ince I began my hockey career in video games, I’ve been taught that in order to win, the best strategy is to immediately check the puck carrier. As much as I’ve enjoyed laying out Wayne Gretzky, or more recently, that snotty brat Sidney Crosby, throwing your weight at a player isn’t how hockey should be played. It’s a game of strategy and skill, something that video games haven’t explored properly. NHL 08 is the first game that moves in this direction. If you try to throw your weight at a skater, you’re just going to leave a huge hole in your defense.

This series’ move toward a realistic simulation relies largely on the AI’s ability to the adapt to your style of play. If you keep crashing the net, or don’t play a tight point, the AI will make proper adjustments. What’s great about this is that it brings out a do-or-die coaching battle. Your ability to read the game has just as much of an impact as your skills on the ice.

With your defensemen doing a better job of keeping the puck in the offensive zone, working a defense proves to be surprisingly entertaining. If your team can’t seem to find chemistry on the ice, you can always jump into the play editor to build custom strategies. The editor is simple to the point that Chris Pronger could figure it out, and proves to be highly effective on both sides of the ice.

The gameplay is backed by enhanced puck control, which works amazingly well for those exciting one-on-one situations where you might want to slip the puck between the defender’s legs. This year, players are also treated to goalie control. It works much better than NHL 2K’s, and really showcases just how quick these human vacuum cleaners are. The only problematic area of gameplay is checking. Even when you find yourself in a situation where a check is called for, it’s hard to throw your weight in the desired direction.

I was a bit worried that moving toward a slower, sim-based game would hurt the experience, but I found that it’s just as intense.