Customer Reviews

NHL 08

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

EA Sports has pulled some bad stuff in the last while, but this one takes the cake. This is borderline false advertising.

I bought this game after reading about the new features, i.e. the new advanced stickhandling, creating your own plays, and stellar graphics that appear on the TV advertisements. EA's "NHL" franchise has been pretty bad for releasing products that are essentially the same thing only with updated rosters. Unfortunately, this has happened again despite the company's claim to new features. I skipped NHLs 06 and 07 respectively because of this. I can say that short of a few small differences, the PC version of NHL 2008 is almost IDENTICAL to the PC version of NHL 2005, the last one I owned.

First of all, the new stickhandling feature does not exist for the PC, it appears that you have to purchase a PS2/XBox 360 "Hybrid" controller in order for this to happen. The "create your own strategy" is also nowhere to be found. Finally, the game's graphics are literally the exact same as NHL 2005. Beware: you will not see the sleek images you see in the adverts. This is preposterous considering the capabilities of the PC, which can easily compete with PS3 and 360 respectively. The graphics look dated and mushy, and the animation is choppy, nonsensical, and does not flow together. Even after 3 years, you can still see odd distortions on the backs of players jerseys due to the poor graphics engine. Some players are modelled fairly well (i.e. Ray Emery) but others simply look alien or disfigured (i.e. Mats Sundin).

The gameplay is still odd, very often you still get huge clumps of 4 or 5 players between the hashmarks, pushing and shoving each other and generally not doing anything.

Also, for some reason your players have ATROCIOUS aim. I went to the options and put the "Shot Accuracy" option to full, and my players were still missing the net by a great deal from less than 6 or 7 feet away from the net. I know this sounds like an odd complaint, but this happens A LOT, i.e. more than 60% of the time. Considering that on higher difficulties, getting this close to the net is rare. Therefore, the shot accuracy problem makes for a VERY frustrating gaming experience.

Players still skate and behave oddly. For instance, even with my offensive strategy set to "crash the net", my players would head to the net and then instead of stopping would continue skating onwards by themselves, thereby negating the whole strategy.

Even the new AI feature that I had such high hopes for failed. It is a great idea to make your opponent's defense change to accommodate a player's attack, but I could still get around them the same way every time. A good idea, but it needs tweaking.

This is truly sad. It is hard to believe that the PC version has essentially been slapped together while the production teams at EA Sports have very obviously concentrated on the PS3/XBox 360 releases. If you have NHL 2005, 2006, or 2007 for the PC, just simply update your rosters. This game is not worth it. It is absolutely absurd that 2 versions of a game (i.e. Xbox 360 vs. PC) could be so drastically different.

Shame on EA Sports for doing this. I have been buying their "NHL" games since 1995 (back in the days of 2D my friends), and I refuse to ever trust this franchise again.

If you truly wish to find out for yourself, find a friend who has the PC version, or find a way to obtain this product for free. EA Sports does not deserve your money for this excuse of a video game. I sincerely hope that a major overhaul will occur at EA Sports for next year, and hopefully the individuals responsible for this will never work on another. Here's hoping the changes made to the console versions are decent enough...

This seems to be a pattern with EA Sports, they've done the same thing with there Madden franchise, 08 is no different then 07 except of course the updated rosters. They really need to get with the program and start updating their produts. NHL could use a video replay feature, more fights, how about 6 on 6 brawls every once in awhile. Or how about a deflecting the shot feature? There is so much they can add to this and yet they don't. Perhaps they've cut back on the programmers.

I have played every version of this game back to NHL '97. I hear the same kinds of complaints every year: the game hasn't changed much, it's buggy, the between game interface has been changed, but only in ways that make it less intuitive and useful, much-needed new features never appear, cool things you like disappear, etc.

Yet, every year I have found that, while the complaints are essentially true, they are exaggerated. For instance I read that there is no difference between NHL 07, NHL 06 or NHL 05, and this isn't really true. The game play (which is the most important part) did change enough between those versions to make it new enough that it was still many hours of fun. NHL 07 in particular was a very good game. There is no way I'd go back to 06. I play these games a lot over many months and by the next season I can score with my eyes closed on the highest difficulty. This is the main reason I get a new version. NHL 07 kept me going longer than any previous version.

But this time the complaints are right on. NHL 08 really is just NHL 07 warmed over. Not only are all the graphics and interfaces the same as 07 but so is the game play. Yet, somehow, it plays more choppily than 07 did on my aging 2.8 GHz P4 (I pulled it out and compared them). How they managed to slow the game down while not changing anything is beyond me! The only thing that I could find to make the program more challenging was the new skill stick (which does not require a hybrid controller--just a typical PC game controller). But I began to master that in less than an hour and the game was already becoming boring!

