Montreal Canadiens defenceman P.K. Subban as seen in ‘NHL 15.’
Welcome to One-Hour Reviews, a new feature we're trying on GamePad that's dedicated to you, the sophisticated, pressed-for-time gamer. You don't have countless hours to spend playing games, nor do you have time to read overlong reviews. Here, we play these games for an hour and succinctly tell you what you need to know about the important releases. No scores, no filler, just the answer to one question: Is it worth your time?
Genre: Sports.
What's it about: Hockey. Lots of hockey.
Why should we care? Because we're Canadian. And it's the first NHL game from EA geared toward next-generation consoles. Plus, we're Canadian.
What happens in the first hour: About one second into the intro video, the Rogers logo flashes. There is officially nowhere safe from this company. A few seconds later, Tim Hortons can be seen on the arena boards. Oh yeah, this is a Canadian game.
Then it's right into the deep end as you're thrust into an exhibition match between the New York Rangers and Los Angeles Kings. No tutorials, no explanations, just action. And also, that's not Canadian at all.
But hey, is that Patton Oswalt on commentary? Oh, no, it's just Mike Emrick, with Ed Olczyk in tow.
I spend the first 15 minutes pausing to look at screens with instructions to figure out how to pass, check and shoot. In the meantime, the Kings slaughter me. It's 2-0 in the first five minutes, but it will be 10-2 before it's all said and done. "This is a full-scale blowout." Thanks for the muppet news flash, Mike.
After the drubbing, I check out the other modes. I send scouts to central Europe in GM mode and try repeatedly to name my coach Piotr McPiotrovich. The 12-character limit frustrates me.
I try online mode, but it turns out my Xbox Gold subscription has run out. Doh. Better get on that.
Okay then, another exhibition game it is, this time on "rookie" difficulty. I fare better, with my Leafs losing to the Canadiens 2-0. A few more hours and I might actually get the hang of this.
Highlights: The commentary is great and everything feels pretty real. Beautiful pre-game skyline shots of the home cities.
Lowlights: The frequent flashes of the NBC peacock remind us this isn't really a Canadian game anymore. The goalies' jerseys seem to flap in the wind, spoiling the realism. Eight pages of button controls.
Time suck factor: If you're buying this game, chances are you're prepared to turn your life over to it. Simulated seasons are for wimps.
Worth more than an hour? Not for anyone but hardcore hockey fans. Honestly, it's hard to tell the difference from last year's.
Peter Nowak