With three weeks to ship, hockey fans can get a taste of what to expect come September 7th as the NHL 11 Demo is now LIVE on the PlayStation Network! Watch the NHL 11 PSN demo launch trailer below.
Those that download the demo will get a sampling of two game modes: Battle for the Cup and Hockey Ultimate Team. Battle for the Cup allows fans (single or local multiplayer) to play the 3rd period of Game Seven in the Stanley Cup Finals between the Philadelphia Flyers at Chicago Blackhawks. The score will be different each game as it will be simmed up to that point in time. You will be able to view the box score of the first two periods prior to entering gameplay.
In the Hockey Ultimate Team portion of the demo, each user will receive a Starter Pack of cards. You will be able to edit your lineup and try to maximize chemistry. For consumables, you will start with a couple of Training Cards and will earn more Training Cards that can be applied to your team after each game you play in the offline tournament (only tournament available in the demo). Just like in the Battle for the Cup mode, each game will be in the 3rd period (up to three games).
Not every demo HUT team will be the same. There is a pool of 75 players, 4 jerseys and 4 logos that the user can get in their starter pack. Each user will receive 24 players, 2 jerseys (one home and one away) and 1 logo in their starter pack. Once the user quits out of HUT and re-enters, their team will be reset with a new group of cards.
You will earn EA Pucks after every game you play in HUT whether they win or lose. The point of allowing EA Puck earning in the demo is to show you approximately how many pucks you will receive when you complete HUT games.
Just for entering Hockey Ultimate Team in the demo, you will receive a small reward pack when you play HUT in the full title. If the user wins the HUT demo tournament the reward pack that they would have received for playing the demo will turn into a larger reward pack that contains a rare card. Users will also receive an additional reward pack in the full title if they invite their friends to play the demo via PSN. Note, however, that your demo HUT team will not transfer to the full game.
Classic controls will be available in the demo. You can choose between Default, Classic, NHL 94 Controls, and Custom control schemes. You can do this in the pause menu once you enter gameplay. All camera options available in the full title will also be available in the demo (Ice, Classic, Overhead, Broadcast and Action).
The demo is just under 1.2 GB and Bottom of the Well by Airbourne and Full of Regret by Danko Jones are the two music tracks in the sampling. Also, an interactive tutorial will be available on the main menu of the demo and Hockey Ultimate Team tutorial video is also played before you create your HUT team.
Enjoy the demo and let us know what you think with your constructive critique!
it’s nice to see there’s slight improvements every year that could easily be implemented in a patch or DLC.
I love hockey, but it’s just a shame that EA doesnt put as much effort into their NHL series as SanDiego Studios does with MLB The Show. EA seems more interested in making money every year, ignoring possibly the same bugs, while San Diego is usually very quick to make fixes for their game.
lol, a first party NHL exclusive game on the PS3 would be AWESOME.
I’m sorry. Unless the PS3 version has fixed the awful glitch where the chat cuts in and out, there is no way I’m getting game on PS3. For the last two years, I’ve suffered through either games with no chat, games with one-way chat or two-way chat where I have to yell and repeat myself so my friend hears me. With xbox’s party chat I have none of those worries. Can someone comment on this before I pre-order for xbox?
The feeling of the players skating isn’t that good. I think it feels “lazy”.But, I liked the demo. The sticks falling off players, camera-view on face-off, checking made my experience more realistic. Also, about the checking. I liked 2010’s checking better than 2011. In 2010, I would check people over 50 times in a match. Yes I know, it sounds lame.
lol but I like it when I go “Yeah! Yeah! You better stay down!”. 2011’s checking for me, is more difficult so I don’t know how I would get over 50 now.
dont listen to comments 1 and 2… they introduced a brand new mode that could change the series forever… brand new physics that could change it forever as well… i for one think its great and i sat in hut for half an hour just learning and having fun its great… keep it up
I’m so impressed with this demo. I have already pre-ordered it though.
Now that’s how you make a demo! I did a quick “Thoughts on NHL 11 demo” article on my blog. http://www.robertchapman.ca. This is spectacular. I was one of the people that didn’t enjoy NHL10 all that much, there were some bugs that were never fixed that kinda ruined gameplay for me. Also, I wasn’t very interested in Be a GM or the new fighting mechanic. This game however, has more than enough improvements to be a full priced game. Can’t wait to pick it up in September!
Really Impressed with this demo. I was not a NHL Freak Until Like This Years Stanley Cup Play-offs. I only have 1 thing that troubles me:
It’s when a player starts a hockey fight that cool but there is no actual blood of cuts or rashes on the player to make it look real. Hope they fix that in the game.
Demo looks and plays great! I’ll be getting it again….even though I don’t agree with the code to play online.
By the looks of this trailer, they only showed the PS3 game case, not the 360 or Wii? Does this mean exclusive or is the PS3 the primary platform for this game?
Since NHL Hockey from EA Sports made its debut on the Sega Genesis, I’ve had all versions with the exception of about 3 years, Since NHL 07 I’ve owned the PlayStation versions (07 on PSP, 08-10 on PS3)… While I have no doubt I’ll be getting my hands on a copy of NHL 11, it won’t be a launch day purchase for me since PlayStation Move is a bigger priority in our house — so it looks like NHL 10 will have to do for a few extra weeks..
sounds like the madden 11 demo. spam your friends for free shiz you cant use until you BUY our TOY….
This demo is amazing, hands down best improvement from year-to-year this year!!!!