NHL 2K10 Review

Coming to the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii on September 15, 2009, is 2K Sports’ NHL 2K10. I recently sat in on a conference call with Ben Bishop (Producer), Abe Navarro (Lead Gameplay Producer) and Anthony Yampol (Gameplay Producer) to talk about the upcoming game that promises to return the franchise to its sim roots.

This is the second year for the NHL 2K series to be in development internally at Visual Concepts having been previously developed at the now defunct Kush Games. The developers believe that the extra year of experience behind the franchise will give the game a boost in quality from NHL 2K9. They claim that the game will feature refinements in gameplay and improvements in graphical quality. NHL 2K10 features new player models (uniforms, gear, etc.) and player likenesses.

“I think we’re all really happy with the final product,” Ben Bishop commented. “The gameplay is a lot better, and a lot different over last year’s game.” The developers say that they always listen to what fans want and incorporate those ideas in future games. So if you have suggestions, be sure to post them on our forums.

Working for the Wii for the first time, NHL 2K9 was a challenge for the developers and they promise that 2K10 improves on 2K9. Last year’s Wii game focused too much on motions and they scaled that back. 2K says they will look at Xbox Avatars for future iterations of the game, but in the meantime they will be using Miis in five mini-games for the Wii version. Taking advantage of Wii Motion Plus, the game features 1:1 motion for shooting and stick handling.

While last year’s NHL 2K9 was by most measures a disappointment, the changes to the game will hopefully put it on firmer ice. Roster updates once a month (approximately) will add to the value of the game. Game Freaks 365 will have a full review of NHL 2K10 shortly after it launches in the middle of September.