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For hockey fans September is a huge month. NHL training camps open, the NHL pre-season begins and for video gamers EA Sports NHL franchise gets a new release. NHL 10 features Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane on the cover and includes a bunch of new gameplay features & new game modes.

Last year’s NHL 09 was so revolutionary that many believed that it would never be topped. Well with the new additions to NHL 10, I think it just has been topped. New features in NHL 10 allow for better and more realistic gameplay than previous versions. Out of all the new gameplay features the more effective ones are battle on the boards, first person fighting and intimidation tactics.

Read more about the new features and soundtrack after the jump.

Battle on the boards is what I think previous games were missing the most. This new feature allows you as an offensive or defensive player to pin your opponent up against the boards and battle for the puck. This is extremely important when trying to gain to retain possession of the puck anywhere on the ice.

Both the intimidation tactics & first person fighting are great additions to a game that was great without them, so naturally adding these features made the game better. The first person fighting is pretty much self-explanatory, where as the intimidation tactics isn’t as much. With this feature you as a defensemen or offence men will be able to make your opponent create mistakes by simply fore-checking, pressuring the puck or even by finishing checks. However what really impresses me about this feature is that the other skaters and fans react to what’s going on. For example if one of your tough guys takes a run at an opposing star player other players on the ice will retaliate and the fans in the crowd will also get into the action, especially the ones near the boards.

Besides actual in-game features EA added a number of different actual types of gameplay modes. A few of them include GM Mode, Be A Pro: Entry Draft and Battle For The Cup Mode.

The GM Mode in NHL 10 allows you to pretty much run a team as you want it. You control who you want on your team through trading, drafting or signing free agents. Battle for the cup mode is perfect for a gamer that really wants to see their favourite two teams play for the Stanley Cup. You get to decide which two teams play and for how many games (1, 3, 5 or 7 game elimination). The other new game mode is Be A Pro: Entry Draft. This mode allows you to create a player and puts you into a prospects game where you are told that your performance will dictate where you will get drafted. Once you’ve finished the prospects game you are presented with a draft where it’s almost like in real life where you sit there until your name gets called. You are then given a 3 year entry level contract (which is exactly like the real NHL) and are put in the starting line up of the team that drafted you. From here you are given 4 games to prove that you deserve that NHL roster spot, if not you get sent down to the teams minor league affiliate. This becomes a trend throughout the season and notice that you really need to perform in order to stay in the NHL.

Besides new gameplay features and modes NHL 10 boosts a pretty impressive soundtrack that includes the likes of Canadian rockers Alexisonfire & Nickelback, Punk Rock pioneers Green Day & Rancid and Heavy Metal’s Megadeth & Dragonforce. Other artists on the soundtrack include Cancer Bats, CKY, Eagles Of Death Metal, Papa Roach and much more! To listen to the full soundtrack visit EA Trax page here (http://www.ea.com/music/the-official-nhl-10-soundtrack).

Overall NHL 10 is a good upgrade from NHL 09 and should be in every sports video gamer’s library, especially if you’ve enjoyed the previous versions.

Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Developer: EA Canada
Publisher: EA Sports
Genre: Sports
Rating: E10+
Official Site: NHL 10

Tags: ea sports, games, nhl 10, playstation 3, video game review, video games, xbox 360

Posted on Thursday, September 17th, 2009 at 3:49 pm by Alberto and is filed under Gamers, Just For Fun.

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