3 on 3 NHL Arcade (PlayStation 3)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 2.0 stars Mediocre
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 4.0 (2.0 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Brett Todd
• Reviewed on: 02/09/2009
• Released on: 02/05/2009
• Originally published on GameSpot: 3 on 3 NHL Arcade (PlayStation 3) Review

Playing fast-paced pond hockey with bobbleheaded NHL superstars isn't a bad way to kill a few minutes on the couch. If it were an Easter egg buried in a full game like NHL 09, nobody would gripe about 3 on 3 NHL Arcade. But you shouldn't have to pay extra for it. This thrown-together trifle is selling for a 10-spot through the PlayStation Store, which is just outrageous when you consider how little gameplay developer EA is giving you in return.

The title of the game says it all. You play three-on-three hockey (each side actually has three skaters and a goalie) with top stars from today's NHL. All of the action takes place on what looks like a small outdoor rink. You can play solo or with up to five others online or via local multiplayer. Pretty much anything goes once you step onto the ice. There are no referees, no offsides or icings, and not even any face-offs since the puck just gets dropped behind the net after a goal. Goofy arcade action is the main focus here. Skaters race around the ice at Mach speeds, and checks are exaggerated superman slams that send opponents flying through the air. Power-ups further contribute to the comic-book vibe. If you lay down a big-time hit, the falling player pops loose an on-ice goodie that can be claimed by simply skating over it. You can take advantage of these bonuses to shrink the opposition's goalie, to cause one of your players to balloon to a humungous size, to give a player rocket skates, and more.

So as a throwaway add-on to a full-featured hockey game, a mode like 3 on 3 NHL Arcade would be good comic relief. Playing it would be a worthy way to break up a serious playoff run in NHL 09, for instance. And it would be sort of cool to haul it out as a party game when you have some hockey fans over. But there just isn't enough here to warrant the price tag. You get a single mode of play, which pits a made-up red team against a made-up blue team in single-game showdowns to a set number of goals. There is no way to set up a playoff series, whip up a quickie tournament, or anything else along those lines. If you want variety, you have to settle for manually switching up the rosters to see which NHL superstars match up the best with one another.

Not that the current crop of NHL heroes are well represented. There are just 40 NHL players to choose from when setting your rosters, including a measly four goalies. A fair number of big-name players have been dropped in favor of lesser lights, apparently in order to make sure that every team in the league is accounted for. Some of these team reps are questionable. Milan Lucic is the Boston Bruins forward in place of Marc Savard, which makes zero sense, and Nik Antropov is the lone Toronto Maple Leaf instead of more obvious choices like Tomas Kaberle and Jason Blake. Most of the NHL's big guns are present, at least, which lets you load up a team with the likes of Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, and Jarome Iginla. But even then, player names don't matter. There are no player ratings or unique skills; players are simply grouped into strong, fast, and all-around categories. You might as well be playing with a bunch of no-names, because all the players in each category seem interchangeable. Good luck telling the difference between Joe Thornton and Nik Antropov.

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