NHL 10

 + Same great gameplay from 09 improved
+ Season and Be A Pro modes improved
+ Still the best sports game around

- Improvements are very minor
- Visuals are exactly the same

NHL 09 was the best sports game last year and NHL 10 looks to build on that enormous success. The series continues to progress but year after year the improvements are less and less visible.

The biggest addon and the most promoted one is first person fighting. I don't like it. It's confusing, takes more time to learn and doesn't really add much to the gameplay and atmosphere. I would have rather seen the old fighting system developed further since the new one still isn't an essential part of the gameplay.

The first thing you'll notice the passing system. This year's game resembles the FIFA series, where the pass will go in the pointed direction regardless if there's anyone or not. In my opinion the system is great and addes a lot of possibilites to bounce the puck off the boards, dump it calmly into the corners and send skaters off to breakaways. The only downside is that this system makes the saucer pass obsolete, I haven't use it once since it doesn't work as well as just passing to a direction.

Another noticable addition is board play and this year's game makes it a bigger part of the game that it has ever been in a hockey game. While people might have different opinions about this feature, to me as a hockey fanatic and casual player myself it adds a dimension to hockey games that cannot be removed after this. Dumping the puck into the corners finally has become an effective offensive strategy since battling for the puck with several players often generates unpredictable and realistic scoring situations that haven't been there in NHL games.

In this year's game you can also cause some hassle after whistles and while this is clearly designed to start fights, I use it mostly to get into the opponents face to cause penalties. You can for examples try to poke the goaltender which causes defenders to come and hit you. The penalties called here are more random than those happening during actual gameplay, but it adds to the overall experience.

The core gameplay itself is identical to NHL 09. The checking has been toned downed even more causing timing and positioning to be essential to be successful in the defensive end. Mastering all defensive controls is vital, not just the stick lift (which also has been toned down, thank you EA). Overall the gameplay feels more realistic and natural, thanks to a more logical penalty system. Penalty shots also occur where they should, so slashing on a breakaway will be punished. This year players won't miss easy shots either so luck isn't as big factor this year. Goalies are much more intelligent this year and the number of "funny plays" (NHL 09 players know what I mean) occur much less. The puck also acts a lot more realitically spinning in the air and bouncing randomly off the glass like it should.

Be A Pro mode has received small updates, nothing special to break down except the hockey store. Here you can buy equipment to boost your player's attributes, but in my opinion this feature isn't as good as it should be. All the boost-equipment is stupid stuff like tribal-patterned helmets and flameskates. It would have been much better to have "normal", let's say Bauer sticks and skates to be tuned instead of the generic stuff. Creating a player also isn't as deep as we've seen in other games, you still can't modify those readymade faces.

Dynasty mode has been replaced by Be A GM mode which is essentialy the same. The are a couple of new additions like a cell phone and GM objectives but overall it's pretty much the same. Still no player chemistry or real development.

Visually this year's game is identical to NHL 09. There are new animations and the crowd is a little bit improved but the player models and faces are the same. About 50% the player faces are still generic and I can't understand why EA still goes with it. There is still no player specific signature moves. The game looks good overall but I would have wanted a little bit more. The graphics engine is essentialy same as in previous games all the way back to NHL 07.

Audio is great. Commentary is the same as last year with some added lines. Overall atmosphere has been worked on and 5.1 systems enhance the experience even more.

NHL 10 is a great game and a must for hockey gamers. It's more balanced, more realistic and more fun. Still, the full price tag is a bit too much asked since there isn't anything new except improvements here and there. It's a good improvement gameplay-wise from 09, but not as big as from 08 to 09.