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EA’s and 2K’s friendly competition generated an enormous amount of quality, craftsmanship and creativity in the genre of sports game, showing more evidence elsewhere than the virtual ice hockey rink. This year, each company integrated a different approach with its games – EA added first-person combat and the Board Play 2K while 2K integrated stumble shots and regular season online integration. It is clear however that the development team behind EA’s NHL10 love hockey, as seen in their products in the previous year and after.

If you’re still hesitant about picking NHL10, let me tell you a few things about what to expect from this game. NHL10 has extra goalie animations and an improved passing system, not to mention the first-person fighting and board play. You can even go straight to the Stanley Cup playoffs, but the general justification to purchase NHL10 lies in the board play feature.

In a real game, a defender can try to stop an offensive rush by nailing down the offensive player against the boards. The board play feature adds that sensitivity to the flow of the game; players take a good change of pace from regular 60-minute across the rink. The board play feature was something the players never felt they were missing until it was added to NHL10 EA. The board play feature gives defensive players the opportunity to stop an offensive attack in the area and give more options on offense to play the puck behind the net.

Another new gameplay addition is called the Game Styles, which makes its debut this year and this should not be confused with the game’s difficulty options. The options CASUAL, DEFAULT, NORMAL and HARDCORE provide a different feel and speed to the game, much like messing with the gravity setting of the ice. Players are slower and pucks are harder on the HARDCORE settings while the CASUAL settings feel like an arcade game where the pucks are like magnetized to the stick and passes are easier to do.

Be a Pro or Be a GM, together with the 6 on 6 online play are just some of the recurring features NHL10. While EA could do a little more on the presentation department, NHL10 team’s introductions and the play-by-play will be left unchanged on seemingly everything.

If NHL fans thought NHL09 was a blast, then they’ll love NHL10. NHL10 gives both hardcore hockey fan and the uninitiated hockey newbie the ultimate near-authentic hockey experience on the ice. This is a game worth picking up for your Xbox360.

Want more games for your xbox? In Best Xbox 360 Sports Games we give you why NHL 10 is one game to get.