“NHL 11's” Be a GM mode mimics the real league better than ever before.

In the NHL’s current salary cap era, building a Cup contender requires more diligence than simply poaching big-ticket free agents in the offseason and drafting a blue chip blue liner. Money is tight, so savvy general managers must make shrewd draft day selections, toy with restricted free agency, buy out overpaid players on the tail end of their careers, and know the right time to call up a young prospect. Past “NHL” games only captured the basics of the team building, but with the addition of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) license and a new free agency system that accounts for unrestricted and restricted players, “NHL 11’s” Be a GM mode comes closer to mimicking the real league than ever before.

With most of the amateur league players now in the game, Be a GM gives you control over the fate of all the prospects in your farm system. Though the game lacks NCAA and KHL players, most every other prospect is right where he’s supposed to be. NHL teams draft players at a young age, so only the top draft picks land on NHL rosters out of the gate. But through several years of simming seasons I saw both first round picks and late round gems blossom into pro skaters.

Managing the farm system makes for a fun offseason, but your peers could use some advice. Though the GMs don’t swap star players with abandon anymore, they sometimes let highly touted first-rounders like Alexander Burmistrov escape into free agency, bury vets like Chris Drury in the minors, and send mixed signals during trades. One team proposed a trade but then rejected it when I agreed to the terms. Another rejected a fair trade for the obtuse reason of having an “athletic surplus.” The new 10-player swaps further demonstrate the broken trade logic guiding CPU GMs; one team asked for both of my NHL goalies for a trio of fourth-line caliber defenders and a throwaway pick. Sure buddy, where do I sign?

No sports game has innovated more on the gameplay front this generation than NHL, and this steady progress continues with the new physics-based animation system. Checks now look different depending on whether your defender is in position for a crushing hit or only able to chip a puck carrier as he skates by. The introduction of broken sticks and a new face-off system also helps “NHL 11” improve its game, and EA Canada has tweaked the AI to cut off the back door goal exploit and vary the angles goalies take. Scoring is loosened a bit, particularly in the slot, but most games are still low scoring affairs on higher difficulties.

The game is also starting to show signs of aging. As with the past few NHL games, it’s easy to dictate the pace of the game, keep control of the puck, and limit the number of scoring chances for your AI opponent. That said, the games are still tight because opponents shoot an uncharacteristically high percentage.

If you’re an EA Sports Hockey League player, the biggest improvement over past years is the option to practice with your club. Rather than risk your spot in the standings to try out a new player or implement a new strategy, you can now do it within the safety of your own rink. EA also cleaned up the interface to make it easier to interact with your club and find games.

‘NHL 11’

9 (out of 10)

PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

EA Sports, EA Canada

ESRB rating: E10+

New game releases

The following titles were scheduled for release the week of Sept. 12:

• “Halo: Reach” (X360)

• “Horse Life Adventures” (Wii, DS)

• “Brunswick Pro Bowling” (PS3)

• “Ferrari: The Race Experience” (PS3)

• “Sonic Adventure” (X360)

• “Flight Control HD” (PS3)

• “House M.D.” (DS, PC)

• “Gormiti: The Lords of Nature!” (DS, Wii)

• “Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole” (Wii, PS3, X360)

• “Cabela’s North American Adventures” (PSP, PS2, PS3, X360)

• “Truth or Lies” (PS3, X360)

• “Deer Drive” (DS)

• “Alpha and Omega” (DS)

• “Intellivision Lives!” (DS)

• “The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest” (DS, PS2, PSP, Wii)

• “Gladiator Begins” (PSP)

• “Phantasy Star Portable 2” (PSP)

• “Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s: Duel Transer” (Wii)

• “Racquet Sports” (PS3)

• “Dragon’s Lair Trilogy” (Wii)

• “Swords” (Wii)

— Gamespot.com

Top 10

ON THE XBOX 360

The editors of Game Informer Magazine rank the top 10 Xbox 360 games for September:

1. “Halo: Reach,” Microsoft Game Studios

2. “Mafia II,” 2K Games

3. “NHL 11,” EA Sports

4. “Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light,” Square Enix

5. “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World,” Ubisoft

6. “Madden NFL 11,” EA Sports

7. “Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions,” Activision

8. “Shank,” Electronic Arts

9. “Limbo,” Playdead

10. “Singularity,” Activision

— McClatchy-Tribune News Service

Weekly download

‘Dead Rising 2: Case Zero’

For: Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Marketplace

From: Blue Castle Games/Capcom

ESRB Rating: M for mature

Price: $5

Capcom has positioned “Dead Rising 2: Case Zero” as a piece of purchasable marketing that doubles as a prequel to the upcoming “Dead Rising 2.” But for those who got excited about the original “Dead Rising” but hated how Capcom laid it out back in 2006, “Zero” might accidentally serve as a cheap reminder not to make the same mistake twice. Like “Rising,” “Zero” is a third person zombie-slaying simulator, and while the scope here isn’t as large as it was then or will be in “DR2” proper, the game still lets players massacre schools of zombies with just about any object not bolted to the ground in a pretty spacious open world.

“Zero” uses assets from the upcoming game, and in addition to introducing players to main character Chuck in a short storyline set three years prior, it also introduces players to Chuck’s ability to combine two weapons into a third, thoroughly ridiculous weapon. But “Zero” also reintroduces players to “Rising’s” unique structure, which places hard time limits on every objective in the game and stacks them in a way that forces players to forgo certain missions in order to complete others.

— Billy O’Keefe, McClatchy-Tribune News Service