video game reviews

Z. Godula says:

My son Darius and me play this game about 6 hours a day via Xbox Live. It’s a great way for Darius and me to bond after his mother (my ex-wife) left me for Tom in Accounting. Its funny how woman always are drawn to money and think the grass is greener on the other side. I’m having the last laugh, because although Tom works with money all day, he doesn’t take any of it home! Although I wasn’t laughing when I got home from work early on a Thursday before my night class and caught her getting acquainted with Tom’s slacks. I really like the board play in this year’s game.
Rating: 5 / 5

K. Hartley says:

First the good:

- The game has a lot of really cool features that you begin to notice as you play.

- The players will actually slap the puck out of mid air if able an will even use their stick to bat the puck out of the zone.

- Goaltenders feel more realistic in this game as they often struggle to control rebounds even to control the puck after the save, previous NHL games have always shown the goalie to be AWESOME or GARBAGE.

-The customizing in the game is still awesome

- The computer is still really tough to beat which gives the game a a lot of replay value. This game makes you earn your wins.

- Hitting has once again been improved, gone are the days when Briere could lay out Chara which a bone-crunching hit, now, less powerful players can barely get off a hit, which is the way it really is.

- Backhand passing is weaker now, which also adds to the games realism, because a back-hand pass is difficult to pull off.

- The GM model is AWESOME with TONS of features that really allow you to take control of your organization

- The new style of fighting is pretty cool with first-person use, but it still lacks a little in the fact that you can not move your players anywhere in the rink to fight

- The board play is a nice touch and you actually use it a lot more than you would think.

- Those easy one timer passes are also gone, this game makes you EARN your goals.

Now the bad:

The problems from last year’s game still exist:

- Computer AI Learning is overrated once again, if you score a goal on the one-timer, the computer AI “adjusts” which pretty much just means that your team become complete idiots at completing one timers for a little while compiled with Bill Clement saying “Nice Defensive Adjustments” which the computer AI has nothing to do with it,the passes are just missed, fluked or whatever trick EA has up its sleeves to create and artificial AI adjustment.

- Still no Winter Classic, I thought this one OBVIOUS last year and with so few upgrades this year, you would think that they would add this one in.

- The computer is too perfect in passing and almost NEVER make a mistake or accidental turnover.

- The goalies are still horrible at handling the puck and passing (even superstar puck handlers like Brodeur or Turco SUCK at shooting and passing in the game)

- Your team AI is still a joke. When you crash the zone and go to the right of the net, any peewee hockey player knows to take the other post and hope for that one timer pass, or at least go to the corner/behind the net and get ready to cycle the puck, the computer players on your team are content to simply stand near a defender and wait for the puck to be taken away or picked off.

- Crosby is still WAY overrated in the game, a 94 for a player who is not even the best player on his own team is pretty ridiculous, but I will let this go since he is the poster-child of the NHL.

- Your team is really wimping in the forecheck, if you take the front of the net and allow your teammates to take the puck carrier, they will often give him too much space and when the puck is lose, there is very little effort to get it. If you take the puck, the computer will often decide that it wants it too, creating a two-on-one which opens up a computer player for an easy one-timer goal.

- Saucer passing is still a joke which is too unintuitive and weak to use.

- EA Sports still builds in loopholes which makes you use their new features, if you are up against the board and a computer player is near, do not even bother trying to pass, it will not work regardless of how much you pound the right trigger, EA Sports wants you to use their new board pinning feature, which is a cool feature, but if I can avoid being pinned on the boards, then i should be able to.

- The one timer freeze still exists (which you one time it to another player and he misses the puck, he is frozen stationary for a few seconds) this was an OBVIOUS glitch last year, that EA Sports has chosen to once again not fix.

- STILL NO TRAINING CAMP OR PRESEASON- Come on EA, I want the preseason games too, I want to be able to develop my team and allow my prospect players a chance to make the team

- Still no pre-game warm up. This is a small issue, but I want to be able to have a pre-game warm up to prepare for the game, it adds to the authenticity and the point here to make an authentic hockey simulation.

-STILL NO GOALIE FIGHTS! This is rare, and would only satisfy a true hockey fan to have the goalie drop it, but come on, how cool would it be to have a 6 on 6 brawl.

Other issues:

- EA Sports has really taken a step back in the skating and passing this season. The skating last year was very smooth, this feels very clunky and players seem to have very little power in their strides. Players can not turn very easily and it is almost unenjoyable to move. The passing SUCKS, flat out, when you push the right trigger, there is a brief second of hesitation sometimes which will usually cost you. Back-handed passes are terrible in the game and are usually picked off.

- I understand what EA was trying to do with the after the clock fighting and grabbing, but after a while, it just becomes annoying, especially online.

- The game speed is WAY to slow, this is not an issue if you play by yourself, but becomes an issue online.

Overall:

Overall, I give this game 2 stars because of how EA Sports has chosen to make the skating and passing less smooth and not fix some of the biggest issues from last years games. It is still better than the 2KSports series since 2008 and if they start fixing some of the issues as opposed to ignoring them, this game would be much better. As a true NHL games and hockey fan, you should definately get the game because of updated rosters and features, but expect a downgrade in gameplay from NHL09 .
Rating: 2 / 5

Travis Urban says:

The few issues I had with 09 have been fixed and they added a couple of new and exciting things to the game. It is intense every minute of gameplay, just as is hockey in real life! The only thing they could work on is the Xbox Live pairing…I sometimes see several thousand people are online but I can’t find a game (I admit this is not every day, however). I rarely went a day without playing 09 and I can foresee another EA NHL-filled year! Do yourself a favor and join me!
Rating: 5 / 5