Great at 1st but gets annoying after awhile.
Fast pace, great graphics, good music and good commentary.
The Bad:
Skill Stick, AI, Learning curve, documentation, same old 3rd period shenanigans.
As many have already said, the skill stick took a step backward, unfortunately this leads to bad gameplay and this is a game so no matter the be a pro or dynasty or anything else that might be cool it cannot over come that, add to this horrible AI and well you are left with a so-so game that can be fun. Many try to taunt this game as a sim, well try starting a game at any difficulty level but especially pro and above and play defense on the blue line only, after 1 period when the opponent has scored somewhere between 4 and 8 points you will see why calling this a sim is a joke... and AHL team has better goalies and defense. Also expect the computer goalie to be superman most of the time none of this make this a sim, it's a cheap way for the developers to have to write code for a decent AI.
I thought I would be able to get friends and family to play this game as we usually do (they all play madden and previous NHL games), but they all hate this one, especially the newbies to hockey games, that hurts the genre and unfortunately things could have been done to prevent this either through difficulty levels or customizable control schemes or other means many other sports games have and any game that would turn away many users is not a good game. None of this is to say it is not a decent game, but the 9's and 10's you will see is alot of hype, the problems this game has had on the 360 alone is reason enough to knock this title down to at least an 7 (at least for those of us who expect a working product when we open our wallents). To top it off the documentation stinks, there are some tutorials in the game that are so-so but there are many settings and other things in the menu's with no explanation at all... documentation is a joke... again this turns off people new to the genre and that is always a bad thing.
I have spoke with several seasoned hockey gamers who initially loved this title, but later admitted that scoring was more luck than anything to do with skill, like real hockey position is a key in this game, but most admitted scoring was more number of chances and pure dumb luck than skill at the playing the game. Some of the suggestions I have heard sound good to me which would be make the aiming of the shot take over only when the left trigger is pushed down, then it becomes aim, other wise it stays skating, automatically switch to player closest to the puck on defense setting and play as only 1 player setting regardless of who has the puck, of course far, far better AI from almost everyone because the AI in this game most of the time should loose the "I".
Also Gamespot should look at it's own previous reviews of games because this game has one of the flaws that previous games have had which is 3rd period foolery, if you are in the lead plan on the computer scoring especially in the last minute or 2 just about 100% of the time no matter what you do, the same goes for you if you are trailing in the 3rd, just shoot from where ever at the goal and you will almost certainly score in time to the tie the game. In an actual hockey game there is certainly more pressure in the last minutes by the trailing team, but NHL 09 like previous versions works way to hard to make dramiatic endings and O.T. games, so much so that it becomes boring and it is real easy to spot this flaw, they should have a 3rd period only mode because this flaw is so consistent.
Now for some of the good... The graphics are great, it is almost like watching an actual game in HD, the commentary can be suprisingly detailed and is professional although after playing awhile it gets stale, music scores picked for the game are great and on the xbox custom music from your xbox, usb stick or networked drive is a great feature (not available on the PS3). Create a play is a great feature as is be a pro mode and the 25 year dynasty.
In the end the game is awesome if you can get 2 full teams together online to play so AI is not an issue and it is somewhat fun to play against the computer for awhile but the AI gets annoying after some time, in the rookie setting the pop up tips you cannot turn off become anoying withing the 1st game, this is a big turn off to new comers and this should have a setting to turn it off.
Most of those who really just have to have the latest hockey game or are huge fans of the genre will probably find the game ok to good, I really did not set out to rip this game, but offer and honest review and as much good as this game has, all that has been covered a billion times. I wanted to point out especially to new comers they should beware the learning curve and points mentioned as you will probably wind up frustrated and not liking the game and get turned off by the genre, if EA listens to all the complaints on AI and the new stick, perhaps NHL 2010 will be worthy of all the hype and bring new people to the genre of all skill and interest levels. Most of us who have played hockey games for awhile though will quickly become less excited once the flash and hype cools down. This game is a solid 7.5, with all the positives this game has I wish I could give it more, but it is what it is.