![]() ![]() Regarding the announcer or, really, the soundtrack in general, players can expect a mixed bag. With each challenge, a bombastic, but enjoyable, announcer details the challenge and gives some background information about the legendary player you’ll be facing off against. Pro-Am is a list of challenges players can undertake using their own customized avatar to unlock rewards. NHL 19 is also about legends, and to properly serve fans, the developers have included Pro-Am mode within the World of CHEL hub. Hockey and NHL 19 have undeniably big moments and, for me, these moments feel bigger in this mode. That’s the particular fantasy fulfillment I was looking for, and I suspect that visceral feeling accompanying the responsibility of playing a particular position will be welcome to some players. Playing this way felt closer to playing an actual sport and presents an opportunity to specialize and, ideally, shine for your team mates. ![]() When I only had to control a single character, I was grateful for my options. In these modes, players choose a position and play that, while computers or other players comprise the rest of your team. Where the controls really shine are in modes like the returning NHL Threes or the Pro-Am mode. Against humans, it’s fair, but annoying and spamming the poke check button seems to be pretty common behavior online. It’s a considerable advantage, given the inept nature of computer controlled defenders. Something like that wouldn’t be okay in a fighting game, and I don’t see why it should be okay here. The thing is that it is way too effective, and I could endlessly lunge at other players without paying much mind to opening myself up to any form of punishment. It’s how you steal the puck and it only requires the press of a single button. Poke checking is when a player shoves their stick into the path of another player. For the most part, these controls feel right and mistakes feel fair it’s hard to blame the game when you’re given so much control. Aiming your shot while deking, passing, and moving can also be a challenge. Deking, which is a way to move the puck individually from the character, is particularly tricky. There are times where player input errors become inevitable, simply because there is just so much going on and twirling both sticks around isn’t always so easy. After a certain point, it probably becomes second nature, but I never reached that echelon in most of the modes.Ī lot of the techniques are executed by using the right analog stick. ![]() ![]() Personally, I found it taking up a lot of mental real estate, which may or may not be a good thing depending on your personality. In a traditional game type, wherein you control all of the players, it might feel overwhelming. That said, it’s a lot to take in all at once. Almost every part of NHL 19 can be controlled by the player, and mastery of the minutiae is going to open the game up further for you. It’s worth noting that the more complicated controls are one facet that separates this series from other sports titles. This is a nice returning option and represents a good starting point for newcomers. You can play this as an arcade-style hockey game that will harken back to the dorm days of yesteryear by using the NHL 94 control scheme. You can, however, elect to neglect the more complicated controls in NHL 19. What’s more, they help you to understand the purpose of these moves. They’re a result of a collaboration with Hockey Canada, they’re quick to get through, and they do a good job of communicating exactly what moves are in a player’s arsenal. You want to be clear about what is available in NHL 19. If you are in that latter group of beginners, I would like to stress that you give the tutorials a try. Or, if you’ve never played a hockey game before, it’s a good place to start. It’s a good time to come back to the series. But it did have its merits, and all of its upsides are folded into NHL 19. That criticism might be fairly leveraged against last year’s NHL 18, which did little in terms of moving the franchise forward. When a series has yearly iterations, cynicism might lead you to suspect that some of these entries are little but a cash-in on fan passion. It’s subjective, though-with so many options, modes, customizations, control schemes, and what-have-you, gamers are going to carve out their own version of the game from the meticulously crafted monument to the NHL. In order to speak to the core game, I have to first decide what that core is. There is a degree to which NHL 19 is a suite of tools for creating an ideal hockey experience. So much so, that it was almost hard to nail down exactly what game I was reviewing. Evoking Walt Whitman to describe NHL 19 should probably feel odd, but the first thing I want to say about this game is that it contains multitudes. ![]()
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