stores until Tuesday, we have obtained a copy of the game's interactive demo. And by "obtained", I mean I downloaded it off X-Box Live, which anybody can do. Hooray for inside access!

(Note: Speaking of inside access, EA can shove it. Seriously. I can't really get into it here, but let's just say they majorly screwed over myself and my buddies over at GameFAN.)

The online demo only has two teams, the Red Wings and the Penguins. It doesn't matter. The demo does what it needs to do - show us what's different and leave us wanting more. The second one was a lot easier to accomplish than the first.

Real quick, the Play Now mode is almost identical to last year's, at least on the surface. But there's a lot more here. You can still do pretty much everything you loved doing last year, but things are a bit more refined now. The biggest change to the gameplay is the improved poke-checking and something called the "Defensive Skill Stick". This lets you lift the stick of opponents so that they can't control the puck. Aside from that, everything just works better. It's harder to gain the neutral zone because opponents don't simply back off like they used to. Slapshots from the point with no traffic in front, just like in real life, are essentially useless. Shots have a better chance of missing the net, but shots that are on target have a greater probability of being deflected. There's also supposed to be a new and improved fighting module, but it's hard to test; the demo starts your game in the third period, when it's all but impossible to start a fight.

These changes are all well and good, but the big addition this year is the Be A Pro Mode. Not unlike the Superstar Modes we've seen the past few years in Madden and FIFA, Be A Pro lets you take control of one player and one player only. So, in the demo, you can either control Sidney Crosby or Henrik Zetterberg. You can't switch guys, you don't change lines; you don't do anything but move that one player around the entire game. This is where your hockey acumen really gets tested. Anyone can pull off the same old cheap moves to score goals, but it takes a smart player to get a player into position when he doesn't have the puck. It's a whole new world of gameplay, one that looks like it's going to be a lot of fun, but we hope it doesn't render a traditional game obsolete as has happened in the Madden series. In the real game, you'll have the option to either play as an established NHL player or create your own guy and have him start out as a third-liner in the AHL. Either way, the mode is a lot of fun, but be careful - all the crazy camerawork will have you nauseous before long.

All in all, a quality demo. You might be underwhelmed at first, particularly if you've played NHL 08 religiously and don't see that many differences off the bat. But the demo shows you enough where you'd give the full version of NHL 09 a try, and that's all you can really ask for.