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NHL 09 Review

by Jereme Puik September 21st 2008 9:30 AM CDT2 Comments

EA Canada returns this year with another terrific outing with NHL 09, and ushers in the new era of hockey experience. While it may seem like I'm already gloating about the greatness of this game in the first sentence (and part of this is true), by no means is this game perfect. However, there are loads of content to go around, and the new updates make NHL 09 the hockey game to buy this season.

NHL 09 continues with the same over the top presentation that has traveled through the series in recent years. The game is still friendly to new players, and allows you to grasp the game's more complex controls such as the skill stick with relative ease. You're immediately given a tutorial to get you familiar with game's control, and while some aspects of the game might take a newcomer a couple of tries to to fully get down, eventually, you will be set.

There is a realistic atmosphere about the game that makes the NHL 09 experience better than past, more arcade-esque editions. For one, the game's engine has been largely updated: the skill stick has been given a defensive control scheme of its own, and the offensive side of the game has received a large update as well.


Puck physics have slowed down the overly powered puck from NHL 08. Now, you get a more grounded puck that doesn’t fly around as often as before, and is easier to handle. As for the offense, players are more attuned to what they’re doing, and the skill stick is more in line with the players' reactions. No longer is the hockey stick wild and unrealistic: there are tons of missed passes and more deflections for missed shots. However, the former occurs a bit too much for my liking, and is one of the few flaws that the games possesses. For example, one-timers are much more difficult to pull off due to how often your passes will completely miss your shooter.

As for the defensive side of the game, a lot has been improved.  It’s harder to pull off one-handed dekes against goalies than it is to actually score a goal. The one-handed dekes are more or less luck of the draw as to whether or not they’ll actually work, as compared to being a near guarantee last year. Also, thanks to the new goalie animations this year, you will really need to rely on outsmarting the goalie to score. Goalies will be all over the crease, so plan your attacks carefully.

The AI is also significantly improved and a welcomed change. However, this may frustrate some because these upgrades do make your opponents significantly more to difficult to score on. Fortunately you won’t see the lopsided shot counts or goals either. I found that an average game can attain up to 30-35 shots which is pretty reasonable in terms of the real experience.


The graphics and presentation as I’ve mentioned earlier are still as over the top as ever. New animations make for a more down to earth experience and make you feel like you’re at the arena. The new opening sequences are quite the mouth drop on an HDTV, and are even quite impressive on a standard-def.

The tweaks to the fighting engine are overall a decent try. While it's not quite Soul Calibur, it's still a fun, yet repetitive experience. The hits also are a bit more realistic; as the half-ice hip check is thankfully no longer present. Finally, with the likes of Be A Pro mode entering the scene and a boatload of online modes, NHL 09 has quite a good amount of content to keep players attached for a long, long while.

Not everything is perfect with NHL 09: the game's framerate continues to plague the series. It’ll run at a smooth 60 FPS for most of the time, but only about half that when you take the game online. Despite the flaws though, NHL 09 provides a unique and fun experience over last year. EA Canada has spiced up the hockey video game world with their NHL series of late, and NHL 09 is nothing short of the best sporting simulation on the market.