September 12th, 2007

NHL 08 launches tomorrow

Good news sports fans; NHL 08 has been shipped to retailers and will hit the stores tomorrow, ready for you to grab a bite on launch day. Electronic Arts presents us the next chapter in this very successful hockey gaming franchise, ready with new and updated teams, a better graphical engine and thrills to last you yet another season. EA’s Vancouver division developed this year’s chapter as well. NHL 07 was the best selling sports game in Canada, a somewhat predictable outcome, but there is promise of gameplay improved on all fronts. NHL 08 will hit the shelves on September 13 in North America and will make a swift appearance on in Europe on September 21.

There are new combos to discover and help you score a face melting, impossible, goal from mid field, as well as more control over your characters. The new deking system gives more viewing space to the camera so you could plan the shot better. You can tab through your players and take control of the keeper for the first time. With the new goalie mode you can so say goodbye to those annoying hits that the computer controlled keeper could never catch. Electronic Arts says the NHL 08 features an On-The-Fly AI which will try to counter the tactical changes you make to the team in real time. You can use the whiteboard and customize your team tactics through Create-a-Play while hoping the scripted matching system doesn’t recognize your scheme and plays a popular setup. This great feature raised NHL replay value a lot and is mandatory for all new releases. As usual there is the online factor which gives more depth to the game since you can meet up to six players in an online league and test your cunning and skill against anyone on the planet.

For the first time developers managed to get an exclusive AHL license (the American Hockey League) so expect to see the full 29 teams fully playable and ready to be leaded to the finals. It would be a good idea to train your new talent as an affiliate and get him to the team when he’s in top shape and ready to take the challenges of the big boy’s playground. Managing a team isn’t easy when you need to win games and stay beyond the salary cap at the same time.