If you didn't buy 07 then I urge you to do so. It's really quite fun. It will take some time to update the rosters, but it is doable. If you did play 07 and want a new experience, then I am sorry to say that 08 will not likely deliver.

NHL 06 was one of the greatest computer games I've ever played. The players were somewhat realistic, the game had its challenges, but most importantly, it was fun to play.

NHL 07 was pretty much the same game as NHL 06 but with roster updates. It was still pretty fun to play but it would have been nice for EA to have made some more changes.

NHL 08 is one of the worst games I've ever played in my life. It's like they took NHL 07 and took all of the fun out of it. All of the players play the same despite their skill level, the goalie covers the puck whenever it gets close to him, it's really pathetic. I tried to give this game a chance but I just ended up selling it after about a week. I wish EA would just provide roster updates for NHL 07 or even 06 and let us play that instead of this embarrasment.

This game is no fun at all, the keyboard configuration changed once again so all of the controls are different than what I'm used to from last year. The only good thing about this game was the fact that they had pictures of pretty much all of the hockey players in the game, something that they didn't have in previous versions.

That being said, I doubt I will be buying NHL 09.

NHL 08 is a game that could have been great but is marred by the complex controls. To control the players they asume that you have an advanced controller which I do not. The music is nice but the commentators annoying so I switched the language to russian which makes it more tollerable since I do not understand russian. The graphics are ok but feel recycled from earlier versions of the NHL series. I felt a bit disappointed by this and will see if NHL 09 does it any better. Not recommended. 2/5.

Every time they update the NHL game they change the menus around, make them harder to use and hide the game features and settings that you are used to using. NHL 2008, sadly, was no exception to that rule. Also, the NHL games used to come with an instruction manual that actually provided useful information to help you navigate through their confusing menus, but this version has the shortest, most uninformative game manual I have ever seen.

The game play is lamer than previous versions - the ai players will NOT go toward the net and get open for a pass no matter what you do and any time you try to pass to a player that is open for a decent scoring chance, the puck will inevitably go the wrong player - the one in the middle of the ice with 3 defensemen on him - either that or it will simply go back down the ice to your own end. It is also just about impossible to win a faceoff against the computer in this game. And the computer doesn't pass the puck in the faceoff, it just takes the puck, skates past your defensemen and shoots it. Forget strategy - just wait for the opponent to win the faceoff, skate past your defensemen, shoot it on goal and then get the puck and skate end to end and shoot it.

And the PowerPlay is useless in this game - I get more goals shorthanded than on the powerplay.

The hybrid controls suck - change the settings to classic.

Despite all of that I do play it alot because I love hockey. I actually like NHL 2003 a LOT better but thanks to switching to VISTA I can no longer play it...

I bought this game because NHL 06 did not work on my laptop. While the gameplay, animations, and audio are basically the same, I enjoyed some modest improvements. For one, the menu interface is a lot more responsive than NHL 06 was. However, it can still be difficult to navigate through editing your lines and such. Gameplay also feels quicker and smoother than the 06 edition did.

I feel that the difficulty is too easy. Even on the hardest settings it is only a matter of time before you're winning every game. The franchise statistics don't make sense either. A penalty kill of 88%, which would be great in the real NHL, is going to be the worst in your franchise league. Likewise, the best power play is usually at about 15%, which is weak in real life. They seem to make up the difficulty in your goalies' performance. You will score on about 10% of your shots while your opponent will score on you about 20% of the time. You still usually win because you often outshoot your opponent 40-15. Some settings are still set a year back - for example, Ray Emery is considered a rookie in this game, and the team goals are set a year behind - for example, Carolina is expected to win the Cup based off of the previous season, while Anaheim's goal is "make the conference finals". I started my franchise one year and for fun, started 30-0-0. Your owner's confidence will rise very slowly and will drop if you lose any game he expects you to win. I also played a game or two where Marc-Andre Fleury is consistently called "Cam Ward" by the announcers.

I still give this game 4 stars because it is fun to play if you have not played the NHL series before. I was disappointed at the lack of change from 2006 but I still feel that it's a little smoother in terms of gameplay and the menus. The minor issues tend to add up, but they're still minor in nature.

Initially I was dissapointed in this game. The advertised features seem to have been either not included or poorly implemented on the PC version of this game. I have come to be even more dissapointed over time realizing what a great game this is but not being able to really enjoy it due to some easily fixable (but no answer from EA) issues.

