Opening Up the Game: EA Sports Presents NHL 2005

By Lucas Aykroyd

Everyone’s got a little bit of a control freak in them. And when it comes to hockey success, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. After all, Scotty Bowman and Wayne Gretzky always wanted to know what was happening on the ice at all times.

For computer and console gaming buffs, the Electronic Arts Sports NHL series is hands-down the best way to indulge your control freak tendencies. That’s especially true now that a lockout threatens to cancel the entire NHL season. Last year, you may have cheered your lungs out for your favorite real-life team, but only fans of the Tampa Bay Lightning got to celebrate with champagne. With EA’s NHL 2005, you’ll have the chance to guide your team to the Stanley Cup in the most feature-packed edition yet of this award-winning franchise.

The NHL series is created at the downtown offices of EA’s Canadian headquarters in Vancouver. The 45-odd members of the development team enjoy a dramatic view of the city’s harbor and the North Shore mountains, but with NHL and European league jerseys festooning the walls, there’s no question where this group’s focus lies.

Senior producer Dave Warfield has worked on the NHL series since the 1993 debut of the PC version. He explains the makeup of the current development team: “We have designers that oversee the content and provide feedback on it. We have development directors, who manage the schedule and grow people’s careers, making sure they get the training they need. There’s a large group of programmers, about 16 or 18. They’re involved in multiple levels, like front-end menus, game play, artificial intelligence, and audio implementation. We have audio guys that are just responsible for speech, sound effects and music. Finally, we use an assortment of artists, from animators that put together the moves the players do to texture artists who put together the jerseys and show what the pieces look like, as well as a group that does just faces.”

Creating four versions of the game (PC, Xbox, GameCube, Playstation 2) is a year-round enterprise, and that’s why passion for hockey is a huge hiring criteria for EA Sports. Just before NHL 2004 shipped in September 2003, the developers began brainstorming and getting feedback from gamers and media about potential features for NHL 2005.

By November, work was well underway on the new title, as the team strove to meet monthly targets. Mid-summer of 2004 marked the Alpha stage, with the game playable but still full of bugs. From that point on, it was all about cleaning up the mistakes and getting manufacturing approvals from Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony before shipping in the fall.

The NHL is always looking to improve its on-ice product, and the approach for NHL 2005 mirrored recent high-level discussions about putting more flow into hockey. “This year, the biggest thing that we wanted to focus on was reducing the clustering of players on the ice,” says Warfield. “In NHL 2004, if you tried to skate from one end of the ice to the other, you were being constantly hit and harassed. That was what drove our ‘Create Open Ice’ tagline for 2005. Now, players move into their lanes when you’re skating up the ice, and you usually have one or two opportunities for a pass.”

New features give gamers more control over the action. Open Ice Control lets you switch control to a player who doesn’t have the puck, and while the computer takes over the puck carrier, you can drive up ice toward the net, getting set for a breakaway pass or deflection, or crashing the net for a rebound.

Open Ice Support gets one of your teammates to set a pick or create a little interference in the offensive zone, or to double-team an opponent along the boards in your own end.

A new automatic wraparound feature boosts your odds of scoring down low. And those who admire the faceoff prowess of Joe Nieuwendyk or Yanic Perreault will appreciate another innovation. “Before the drop of each puck, you can choose a conservative, standard or offensive faceoff strategy,” Warfield notes. “It could involve tying somebody up, taking a shot right off a faceoff, or getting your guys back defensively and protect the lead. That is something that hasn’t been done in a hockey game before.”

Fans of international hockey will relish World Cup Mode, a special true-to-life simulation of this September’s showcase event. “The World Cup rosters were a big challenge for us, because the announcements came fairly late in our development cycle,” says Warfield. “We have featured international teams in the past, but this is a very different structure, especially when you’re limiting it to just eight national teams.” Look for striking visuals from the real-life host arenas.

European hockey lovers get a triple dose with the inclusion of Sweden’s Elitserien, Finland’s SM-Liiga and Germany’s DEL. “We have Jari Kurri’s group in Finland doing the ratings for the SM-Liiga, and similar stuff for the other leagues,” says Warfield. “It’s all 39 of these teams, with their real players. We’ll provide roster updates as the season goes along.” As well, 21 international teams are included with official IIHF jerseys.

Seeing NHL 2005 in action is much like watching a live TV broadcast. The play-by-play from commentators Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson keeps the energy level high, and artificial intelligence, backed by contributions from real NHLers, plays another big role. “The help we get from the Vancouver Canucks is huge,” says Warfield. “Markus Naslund has been working with us for years, even going back to his days in Pittsburgh. Coach Marc Crawford has worked with us since his Colorado days. He comes in all the time with his son, who’s a big gamer, and we have an ongoing relationship. He feeds inside information to the programmers and the AI people about strategies.”

Members of the major junior Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League also help out EA by hooking themselves up to on-ice sensors and performing video motion capture sequences that are used to model the images you see.

Many NHL players have distinct styles, and that’s reflected in the game, whether it’s Naslund, featured on this year’s box cover, demonstrating his full finesse package, or Joe Thornton powering his way through opposing defensemen. Occasionally players humorously gripe about their computer ratings—for instance, Tie Domi once claimed he skated faster in real life and Derian Hatcher argued he hit harder—but most just eat it up.

If you’re an aspiring general manager, NHL 2005’s Dynasty Mode is for you. A new Personal Desktop Assistant/email system keeps you briefed as GM about what’s happening on the farm, with injuries, and at the ownership level. Wheeling and dealing, you can make it to the top or lose your job.

Those seeking a quicker arcade-style experience can plug in and play a 10-minute “free-for-all” hockey game on a half-rink, solo or with buddies, honing their skills and just having fun, whether they’re five years old or 50.

The bottom line? “If you played the game last year and you had a great time, you’re going to have an even better time this year,” says Warfield.