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Hockey is a sport often overlooked in the flurry of Fall games, catering to a diverse audience with a blend of action on the ice, body checks and board play.  NHL 10 looks to satisfy many gamers this year by offering up new board play, fight controls and precision passing. The game steps up the play to help improve on flaws found in the prior year with improved A.I. routines and increased depth with the whole atmosphere. For hockey fans, the game looks good on paper, but we’ll put it to the test and see how it stacks up.

NHL 10 brings many new features to the table, and first person fighting is one of them: allowing players to rough up the other team and fight a power player to shift the momentum of the game. The control is simple, giving players the ability to direct punches and duck using the analog sticks. For those who wish to avoid the penalty box, there is the alternative of using board play and pinning the other team up so they have to give up the puck. Based on our playtime the feature works well, but if you're on the receiving end, escaping the hold seems impossible without giving up.  The game has also taken queues from the sport itself to make for a more exciting experience as players try to muscle and work their way to the Stanley Cup.

For a player who doesn't follow NHL games, the latest title in the series stacks up well.  It has a curve that's taken care of at the start of the game with a series of tutorials that make sense of the game before things go into full swing. The shift to adjust for most gamers comes off as a positive one, with the ability to change game style from Casual to Hardcore.  Combine this with existing skill levels, and NHL 10 really does an awesome job of tailoring itself around the player.

EA brings in other features that help move the series to a new pillar, utilizing precision passing that offers players 360 degree pass control.  You may need some time to adjust, but EA covers that in the game style options by including assists, which you can activate until you become more comfortable with the game.  This contrasts the classic NHL titles, which had a very mechanical pass setup excluding the player (magnet passing), and should be a welcome change.