Customer Reviews

NHL 10

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

EA has really been stepping it up the last couple of years. They've created some great new original IP's like Dead Space, Army of Two, and the upcoming Dante's Inferno, but their crown jewel of late has been their NHL franchise. NHL 09 was a near perfect hockey simulation, but let it be stated that NHL 10 is not just a carbon copy of last years award winner, it is an improvment in almost ever aspect. From gameplay to controls, everything in NHL 10 has been polishd and tweeked to perfection. This is truly the best hockey game ever made. Period.

New Features:

Board Play - An integral part of hockey, board play is a fantastic new feature that adds both realism and strategy to the action. It also gives the game a more real, less arcade like pace.

Puck Physics - Basically, the puck movement is unpredictable, like it is in real life. Pucks will deflect of everything, hop over sticks, and flutter more as the ice gets choppy near the end of every period.

Post Whistle Skirmishes - Once the whistle blows a play dead, you can facewash, intimidate, slash and instigate a fight with the other teams players. You can use this to get retaliation penalties as well.

1st Person Fighting - Fighting has been refined, and you now feel and see every blow and jab. Not to mention fights are now meaningful and contain strategy which you can use as momentum during the rest of the game.

Crowd Look and Animation - The crowd reacts to each play, and goal accordingly. They boo players they don't like, they chant, they wave towels. The crowd actually feels organic for the first time, and their addition only adds to the realistic atmosphere.

Goalie/Player Animations - Goalies react better to pucks, they have more stylized saves that are fitting to the individual, and they seem unpredictable in their movement. Players also feel like they have actually weight, and there are a lot less unrealistic hits then before. You can also pass/shoot on your knees!

There are a lot more small refinements to the game that need to be seen to be believed. What really makes NHL 10 stand out is the attention to detail. It isn't perfect, but it's closer than last years, and is the closest any sports game has ever gotten to creating a sports simulation that lives and breathes with every movement you control. If you own NHL 09 sell it and get 10, you won't regret it.

I love the NHL series and I loved this game for a while. But then the problems started adding up. Saved files get corrupted wasting hours upon endless hours of game play building your franchise or player. Games also freeze in the middle of playing or while loading. Look up the problems. People are having them and until EA comes up with a patch for this game DO NOT buy this game. It pains me to write this review because I really hope they continue improving this series and make it better.

I haven't played the NHL series since NHL 04 for the PC, and I'm sorry I've been away from it for so long. This game is excellent and the addition of board play and the new controls (new for someone who hasn't played an updated version in 6 years) are very easy to learn and master. I downloaded and installed the software update from EA the first time I played and I have not experienced any of the issues that other reviewers have reported. Buy with confidence.

When NHL 10 works, it's a lot of fun. The players move well, the control in passing and shooting is fairly precise, and the computer opponent AI is better than it was. But, even after just a couple weeks of playing it, several problems present themselves on a regular basis. Which is a bummer, because you'd think for $60 you would have to do a lot of deep gameplay to uncover something problematic. Not so. First, the freezing. I'm trying to detect a pattern or what triggers it. Not sure yet. But suddenly the camera will move off of the action and the whole game freezes. Restart. In Be A Pro mode, playing as a user-created defenseman, some line changes (toward the end of the period, seemingly) trigger a Keystone Cops-like glitch that makes your guy jump onto the bench while his replacement jumps onto the ice. And then they repeat. And repeat. And repeat. The only way they stop is if there's a stoppage in play. So you can go a large chunk of a period essentially short-handed. Sometimes, when the line change works, your player will reappear on-ice--but you can't control him. The CPU takes over for you until the next stoppage. I find it a little shocking that EA would ship this game as it is. I am by no means a hardcore gamer, but if I can unearth these by playing just an hour or two each night, who knows what's lurking deeper in the game? Come on EA, fix these (and other) issues. And please make sure FIFA doesn't make us suffer as NHL does.

NHL10 has a lot of strong points, but its flaws keep it from being a truly enjoyable game. Just like last year, my review will focus mostly on the game play. I haven't given the EA Sports Hockey League a shot yet. But I feel that the responsiveness of the controls and realism of the game play are the foundation of the game. If they suck, the rest of the game will suck because eventually it all comes down to playing some hockey.

Before getting into an online versus/shootout match, you must navigate through the menu. My only gripe here is that I seem to be the home team about 10% of the time. I don't understand what I'm doing wrong, but it's just another inexplicable frustration this game presents.

