NHL 2K10 Review

I absolutely loved NHL 2K9 (last year's release). Even though it had its quirks, I played well over a thousand games online and got more than my money's worth out of it. Please keep in mind that I only play online. I have never played another game for even a tenth of the time I spent playing NHL 2K9 this past year. The gameplay felt crisp, accurate and intuitive. So obviously, I could not wait for 2K10 to come out so I can get it going again since things had become slow on 2K9 once the NHL season ended. Got it the day it was released. Came home, popped it in... "WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?!?!"

First the MENUS. I know most of you are thinking, "Who cares about the Menus?", but these menus just plain stink. You would agree if you saw and had to use them! In 2K9 you had nice, clean menus that were easy to navigate and made sense. In 2K10, the menus are horrendous! 9 square blocks (think Brady Bunch intro) where you're on the middle block by default and have to press and HOLD a direction on the gamepad before pressing A to select one of the outer blocks. Let go of the direction before pressing A and you end up selecting the middle block. This can be very annoying, especially when you accidently enter the wrong menu item more than just a couple of times. Also, there is no longer an "Online Screen" (Team 2K Screen) where you saw the weekly rankings and past Team 2K winners. The weekly rankings alone made the game so much fun to play week after week and compete for a spot each week, all year long. They don't have weekly rankings anymore, got rid of them completely! The overall leaderboard is hidden somewhere in one of the "Extras" block. 2K Sports, if you're reading this, PLEASE bring back the weekly rankings for next year! And fix your servers so, unlike last year, they always work properly!

GAMEPLAY. Again 2K9's gameplay wasn't perfect but overall it was very good. Before getting to the cons for 2K10, let me say that there are a few improvements. First is you get to choose whether you want to initiate a fight which eliminates a lot of time wasting senseless fights (I've had 8 in one game!) that become redundant and boring. Second, the goalie is much more active and quite a bit better at stopping the infamous cross-crease cheese move from last year. Also, the physics of the player movements seem more realistic but sometimes it puts too much emphasis on them causing unnatural movement as well. Now let me get to the flaws. 2K10 gameplay feels SLOW, sluggish, and inexact. If you liked 2K9, you will probably notice this as well. There are numerous things that seem worst than last year but I will only discuss a couple that really hurt this game. One of the MOST annoying things, your opponent can poke check you from directly behind you and his stick will go right through your legs EVERYTIME, causing you to lose the puck without your player ever tripping, so no penalty for your opponent. I've played about 10 games online so far and people have already caught on to this. Very frustrating and annoying! Last year this would have caused your player to trip, the other player gets penalized, discouraging your opponent from repeating it. Another flaw is the fact that when your opponent has the puck and is coming fast towards your end, your defender(s) automatically start skating backwards up from around the blue line which is fine, BUT they don't come out of it even when you pick them and want to keep up with the opposing player! Your opponent will be able to zoom right by you as you are stuck, slowly skating backwards. This will very often create an instant fastbreak for your opponent and if it's with a player like Ovechkin, Crosby, Hossa, etc., forget about it, they will score 90% of the time if they know what they're doing. I can go on and on about things like this that really hurt this game but it would take way too long. Also, I think they didn't release a demo on XBox Live for 2K10 because the developers knew their product was lacking, even compared to last year, and it would have only discouraged gamers from purchasing the actual game!

GRAPHICS. Graphics seem pretty good especially during replays, as they did last year. However, if you've played a hockey game, you know that during an actual game you set your view to a zoom level far enough to see a good area of the ice which makes the players too small to notice all the nitty gritty details during an actual game anyway. Overall, the graphics seem good.

I would rate last year's 2K9 a solid 4/5. I rate 2K10 a very well-deserving 2/5. The game seems to have evolved for the better is very few areas but for the most part, they have gone backwards. If you're thinking of buying it, rent or play a friend's copy before purchasing. Unfortunately, in my opinion, 2K10 was truly a disappointment and I'll be selling my copy off today, just one day after it was released and purchased. Here's to hoping 2k11 will be better and release a demo next time!

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Product Description:
2K Sports NHL 2K10 redefinesthe sports gaming experience with a new emphasis on social gaming. Whetheryou're a die-hard NHL fan or a casual player, NHL 2K10's combinationof pick-up-and-play controls ensuring accessibility, the game's true-to-lifeprofessional hockey authenticity and its variety of on and off-line multiplayermodes promise hours of entertainment for every gamer, regardless of experiencelevel.

Face off in a whole new game.
Viewlarger. Key Game Features

Rewritten AI, enhanced defensive controls and stick lifts, stumble shots, a new defensive skating model and new incidental contact and small animation systems.
Rink intros for each arena, improved goal celebrations, enhanced visuals, and greatly improved, true-to-life character models, with San Jose Sharks commentators Randy Hahn and Drew Remenda returning with new broadcast commentary.
NHL 2K10 features a contract/free agency system, improved roster management, an updated financial model, dynamic player progression, and fantasy drafts.
Play a franchise season game with or against a friend on- or off-line,or play a traditional game against the CPU.
Publish your franchise stats and standings, and upload game highlights and screenshots to your personal page at 2KSports.com.
Online integration connects players in Team Up games, tracks your progress with My Player Card, and offers full league, leaderboard, tournament and 2K Share support.
Create a persistent team with friends by designing your uniforms,developing a unique team identity, and then competing against othercreated teams online, off-line and in Franchise Mode.
Online game support and additional features via Xbox LIVE.

Additional Screenshots:

Online support.
Viewlarger.

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