NHL 10 Review

Every year EA comes out with newer versions of their sport games and each new addition brings along new features. NHL 10 came with over 200 new features and improvements over its predecessor. EA also brought back their online monthly leagues. Now you and your friends can create a club and battle for the championship against hundreds of other teams. Players can also start up their own league and setup all the rules/settings. Like how many players can join the league, penalties, fights, trades and created plays.

Some of the new game modes help to give the series a new feel. Battle for the Cup lets you pick a team and play off in a best of 7 game series to see who will take home the cup. What can really make this interesting is the new options when it comes to injured players. After a short time off the ice, if the injury is bad enough, you will be asked if you want to continue playing them or have him sit out and hope he will be better for a later game. If you choose to play them, you run the risk of making the injury worse and losing the player completely. This feature is an even harder choice when it comes to playing your season games.

One of my biggest complaints with NHL 09 was trying to get the puck off the boards or just in general keeping control of the puck when the cpu was around. It felt like the CPU would always win. NHL 10 offers the option the pin your opponents up against the board and a team mate will head over and try to steal the puck away or If you’re pressed up you can try to kick the puck over to a team mate.

Intimidation is also a new factor that changes the way the computer plays against you. If you’re team has been physical the other team will tend to play defensively and try to keep away from your players as they attempt to cross the blue line. This can also be very annoying if you play over aggressive because it might take the computer forever to find an opening and work passed your defenders. Be careful when checking up against the boards. If you miss your target, the player will smack up against the boards injuring him. I’ve caused minor injuries this way all the way up to my player being over for a few months.

Another major change is the ability to draw penalties and fights after the whistle has been blown. Sometimes if you hit a guy a few times it will get the other team worked up and they will push back. This can work out in your favor where only the other team gets a penalty, both teams might draw a penalty or if both teams have been at it all game there is a high chance of a fight breaking out. This feature is both interesting and a burden. It gives a little more feel to the game since every hockey match has it’s little spats after whistles, but If you are playing online it can really draw out a game with the extra 20 – 30 seconds after each whistle it takes to get to the next face-off.

The fighting engine has been revamped and now sports a first person perspective. The left stick is used for dodging back and forth while the right is used to throw your punches. Winning a fight also impacts your teams’ stamina. Losing a fight normally earns your team an extra bar for each line while winning normally nets you three to four.

Create your Pro has seen a nice little touch. Now you can either choose to be a NHL Pro and play through their career or you can create your own player and you will be sent to play a prospect game where your performance will be noticed by the scouts. A team will pick you up during the draft based on how well you did. My one little quirk with the create a pro mode is no matter how well you play, it seems that every time after the first four games; you will be dropped down to the AHL team, 3rd line, where you will have to work your way back up. I did this four times, one time I was even the first draft pick and after the first four games I was the point leader for the NHL, still dropped.

Be a GM mode lets you create a manager and you will be signed to a three year contract. You must lead your team to greatness, scout new players, perform trades, build a strong staff and create a dynasty that will be known throughout the ages. You are still allowed to play the games in this mode and will be asked the option if you want to play or just sim the match.

I put a lot of hours into NHL 09 and NHL 10 seems to be following pace. Many of the new gameplay mechanics just surprised me and have made me smile in joy when I first saw them. From watching my player toss his hand up to grab a puck and toss it back to the ice, passing off the boards to get around defenders. Then the stunt I never expected to when I was on my first break away, cpu tripped my player, dropped to my knees and still deked out the goalie and scored.