In the game, there are some changes for the better from NHL 09. Slapshots aren't completely pointless. Deflections are rare and won't be part of your attack repertoire. But rebounds from slapshots are a good way to score. The other basic scoring technique is the cross-ice one-timer. Bust down the wing, center it to another forward on the other side, and slam it into the net. Other than that, good luck finding a "high percentage" strategy. Wrist/snap shots from the slot are WAY less effective than they should be. In the NHL, that is prime scoring territory. In NHL10, you just won't be scoring with wrist shots from in tight in the slot and very rarely with snap shots. In my opinion, that's unforgivable. Instead of working for a good chance from the slot, you'll see people try to cheese with wrap-arounds over and over, or the endless cross-ice one timers.

Poke checking and stick lifting is still in the game. Unfortunately, the game seems to randomly choose when your defensive maneuver produces a penalty. As a defender, you can be in perfect position facing the shooter and in between the puck and the goalie. If you then poke check, there is a decent chance you will chop the feet out from under the attacking player. What's worse, is that your computer teammates will whack away at the opposition team and take *stupid* penalties. This is very frustrating.

After every whistle, there is 10-20 seconds of pointless slashing and cross-checking. It doesn't add to the intensity of the game because your guys just absorb the endless hits like bobble-head dolls. You can pound away on on the other team right in front of a ref and there will rarely be a penalty. More than anything, it's just annoying to have to wait between whistles while the computer players beat on each other.

Board play adds more realism to the game. However, there is an *extremely* annoying exploit that people can use. If you beat a defender wide, and you are near the boards, he can hit triangle and "suck in" your player into the boards even though you were past the defender. It's very cheap and makes you wonder what the EA developers were thinking. It's very unnatural looking to see a forward with the puck and a clear path to the net get pulled into the board by some magnetic force from behind. It looks like they're caught in a tractor beam. Of course, there's no penalty for it either.

Another source of frustration is the way your computer teammates behave when you have the puck. Say you're carrying through the neutral zone, approaching the other team's blue line. Very often, your teammates will start skating into you! They'll block you entirely, preventing you from crossing into the offensive zone. This happens also when you're waiting for your cpu teammates to clear the zone so you can go back in. They'll create a giant cluster right in front of you, leaving you no way of simply skating into the zone.

Another carryover from last year is the way you will accidentally cross check the other team's players when you're trying to one-time or swat at a loose puck. Unfortunately, the game thinks you would rather push someone down from behind rather than try to score just because the puck isn't right in front of you. I don't know why EA can't make the players a little bit smarter in this respect.

A minor complaint is how dumb you computer teammates can be on special teams. If you are on the power play, but lose the face off, the shorthanded team can play keep away. If you pursue the puck carrier, your teammates will follow you in the same direction, giving the defender plenty of room to skate away. Of course this is not realistic, the PK team never controls play for very long against the PP.

This game is striving for realism. There's no turbo burst. Hitting is difficult, and leveling an opposing player is damn near impossible if the other player is any good. But the above mentioned flaws in the game leave me frustrated more than anything else. In my opinion, this game isn't really an improvement over NHL09 that's worth $60.

This was the first game i got for my PS3 and the only game i have thus far, and i play it all the time! If you are a hockey fan, you better get this game. The graphics are top notch, the players actually look like the real players. The crowd is intense, they chant throughout the game...It feels like you are at the game. When you get to the playoffs, the fans have towels waving them and chanting "Go Home"....."MVP"....Its so realistic.....They even have the Stanley Cup Playoffs logo on the ice as well....GO BUY THIS GAME....GREAT HOCKEY GAME.

Ok I'll admit when this game first came out it froze all the time. Now nearly 2 months later it never freezes at all. The updates worked miracles and EA deserves credit. It did something Fallout 3 couldn't. Fix the freeze problem.

Now with that out of the way I can review the actual game. First the new GM mode is awesome. Being able to buy out players and not have to have a minimum player count during the off season is great. You can truly build your team like a GM. The Be a Pro Mode is the same for last year expect I noticed you don't have to have crazy stats every game to get your A+ Rating. Before as a center you would need 3 Goals a game to stay in the top line. Its a lot more realistic this year with what stats its expects from you player.

As for the new game play, the Fighting engine is awesome and tons of fun. Board play becomes tedious at times but so is it in real life. All in all this game is a huge step forward over last year. Now that the updates fixed the glitches this is a must buy. But I do agree with the first reviewers that the freezes at the time of release made the game unplayable. Be happy they did something to fix it. NHL better then Madden 3rd year in a row.

