EA’S NHL10 – Hockey at its Best
Friday, May 7th, 2010EA’s and 2K’s friendly competition generated an enormous amount of quality, craftsmanship and creativity in the genre of sports game, showing more evidence elsewhere than the virtual ice hockey rink. This year, each company integrated a different approach with its games – EA added first-person combat and the Board Play 2K while 2K integrated stumble shots and regular season online integration. It is clear however that the development team behind EA’s NHL10 love hockey, as seen in their products in the previous year and after.
If you still have doubts about buying NHL10, let me tell you some things about what to expect from this game. NHL10 has extra goalie animations and an improved passing, let alone first-person fighting and board playing features. You can even go directly to the Stanley Cup playoffs, but the general rationale for the purchase of NHL10 lies in its board playing features.
In a real game, a defender can try to stop an offensive rush by nailing down the offensive player against the boards. The board play feature adds that sensitivity to the flow of the game; players take a good change of pace from regular 60-minute across the rink. The board play feature was something the players never felt they were missing until it was added to NHL10 EA. The board play feature gives defensive players the opportunity to stop an offensive attack in the area and give more options on offense to play the puck behind the net.
Another new gameplay addition is called the Game Styles, which garners its debut this year and should not be confused with the difficulty game options. The options CASUAL, DEFAULT, NORMAL and HARDCORE add a different feel and speed of the game, just like messing with the body weight of the ice. Players are slower and harder to pucks with the HARDCORE settings, while the CASUAL settings feel like an arcade game where the pucks are magnetized to the stick and gives out easier passes.
Be a PRO or Be a GM, along with 6 on 6 online play are just some of the features returned from NHL10. While EA could have done a little more in the presentation department, the team introductions and the play by play feature remain apparently unchanged at all.
If fans thought the NHL NHL09 was an explosion of everything hockey, then they’ll love NHL10. NHL10 gives both extreme hockey fans and the hockey uninitiated newbie close to the authentic experience in ice hockey. This is one game worth picking for Xbox360.
Seeking for the latest game for Xbox? You can learn more in Best Xbox 360 Sports Games and we suggest NHL 10.
