First Reviews

[CarryTheWeight]

Saw these while browsing for new info on the 2KHockey forums last night.

Nintendo Power reviewed the Wii version of the game and gave it 8/10, saying it's probably the most feature-rich sports game available on the system. Huge accomplishment considering PES2009 and Tiger 10 are loaded with featues as well. Hope it sounds OK this year, because the horrid sound quality last year killed the game. Going to give it a rent.

Link (score only): http://www.gamerankings.com/wii/9608...k10/index.html

Game Informer also reviewed the next-gen edition of 2K10 and had far less praise, giving it a 5.5/10.

2KHockey forum post link: http://www.2khockey.net/forums/index...howtopic=20226

"With unresponsive skating and stick handling skills, NHL 2k10 is a troubled hockey prospect. After taking the ice with a polished game like EA's NHL 10, going to Visual Concepts' latest hockey game feels like switching the channel between a pro hockey game and high school hockey tournament. The new skating system falls flat on the ice, with cumbersome. rigid movement that lacks agility and stubbornly relies on speed burst and backpedal buttons. These feel like antiquated holdovers from previous eras, considering real hockey players skate all out on every shift and switch effortlessly between skating forwards and backwards. Coupled with wooden animations, limited pro controls, a bare bones franchise mode, and inferior online team play compared to the EASHL, NHL 2k10 sails too many shots over the cross bar. With so many red flags, we recommend passing this prospect over.

There are some questionable aspects of the review but overall it's not particularly enthusiastic. Get used to this. It's bound to happen, thanks in part to the fact that the out-of-box slider set may not be worth it. The reviewer may not be one to toy with sliders so he may have just taken the default settings for what they were and based his score off that. He didn't sound too happy about the animations and I can equally agree and disagree based on videos I've seen. The animations are definitely "good, bad and ugly" this year but not abysmal across the board. I give EA the upper hand with animations, particularly skating animations, but 2K has a lot of small incidental animations that EA lacks. Oh, well.

And in the most ridiculous news, some 2KHockey forum members are claiming the review is fake and the shot of the magazine (sorry, not linking to it, against the TOS, check their forums) was evilly photoshopped by the original poster! Ridiculous! The excuses a fanbase (or at least one VERY disgruntled original poster) can make when a series is on the critical/commercial downswing...

[RealmK]

Re: First Reviews

Saw these while browsing for new info on the 2KHockey forums last night.

Nintendo Power reviewed the Wii version of the game and gave it 8/10, saying it's probably the most feature-rich sports game available on the system. Huge accomplishment considering PES2009 and Tiger 10 are loaded with featues as well. Hope it sounds OK this year, because the horrid sound quality last year killed the game. Going to give it a rent.

Link (score only): http://www.gamerankings.com/wii/9608...k10/index.html

Game Informer also reviewed the next-gen edition of 2K10 and had far less praise, giving it a 5.5/10:



There are some questionable aspects of the review but overall it's not particularly enthusiastic. Get used to this. It's bound to happen, thanks in part to the fact that the out-of-box slider set may not be worth it. The reviewer may not be one to toy with sliders so he may have just taken the default settings for what they were and based his score off that. He didn't sound too happy about the animations and I can equally agree and disagree based on videos I've seen. The animations are definitely "good, bad and ugly" this year but not abysmal across the board. I give EA the upper hand with animations, particularly skating animations, but 2K has a lot of small incidental animations that EA lacks. Oh, well.

And in the most ridiculous news, some 2KHockey forum members are claiming the review is fake and the shot of the magazine (sorry, not linking to it, against the TOS, check their forums) was evilly photoshopped by the original poster! Ridiculous! The excuses a fanbase (or at least one VERY disgruntled original poster) can make when a series is on the critical/commercial downswing...

Not promising.. though seeing the usual EA paid them off comments from the usual suspects isn't at all suprising. Thats a really low score though for a game that in alot of aspects seems alot improved over last year. I had a feeling the deking was going to be a sore spot for alot of the reviewers. While I'll withhold judgement til trying it myself, I have a feeling I won't much care for the deking mechanics either.

[Money99]

Re: First Reviews

Not promising.. though seeing the usual EA paid them off comments from the usual suspects isn't at all suprising. Thats a really low score though for a game that in alot of aspects seems alot improved over last year. I had a feeling the deking was going to be a sore spot for alot of the reviewers. While I'll withhold judgement til trying it myself, I have a feeling I won't much care for the deking mechanics either.

The controls will always get flamed when the competition has a scheme that is revered by the majority of the public.

I honestly believe if 2K had EA's skill stick reviews and sales would go way up.

That's not to say I won't like 2K10's controls. I haven't even tried them.
But it's not going to be uncommon for people to compare the two and seeing as how everyone loves a scheme that's 4 years and running, it's hard not to compare and contrast.

[baa7]

Re: First Reviews

And in the most ridiculous news, some 2KHockey forum members are claiming the review is fake and the shot of the magazine (sorry, not linking to it, against the TOS, check their forums) was evilly photoshopped by the original poster! Ridiculous!

It is ridiculous! Evilly isn't even a real word!

[baa7]

Re: First Reviews

Game Informer also reviewed the next-gen edition of 2K10 and had far less praise, giving it a 5.5/10.

Arenas - 10
Player models sans shoulder pads - 7
Goalie models and masks - 2
Shiny ice - 10
Cutscenes of players celebrating - 4
Commentary - 0
Final tally: 33 divided by 6 = 5.5.

