NHL 19
NHL 19 has become my latest gaming obsession. I seriously am not into sports games. I honestly think they are a waste of time buying the new version of the same game year after year. NHL 19 may have changed my mind with that for the NHL series at least.
Seriously this game is way more fun than it should be. Lets start with the controls. They take some getting used to. Especially for people like me who are used old school NHL controls. I would also argue controls are the biggest barrier for entry due to this reason. But once you get used to it. You sit down and take your time. Allow yourself to be bad. Once you get used them it honestly makes the whole game feel more immersive. It makes each shot you take feel more effective. It makes each hit you land feel that much harder. While you have the puck you hit R2 to pass. Im playing on PS4 btw. You use the right analog stick to control the hockey stick of the player with the puck. So to shoot you bring the joystick to the side and whip it forward for a wrist shot. For a slap shot you bring it back to the bottom. Almost like you are winding up. And then snap back forward to complete a slap shot. I won’t bore you with more of the control details. but they seriously make you feel more like a hockey player than the older ones did.
Now I understand this type of control isn’t new to the NHL series. I only really played NHL 13 prior to this one and NHL 2002 prior to that. So there are so large gaps here. NHL 13 had a similar control scheme but it just never really felt right. This does.
The game also offers a plethora of game modes. Besides the random pick up game and franchise mode, you also get HUT Ultimate Team, NHL 3’s, Create your own player/career etc. So many different options. There is a lot of content in this so you will have plenty to play. My only real complaint is HUT ultimate team. And not that it’s bad but the stupid micro-transactions involved with it. To build your ultimate team you can buy card packs with actual money. The card packs behave like real life card packs where you don’t really know what you are getting. Well the odds are so stacked against you that it honestly doesn’t make it worth it. I’ve spent $60 on these fucking things and I can tell you it is not worth it. In fact the last $10 of that was an accident. I accidentally charged myself $10 more by mistake on PSN. So I spent it and it really was not worth it.
My 2 personal favorite modes are the create you own player mode and the Ultimate team. I like the feeling of you building towards something. Whether that is your individual players stats, or the make up of your ultimate team, it just feels fun.
So overall I just wanted to rave about this game for this week’s blog. I also have been crazy busy and it’s been getting harder and harder to make time for this. But I do plan to continue on! I’m looking for more contributors to help relieve the pressure on my end so that will help with this as well. There is big stuff coming with the podcast as well! So be on the look out!