NHL 2K10 Video Preview (Gamespot)

[baa7]

Re: NHL 2K10 Video Preview (Gamespot)

oh well. If the gameplay is solid, I'll take it.

For sure. It just reminds me of the PES-FIFA dynamic. PES is still so far behind FIFA in the same areas. I find it almost impossible to enjoy PES after playing FIFA and looking at the player graphics and animations in EA's game. PES seems to scrambling around in catch-up mode ever since next-gen gaming began, never able to get it right and take their game to the next level. And 2K seems that way to me as well.

[SupaStar911]

Re: NHL 2K10 Video Preview (Gamespot)

you must be joking right? PES is 100 times better than fifa gameplay wise, have you seen pes 2010, graphic wise, fifa is not even close, gameplay wise, pes is better this year so your argument doesn't stand. sorry

[Scottdau]

Re: NHL 2K10 Video Preview (Gamespot)

Question I have after watching that: Why spend so much time improving the arenas even more, when the player models, player graphics and even many of the animations are still so far behind EA's game? That seems to me to be the completely wrong focus. I play NHL 09 and all I think is "Wow: beautiful game to look at; beautiful game in motion." I couldn't care less what the arenas look like, seeing 95% of the game is spent looking at the players and the on-ice movement.

I look at the player models and player movement in this new 2K vid, and my thought is this is what the game should have looked like visually 3 years ago on next-gen. IMO it still looks a ways behind EA is in this area of development. Not very inspiring, to think they chose to make arenas, and not players and player movement, look photo-realistic. Odd game development choice IMO.

I disagree about the animation. I think the animation is better in 2K. Player models it is a push to me. I give the edge to EA's, but it is getting a lot closer in my opinion.

[ComaFaction]

Re: NHL 2K10 Video Preview (Gamespot)

Arenas look absolutely amazing. Graphics looks good, classic smooth 2k gameplay. I'm still not a huge fan of their goalie models though, but they animate nicely.

The AI seemd overly passive in its zone, but I reckon that is a lower difficulty level. The game speed was almost perfect.

The puck (especially with the shadow) looks enormous to me, though. Aaaaaand, the last replay of video was sick...looked like a TV highlght. I bought both games last year and vowed to only by EAs this year, but now I'm not so sure.

[original6]

Re: NHL 2K10 Video Preview (Gamespot)

I thought it looked noticably better than 2K9. The players aren't all hunched over and holding their sticks the way one holds a baseball bat or golf club, which is how they skated last year.

So you didn't notice that there was no longer 2 or more players always chasing the puck carrier and instead were playing more man to man?

I'm not talking about hunched over players. I'm talking about skating animations and the odd animations. Case in point, at 3:32 game clock of the Sharks/Kings footage, the Sharks throw a puck at the net and a teammate skates in front of the shot as a screen or for a deflection. He skates right into the boards and then magically skates backwards back to the front of the net. Totally unrealistic and just odd looking. 13:39 of the same matchup, a Shark tries to check O'Donnell at the point instead of playing positionally and blocking a potential shot or pass. Needless to say, he misses the hit miserably and is now horribly out of position. Personally, I've never noticed the two player chasing the puck that much in 2k9, unlike in 2k8.

Sorry fellas, from my personal point of view, the game doesn't look that much different. But, who can really tell from a few quick clips?

[savoie2006]

Re: NHL 2K10 Video Preview (Gamespot)

Personally, I've never noticed the two player chasing the puck that much in 2k9

All I can say is WOW. This is one of the things that drives me crazy on 2K9 for the 360 and it happens constantly.

13:39 of the same matchup, a Shark tries to check O'Donnell at the point instead of playing positionally and blocking a potential shot or pass. Needless to say, he misses the hit miserably and is now horribly out of position.

This I did notice, but we'll see if it's a common occurance on the full game or not.

[original6]

Re: NHL 2K10 Video Preview (Gamespot)

All I can say is WOW. This is one of the things that drives me crazy on 2K9 for the 360 and it happens constantly.

Maybe it was your gameplay settings?

