Gameplay Changes
For anyone that’s played NHL 2K9, it was pretty clear that the focus that particular year wasn’t hockey simulation as much as arcade-like play. Part of the reason for this was the team’s lack of time and their familiarity with the game’s code, which was handed over to them when the previous developer stop working on the series. With a longer development cycle and more time to get a handle on the code, 2K10 is going to be much improved. As Ben Bishop and Nicholas Shewchuk, two Producers on 2K10 informed us, the two biggest differences this year are gameplay and graphics. As generic as that sounds, they went on to explain in detail what that meant.
First of all, the gameplay has been greatly reworked this year to replace the loose, arcade-like play of last year with the simulation play of previous years. That, for me, was the most important point they could have made, so it was great to hear it right from the top. In order to accomplish this major shift in gameplay, a lot of changes had to be made with the AI, player ratings, game flow, and mechanics of shooting, passing, and defending.
For the AI, the CPU will now play smarter, and not shadier, if you get my meaning. Rather than having unnatural speed when they need it, CPU controlled players are now more focused on playing their positions smarter. As an example, we were told they won’t take unnecessary risks like poke-checking the player whenever no other defender is behind them (in case the poke check fails). On offense, the CPU won’t be all about crashing the net every time they’re in the opponents zone, but are said to pay more attention to their position and player ratings to execute a more believable strategy. These do sound like good improvements, but personally I’m hoping that the AI’s ability to pull a goal out of nowhere whenever they need is missing from this year’s version, too.
Besides re-tooled AI, sliders are back in NHL 2K10 for folks to really customize the experience. The sliders this year are more granular than in recent years too, yielding more tweaking ability. I use sliders a lot in NBA 2K, and their level of detail can really help you fine tune your experience.
We were told that Player and Team ratings have also been reworked to make them more realistic. The new stumble shot ability, that you may have seen in a trailer, is only possible with highly skilled players. These shots are almost always going to miss, just like in real life. Keeping the scoring ability of these shots is supposed to be kept well in check so that they won’t overpower the typical flow of the game. Meanwhile, the adjusted player ratings means weaker players are going to screw up more dekes and other maneuvers than a highly skilled player would, which should add some additional realism to play.
The pace of 2K10 has been refined, too. The refinement is said to come from getting players to play their positions more closely. This is in effort to try to make the experience more life-like.
Other changes to the gameplay include a new backwards skating model as well as a new right-stick control that should make dekeing and one-on-one moves a lot more precise. A new gameplay camera with a better simultaneous perspective of all players is included, and the default camera has been changed from the parametric to the 3/4. Improved controls for passing are also on tap for this season with better, more responsive one time passing. The defense can now also do stick lifts.
On the Wii
As far as the Wii version, which remains the only NHL game on the Wii, the motion controls have been greatly improved but also toned down from 2K9. Shooting motions like pulling back for a slap shot and flicking for a wrist shot are supported, while players pass by flicking and pressing A. The developers felt that they put in too much motion control last year, making the Wii version less enjoyable. Wii Motion Plus support has also been added; when a player rears back for a slap shot, that motion is recreated in real time on screen, so that’s cool.
The Wii version is also going to see major graphics improvements and is said to be as complete as the 360 and PS3 version. Furthermore, the Wii release will incorporate five Skills Games competitions as seen during the NHL All-Star weekend. Miis are supported for this Super Skills mode, although 360 avatar support is not going to be included this year.
Graphics And Online
Graphically, the Wii is getting a boost, but so are the 360 and PS3 versions. Player models have been touched up to reflect more realistic body types, with better proportions and variety. Many players are said to be spot on to their real life counterparts as well. Changes to lighting and player equipment have also received an upgrade.
Plenty of other changes have been made to the online components. Classic modes like Online Season, Tournament, and Ranked Matches are all back, as well as the Create A Team mode. Players can now take the action online with the press of a button from nearly any menu screen. Now players can check the online status of friends from within 2K10 too. As an example, let’s say you are playing through a season and want to play this next game with a friend or someone online; with a button press or two, an invite is sent out and players can then select their teams from the player select screen. We were told that seven players can play simultaneously on the same
PS3, with the 360 and the Wii supporting four. The new TeamUp mode allows for twelve on the PS3 and 360, with ten on the Wii.
Roster updates should be more regular this year; the team is shooting for a new roster update about once a month, unless a big trade occurs in the NHL, and then the team would release an update quickly. The Create A Player and Create A Team modes have been improved and now include leaderboards and detailed stat tracking for teams and players. 2KShare is back this year allowing you to upload screenshots and custom characters to 2KSports’s servers. From your PC, you can save your screenshots, too, although this was available last year. Also from last year, no injuries will occur to players while online.
Franchise And Miscellaneous
Franchise mode, a main draw for hardcore players, has received attention as well. It’s said to be much deeper than last year with GM personalities and more financial elements added to make it a fuller sim experience.
A handful of other miscellaneous notes I took include the fact that no historic teams or glass breaking will be in 2K10. However, players can pull their goalie on the fly this year without pausing the action, and a Winter Classic mode has been added with several locales to play from. NHL 2K10 also won’t feature the new Dynamic Voiceover feature that NBA 2K10 is seeing.
Overall, it’s great to be excited about NHL 2K again — the developers had a lot more time to create this one as opposed to NHL 2K9, and there’s little doubt that it’s going to be a much better game. Whether or not it can take the crown back from EA’s NHL offering remains to be seen, but I think it’s already safe to say that NHL 2K10 is going to be 2K’s best NHL offering in a few years.