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(More customer reviews)I have never before seen a game so perfectly improve on every issue its predecessor had. I'm not going to compare NHL08 with 2K8 because, frankly, most of the time that ends up becoming more a review of the companies than the product. Instead I'm going to compare 08 to 07, both EA games, and show the improvements in this game.
Graphics:
There is little difference between the graphics in 07 and 08, but that's not a bad thing. One of the main strengths of 07 was, in fact, its graphics engine, which looked beautiful, especially when running it in full hi-def. The models in 08 have a little more detail, but not much. One thing you will notice is how smooth 08 feels, though, as it runs at 60 fps instead of 30.
AI:
Here's the first major change. The AI in 07, both on your team and that of your opponent, was dumb. I didn't mind so much that your opponent AI was dumb, since I play most of my games versus a human player, but your teammates were incredibly stupid. You could have a 2-on-0 break and you might as well deke the goalie yourself, because the chances your player would be smart enough to skate with you were slim. In 08, however, the AI, both on your team and that of your opponent, is really good. First, that of your opponent. Defensemen will challenge you often. You may find that at the beginning of the game you can skate into their zone along the boards and setup, but after a bit they'll adapt to your style and make it difficult, which creates a fun (albeit sometimes frustrating) challenge. Your teammate AI is vastly improved, as well. Your teammates will setup at the point, which is my favorite pass to make. You really get the feeling that you can setup in the offensive zone, which, when you pass the puck effectively there, feels REALLY good. Powerplays now actually give you an advantage, since your teammates setup so well. Your teammates no longer run offsides like morons.
Skating:
If they had only improved the AI from 07, I would have been happy. That was my main complaint about the game. When I read the previews about this game and EA said they revamped the skating engine, I said "meh." Didn't seem like such a big deal, but I was completely wrong. You'll notice it as soon as you start to play, the skating is extremely fluid. You have total control of where your player goes, and it's extremely realistic. It makes it easier to avoid someone trying to check you. Since you can skate sideways, it makes it so you can skate around the blue line without accidentally pulling it back behind the line. Checking was revamped, too, and it's now much more difficult to line up a player, however it's realistic about it. If an opposing player is coming in along the boards you can line him up pretty easily; it's the open-ice check that's become difficult. That's a good thing.
Goalies:
One thing I loved about 07 was that the goalies moved realistically. You got the feeling that they actually were on ice and would slide. There were a lot of complaints about the bad goals in 07, and the were extremely frustrating. Most of the bad goals, however, were not from stupid goalies, but an unrealistic physics engine. I play goalie. It's pretty rare that you make a save and the puck just goes two feet straight up into the air, coming down on your back. Those things happen, but rarely. Typically, if you only get a piece of the shot, the puck will deflect AWAY from you. Of in FRONT of you. More often than not it'll go way out of play. In 07, though, the physics weren't quite right, and so those tough deflections when the goalie would just get a piece of it often led to bad goals. In 08, they didn't really play much with the physics engine, they just made the goalies better. And sometimes it's obvious that the goalie cheated so as to not let in a bad goal (the puck will be sitting on the back of his neck and he'll flop down onto his back to tie it up...without it falling into the net...?). The goalies now cover the post, which is an extremely nice touch. Goalie controls are much easier, now, as you're limited in how far you can move. You can only stay within the crease, which makes it much easier to stay in position. Goals that you score can quite literally come from anywhere; you don't have just one or two options in how you score. So a lot of the frustrating aspects of the goalies last year have been fixed; it just would have been nice to see the physics engine tweaked, as well.
Sound:
Gary Thorne and Bill Clement announce again in this year, and they've added a LOT of things for them to say. They still get a bit repetitive, just not nearly so much as last year. They do have great chemistry, and are not a burden to listen to like some other announcers (Madden, anyone?). One thing I noticed which baffled me is that Gary Thorne (he's the commentator, not the play-by-play...unless I got it backwards) sounds muffled in a lot of the things he says. The things from last year that are recycled sound just fine, but a lot of his new lines literally sound as if he phoned them in. It's not a huge complaint, but I just thought I'd mention it.
Online:
There's no lag. There's no lag!!! Finally you have total control over your players when online. There are new modes, one with team play and one with co-op teams, and online leagues have been added, which is a pretty cool feature since it means I can now play with my brother who lives thousands of miles away. One VERY annoying thing, however, is that the game will freeze here and there when connecting to the other player, and you end up having to reset the game. It's not extremely common, however I'd say one out of ten games will do this. After awhile it becomes frustrating.
I've never really gone too deeply into the other modes of sports games. I like to play the dynasty modes but I never really pay much attention to contract negotiations and the like. What's important to me is that the actual game is fun to play; everything else is secondary. All in all, after playing about thirty games of 08, I can honestly say I have very few complaints. The freezing glitch I'm sure will be fixed in a patch. Other than that it's a great game, and incredibly fun to play.
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