Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post

simonsays · 09-14-2007, 12:46 PM

NHL08 PC:

Menus: Identical to 07. Well, they're now grey.

Dynasty Mode: Identical. Except now you also have weekly goals like win all your home games or get a shut out. Also all the hubbub about AHL teams must've been for the 360/PS3 because minor league management is just as craptastic as ever.

Gameplay: Same game engine. So while gameplay isn't identical to previous versions it sure is similar. The AI is better, I've only played a few games so I don't really know how much better, but there has been some improvement there. Goalies seem to be a whole lot better, they seem to read the puck better, no longer flop around and don't seem to make those perfect passes anymore.

When you have the puck in the offensive zone the D-men (and sometimes the center) collapse in front of the net, making the one-timer in the slot play a fair bit trickier. When breaking out the AI is a little better at finding open teammates, and opposing players seem to be more willing to make neutral zone passes when they're challenged. But you can usually still funnel them to the boards for an easy takeaway.

The controls are a bit of a disapointment. I havn't really tried learning the new Hybred control schematics yet, so I don't know about the skill stick. But when I tried using a custom config I couldn't set the right analog for passing, now it's just an additional dekeing stick. Man, I really liked not having a dedicated button for passing.

Lets see..what else? The physics seem to have been improved. Big players aren't necessarily super slow anymore. The puck moves as pucks should.

Audio: First thing I do when I get an EAsports game is turn off the music. The second thing should have done is turn off the play-by-play. I don't think they even got Jim H. into the studio for additional sound bytes.

I understand that hockey is a niche sport, and that playing sports titles on the PC is niche gaming, so I didn't expect great things from this. My biggest disapointment is that after 4+ years franchise mode is still garbage. I don't know, maybe once NHLview is updated and some modders have taken a crack at this game it'll get better. For now it's just the same old.

09-14-2007, 12:46 PM	#64
simonsays Powerplay Quarterback Join Date: Dec 2004 Exp:	NHL08 PC: Menus: Identical to 07. Well, they're now grey. Dynasty Mode: Identical. Except now you also have weekly goals like win all your home games or get a shut out. Also all the hubbub about AHL teams must've been for the 360/PS3 because minor league management is just as craptastic as ever. Gameplay: Same game engine. So while gameplay isn't identical to previous versions it sure is similar. The AI is better, I've only played a few games so I don't really know how much better, but there has been some improvement there. Goalies seem to be a whole lot better, they seem to read the puck better, no longer flop around and don't seem to make those perfect passes anymore. When you have the puck in the offensive zone the D-men (and sometimes the center) collapse in front of the net, making the one-timer in the slot play a fair bit trickier. When breaking out the AI is a little better at finding open teammates, and opposing players seem to be more willing to make neutral zone passes when they're challenged. But you can usually still funnel them to the boards for an easy takeaway. The controls are a bit of a disapointment. I havn't really tried learning the new Hybred control schematics yet, so I don't know about the skill stick. But when I tried using a custom config I couldn't set the right analog for passing, now it's just an additional dekeing stick. Man, I really liked not having a dedicated button for passing. Lets see..what else? The physics seem to have been improved. Big players aren't necessarily super slow anymore. The puck moves as pucks should. Audio: First thing I do when I get an EAsports game is turn off the music. The second thing should have done is turn off the play-by-play. I don't think they even got Jim H. into the studio for additional sound bytes. I understand that hockey is a niche sport, and that playing sports titles on the PC is niche gaming, so I didn't expect great things from this. My biggest disapointment is that after 4+ years franchise mode is still garbage. I don't know, maybe once NHLview is updated and some modders have taken a crack at this game it'll get better. For now it's just the same old.