PlayStation 3
Released in 2009 by EA Sports
Grade: A-
Man, I had that solid A all cocked and loaded. It’s a good thing I actually play these games for a while before finishing the reviews.
Where it falls in the series
It’s the third of nine installments on PS3.
Praises and gripes
This game has plenty of little refinements that make it better than last year’s game. Lining up a body check on defense is easier. Aiming your shots is much more user-friendly. The CPU’s tendencies are more balanced. Now there’s board play, where players fight for the puck against the boards, adding some hockey-like grit without being too much of a nuisance.
The bad thing is that far too many goals come from fluky and unavoidable mistakes. Your star defenseman might stumble and kick the puck into his own net. Your goalie will stop shots but flail around as the puck flutters into the crease, allowing a rebound. Stuff like that. I like to play with realistic settings, so goals are precious. And when a lot of the goals are fluky, it’s a bummer, man.
In addition, there’s still inaccurate collision detection, the faceoff mechanic still feels too delicate, and the CPU is remarkably good at keeping the puck away from you if they’re ahead late in a game.
Other than that, you’ve got EA’s typically stellar hockey action with intuitive but deep controls. The game looks great, and there are plenty of options to tune the game to your liking. For hockey nuts back in 2010, it was an easy decision to get this game. These days, it’s just one of many editions in a long series that got better and better, so you should get one of the better ones.