I recently picked up NHL 10 for Xbox 360 and Madden 10 for PS3 - it's the year of the 10, well at least for one of these titles. I haven't bought a Madden game since '07, but did play '09, and it seems not much has changed other than some tweaks to the franchise mode and the gameplay. Actually some of the tweaks aren't better and end up making this game very mechanical and flat. As compared to NHL 10 - Madden doesn't compare and definitely doesn't do it's sport justice when put side to side. Which is strange you think these different EA studios could chat about how they approach development.
Now, I said it way back when - and it's true. NHL 10 is, hands down, the best hockey game out there right now. I grabbed this bad boy as soon as it released a few weeks ago and it's been on heavy rotation with X-Men Origins: Wolverine. I'll even throw this out there - NHL 10 is the best representation of it's sport and best overall sports game. Now it's not perfect - it definitely has it's flaws but what title doesn't? Some missing things like not having financial control in GM mode like ticket prices etc and the every once in awhile board play snafu where the CPU goes into 'board play' mode like he's taunting you but you're not having it. These flaws if you will are greatly overshadowed by the fixes and added features. The new first person fighting mechanic is awesome and yes, they did pull it off. That paired with the new board play that actually works and improves the game make this outing the most realistic hockey game to date.
I didn't log many hours in with '09 but know every nook and cranny of '08 and one thing that didn't improve much between those two was the franchise management tools. Trading players, organizing your lines and making roster moves was painful as hell. NHL 10 greatly improves this system and makes the transition from editing lines and moving players around much smoother. The new GM Mode is the cats ass for the stats folks and has a great system built in for the long haul and adds another level of replay value other than just winning cups.
Puck physics has improved as well as player animations. Simple moves like players actually reaching out for a puck that didn't hit its mark or the shooting from the knees on a break away to the mid air swat out of the zone just add that much more realism. Plus added goalie animations are a treat. After the whistle taunting is fun and another small but cool addition. Graphically it hasn't improved much since '08 but I don't think it matters. The game already looks ridiculous and this seems like the season of gameplay and realism improvements anyways. Now to the other 10...
Now, I said it way back when - and it's true. NHL 10 is, hands down, the best hockey game out there right now. I grabbed this bad boy as soon as it released a few weeks ago and it's been on heavy rotation with X-Men Origins: Wolverine. I'll even throw this out there - NHL 10 is the best representation of it's sport and best overall sports game. Now it's not perfect - it definitely has it's flaws but what title doesn't? Some missing things like not having financial control in GM mode like ticket prices etc and the every once in awhile board play snafu where the CPU goes into 'board play' mode like he's taunting you but you're not having it. These flaws if you will are greatly overshadowed by the fixes and added features. The new first person fighting mechanic is awesome and yes, they did pull it off. That paired with the new board play that actually works and improves the game make this outing the most realistic hockey game to date.
I didn't log many hours in with '09 but know every nook and cranny of '08 and one thing that didn't improve much between those two was the franchise management tools. Trading players, organizing your lines and making roster moves was painful as hell. NHL 10 greatly improves this system and makes the transition from editing lines and moving players around much smoother. The new GM Mode is the cats ass for the stats folks and has a great system built in for the long haul and adds another level of replay value other than just winning cups.
Puck physics has improved as well as player animations. Simple moves like players actually reaching out for a puck that didn't hit its mark or the shooting from the knees on a break away to the mid air swat out of the zone just add that much more realism. Plus added goalie animations are a treat. After the whistle taunting is fun and another small but cool addition. Graphically it hasn't improved much since '08 but I don't think it matters. The game already looks ridiculous and this seems like the season of gameplay and realism improvements anyways. Now to the other 10...
I don't know. There isn't too much to get excited about with Madden 10. Yea gameplay is better - and it seems like the franchise mode has some major improvements. But I think this game looses it in it's smooth factor. It's very rough in transitions like gameplay to 'cutscene' and just the overall flow of the game is painful. What really got me was anything off the field looks like PSOne graphics and these random cut scenes of fat pixelated dudes with their shirts off - what the f**k is that about? The Half Time Report stuff is just totally useless, dry and just another thing I have to X through. Commentators are mechanical as hell - especially compared to the NHL 10 boys who are pretty spot on. Overall gameplay is ok but I definitely find myself just doing a bunch of PA passes or screen passes and that seems to get the job done. Very disappointing overall and not that note worthy. Guess that's what happens when you have no competition, huh EA?
