PAX 2010: NHL Slapshot

My surprise hit of PAX this year was definitely NHL Slapshot. In case you are unaware of the game, Slapshot is the Wii game with the hockey stick peripheral. Before playing it I was quite skeptical about the game, thinking it was another gimmicky peripheral. But as I scored quickly on a beautiful one-timer from Patrick Kane to Jonathan Toews, I realized that I really like Slapshot. I played several more games over Saturday and Sunday, getting John, Peter, and George to play in the process.

The hockey stick controller is a comfortable size and feels natural when you are playing. The nunchuk and WiiMote are in good places on the controller and contribute to the very good controls, which I will explain now. The control stick is used to move your player, and the A-button passes or changes players. The Z-button is turbo, C is used to dive (to block shots), and the B-button does a spin move. You can hold the B-button and manually deke as well. The rest of the controls use the WiiMote’s motion control. Wrist shots and slap shots are controlled as you would expect, and checking is performed by pushing the hockey stick forward, as if you were checking someone. Overall, the controls feel very smooth and become intuitive after about 15 seconds of playing.

I didn’t get to see the different game modes, but you can play in 4 different levels (from Peewee to Pro) with different teams and settings for each (for example, Peewee was 3 on 3). The game features an extensive career mode in which you start out in the Peewee league and work your way up to a spot on an NHL roster. You can also go through a season as your favorite NHL team.

What I want to emphasize is that the game has fantastic controls and some very intense and exciting gameplay. The hockey stick controller makes it even more fun, and the game has quickly moved up near the top of my list of games I’m excited for.

Image:
http://www.thegadgetguycolumn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/EA-Hockey-comes-to-Wii-with-NHL-Slapshot.jpg