NHL 2K10 Review (Xbox 360)

It’s hard to believe that it has been nearly 10 years since NHL 2K debuted on the Dreamcast, but nonetheless here we are, celebrating the 10th anniversary of a series that, at various times in its history, has been considered the finest hockey videogame available on consoles. While many will argue the 2K series peaked around NHL 2K7, or perhaps as early as NHL 2K3, 2K Sports and developer Visual Concepts are nevertheless here with their latest hockey offering, NHL 2K10.

Is this the game that puts the 2K series back on the top of the hockey videogame mountain? Maybe not, but if nothing else, it represents an interesting alternative for those looking for a fresh take on the sport.

Gameplay

There are two ways to look at the NHL 2K10 gameplay, and the way you approach it will likely depend on whether or not you’re the sort of gamer who minds tweaking sliders. Out of the box, there are some gameplay nuances that detract from the overall quality of the product -- assuming you’re looking for simulation hockey.

For instance, the default player speed and acceleration both seem off, particularly on some of the lower difficulty levels. Meanwhile, the speed burst seems exaggerated, leading to a situation where, if you don’t use the speed burst, most players take too long to get up to speed -- even at top speed, most players don’t feel as though they’re moving fast enough. The speed burst helps to address this, but on the default settings (particularly on anything below the Hall of Fame difficulty level), the duration and effect of the speed burst is too great. You can take a player, hold down speed burst and skate the entire length of the ice.

To some this might be fine, and there are obviously different schools of thought on whether speed bursts should be used at all in sports games, but I don’t have a problem with them in principle. I just happen to think that a speed burst should be a very brief burst players use to gain separation or chase down a loose puck, not something you hold down perpetually just to get any sense of speed.

There are some other areas where the default settings seem a little off, such as shot speed. Whether flicking a quick wrist shot or hammering a slap shot from the point, almost every shot in 2K10 travels at warp speed. This leads to situations where players score on quick snapshots or even backhands that they have no business scoring on. It also creates the sensation that the puck has no weight to it.

Passing speed seems more realistic out of the box, but unless you’re playing on Hall of Fame, most of the passes are far too accurate. It’s not that NHL players completely miss on their passes very often, but there should at least be instances where players have to make adjustments to handle the pass. On the default settings, far too many of 2K10’s passes are of the tape-to-tape variety.

Another area where the default gameplay needs some work is in the checking department. I saw far too many thunderous hits on default, and even on the Hall of Fame level. Every player seems to have the checking ability of Scott Stevens, and the type of check you might see once every couple of games in real life happens two or three times a period in this game. And while there are many body checks, there is not much board play to speak of. Ditto for play in the neutral zone, where it’s far too easy to weave your way into your opponent’s zone.

It’s a shame that the game doesn’t play better out of the box because many people aren’t going to get past that initial impression. For those who do, however, 2K10 has a lot to offer. Of all the gameplay oddities I’ve mentioned on the default settings, most -- if not all of them -- can be fixed or assuaged via slider adjustments.

The player speed and acceleration can be adjusted, the speed burst can be tweaked to your liking (or turned off altogether), the shot power can be lessened, the checking can be toned down and the passing accuracy can be reduced. And while I haven’t come up with a perfect recipe yet, I’m optimistic even some of the AI deficiencies can be addressed via sliders.

From a controls perspective, there are multiple control schemes available, so whether you prefer using the face buttons or the right stick, you should be comfortable. It’s worth noting, however, that there are instances where you’ll feel like you’re fighting the controls. This seems to stem from animations that simply have to play out before the game will let you do anything else. You only lose control for a split second, but in a fast sport like hockey, losing control for even a split second can be frustrating.

One final gameplay note that deserves to be mentioned relates to the faceoffs. NHL 2K10 features some of the best faceoffs I’ve seen in a videogame. Not only do you have the option to tie up your opponent or jostle for the puck -- in addition to the traditional swipe move -- there’s also the added bonus that not every faceoff is cleanly won back to a teammate. This may not seem like a big deal, but when you’re faced with a faceoff deep in your zone during a late-game situation, having to actually battle for a faceoff really contributes to a more realistic flow and creates some genuine tension.

The arena's and player models are both pretty darned good, perhaps the best around.

Presentation

As with the sound, 2K10’s presentation is a bit of a mixed bag. The arena intros look nice and they do a decent job setting the tone for the game. You’re also treated to a reasonably informative and entertaining statistical summary and highlight package between periods. And perhaps the nicest touch is the picture-in-picture feature employed at various times during the gameplay to draw your attention to things like on-the-fly line changes, injuries and when the opposition is pulling the goalie. It’s a small thing, but it really contributes to the broadcast feel of the game.

On the other hand, there are several areas where the presentation is not up to snuff. Let’s start with the general lack of on-screen graphics and statistical overlays, particularly prior to the opening faceoff. It would be nice to see things like line combinations, goalie records, notable players and other information common to most hockey broadcasts in the early moments of a game. It’s also baffling that the overlays displayed after a goal is scored fail to show who assisted on the goal. Finally, the end-of-game presentation is quite lackluster. You get the same sort of highlight package as you do between periods, but it doesn’t single out any turning points or key plays throughout the game. Instead, you simply get replays of the goals and big plays, which is fine except that they’ve essentially stripped away the entire context from each play.

In addition, the game’s three-star presentation is bizarre. Instead of having each star do the customary wave to the fans, what you get is a highlight package with all of the crowd noise stripped away -- as though each play happened in some sort of void, which is very strange.