Excellent trend in sports games
08/12/08 10:17 Filed in: Gaming Goodness
3 words for you. Be A Pro. The “Be A Pro” mode that you find in the most recent EA sports games is something I’ve been desperately wanting for years now. I’m a big hockey fan. A Canucks fan to be more specific. And I can tell you that since we started seeing 3D hockey games, I’ve desperately wanted to play a sort of role playing game revolving around myself as a virtual hockey player.
In case you’re not sure exactly what the “Be A Pro” mode is, I’ll break it down for you. Basically, you create a player. Then you select your team and try to crack the lineup. Depending on your play you will see yourself rise or fall on your team’s depth chart.
In NHL 09 you start off really low on the depth chart for your favourite NHL team’s minor league affiliate. When you hit the ice, you only control your player. You’ll watch the game being played from the bench when it isn’t your shift. And if you take a penalty, you’ll sit in the penalty box. If you get good enough, you will rise through the ranks to eventually make the big league.
This is truly one of the most innovative sports game features to see the light of day in a long time. After all, the reason why most people play these games is to “live the dream” right? In addition to the offline features, you’ll find fairly robust online play. Even allowing the players to create online teams with their friends.
But it isn’t perfect. Personally, I want to see sports game makers really flesh out the RPG experience. In addition to the “Be A Pro” mode as it is right now, I would like to have the ability to start even further back in your player’s career. I would like to have the ability to start in high school(or in hockey, juniors). The better the player you are, the higher up you go in the draft. Then you try and make your NHL team from there.
Also, I would like to see better use of the practice system. Currently there’s little reason to go into practice mode except to find weaknesses in the AI. It would be nice if the player had the option to be able to practice once in between games, running through a bunch of pre-chosen drills(read: minigames). And based on how well the player does in those drills, he/she would see his/her character’s abilities improve.
Finally, I think that the current upgrade system is crap. I am not a fan of lame attribute windows where you spent points to upgrade certain aspects of your character. I think the best way to handle the upgrade system is to make it completely invisible and automatic. Your actions in practice and in games should dictate what abilities see improvement. For example, in hockey if you were to take a bunch of slapshots, you would see improvement(over time)in your shooting abilities. Or if you were to always drive to the net, you would see improvement in your ability to control the puck in traffic. All these things would add to the immersive experience that is already there. Also, you can’t currently edit the appearance of your character(in NHL at least). That is incredibly lame.
All in all though, I would say that it’s refreshing to see sports games start to experiment in an attempt to be a little less repetitive and stagnant.
In case you’re not sure exactly what the “Be A Pro” mode is, I’ll break it down for you. Basically, you create a player. Then you select your team and try to crack the lineup. Depending on your play you will see yourself rise or fall on your team’s depth chart.
In NHL 09 you start off really low on the depth chart for your favourite NHL team’s minor league affiliate. When you hit the ice, you only control your player. You’ll watch the game being played from the bench when it isn’t your shift. And if you take a penalty, you’ll sit in the penalty box. If you get good enough, you will rise through the ranks to eventually make the big league.
This is truly one of the most innovative sports game features to see the light of day in a long time. After all, the reason why most people play these games is to “live the dream” right? In addition to the offline features, you’ll find fairly robust online play. Even allowing the players to create online teams with their friends.
But it isn’t perfect. Personally, I want to see sports game makers really flesh out the RPG experience. In addition to the “Be A Pro” mode as it is right now, I would like to have the ability to start even further back in your player’s career. I would like to have the ability to start in high school(or in hockey, juniors). The better the player you are, the higher up you go in the draft. Then you try and make your NHL team from there.
Also, I would like to see better use of the practice system. Currently there’s little reason to go into practice mode except to find weaknesses in the AI. It would be nice if the player had the option to be able to practice once in between games, running through a bunch of pre-chosen drills(read: minigames). And based on how well the player does in those drills, he/she would see his/her character’s abilities improve.
Finally, I think that the current upgrade system is crap. I am not a fan of lame attribute windows where you spent points to upgrade certain aspects of your character. I think the best way to handle the upgrade system is to make it completely invisible and automatic. Your actions in practice and in games should dictate what abilities see improvement. For example, in hockey if you were to take a bunch of slapshots, you would see improvement(over time)in your shooting abilities. Or if you were to always drive to the net, you would see improvement in your ability to control the puck in traffic. All these things would add to the immersive experience that is already there. Also, you can’t currently edit the appearance of your character(in NHL at least). That is incredibly lame.
All in all though, I would say that it’s refreshing to see sports games start to experiment in an attempt to be a little less repetitive and stagnant.