[kai123]

Re: NHL 2K10 Video Preview (Gamespot)

13:39 of the same matchup, a Shark tries to check O'Donnell at the point instead of playing positionally and blocking a potential shot or pass. Needless to say, he misses the hit miserably and is now horribly out of position. Personally, I've never noticed the two player chasing the puck that much in 2k9, unlike in 2k8.

It was actually there new Incidental Animation that caused hiim to check the guy at the point and miss.

[baa7]

Re: NHL 2K10 Video Preview (Gamespot)

I disagree about the animation. I think the animation is better in 2K.

Scott, when I play NHL 09, the game oozes "NHL hockey." Simply put, it looks like a very close representation of what NHL hockey looks like: player models, player movement, etc. When I look at 2K's game, it looks like a cartoon representation of the sport. Player models are wrong; the goalies in particular are very wrong and way off; the players simply don't skate in the way people skate. There's very little about it that reminds me I'm playing NHL hockey. That's what I'm saying. I'm not talking about gameplay, I'm talking about the visual impact.

You can see the same thing with MLB 2K9 and The Show. The Show for the most part looks like MLB players playing MLB baseball. Whereas MLB 2K9 is again like a cartoon in comparison. The animations don't even look human a good portion of the time. Madden is the same way to me, BTW. There is absolutely nothing about Madden that says "NFL football" to me when I watch it in motion. It's maybe the worst sports game of all as far as that goes.

[buzzguy]

Re: NHL 2K10 Video Preview (Gamespot)

you must be joking right? PES is 100 times better than fifa gameplay wise, have you seen pes 2010, graphic wise, fifa is not even close, gameplay wise, pes is better this year so your argument doesn't stand. sorry

Oh man, I dunno about that. Have you played any of the fifa's since 07? EA Canada develops both FIFA and NHL, and they are both really good now.
That being said, I tend to enjoy both EA and 2k's hockey games every year, and this year looks better than last.

[savoie2006]

Re: NHL 2K10 Video Preview (Gamespot)

When I look at 2K's game, it looks like a cartoon representation of the sport.

It's funny how many people I've seen say this about each game. Maybe because it's a video game.

[Eddie1967]

Re: NHL 2K10 Video Preview (Gamespot)

I think both of them look like cartoons. Like you said it's a video game. I would give the more cartoony (is that a word) look to EA not as a diss but because it's more colorful.

[BigH2k6]

Re: NHL 2K10 Video Preview (Gamespot)

Question I have after watching that: Why spend so much time improving the arenas even more, when the player models, player graphics and even many of the animations are still so far behind EA's game? That seems to me to be the completely wrong focus. I play NHL 09 and all I think is "Wow: beautiful game to look at; beautiful game in motion." I couldn't care less what the arenas look like, seeing 95% of the game is spent looking at the players and the on-ice movement.

I look at the player models and player movement in this new 2K vid, and my thought is this is what the game should have looked like visually 3 years ago on next-gen. IMO it still looks a ways behind EA is in this area of development. Not very inspiring, to think they chose to make arenas, and not players and player movement, look photo-realistic. Odd game development choice IMO.

While I agree with you to some extent Baa, think about it this way:

A lot of the comments from the EA customers are about how the arenas and presentation needs some upgrades. Even for NHL10 as per info released so far, EA has not touched up on those things much for NHL10.

I think 2K by doing a lot of work on the authenticity of the arenas and game intros are distinguishing themselves from EA. his I think is somewhat of a smart move given the hill they have to climb to get back on the same level as EA after 2K9.

[savoie2006]

Re: NHL 2K10 Video Preview (Gamespot)

While I agree with you to some extent Baa, think about it this way:

A lot of the comments from the EA customers are about how the arenas and presentation needs some upgrades. Even for NHL10 as per info released so far, EA has not touched up on those things much for NHL10.

I think 2K by doing a lot of work on the authenticity of the arenas and game intros are distinguishing themselves from EA. his I think is somewhat of a smart move given the hill they have to climb to get back on the same level as EA after 2K9.

Very good point

[Scottdau]

Re: NHL 2K10 Video Preview (Gamespot)

Totally agree. That is what makes the game come alivfe for me. And yeah locke, I notice that too. That will make it feel even more different.