A Refresher to Get You Ready to Hit the Ice and Not Suck in NHL 19

It’s the holiday season and games are on sale along with gaming systems. You’ve decided to pick up NHL 19 and see what it’s all about.  Whether a new player to the game, a casual fan, a long-time NHL junkie that’s taken a few years or a seasoned veteran, there’s definitely some things you will want to get to know in order to hit the ice (or pond in the World of CHEL) without falling on your face. Let’s take a look at what you can do to make sure you’re ready for NHL 19.

Small Setting(s), Big Deal

There are a few settings you’ll want to tinker with before you do anything. Within the settings menu, you’ll head over to the audio and visual settings. Here you’ll want to change the “Puck Highlight” option to “Large.” This well help you see the puck on the ice the majority of the time; it can be hard to notice sometimes. The other option you’ll want to change in this menu impacts the direction you skate when on offense. If you don’t often play locally against friends, this is an obvious change to make so you can just always skate “up” or “down” (depending on your preference). The “Camera Perspective” option allows you to set the camera to a variety of different things. The “Prefer Up” option will allow you to always shoot the same way; I find it to be easiest. Once you really get the hang of the game, switching to “Alternate” is suggested so you can get used to going up and down.

Choose The Right Controller Settings

I didn’t realize how important this was until I actually played the NHL 19 beta this past summer. Since NHL 11, I’ve always used Hybrid controls. It was always easier for me to dangle with the right stick and fire off shots with the buttons. Playing the beta, and also due in part to some of the new loose-puck dekes, hybrid controls just didn’t cut it anymore. I’ve adapted to Skill Stick controls and will never look back. If you’ve never played this way, or it’s your first time, you’ll definitely want to get some practice in first just to get yourself acclimated to this control style. It’s completely worth it, and oh so fulfilling when you dangle another player’s pants right off and hit top shelf with a wrister.

Check Out The On-Ice Trainer Options

NHL 19‘s On-Ice Trainer is really useful in helping you remember controls, reminding you of them, or giving you little tips to improve your game. Especially useful within the trainer are the “Shot Aim Targeting” and “Goalie Coverage Grid” settings. The Shot Aim Targeting allows you to see where you’re placing your shot, and gives you a color-coded target so you know if you’re about to take a bad shot or a good shot. A red target tells you you’re shooting right at the goalie, a blue target tells you that your shot has a better chance of going in, and a green target means you’re aiming at an open part of the net. The Goalie Coverage Grid throws in, as the name would suggest, a grid behind the opposing goalie. Dark blue areas of the grid let you know that the goalie has left these areas exposed and has a higher chance of seeing you score a goal.

Hit Practice Mode/Training Camp

You’ve figured out what you feel will be the best control method for you. What’s your next step? You could jump into a game online and get absolutely destroyed, but that would be demoralizing and would instantly have you regretting your purchase. Instead, I suggest heading over to practice mode and jumping into NHL 19‘s Training Camp mode. Here, you’ll get instructions on shooting, passing, defense, faceoffs and deking. After viewing a little tutorial clip for each segment in a given section, you’ll have the opportunity to try and perform what you just watched. This is a good way to get the basics in and get acclimated with all the different types of things you’ll be doing on the ice. The “Learn More” section gives you a break down on some of the aspects of the game of hockey itself, including explanations on the offsides and icing rules, the different types of penalties, and more in-depth lessons on passing and net battles. All in all, you’ll really get a feel for what you can do on the ice by heading here and getting some lessons.

Are there any other tips you think would be useful for new NHL 19 players, or ones that would help out the vets? Drop all your gems in the comments.