NHL 2K9
- Pro Stick - New for the PlayStation 2 Computer Entertainment system, right stick shooting and puck handling provide an entirely new level of control
- All-New Commentary - by Randy Hahn and Drew Remenda bring all the on-ice action to life like never before
- 2K Beats -- Featuring Pennywise, Bad Religion, The Offspring, NOFX, The Ramones, Inner Circle, Mastodon, Operation Ivy, High on Fire and more
Product Description
2K Sports has brought the fun back to hockey video games with an intuitive control scheme and hard-hitting action. NHL 2K9 brings a totally rebuilt NHL experience to life with a brand-new in-game presentation system, as well as fresh player animations and controls that you will enjoy from the moment you play your first game, until well after you become a seasoned veteran. Further adding to an unmatched level of fun and celebrating the NHL's uniqueness are an all-new Zamboni mini-game, playoff beards, a new fighting engine and more. Complete with new commentary, a user-friendly franchise mode and upgraded online features, NHL 2K9 brings the fun back to game consoles.
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NHL 2K9
- Video Game: 0 pages (2008-09-08)
- Platforms: PlayStation2
- Publisher: 2K Games
- Label: 2K Games
- Studio: 2K Games
- Average Customer Review:
 based on 2 reviews
- Sales Rank in Video Games: #3049
Avg. Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: A sloppy effort that manages to deliver some decent gameplay 2008-11-10
Comment: I bought this title on impulse because I love hockey and the price was right, myself having yet to purchase a next-gen console. Although a decent hockey experience, even with low expectations the game managed to disappoint me. I will share my experience with this title as it seems hard to find reviews for it online.
PROS
-Decent gameplay that flows rather well, with the ability to call plays on the fly such as screening of goalies and defensive pinches. It is satisfying to call for some traffic in front of the net, position yourself with some nifty backwards offensive skating, and let a shot rip having your big men on the front lines deflect it passed the net minder. The game overall has the decent 2k gameplay of which we are all familiar with: good dump and chase options with slap dumps to work the boards, one-button wrap-arounds, Intense Contact controls (throwing some elbows and slashes at skates), icon passing (with Pro Control)... all the fun stuff gameplay-wise is presented here (if you change the default controls...), although much less smoothly than passed efforts.
-There are plenty of sliders and tweaks to cater the game to your liking, which includes separate settings for player and computer. We all love video hockey sliders, right?
-Online play and roster update downloads.
The CONS are where it starts to get quite ugly. Some are serious, others not so serious, and many are a direct result of the developers not spending much time working out the bugs. I will list the oversights and annoyances that I have found in under 2 weeks of ownership.
CONS
-Poor presentation. Even for the aging Ps2, the menus are bland and ugly and the players look nothing like their real-life counterparts. The sound is generally bad. Although some of the effects are decent, most sound stinted and cheap. The music is downright terrible... only a few songs on the 14 song soundtrack don't make me cringe.
-The goalies are pretty tough, but many of the goals scored for some reason deflect off and underneath the glove or blocker, or simply pass right through, as they overreact unnaturally at times... for example, the goalie will be in perfect position to stop the puck, but they will get locked into a "high blocker save" animation throwing their arm up in an exaggerated manner, allowing the puck to pass below.
-The ice doesn't degrade as the game goes on in the NHL rinks, but does with the international teams. It stays perfectly glossy the whole game with the NHL teams.
-You must load your custom or downloaded rosters and lines every time you play. It will not do it automatically and managing 5+ different save files for profile, settings, roster, soundtrack, etc. is tedious.
-The glass breaks way too often. 4 out of 5 hard slap shots that miss the net up high will break it. There is no option to disable it or decrease it so be prepared for unnecessary stoppages due to this.
-Your computer-controlled defensemen are worthless and no where near as effective as the computer's, as they will let the puck carriers walk right in front of the net. Hopefully you don't prefer to be a center or winger on a back check when it comes to defense... they also tend to completely ignore lose pucks.
-Passes will often bounce right off your players. The puck will just sit at their feet while they struggle to gain possession of it.
-There are no fights, which is strange because there is a section in the book explaining the fight controls, Sky Box challenges for them, but I have never seen one in nearly 100 games I have played. There is no option to enable it or increase it.
-The semi-useful auto-deke button is broken during shootouts. Pressing the button during a shootout makes your player twitch instead of deke, which can be repeatedly pressed to simulate a seizure.
-The last con I will list is the worst. Several times a game, your defensemen will get caught in the animations from skating backward and forward when the opposition goes on the attack, which means that your player will be spinning around in a circle in place in a jerking, glitching manner, even if you are yanking on the control stick to skate in a direction, and the puck carrier will just skate right by the helpless defender causing breakaways and odd-man rushes. Very frustrating.
Overall, the game manages to achieve "average" status, albeit barely. The Pro Stick is rather poorly executed, and a little sloppy, which is pretty much the overall theme of this game. The all star moves are generally ineffective, and more trouble than they're worth. The old-school auto-deke button will do just as well coupled with some old fashioned video hockey moves. Unfortunately, a lot of the smooth animations we expect from 2k are much choppier this time around. Although the game can be quite fun, and offers some satisfying moments and realistically-paced gameplay, be prepared for a noticeable lack of polish that will pop up here and there to remind you how much more enjoyable the game should be.
I wish I could give more than 2 stars because the gameplay is actually pretty good, but the amount of bugs and the general lack of concern for detail that the developers showed with this title is inexcusable.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Hours of fun with this one 2008-10-04
Comment: I have had this game now for about a couple of weeks, and now, after really getting into all of what it has to offer, feel I can give a good review of it. Before I start, let me say that I bought this one after only playing the EA hockey games, and was a bit skeptical about buying it, but I have to say that I am now extremely glad I did. Mind ya, there are a few things I would fix with it, but I can say that all the good this one has to offer outweights the bad.
GRAPHICS: Here is where 2K sports drops the ball. This game has PS1 graphics at best. EA's is MUCH better, but I will take these graphics when it comes to the gameplay this game offers.
SOUND: Like all hockey video games, the announcers lack here. There commentary is dull and repetative at best. While it does not take anything away for the game, it does not add anything to it as well.
GAME PLAY: Here is where this game beats EA's game hands down! The game flows well, is as close to realistic as it can be. The goalies on here are the toughest I have ever seen in any video game, and I have been playing NHL games since the Sega Genises days. It is extremely hard to score on the goalies in this game. They do not give up the cheap goals like the ones on EA does, which makes this one far less frustrating. Line changes can be a bit frustrating, but once ya get used to it, along with line matching, they are not too bad. The Pro Stick control is fantastic, and adds so much to this game.
Extras: There are TONS of historic teams, logos, and different rinks to unlock by completing tasks in this one. It is great to be playing the 1980 USA/USSR game, or having Gretzky play against Gordie Howe in their prime. To me, this alone makes this game well worth the purchase.
Like I said before, I was not too sure about getting this game, but now I can say I will never play another one. I highly endorse it to anyone and everyone. Trust me, you will not be dissapointed in it.
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