I'd say that review score was spot on.

[18 eighty 5]

Re: First Reviews

One thing I do appreciate about both hockey titles is that they do offer different playing experiences.

Whilst I am of the opinion that the speed burst button is antiquated and the one handed animation accompanying it looks odd, I really didn't find it too bothersome in 2k9.

One thing that is sorely lacking in 2k hockey though is the stick handling. I am hoping that this is much better this year but it is very difficult to see much stick handling in the videos shown thus far and does lead me to believe that it is not a significant or useful feature for 2k10. BUt it is too hard to tell. The reviewer also smashed the skating...if it is better than 2k9 I will be very happy.

However, I too won't cast judgment until I play the thing. But about the review itself, it is so brief and goes into no detail whatsoever. He just slams aspects of the game and gives no reasons why and mentions absolutely no good points.

Apparently 2k9 got a higher score from GI, 6.75 & 7. Sounds suspicious that the game has gone backward so much. 5.5 is an utterly mediocre score awarded to games that will most likey be uninspiring and lacking in fun. I find it hard to believe that 2k10 has gone this far backward and is this much worse than 2k9!

I think most of us who really love hockey games no matter who makes em' won't be surprised if 2k gets mauled again this year in the reviews...but if their game is genuinely better than 2k9 I think most of us will be pleased and most of us will know that the game is a better product regardless of the reviews.

Still, we will find out what it really is soon enough.

[baa7]

Re: First Reviews

Apparently 2k9 got a higher score from GI, 6.75 & 7. Sounds suspicious that the game has gone backward so much.

Look, anyone who takes these reviews seriously is bound to end up in a mental ward. There's no rhyme or reason for much of it, other than a lingering animosity and disgust for the games 2K has released the past few years (both their hockey and baseball franchises). Much of it is deserved, much of it isn't. The other thing is EA's series is Jesus right now, and people love to jump on the salvation bandwagon.

[adayinthelife]

Re: First Reviews

I saw this last night (the GI review) on 2khockey and was pretty entertained by the comments. Though I haven't played the game, judging by the videos I thought it would have scored slightly higher.

I do find it funny the way a few insane 2k loyalists just fly off the handle after one bad review claiming everything from 'fanboyism' (isn't that exactly what they're doing?) to EA paying off every reviewer to scores being fake. Especially since I wouldn't consider GI a good source for reviews for any kind of game, let alone a sports game since they only seem to dish out 6's or 9's with 4 sentence reviews.

[adayinthelife]

Re: First Reviews

Look, anyone who takes these reviews seriously is bound to end up in a mental ward. There's no rhyme or reason for much of it, other than a lingering animosity and disgust for the games 2K has released the past few years (both their hockey and baseball franchises). Much of it is deserved, much of it isn't. The other thing is EA's series is Jesus right now, and people love to jump on the salvation bandwagon.

Exactly. It also doesn't help that EA came up with something like the skill stick controls that is just generally loved by the public and 2k refuses to copy it. Sports games are always copying various aspects from other sports games and building on them, that's how they get better and frankly I think that's what 2k should be doing.

There's no way they don't realize they're putting out a game that is subpar in many ways and they should be doing more to rectify that instead of trying to reinvent the wheel with every new title.

[baa7]

Re: First Reviews

Exactly. It also doesn't help that EA came up with something like the skill stick controls that is just generally loved by the public and 2k refuses to copy it. Sports games are always copying various aspects from other sports games and building on them, that's how they get better and frankly I think that's what 2k should be doing.

My guess is 2K/VC is attempting to create a skill stick that offers more user control -- is more sim in other words. In the same way the PES series traditionally offered much more ball control than FIFA.

[RealmK]

Re: First Reviews

My guess is 2K/VC is attempting to create a skill stick that offers more user control -- is more sim in other words. In the same way the PES series traditionally offered much more ball control than FIFA.

Basing offensive moves off of totally canned animation wise, contextual dekes seems the opposite to me of giving more control.

[baa7]

Re: First Reviews

Basing offensive moves off of totally canned animation wise, contextual dekes seems the opposite to me of giving more control.

Depends on what you call control. If 2K's skill stick offers a number of moves that aren't possible to pull off with EA's stick, then that could be seen as offering more user control and being more sim.

[RealmK]

Re: First Reviews

Depends on what you call control. If 2K's skill stick offers a number of moves that aren't possible to pull off with EA's stick, then that could be seen as offering more user control and being more sim.

When its a crapshoot over which deke decides to fire based on positioning.. I dunno I just have a hard time buying into the idea that is giving the user more control over actually you know, deking themselves, or doing a toe drag themselves. Though at the end of the day the're two different systems and it really comes down to personal preference.

[baa7]

Re: First Reviews

When its a crapshoot over which deke decides to fire based on positioning.. I dunno I just have a hard time buying into the idea that is giving the user more control over actually you know, deking themselves, or doing a toe drag themselves. Though at the end of the day the're two different systems and it really comes down to personal preference.

Also at the end of the day it's not like hockey players pull off tons of soccer-like moves to advance and shoot the puck. "He shoots, he scores!" pretty much sums up what hockey comes down to, lol.

[FlyingFinn]

Re: First Reviews

Basing offensive moves off of totally canned animation wise, contextual dekes seems the opposite to me of giving more control.

What dekes can you do with EA's skill stick besides moving the puck left and right? I have never seen any deke in my year of online playing unless you count the LB loose puck around a d-man or a toe drag dekes.