NHL 10 (Xbox 360) Review

A BrutalGamer.com review.

So right off the bat I’m just going to be lazy a moment and let EA speak for themselves with the following blurb direct from them:- The NHL franchise that has won 19 sports game of the year awards over the past two years begins a new era with gameplay innovations that promise to deliver a new standard of toughness, the emotion of playoff hockey on the ice and in the arena, and over 200 gameplay refinements that replicate the skill and finesse that every fan sees throughout the NHL playoffs. A new first-person fighting engine enables players to trade punches with an NHL tough guy. Feel what its like to be on the ice in the skates of an NHL player to throw and dodge punches. Grab and tug an opponent’s jersey to land a punch that ignites the fans and sparks your team to victory. Challenge a skill player and an opposing team tough guy will step in to settle the score. On ice toughness and intimidation is taken to a new level in NHL 10 where winning one-on-one battles for possession of the puck along the boards becomes a test of will and skill. Utilizing an all-new board physics engine, players can use their body to shield the puck on the boards and then kick-pass it to teammates. Bigger, stronger players pin opponents to the boards while fanatical fans bang on the glass, just like real life. Fore-check defenders, pressure the puck and finish checks to intimidate your opponent into mistakes. Players fatigue, bobble passes, and avoid collisions under threat of constant physical pressure. Inspire teammates, ignite the fans and change the momentum of a game by instigating scrums, drawing penalties, and mixing it up – all after the referee blows the whistle!

Bold claims huh!  Over 200 refinements… erm… OK.  Rhetoric out of the way  and on to the main event.  NHL 10 has a very hard act to follow.  NHL ’09 was such a leap in refining, not only ice hockey games, but sports games in general.  The effects of NHL ’09 can be felt in every EA Sports product released this year.  So with so much riding on this years NHL entrant, NHL ’10, it is of little surprise that expectations were set too high.  It was going to be impossible for NHL ’10 to make the same stir this year as it did last year.  That said, this game is better than last years in pretty much every way, read on to find out why.

Graphically the NHL games have always been a treat.  When PGA Tour/Tiger Woods was feeling a little rough (ho ho – no?  OK…) or animations were sped up freaky on Fifa the NHL games always looked great.  No difference this year either.  Sure it is pretty bland and repetitive in some ways as ice is ice and a stadium looks roughly similar each time.  This is not really an issue though as the characters are the main focus and each is solid and moves exactly as you would expect.  The close-ups are top notch, really capturing the whole feel and look of the sport.  The only graphical “hitch” happens during these close-ups shots, it just seems to produce an erratic frame rate during these sequences that really jars.  With that said the in animations in game are superb, the best moment so far was when I smacked the puck full pelt at the goal and a defender slide in the way.  The force of the puck took his left skate out and he recoiled and flailed on the ice beautifully.

Sound wise the game nails it.  The sound of skates o nice, the thwack as you slam an opponent into the boards, all recreated perfectly.  The announcers and in match music are also great and this has to have the best use of commentary in any EA game.  The announcers just seems to keep on top of the plays better and even when they are just idly chattering it still adds to the whole atmosphere.  This is another area that excels in NHL 10, the atmosphere.  You really get caught up in the moment.  Feeling each play in the dieing moment of a play-off, hearing the crowd chant, whoop or scream as you break for the goal and get hacked down.  This makes you realise how devoid of atmosphere titles like Madden and Fifa actually are.  The EA Trax selection also seems to be more relevant than others too – I just love taking down an opposing team to the strains of Green Day’s Know Your Enemy.

The big changes this time around are a better passing system, extra goalie animations and a new first-person fighting system.  They also manage to introduce convincing “board-play” (basically that is when you squash your opponent against the surround of the rink and hack the puck away from them.  Not exactly mind blowing I hear you mutter and well, no they are not really.  They each add something to the mix and help elevate NHL 10 to a better game than it’s predecessors.  The main gripe is that nothing earth shattering has changed.  Don’t get me wrong this game is the best Ice Hockey title on the market today.  The fact that little has changed is credit to just how perfectly right EA got NHL 09.  The game has more modes and extras than you can shake a hockey stick at.  You can play as a pro of your own making or an existing NHL star.  You can choose to simulate all your matches or get in there and play.  You can take the game online with the plethora of online options spilling  over from NHL 09 and a 30 team online mode too!

The first person view fighting sequences are well executed borrowing heavily from EA stable mate franchise Fight Night R4.  You can instigate these fights with a simple jab of the Y button when ehar an opponent.  You then go head to head landing blows, dodging and blocking.  It is a milt distraction that really adds very little but is fun to do.  It is an absolute burn when you try and start a fight and your adversary walks away.  The ref blows the whistle, you’re in the sin bin and the commentators are saying things like “Oh he must feel stupid there, he tried to start a fight but his opponent was having none of it.  Oh that has to be embarrassing!” … and it is!  There are slider galore in the menus to allow you to tweak almost any aspect of the game to your skills.  You can get a quiet realistic game of hockey out of this title or just tweak it all down to an arcade game of break and shoot.  I was slightly annoyed by all the “here are better items that help you win the game!  Only 200MSP” kind of things in the in-game shops but this is evident in every EA Sports title now.

Final Thoughts:

NHL 10 is superb, no doubt about it.  Is it better than NHL 09?  Yes, for sure it is.  Is it worth buying?  Hell yes.  It is worth me upgrading from NHL 09?  Ah!  Now you’ve got me.  I would be VERY hard pressed to recommend this to NHL 09 owners unless they are absolute Ice Hockey/NHL fans because so little of significance has been changed.  That said if you are late to the NHL series, a fan of sports games/hockey games or never got around to grabbing NHL 09 I say pick this up and you will not regret the decision for a moment.  My hopes is that EA Sports take a long look at the franchise for next years update and see what else can be honed?  I suggest offensive AI and close up frame rates.

A look at NHL 10 in action

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NHL 10 (Xbox 360) Review

A BrutalGamer.com review. So right off the bat I’m just going to be lazy a moment and let EA speak for themselves with the following blurb direct from them:- The NHL franchise that has won 19 sports game of the year awards over the past two years begins a new…

Posted 04 Nov 2009 | Featured Articles, News, Reviews, Xbox 360, Xbox 360 Reviews | 2 Comments