NHL 08 review

Once again it's that time of year when EA unleash a flurry of sports licenses on the public, who will snap them up for the official badge on the front, regardless of the quality. However, EA seem keen to get rid of the critical negativity surrounding their sports games (see the recent Madden), and so comes NHL 08, a sports game with a bit of effort put into it... and a game that will even appeal to those who know zilch about ice hockey.NHL 08 really excels the most in the way you take control of your players. Skating is the most realistic we've yet seen in a game, giving you an incredible amount of control over your players; the shooting in particular is quite brilliant. Dubbed the Skill Stick 2.0, using the right analogue you can control the power of your shots far more intuitively than simply pressing a button. Pulling back and the thrusting forward will provide a more powerful shot but, when close to the goal mouth, it would be a better strategy to just push forward causing a snap shot. There are other ways of owning the ice which also utilise the brilliant Skill Stick system, making an impressive repertoire of moves.The Dynasty Mode will be your main port of call. Though it's still the same setup as previous games, there is one notable addition - the inclusion of the American Hockey League (AHL) teams. With this league you can not only play the league matches, but also call up the prospects to play in the NHL. It adds an extra layer of depth to an already feature-heavy mode. You will be able to train players how you see fit, trade players, change your strategies and much more. However, if you have very little knowledge of the hockey scene (like most outside of the US and Canada), you can just skip all the extra stuff and head straight into the games.EA Sports games are not ones to disappoint when it comes to presentation and NHL 08 is no different. Everything from the intricate menu system to the impressive commentary make it all look like a real life hockey game, complete with replays and player close-ups. This is all helped by the excellent graphics on show with characters that don't suffer from the horrible Fifa 'zombie' look.Despite Gamestyle's ice hockey knowledge being a little lacking, we found the lowest difficulty level (which in this case is 'amateur') too easy and we were winning matches 6-0. However, the next setting up from that is pro, which is where a difficulty gap the size of the grand canyon presents itself. It's as if theres a difficulty missing in between; one is ridiculously easy and the other shockingly difficult. You may find one or the other suits you, but it seems an oversight to not cater for a broader skill range. Practice, though, makes perfect.Dynasty Mode may be the big mode on show, but there are still plenty of other distractions to keep you playing. In the World Tournament, you can pit countries against each other in a bid to become champions. Shootout is a way to learn your skills when taking on the goalie, and a brand new practice mode is where you'll train yourself in various areas, from shooting to power plays. Of course, online gamers are well catered for with impressive online features. Shootout and versus are the only two game types available, but then what else would you want from a hockey game? As wary as we are when we take an EA game online (memories of Burnout still haunt us) the online play in NHL 08 is a blast. Here in the UK, Gamestyle played someone over in Canada and suffered zero lag. In fact, the game actually played faster than it did offline.Despite our reservations about picking up another sports license, we came away pleasantly surprised. NHL 08 is one of the finest depictions of the sport so far and we're actually looking forward to what next year's iteration will offer. And it's not very often we say something like that.