Back in December, Canadian developer V7 Entertainment released an announcement trailer for ‘Old Time Hockey,’ an M-Rated, arcade-style hockey game set in the 70’s.
The minute long trailer set to Stompin Tom Connor’s ‘The Hockey Song’ featured wood sticks, minor league hockey barns, stand-up goalies, as well as brutal brawls and equally as brutal haircuts.
It was packed with nostalgia, making hockey fans understandably excited for the March release date.
OTH is a $15 title. V7 never set out to replace EA Sports’ NHL series, rather the team based out of Vancouver looked to fill a void in the hockey gaming market by providing an arcade experience that is one part NHL 94, and one part NHL Hitz.
If you’re a fan of retro arcade hockey titles, there’s a lot to like about Old Time Hockey.
Presentation
When you first boot up OTH you’ll be immediately immersed in the 70’s era that the team at V7 have so expertly crafted. The presentation is slick. Like pomade in a side-combed hairstyle slick.
From the hockey card style menu design, to the Stan Mikita style helmets, to the wild colour palettes featured on the jerseys, to the 3,000 seat minor league rinks -- V7 nails the 70’s setting to a T.
V7 even made use of the speaker on the PS4’s controller, including blip sound effects that will have you reminiscing about the days when your controller really did only have a d-pad and two-buttons.
Each of the ten teams in the game have a unique design style to them, as well as names that sound so minor league in the best way possible. Teams like the Long Island Rumrunners and the Moose Jaw Farmhands really should exist.
The presentation is also given a boost by the soundtrack, which features a solid mix of rock tunes, classic hockey anthems and even polka.
In-game, the cartoon graphics aren’t going to confuse onlookers into thinking they’re watching a real game, but they will remind them of the good ol’ 16-bit days, which is quite clearly what V7 was going for. There’s something very satisfying about seeing cartoon birds fly over the heads of several downed opponents after wreaking havoc on them with your hip-checks.
The only real shortcoming presentation wise comes from the in-game commentary, which gets repetitive real quick. How quick? I literally turned it off during only my second game.
Gameplay
A sports game can nail the presentation, but it’s the gameplay that ultimately decides whether or not players will stay invested in a title.
OTH features four control schemes. Retro, Advanced, Two-button and Beer Mode.
Minus the poke check button being the same as the hit button, Retro and two-button are essentially one in the same. Advanced provides the game with a more modern feel, allowing players to use the analog sticks to control the majority of their actions, while designating passing to the right-trigger button. If it sounds familiar, that’s because it should. Beer Mode is a fun, novel scheme that allows you to play with only one hand on the controller. It’s certainly amusing and presents a bit of a challenge. Just don’t try to play the computer that way or you’ll get absolutely obliterated.
Make no mistake about it, OTH is a hockey game that puts physical play first. Drawing inspiration from the Broad Street Bullies, OTH’s gameplay is largely centered on not just knocking your opponent down, but intimidating them by pummeling them into the ice.
That is all thanks to the incredibly satisfying hip-check system, the true standout feature gameplay wise. Why poke check the puck when you can just hip-check an opposing player into oblivion?
The one drawback to the hip-check system is that it works so tremendously that you’ll rarely ever use the regular hit controls, as they’re not nearly as effective. Hip-checks don’t even really require precise timing, or momentum for that matter. You can pretty much pull them off whenever you would like, which while satisfying against the computer, gets a tad out of hand when playing local multiplayer.
With OTH being an M-Rated title that features blood, fighting plays a fairly major role. While the button mashing scraps can be pretty fun, especially the ground and pound part, there isn’t a whole lot too them. They’re enjoyable, but you won’t be itching to drop the gloves.
Obviously as fun as it is knock your opponent around, you’re going to need to score goals to win a game. So how are the controls on offence?
While the players control smoothly, overall they lack any real speed, making the game feel a little more sluggish than it should. There’s a “hustle” button that allows for a quick burst of speed, but it tends to kick in later than expected and makes it quite hard to control your player.
No matter what control scheme you use, the aim feels a bit finicky, and slap shots lack punch.
The passing system is on point, but when it comes time to shoot the puck, it’s not quite as satisfying as the hitting.
This brings us to the teammate A.I. You won’t be relying on these guys to really help you out. While they’re competent, they don’t do a very job of getting in scoring position, and on defence they may as well be pylons. This issue is compounded by the fact that the player selection system doesn’t always do exactly what you would like it to. It’s by no means a game breaker, but it needs improvement.
While the advanced system seemingly serves a great way to bridge the gap between modern hockey gamers and those who grew up on NHL 94, the control scheme tends to expose the game’s shortcomings rather than highlight its strengths. I would highly recommend sticking to the retro control scheme, as it makes for a much better experience.
If you bought this game to play arcade style hockey, you really should be using arcade style controls.
Story Mode
OTH features two modes: Exhibition and Story (sadly no online multiplayer). The game’s story mode has you playing as the Schuylkill Hinto Brews, a team situated in the bottom of the Bush Hockey League standings and going nowhere fast due to a series of major injuries.
Your goal is to get the Hinto Brews out of the cellar and into the playoffs, all while turning your booze loving, mall Santa fighting squad into elite players.
The story is laid out via newspaper clippings and short stories in the game’s loading menus. There’s not a whole lot to the narrative, and the term “story” may be a bit of a stretch, but OTH’s strong presentation provides enough charm that you’ll be drawn into the world of the BHL.
Following the game’s initial release, V7 released an update that addressed one of the biggest issues that was plaguing story mode. At launch, players used to have to unlock certain gameplay elements (i.e. slap shots, hip-checks, dekes) by completing in-game tutorials. It was a rather strange system, but V7 listened to the people and thankfully changed the tutorial system.
Story mode still features primary game objectives that must be completed to advance in the season. Although I do understand why V7 included objectives in the mode, as it presents a challenge, it feels restrictive. This sort of objective based system works in Be-A-Pro modes such as FIFA’s “The Journey,” but OTH does not have the accompanying storytelling elements (cutscenes, dialog trees) to make it a worthwhile addition.
Still, the story mode was rather satisfying, as getting the Hinto Brews to not closely resemble a beer league team was actually a rather challenging task.
Summary
Whether or not OTH is worth the cost of admission has everything to do with what you came looking for.
If you’re looking for a fun, arcade-style hockey game to get competitive with your buddies on the couch, OTH will fulfill those desires, making the $15 price tag seem beyond reasonable.
If you’re looking for something to replace the hundreds of hours you’ve put into playing HUT or GM Mode in EA Sports’ NHL series, then you may have had this wrong from the jump.
That’s not to say that fans of the NHL series won’t find something to enjoy with OTH. It’s just to say that this title isn’t about depth as much as it is about awakening feelings of nostalgia.
Old Time Hockey isn’t the top enforcer in the league of hockey titles, but it certainly is a wily rookie that has the ability to deliver some exciting blows. Watch out for the hip-check!
Final Score: 7.5
