ChaseB's Blog - Operation Sports

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

NHL 10: Battle for the Cup, Playoff Mode, Multiplayer Season

Posted on July 28, 2009 at 06:24 PM.

(5)

While Be A GM mode was revealed a couple weeks back, I am now able to talk about a few more modes I got to check out while at EA Vancouver. A couple of these modes are long overdue (at least according to fans), while the other is a twist on a standard playoffs mode.

Battle for the Cup

This mode is a blown out NHL Finals that looks to add a little more intensity and bad blood to a standard seven-game series.

You can take part in a one, three, five or seven game series while trying to win the Cup. One of the first things I noticed in this mode is that there is a "storyline" that flashes during each pregame loading screen. It generally will highlight one player. So if Ryan Getzlaf injured one of your players or scored two goals, there will be a little bit of text asking if you will target Getzlaf.

Injuries are another interesting aspect to each series. If a player gets injured during a game, you will be asked if you want to put him back in with lowered attributes and the risk of suffering a more severe injury. The other option is sit him out and re-evaluate him after the game.

The crowd also plays a part when it comes to injuries. If Getzlaf is the guy who put out your star player, the crowd will remember that and boo him when he touches the puck. In other words, the bad blood increases in a series as the games mount.

One of the other small touches I noticed is that there is a series comparison portion to the Battle for the Cup mode, which basically is just a screen that shows off the results from previous games in the series.

Playoff Mode

I would classify this as the "party-oriented" playoffs mode. Sixteen people can take over 16 teams and battle through the entire playoffs against each other. This mode seems to be built for online, so hopefully this mode will be available for online use.

Multiplayer Season Mode

Obviously the name speaks for itself, but the nice element is that you can also just control all 30 teams if you want or take part in a fantasy draft. By controlling all the teams, you can pick up free agents or make trades as they happen in the real NHL, and basically play this mode right along with the real NHL season.

Final Thoughts

NHL 10 producer David Littman recently said that he wanted NHL 10 to be the "Orange Box of sports games." By giving fans some of the modes they have been begging for over the past few years, he is certainly trying to ensure that there will be something for everyone when NHL 10 ships this September.

Monday, July 6, 2009

INCOMING! The Bigs 2

Posted on July 6, 2009 at 04:54 PM.

(1)

With The Bigs 2 releasing this week, I wanted to check in one more time and talk about the upcoming baseball title from Blue Castle Games. Obviously there is a demo out there for people to play, but I want to talk about a few things I got to check out while recently demoing a more complete version of the game.

Pick Up Mode

I went to Washington D.C. to get my hands on The Bigs 2 and spent most of my time playing the new Pick Up game mode, which is pretty much Blue Castle's way of trying to end bromance violence.

When you pick this mode, 18 players are randomly selected, two for each position. Whoever is the away team gets the first pick, which is very important in this mode because the 18 randomly selected players are all tied to each other. In other words, if you choose one of the two available players at first base, your opponent automatically has to take the other first baseman.

Basically when selecting players in the Pick Up mode, it's all about screwing over your opponent. (It seems kind of odd that the developers at Blue Castle wanted to stop you from punching your friend in the face for always selecting the Yankees, to now punching him in the face when he chooses Albert Pujols and leaves you with Casey Kotchman -- not that Kotchman is awful, but you get the point.

Now, not all the player matchups are this lopsided either. You may have a matchup like Justin Morneau versus Prince Fielder or Brad Hawpe versus Justin Upton, in which case you probably don't select either player during the early rounds.

What I ended up doing was looking for the more lopsided matchups during the first few rounds, and then picking the player I liked more during the later rounds. Either way, after all 18 players are selected the game will round out your roster with a few mid-level relievers and position players and kick you out to the diamond for a regular game of baseball.

I think the game mode is just another way to institute a new set of "house rules." I know when I play some of my friends, instead of picking our favorite teams every time, we'll each randomly select three teams before choosing one of them.

Career Mode

I didn't personally get to play this mode, but learned a few things about it that perhaps not everyone knows about.

In this career mode, you aren't really starting from scratch like in the original Bigs. So that means things like tattoos do not have to be earned, instead you will be able to customize your created player with them from the start. In general the customization options look very deep, with the only thing really missing being some way to just put your face into the game.

Beyond the customization options, the career mode starts in Mexico this time around, and from there you earn your way back to hall-of-fame (HOF) status. Your progress will be tracked via HOF votes, which accumulate as you succeed on the diamond.

