NHL 11 Review: The Best Just Got Better

With a new hockey season right around the corner, the NHL series is back. Make no mistake about it though, NHL 11 is more than just a new game for a new year; it’s the best game of 2011 thus far.

As a matter of fact, Electronic Arts’ NHL franchise has been the best sports series in gaming over the last four years, but not only because the games themselves have been great; it’s because they continue to consistently get better.

This year is no exception.

With added gameplay modes and several solid tweaks to the already title controls, NHL 11 continues this trend and is easily the best hockey game to ever be produced.

It may not be as arcade-friendly as some of the older games in the series, but overall, it’s one of the most realistic sports games to ever be created.

Over the years, the game has been applauded for its top notch graphics, innovative control scheme and create-a-player mode, but this year, there’s a new mode in town that makes NHL 11 an even deeper hockey experience. That’s not to say that those elements are anything to scoff at however, as the new faceoff and hitting engines play a huge part in making the game as realistic as it’s ever been. As a matter of fact, aside from the similarities in graphics, NHL 11 is a much more true to life hockey-sim thanks to these upgrades.

Nonetheless, it’s the gameplay modes that make NHL 11 truly one of a kind.

The best of all of these modes, the Ultimate Team mode, combines a card system with hockey, making for interesting results.

Think Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh meets NHL.

Upon starting, players will receive enough cards to start their own team and upon playing, will receive pucks, which like currency, can be used to buy new packs, which contain everything from players, coaches, jerseys, arenas and even training cards to build up your youngsters. There’s also a trade center, which works like Ebay, so players can sell and trade cards at will.

What originally comes off as confusing and unappealing is quickly addictive, as building your own team and playing online with them is as much fun as you could have playing a hockey game. You also have the option to play in tournaments as well, having your team take on teams from leagues all over the world. With authenticity never seen before, the game features players fro so many leagues that even the biggest hockey buff will find themselves learning something about the game when playing.

Because of this, the game’s depth caters to hardcore gamers, while the fast-paced action and polish caters to gamers of all shapes and sizes, making it a must own for anyone with even a passing fondness for the sport.

When was the last time anyone said that about a hockey game?
Wait, last year.

But this year, it’s never been truer.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14262 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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