- Title: NHL 2K9
- Platform: Xbox 360
- Publisher: 2K Sports
- Developer: Visual Concepts
- ESRB Rating: “E” for Everyone
- Genre: NHL Hockey
- Pros: Fast paced, high scoring gameplay; plenty of modes and options
- Cons: Graphics and sound could be better; needs serious slider tweaking to be close to realistic; control wackiness
All of the modes we have come to expect from the 2K hockey series are present and accounted for. That is, of course, both a good thing and a bad thing because it means that you pretty much have the same feature set if you bought last year’s game. The mini rink and pond hockey shenanigans are back and just as useless as ever. Seriously, the thrill fades on these modes pretty quickly. Season and Franchise modes are still some of the deepest and best in the business but suffer from some clunky menus. One addition to this year’s game is that you get to drive the zamboni between periods. It is sort of fun, and you get a 40GS achievement out of it when you clean 100% of the ice, but you’ll never touch it again after that.
The multiplayer has seen some improvements, the most notable of which is the ability to play full 6 on 6 games online with zero lag. The online experience overall is rich with options and is surprisingly smooth.
Gameplay
Aside from the overall style of play, there are a few other hiccups with the gameplay. The goaltending is pretty terrible, defenders win 1-on-1 challenges pretty much every time but can’t defend a decent passing team at all, and on offense the A.I. just barrels into the net rather than playing as a team. Also, the players out on the ice are a bit sluggish when it comes to shooting and passing and don’t always react the way you wanted them to. You do get used to it, but it is strange at first to see every other area of the game fly by so fast, but then it takes them an age and a day to actually fire off a slapshot.
Graphics and Sound
The presentation is one of the biggest weaknesses in NHL 2K9. The player models are bulky and blocky looking, and the faces generally don’t look much like the real players. The ice and arena look okay, but haven’t changed much over the last couple of years. The menus are another problem, not just in this game but 2K’s sports games in general. They look nice and all, but can be confusing to use since they pop up with the last menu you used and actually getting back to the main menu can be a pain. I’m all for making the interface clean and smooth, but if you can’t navigate it easily you are kind of missing the point.The sound is a mixed bag. The commentary team is just terrible and provides surprisingly little information and insight. They just repeat the same lines over and over and really grate on you after a while. The music is mostly punk, which is either going to make your day or ruin the game for you. Personally, I kinda like it.
Bottom Line