You also still steal players from other teams if you beat them in the finale of a series. But the difference this time around is that you can only have three stolen players active at any one point. According to a public relations representative that I spoke to, this was done because in the original Bigs your team would become too beastly after stealing enough players.

After you accumulate enough HOF votes, you reach five stars and then have to pursue a sixth star. At this point you start throwing down with legendary teams (five regular HOF teams and then Babe Ruth's squad as the sixth). The five regular HOF teams each have a captain, a few examples include Ozzie Smith and Reggie Jackson. When you battle these teams, you will get a chance to have non-HOF greats on your team -- so someone like Edgar Martinez will play with you as you dismantle various Cooperstown greats.

During this whole leveling-up process, you will gain points that you can use to unlock different bats and other extras like that. There are also retro stadiums to unlock, such as retro Polo Field and retro Fenway Park.

Big Slam Power-up

Before finishing this up, I wanted to mention the Big Slam, another new addition in The Bigs 2. I noticed that some people did not quite understand how this power-up works, so I want to explain it.

-You need a full meter to initiate the Big Slam power-up.

-After you initiate the power-up, the pitcher gets to throw one pitch.

-If the pitch is not a good one (in other words, you tip the pitch by not getting it high enough on the pitching meter), you will probably be in trouble. I say that because three players will come to the plate, and if they make contact they automatically get on base -- though each player only gets one pitch to hit. Then if the fourth batter makes contact, it's an automatic grand slam.

-However, if you make a good pitch, then the next four pitches thrown will be tough to hit. In addition, it won't be four fastballs that are thrown, instead the pitcher automatically cycles through other pitches in his arsenal, which increases the difficulty.

As a personal example, I had a Big Slam used against me at one point. Luckily enough I timed the pitching meter just right and ended up not giving up any runs during the Big Slam power-up mini-game. Hopefully that's a sign that the power-up won't easily lead to four runs, but you still better make your one pitch count, otherwise it probably will be time for some salami.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Where Will You Be Tomorrow at 3 p.m. EST?

Posted on June 24, 2009 at 08:12 PM.

(0)

Because if you're not doing anything, on OS tomorrow there will be a live blog for The Bigs 2 at 3 p.m. EST.

I will be sitting in on a conference call with Rob Nelson, who is the game's producer, and Rob will be answering questions that were submitted ahead of time -- there will also be time at the end of the conference call to ask live questions.

So come on by (there will be a live blog link on the front page that you can click on) and we'll talk about your hopes, your dreams, and maybe even The Bigs 2.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Operation Sports Is Going To E3

Posted on May 21, 2009 at 06:34 PM.

(2)

I have been waiting to write this blog for a few days now because I wanted to know what games would and would not be at E3. Now that I have a good idea of what to expect at the event, I can share more with you all.

First off, E3 begins on Tuesday June 2 but it really starts the day before -- at least for OS -- because EA is having its own pre-E3 press conference on June 1. I will be at that conference, and I will also be roaming the E3 show floor from June 2-4.

During E3 I want to provide you guys with impressions, previews, images, videos and even some podcasts. Bryan (PastaPadre) will also be at E3, and we are hoping to collaborate on a few things as well in LA.

Of course, you all also have a chance to steer the coverage in some ways as well. In other words: What do you guys want to read and see at E3?

Also here is the (un)official list of what sports/racing games will be at E3 at this point:

FIFA 10, NHL 10, Grand Slam Tennis, Fight Night Round 4, Madden NFL 10, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10, Need For Speed SHIFT, The Bigs 2, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, Vancouver 2010, MotorStorm (PSP), Split Second.

Presumably there will be a few more games there (I'm assuming NCAA Football 10 will be there for example). But I do have confirmation that neither NBA Live 10 or NBA 2K10 will be at E3. There could perhaps be some sort of NBA Live announcement during EA's press conference (purely speculation on my part), but other than that, don't expect hands-on impressions etc.

On the forums, be on the lookout for some threads I will be posting in various areas that will give you the opportunity to ask questions about games that will be at the show. What is nice about these threads is that while I probably won't get a majority of your questions answered while at E3, after the event ends I will have more time to track down answers to your questions.

I'll be posting more as E3 inches closer and closer, but for now, I leave you with Glass Joe doing what he does best: