Wii Console

The Good :

• Miniature hockey stick peripheral makes for great controls
• Loose, fun arcade hockey gameplay
• Excellent Peewee to Pro career mode
• Attractive visuals and atmospheric sound.

The Bad :

• Too arcade oriented for hockey fans looking for a rigorous simulation
• Limited modes of play, and no online support at all.

It comes with a huge plastic hockey stick. OK, there are tons of other observations you could make about NHL Slapshot quickly the very best. Especially, the overall game brings Wayne Gretzky back to a hockey game the first time within a few years. But nothing about this EA Sports Wii exclusive shines up to because you play with the remote and nunchuk crammed right into a black contraption that sort of seems like an actual hockey stick. Needless to say, this will make the action sound awfully gimmicky, so it form of is, especially given its status since the little brother of the more realistic and full-featured NHL 11 readily available for the Xbox 360 console and Ps3 slim. But this Wii game is also a whole lot of fun. Accurate motion-sensing controls will easily notice the real difference between a slapshot and a body check. An arcade-first feel makes this the ideal hockey game for the entire family. Along with the range of gameplay options incorporates a fantastic Peewee to Pro mode that lets you have a tyke all the way up from your backyard rink to the show. While there may not enough depth here to meet serious hockey nuts, this is a great arcade game for all ages.

At first glance, however, NHL Slapshot looks like a cut-down version of NHL 11. All of the game options have been trimmed back. You may get into one-off games, journey through full seasons, play for your Stanley Cup, experience minigames, as well as take on a career mode called Peewee to Pro, however , there is no way to become the GM of your club, no Ultimate Team feature, with no online play in any respect. The game emphasizes a kid-friendly approach. Opening videos show Wayne Gretzky playing minor hockey, and junior with all the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, then pro while using Edmonton Oilers. All of the instructional videos lean toward the preteen set, too, broke but clips of babies playing on backyard rinks. It’s all regulated pretty cute and well done, but as well, the limited feature set comes off as chintzy.

After playing for a time, you’ll not value the skimpy game options. The controls really make NHL Slapshot something. A large point about this is the hockey stick peripheral that ships with the game. It’s a cheap-looking contraption, a hollow plastic shell using a foam rubber stick blade protruding from the bottom from it. At first glance, it appears to be some weird gun or slingshot. It’s only as soon as you wedge the Wii Remote in the middle of the stick along with the nunchuk to the top that you simply start to appreciate the entire innovative setup. Essentially, the stick controller permits you to control the action as if you have a real hockey stick. You take it in the hands, using the lower nearby the buttons with the remote along with the upper using your thumb around the nunchuk’s stick. From there, all movements are pretty intuitive. To skate, you apply the nunchuk stick. To shoot, you move the complete hockey stick, flicking forward to get a wrist shot and finding yourself and then pushing forward to get a slapper. Passing is completed with quick taps of the A button, and you may deke by either moving the stick or showing up in the B button. Hitting and poke-checking are handled by either shoving the hockey stick forward in a cross-checking motion or pushing the stick forward just like you were looking to spear somebody.

That may sound awkward and even slightly complicated, however it is not. The controls really feel natural after a maximum of five minutes of play. Each of the controls are also incredibly responsive. When you want to shoot, you shoot. When you wish to hit somebody, you hit somebody. Manual deking might be a finicky because it’s too all to easy to accidentally please take a wrist shot when trying to just slip past a defender. EA has obviously considered this, though, and included B-button deking so that you need not bother doing the work manually. It is usually a tad too all to easy to accidentally hit the A control button when winding up to get a shot, which instead results in having you pass the puck toward the internet. Apart from that, things are all finely tuned. The sole drawback is that you simply require a lot of room to swing the hockey stick, in particular when you’re having fun with a buddy. With no lot of space in a pretty big living room, you’ll undoubtedly end up clocking the other person using your sticks and possibly wind up in an actual hockey brawl.

Gameplay for the ice in NHL Slapshot is simplified when comparing what you might get in the game’s larger, NHL 11. Everything here continues to be geared more for quick arcade fun than a real simulation of real hockey. So pacing is a touch faster, opposition a little lighter, and scoring somewhat easier. Oh, and there’s no fighting. Most aspects of the overall game are actually relaxed to match the controls. So you can accomplish moves like bone-rattling checks if you live actually a minute off when lining up the opposing player. The AI can be pretty sharp, even though game is geared more to solo exploits than pretty playmaking. Playing locked to some position can be frustrating, since your linemates often appear like puck hogs. Shooting may be the only part of the game which is rigorously modeled. You’ll want to aim your shots precisely while using nunchuk stick to have a chance at scoring, even just in high-flying peewee and bantam games where your linemates sometimes are capable to touch the twine anytime. All in all, this loose design of play fits the unique controller perfectly, because it could be difficult to get this to type of twitch-game gimmick work well with a demanding sim.

Modes of play aren’t quite as simplistic while they first seem, either. Peewee to Pro is an outstanding if offbeat handle the Be described as a Pro option in NHL 11, in which you please take a scrub from junior to NHL stardom. Here, you begin off like a little kid playing three-on-three hockey within an outdoor rink beneath the tutelage of Gretzky himself. It isn’t nearly as elaborate as Be considered a Pro, yet it’s still pretty impressive. You get experience points for things like great hits, smart passes, and goals then have used them after the game to buff offense, defense, and athletic skill categories. These get more involved because you progress the ladder to the better leagues, too. You begin with just the three catch-all categories, that are simple to max out by the end of an peewee season, and begin multiple classes in each. And that means you no longer just assign experience points to some generic “offense.” Instead you will need to choose to put points toward an array of specific talents, like shooting, stickhandling, controlling the puck, making accurate slapshots, and so on. Completing on-ice objectives earns you boosts to these categories, enhancing the many specific skills. In the event you hit a target for something like assists, as an illustration, you unlock boosts that then increase your passing skill. You may also choose from a wide variety of sticks, including Gretzky’s famous Titan model through the 1980s.

A lot of the design and feel of NHL Slapshot is reminiscent of NHL 11, with everything dialled down a couple of notches. Graphics are generally excellent, with sharp player faces and animations that roll out smoothly and realistically. You might never confuse the action for the TV broadcast, however it still looks really good and includes little broadcast touches like close-ups of players jostling and jawing after whistles. Audio is sprinkled with great atmospheric touches like car-horn honks after goals and parents shouting encouragement in peewee and bantam games outdoors. Nonetheless it isn’t so hot whenever you transfer to indoor action since the crowd seems subdued as well as the commentary of announcers Gary Thorne and Bill Clement continues to be lessen to generic jabber. The soundtrack features mostly the identical lineup of songs as NHL 11, a bland conglomeration of indie hard rock like Bullet for My Valentine and Danko Jones alongside ancient arena tunes. Rogues includes such ditties as Europe’s soul-crushing “The Final Countdown,” the awful “Ole” song played at Montreal Canadians games, and a castrated version in the Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop” that drops the “shoot” area of the “shoot ‘em inside back now” lyric.

Although you might be tempted to dismiss NHL Slapshot like a lesser, kiddie knockoff of NHL 11 geared for the Wii’s younger demographic, you shouldn’t be too quick to rate it as being an also-ran. This is the great arcade hockey game with unique controls that’s an absolute blast to learn with a friend (who should bring his own stick since merely one is protected while using game) or whenever you just want to experience something different from traditional gamepad hockey.