NHL 10: Bringing Madden to the "How to Grow" Training Camp

Available: PS3, Xbox 360, PC, PS2

Game Type: 1-8 Player Sports Simulation

From: EA Vancouver/EA Sports

We all have a fond memory or two about NHL ’94—the bone-crushing hits, the addition of the one-timer, and a plethora of fantastic features. As a hockey player and hockey fan, this is one game that has always been more of an obviously-buy than a must buy. After NHL 2005’s cataclysmic failure, NHL 2006 was revamped and delivered a solid performance, quickly becoming one of those games that I played so much the disc stopped working (to be honest, every NHL game aside from 2005 that came out on Playstation 2 suffered this fate, and I always assumed it was from over playing the game since it worked fine until that time). With the expansion of the right analog deke controls from 2004, the return of the speed burst, and a ton of other features, a new benchmark in sports simulation success was formed.

With the introduction of the next generation platform, Xbox 360 saw the release of NHL 2007, the next step in the franchise, and to this affect it was a fantastic success. The graphics were stellar, the controls were superior to any other iteration, and the aforementioned deking controls were honed to an art. 2008 and 2009 were no better; they made excellent strides in the gameplay, strategy, graphics, etc. Through all the amazing games EA Sports has given us hockey fans over the years, there were still nagging issues that we, as hockey players, could not forgive. Saku Koivu flies down the right boards, goes into the corner, and two guys go behind the net and slam into him; Alex Kovalev comes down on Christobal Huet on a breakaway, totally fakes him out of his skin, and Huet makes Patrick Roy-esque save. Things of this nature, while completely plausible in real life, happened far too often to be realistic.

Let me reiterate: I loved these games. They were excellent in every aspect, and really had very little from which one could degrade their quality. But I was always left wanting more; even the most nitpicking little things. Passing was upgraded from 2008 to 2009, but I still wanted more control over it. Deking was constantly upgraded, but I wanted Kovalev dangle better than Steve Begin. NHL 10 not only fixed a most, if not all of these problems, but it added so many new controls and actual hockey skill that it made even the most devout hockey fan wince.

In terms of graphics, flow of play, and things of this nature, NHL 10 is largely unchanged aside from the obvious upgrade from having a solid 2009 to start building on and a year’s worth of both graphics knowledge and next generation system knowledge. Mixing all these factors into a large pot, all you have is a regurgitated lump of bread dough; what made the game shine were the small things that fans like me have been clamoring for since the mid-PS2 era.

Board play was one of the most noticeable increases to the skill of the game. In NHL 10 you can now pin the opposition to the board, or even assume the position when you see such an attempt coming. From there, a little bumping and grinding ensues, until the defender digs the puck out from the forward's skates, or the offensive player kicks the puck up the board to a teammate. And here’s the best part of this new mechanic: your teammates actually understand what’s going on. Fellow team members swoop and curl into position as if told to do so verbally, something we’ve always hoped would be in the next game.

It’s the AI and tiny details that make this game shine. Shots don’t go top shelf or in the goalies glove, rather they may miss wide or rocket off the post, only to rebound back in front in an awkward fashion to give the alert player another crack. Instead of two outlet passes out of the defensive zone, you can break out by throwing the puck d-to-d a couple times then bank pass it off the boards, hitting the breaking forward for a one on one. Speaking of passing, turning the pass mode on “hardcore” allows for just this practice. In earlier games you only had to hit the pass button and marginally suggest which direction you’d like the puck to go. In hardcore mode, the speed and direction are completely in your hands or on your stick as it is. The hardcore pass mode makes for such a dynamic level of play that you’d swear you were on the ice.

Shooting, as mentioned, has also been completely changed. The right analog-controlled shot is still the default control scheme and the act of shooting is still controlled in a similar fashion, but the mechanics have changed dramatically. It’s almost as if you can feel the weight of the stick as you wind and fire, curl the blade of your stick and snap a shot, or juke to the backhand for that miraculous roofer.

It’s hard to quantify all these small changes, and from a non-hockey-player’s standpoint I could see this game not only looking largely unchanged, but I can also foresee them having a great deal of trouble learning the ropes. In 2009’s Be a Pro mode, players were shown directional arrows in varying length and color signifying where they should be in a given situation. In NHL 10, the arrow is gone, and the responsibility of proper positioning rests squarely on the broad shoulders of your avatar. Again, it’s little things like this that weed out the hacks and make this game truly shine. In order to play against a friend or even the CPU, you need a pretty large base of hockey knowledge: positioning, timing, playmaking ability, etc. Gone are the days of NHL 94 when anybody could pick up a controller, hit A or B and make a sweet play. You know need to play with all the grace of a real hockey game, and let’s face it: that’s what we’re going for with video gaming on a whole.

The only negative thing I can say about this game is the same I’ve said about any of the other years’ titles. After my third or fourth season (82 games plus four best of seven playoff series—let’s face it, I always win the Cup), things get easy again, even on a high level. Also, as much as I praise the passing scheme, it needs to be improved. I love being able to choose my speed, but NHL 2004 had this feature down better. In 10, the max speed isn’t as fast as the default pass scheme. On the default pass scheme, you don’t have the accuracy control like hardcore mode allows. They really need to put the speed of default and the control of hardcore together and you’d have a crisp passing system that would keep my hands glued through the next titles release. Also, after 400+ games, you start to see other bothersome factors like players running into each other when they shouldn’t be near one another. It is, however, still a game, and I suppose these things will occur, specifically after all those games.

Hundreds of additional goaltender movements, improved shooting and passing, graceful skating, and relentless AI makes NHL 10 the golden goose of the sports game-world. Year after year I see Madden changing so little, it saddens me to think that in a sport with so many fans (not to mention such a client base in terms of game sales), that they cannot take that money and do what EA Vancouver does year in and year out: innovate. And that’s the name of the game; innovation. Trust me folks, with a little patience or a background in hockey skill, you’ll be an NHL superstar in no time.

Graphics: Stellar, especially for a sports game. Character models are incredible, you can see the threads of the player’s sweaters, and even the crowd looks good this year, rather than a cardboard cutout attempt like in the past.

Controls: Absolutely top notch. One of my favorite parts of the franchise is the use of L1 as a shift button. The PS3 controller has 14 buttons not including start and select, and using the L1 button as a dedicated shift button essentially gives you 26 buttons (yes my math is right; the loss of L1 as a shift means 13, get it?). I wish more games implemented this idea as it just doubles the controller's functionality. Great idea EA Vancouver.

Story: Obviously as a sports game, there is none in the normal sense. So for sports games, I apply it to the off season, draft, and things of that nature. When this is taken into consideration, it’s great; still not quite what I want though. I really wish there was some off-season training that allowed players to grow or decline in skill depending on your actions. However, the draft is well done this time around, allowing for flops in the first round and the emergence of unknown superstars in the late rounds. Also, the upgrade system is utilized nicely.

Multiple Play: With several game modes, monthly online tournaments where users vie for the EA Cup, and up to 25 seasons in the dynasty or Be a Pro modes, I would be shocked to learn someone with a job runs out of things to do before the release of next year’s game.

Total: 95, A