NHL 08 Review

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Sharks center Joe Thornton intercepts a pass and starts a three-on-two breakaway. Then, at center ice, it happens: the three-man weave. Normally reserved for high-school basketball practices, the three-man-weave has been a go-to-play for the Sharks this season, along with the flying V and triple lindy. Thornton, to Cheechoo, to Michalec, back to Thornton, off the post, lamp lighter.

Thanks to an excellent play creator in NHL 08, you too can chalk up your own Xs and Os on the whiteboard on your way to becoming a mad genius of professional hockey. The play creator, along with dynamic AI and a solid dynasty mode, has made NHL 08 the smartest hockey game in franchise history.

While competitor NHL 2K8 continues with its fast and furious arcade style of hockey, EA has created what is perhaps the first true hockey simulation. Past games have emphasized breakaways and one-timers. This year, NHL 08 slows things down and rewards smart offensive play, circulating the puck, and finding your all stars in the slot. In between periods, defenses will change their strategy based on your tendencies, cutting off the pass to the slot or hanging back to slow down breakaways. Arcade fans may find the action slow without the double-digit scores and femur-shattering checks. Hockey purists are going to love it.

Either way, the AI improvements on both sides of the puck are dramatic. Defenses love to clog the middle of the zone, and you'll need to circulate the puck in order to find an opening. Checking is much more realistic as giant hits are few and far between. If you try for an aggressive hit, a good skater is more likely to simply skate around you. Also, if you pull a defenseman out of position to make a hit, the CPU will simply pass the puck to the open skater in front of net, usually for a goal. On higher difficulty settings, the CPU will not only beat you physically, but it will also outsmart you. That's never happened in a hockey game before.

There's no sexy back-of-box feature in NHL 08. Instead, the game is defined by subtle improvements in skating, shooting and puck handling that improve upon NHL 07 in every way. First up, there's the skill stick, a new control method that revolutionized hockey games last season (and is emulated by 2K8 as well). Instead of using face buttons, you rip shots and deke past defenders using the right analog stick. Using the various rolling motions takes some learning compared to a press of a button, but the stick quickly becomes intuitive. After deking a goalie out of his skates and going top shelf, you'll love the feeling that you created the goal. If you get tired of scoring, you can switch on the new third-person goalie mode and clog the net the entire game.