Disclaimer: Unfortunately I didn't get to play NHL 09 and so while reviewing this game, the most recent NHL title that I can compare it to is 08. I understand that a number of things have changed between 08 and 09, while improvements from 09-10 were relatively minor.

OK, now on to the review:

Pros: Great graphics, excellent presentation, very nice player movement and physics, straightforward menus, very addicting and improved "be the pro mode", improved AI that is ever tougher to beat, improved goalie physics and movement.

Cons: Occasional frame rate slow down, very slow simulation of time in the calendar mode (no idea why), shallow and crappy commentary (I couldn't take it and turned it off after 4-5 games), EA still doesn't allow customization of controls (I find this most irritating), player customization could use a little bit more depth and finally, from my understanding, if you played NHL 09, you may not find enough improvement here to warrant the $57 price tag (although since I have not played 09, I cannot attest to this personally).

Overall: The aforementioned annoyances aside, this game still achieves a really high level of polish. Having played real ice-hockey in my life, I really felt like this title did a very good job at capturing the essence of the game through player physics, movement and just general gameplay. I consider these words high praise because not many NHL installments in the years past were able to do that successfully. In conclusion - despite the fact that I lost appeal in EA Sports' NHL games and have not played them for a few years, I found that this latest installment really re-invigorated my interest in the series once again.

Its been a long time since I've given a 5 star review on Amazon but NHL 10 takes the cake. As a "used-to-be-huge" hockey fan, I know enough about the sport to understand that hockey is more about defence than offence. Up until NHL 10, it has been very difficult for either EA Sports or 2kSports to get that right, with most matches turning into a shooting, hat-trick frenzy. Goalies would have abysmal save percentages and post puck play usually turned into a blood bath of checking. Those days are gone, atleast with the correct slider settings.

NHL 10 allows you to fully customize your on ice experience and while it may take you a few games to get the sliders just right, when you get there it is 100% worth it! Never have I had such a realistic hockey experience, with shots on goal and faceoffs resembling the real thing. Charging the net is exhilarating because the defence will actually use proper techniques to "bump" the puck or lift the stick instead of just following you in like mindless drones or falling down on the ice in a desperate attempt to block shots (although the latter does still exist, in true hockey form). Likewise, playing defence is very interesting and getting pushed back into your zone, especially on PKs can become a desperate battle to keep the puck out of the net.

Most aspects of NHL 10 are pretty much right on. Your team will have a nice intro into each game with Gary and Bill giving entertaining commentary throughout (this is actually some of the best commentary I've ever heard in any sports game). Good players get good attention, as they should, with interesting audio factoids throughout games in typical EA fashion. The only thing that is missing are milestone announcements in season games, which is a strange omission because almost every other thing was covered. Visuals are quite stunning and while they are not photo realistic, you can still pick out "Sid the Kids" baby face from a mile away. One thing that floored me was the attention to atmosphere, something that EA's Madden team has completely given up on. Tired of seeing 2D cardboard cutouts for fans and sideline players? So am I, and your not going to in NHL 10. The fans look just as good as the players. They move and act in surprisingly realistic fashion, even banging on the glass during board play or a big hit.

Speaking of which board play is a great new feature to the series, essentially locking players up against the boards with the puck getting kicked around. Although there are some strange quirks to how this works, overall it adds an interesting aspect to playing the puck, one thats never been seen in hockey games of the past.

The sound is very good. Pucks wrapping around the boards have that "plexiglass rattle" to them, big hits can be heard in the boards, and the stadiums all have signature goal horns. You can hear players on the bench yelling line changes and other suttle atmosphereic sound.

Your first few games will be a pause-fest to check the game manual as the learning curve for player control is a bit steep - but it is worth it, and once you get the hang of the controls you will feel very capable on the ice (you can also switch the controls to a simplified NHL 94 setting, but this eliminates alot of the necessary controls.

In "Be a GM" mode you will control everything from your AHL minor team to player training and progress. Team reports show how other teams stack up against you and player scouting will give you an advantage is the next years draft picks. There are many other aspects which you will have to discover on your own (yes, multiplayer is amazing).

Overall I am entirely happy with this purchase. EA Sports really did it right with NHL 10 and I hope they can continue this amazing trend with future titles.

I hadn't played an NHL game since NHL 99.
Still Tons of Fun.
Now to figure out how to win those fights I keep picking...