Video game hockey the way it was meant to be played.
Proving once and for all that your sense of nostalgia isn't always a cruel siren just waiting to lead you astray by steering your emotions into the cliffs of yesteryear, here is the debut trailer for Old Time Hockey; an upcoming arcade-style hockey game that confirms the genre peaked sometime in the mid-nineties.
Old Time Hockey is pretty much exactly what you might imagine it would be based on the game's title. Here, you will find no licensed teams, no painfully accurate franchise modes that require a spreadsheet at the ready, or complicated play calling. The gameplay is designed to resemble such classic hockey titles as NHL '94 and Blades of Steel which featured a simplification of the sport of hockey that made it a near-perfect pick up and play experience.
In the words of the game's executive producer Mike Torillo, "We wanted to almost do everything you can’t do in an NHL game.”
In short, that means goals that catch fire when you're on a hot streak, elaborate celebrations that would give NHL execs a heart attack, more blood on the ice than the human body can technically hold, and even a "Beer Mode" which allows you to play the game with one hand as to better hold your frosty beverage in the other.
The game's most intriguing mode, however, is actually its campaign. Old Time Hockey's story sees you assume the role of the Bush Hockey League's newest player. As a member of the perennial loser Charleston Blues, you will be tasked with turning the team's fortunes around in just 40 games by completing various special tasks. If this all sounds slightly reminiscent of the movie Slap Shot, that's because that classic sports comedy film was the biggest influence on the game's design direction.
Old Time Hockey is so classicly designed that the game doesn't even feature an online mode. As the studio doesn't currently have the budget needed to take this experience online, you will be relegated to sharing a couch with your fellow players in order participate in competitive hockey action.
Even if you don't consider yourself to be a sports game fan, the simple fun of Old Time Hockey may very well prove to be irresistible when the title launches in early 2017 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows PC.