Purchased this game for my son for Christmas as he is a huge NHL fan and regularly plays NHL 06 on gamecube. HE could not wait for NHL 08 to come out. Since we own a WII and Gamecube, we were hoping for a WII version but EA dropped the ball and ignored WII users. So I thought, hey we can get the PC version. So, excitedly my son opens his gift, we load it up (no tech issues as I have the latest hardware) and wow, we are going to play NHL 08 including all his favorite players. "Wait, dad where is my goalie... I slightly press down on the direction button on the controller while moving my guy and it pulls my goalie...how can I play" "I don't know son..lets go to options, these things are usually easily remappable...hmmmm...the program won't let us change anything to configure the controllers......hmmmm..usually games at least let you reconfigure to the controller you own...let's check for a solution on the web...wow, lots of others are having this problem too....EA MUST have addressed it if so many are experiencing it also...I can't find any solution...I guess you are out of luck son and can't play NHL 08...". Thanks to all the EA developers for leaving out that critical piece that would have made this game truly great. You made my Holiday truly "special".

Cons:
- You are essentially forced to use a Logitech controller to play this game effectively. I purchased the latest XBox360 wireless controllers for windows (pretty much the new standard) and they are not supported by this game. Not only is it not supported, there is no way to remap the keys within the NHL 08 PC program to make it work. It sort of shows the controller remapping on the options screen but you cant change anything to make it work. This is a ajor oversight by EA and frankly shoddy work. If you want to really play the game, you will probably be buying a new controller. EA should have bundled a controller and charged more if they were going to make this a playable game. On my controller you cannot really shoot correctly and you keep accidentially hitting the "pull goalie" function during gameplay due to the inability to turn off or remap that feature. Finding out you have no goalie on the ice (after the other team scores on the empty net) does not give you that warm and fuzzy feeling about this release.

- No roster updates for PC version eventhough the console version have had this (why not?).

For some reason (arrogance, don't care, etc) EA will not officially offer and help or response to people would otherwise probably love the game because without these two issues, it is a great game. EA forums only offer a surly moderator who only knows enough to be of no help to anyone. Poor Custoer Service EA. And this from a game that is winning all sorts of "Sports Game of the Year" awards (they must have been reviewing the console versions).

Pros: Graphically the game is great. The field of view and gameplay is actually quite good. Too bad I can't really play the game as I cannot control it correctly (come on EA, how hard could it be to fix this small issue). I can even live without the roster update but refuse to spend another $80.00 on two new controllers JUST to enjoy this game with my son.

What could have ben a spectacular game really turns into a black mark on EA's NHL franchise. It is almost as if the developers said "whatever, just release it, who cares..." and that is a sad day for EA customers. I don't think EA customers are asking for much - just an official adressing of the problems which have been so thoroughly documented on the web by disgruntled uses of this PC version.

Come on EA, get your head in the game. I thnk I will be moving onto competing products (for both the PC and future consoles I purchase) and EA will be riding the bench next season.

I received this as a gift for Christmas, like a tradition as I have for many years now.
This year EA decided to severely limit the number of controllers this game will support. Now, my tried and true MS sidewinder cannot be used effectively in the game. It seems most all controllers will be recognized and usable in the game, but you will be forced to use the games default controller mapping during gameplay.

As per the EA Sports support pages/FAQ, there is no plan to address this issue. In fact, one reply from a Customer Service Tech stated, " We're surprised by the amount of people that don't read the requirements".

So make sure your mother in law knows what computer equipment you have before she buys you a gift!

I have NHL 06 and now I have 08. I can only find a couple of minimal differences between them.

1.It is much harder to score. The skill stick in 06 isn't there and the goalies don't just lay on the ice like they did in 06.

2.The menu lookes different, but I think it is just the same. I haven't explored the AHL teams yet.

3.The game play is choppier. Don't get me wrong, I have a new computer running on XP. I have a 2.80 GHz procceser and 1GB of RAM.

4.The boards say NHL 08 instead if 06.

5.The rosters are updated.

In all I would reccomend you buying 06 or 07. You might want to get this game, but only when it goes down in price to $10 or $15. That is all it is really worth. You would think that after 2 years in the rate that tecnology is progressing, the graphics might inprove at the very least. But no, the gameplay get's choppier instead. I am glad I got this as a gift and didn't spend my own money on it. EA is just putting in all their game devolopers into the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 versions of the game. It's pretty sad, that even though PC is considered part of the next gen consols this game is so uniproved.