Upon loading the game throws you into a character creation screen where you get to name you character, pick your number, position and if your character is left or right handed. Once completed you get thrown into the training mode which is pretty helpful for us newbies to the EA NHL Hockey series. You learn the basics such as how to shoot, aiming your shots, deke'ing and the best thing checking. Once the training is completed you get taken to a screen called the performance tracker, this will keep a track of how well you do with the character you created both online and offline. After this you are taken to the main menu which features the usual options you would expect to see such as Play Now, Game Modes, Xbox Live. Along with these though we have the new things such as the EA Sports Media Hub where you can upload videos and screen shots. As well as this though you can also add your own custom music for when your team walks onto the ice or scores a goal. Its only a little thing but I like it, its nice to see that bit of extra customizations being added to tailor the experience to something more than you would expect to see in a game.
Next up we have My NHL 09 that has a host of different tabs to choose from such as the Creation Zone which has the usual Create Player/Team options we now have a new option though called Edit Be A Pro this is where you can edit the character you created at the start in more depth such as date of birth, height and wight to appearance and stats.
The next tab is the Roster Management where you can edit various things from transfers and signing free agents to jersey numbers. After this the next tab is the settings tab where you can change the rules, game play settings and everything else that you would expect to do in the options screen such as mess with the volume and controller settings.
The last few tabs are Profile Management, Save/Load and Delete, NHL 09 Code Entry (Probably for cheats or something) and lastly EA Sports Extras which at the moment only has the game credits. So basically the main menu has everything you would expect to see and a few more things thrown in for good measure.
So I decided to jump into a play now game on the default settings and I started getting my ass beat pretty badly something like 3 - 0, frustrated I went into the options mid game to see what the controls were as surely I was pressing something wrong. It was here that I stumbled upon something I did not expect to see as well as the new control modes there is an option for the classic controls, if you press the button once more however you will see the old school two button controls used in NHL `94, one quick controller layout change later and I was still losing by 3 goals until I managed to score with the much simpler controls, the CPU won in the end 4 - 1 but at least I scored. After the game you can then select from a choice of highlights and view them, moving the camera around and taking pictures and editing clips to upload to EA to show the world. It's a nice feature but one that I can't see being used very often if at all.
One quick quit to dashboard to make a custom play list later and some tweaking with the EA Sports Media Hub and I returned to the play now menu, this time though I decided to not punch above my weight so knocked the difficulty level down a touch from pro to rookie. (Yes I know I suck but its my first time playing the game) One game later and I had won 6 - 1using the new control system, it takes a bit of getting used to with the right trigger being the pass button and the right analogue stick being used not only for shooting but also checking when your on the defence. It does seem strange at first but if you stick with it then its not to bad. If you really hate it though There`s always the classic mode where everything is done by button presses, or you could always relive your youth with the '94 controller setup. One tip for the song selection for when you score a goal make it something that starts loud as it only plays for about 10 -15 seconds.
Now I have played two quickish games from the play now option I decided to jump into the be a pro mode, so after selecting a team to join (I chose the Detroit Red Wings just for the simple reason they were ranked high on NHL 2k8) Now you have to select what your going to aim for over the season out of 4 targets before you are then taken to an upgrade screen, where you get the chance to spend some points on certain attributes to make your player better, although you don't really have many to actually do much difference overall. Moving forward though you find out that your not actually playing for Detroit its some other team instead. (The manager of the Red Wings probably told EA to not let me join their team as they heard I suck) As a result I joined the AHL team the Grand Rapids Griffins. In this mode you play your way through the season just playing in one position. This has been done before in other games, with the first being Libero Grande that I can remember using this system, while it can be a good idea, it is really annoying when your team mate misses a shot you think you would have scored and leaves you feeling a bit helpless at first. It is a brave move to include this mode and while it does work to a degree it can be annoying at the same time having to rely on the AI to get the job done. Maybe once your used to it then it could be fun, but I have to say this mode just isn't for me as I like to be able to blame myself for losing rather than some dodgy AI player.
So with me not being a fan of the Be A Pro mode its a good job to see that I am still catered for with Dynasty Mode. Dynasty mode is the league mode that you expect to be in any NHL game, with you trying to win your division and get into the Stanley Cup at the end of the season. Now this is the mode that you will be probably end up playing most of the time offline. You can sort out all the usual things like trades and other things to try and make your team that bit better than the opposition and keep improving season after season.
As we all know the game play in sports games hardly ever changes apart from little tweaks that either end up making the game better or worse than the previous years version. All I can say about NHL 09 is that the game play is pretty great, sure the controls need some getting used to and you can't press a button to suddenly boost to the other end leaving the opposition for dead. This game is more realistic in that sense but it is still fun to play and isn't some boring simulation attempt at Hockey. If I was going to compare it to last years NHL 2k8 game I would say that this is a harder version of that game, you can't play 1 minute periods and win 12 - 0 you play a minimum of 4 minute periods and your not always likely to score from every shot you have. When you get used to the style of play change from the 2k8 games you will see that this game has its own good points, and is serious competition for being crowned as the number one Hockey game on the 360.
The soundtrack to the game features a range of different bands and I can honestly say that not one track I have heard has annoyed me so far. Featuring tracks by Billy Talent, Coheed and Cambria, Avenged Sevenfold and Bullet For My Valentine to name but a few of the rock style 20+ tracks.
I hopped onto xbox live and tried a ranked game and unlike a lot of the problems you receive when you try playing NHL 2k8 online, this didn't seem to suffer the same problems at all, no freezing mid game and then ending and I had no problems with lag at all. You can also save the highlights and upload them from any games played online, so the one and only goal I score in overtime got uploaded straight away for the world to see. Let's face it once you have played the offline mode to death your going to be playing online all the time, and with the chance to show off your 20 yard screamers, sharing the best moments is the only thing to do to improve the online side of the game, and you can.
The game does everything right and nothing at all wrong in my book, the only problems you will have is getting used to the new control system but that should just take you a few games, and they really do work well once you get used to them. This is the ultimate Hockey game and well deserves the score I am giving it, it has everything you would expect plus much more and is a serious contender if not out right winner for sports game of the year.
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