While hockey fans toil away endlessly during the summer to pass the time in between seasons, game companies are hard at work during crunch time to ready the next round of NHL games for the hopefuls just a month away from the season starting. This September, like clockwork, will see the release of EA Sports’ NHL 09 and 2K Sports’ NHL 2K9 across all current generation home console platforms (CGHCP?). For years, the balance between the two has shifted in terms of critical acclaim and just which series was “the one” to buy for the year, rarely seeing the concept of purchasing both entering into the minds of the average gamer. So, with that in mind, why not let them faceoff against each other in a combined review that will take a look at each series, what they get right and what they get wrong.

Round One: Fight!

2K Sports has struck first with the release of a demo for NHL 2K9 on the PSN this week, giving gamers a chance to sample a Stanley Cup showdown between the Pittsburg Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings. Like most demos, those are the only teams you are allowed to play as, and all the options are limited to a single exhibition game. It’s a way to sample the look, feel and controls of how the game will work, and essentially boils down the whole experience fairly simple. Most hockey games don’t go far beyond the scope of simply playing the exhibition games, and the enjoyment you derive from that will usually decide how long you’ll be playing it after the first week.

Unfortunately for hockey fans, the first jab by 2K was a weak one. The game does not show well, and although it is simply a demo it gives away a lot about what the final product is likely to shape up to be. The graphics are very underwhelming for the next gen. The arena is dark, aside from the bright white rink, and the crowd seems to show as much static enthusiasm in 3D as they did as 2D cutouts 10 years ago. The controls are very arcade-like, a style that 2K has been sticking to with this series although EA has delved into some more finely tuned controls. Considering the complexity and unique controls that another 2K Sports game, Topspin 3, delivered for tennis this year, it is surprisingly that they’ve stuck to this mechanic, but comforting for fans of it. What isn’t comforting, however, is how choppy and slow the game feels while playing this way. You hit with the hit button, boost with the boost button, pass, shoot, and skate. Without giving you a lot of control over what you’re able to do like NHL 08 offered last year, the arcade controls should at least flow better, and they don’t seem to.

You’ll find yourself running into and through players more than trying to maneuver around them. The AI doesn’t help, either, with the computer scoring on itself twice the first time playing through the game, and the celebration cinema that played showed the player skating into the boards, skating backwards, and then doing it again, looking like a lost NPC. Like the NHL of old, the puck seems to just stick to the player when they end up near it, and the positions and plays that worked back then work again.

Considering how the 2K series received a lot of credit for moving forward not but a few years previous, we now look to EA to see how they respond. Again, this is only a preview of a very shallow demo, but the bells and whistles associated with extra features can’t really solidify a poor gameplay system that seems a bit slow and outdated now. This is simply just what was observed in the demo, which you can go onto the PSN right now and try for yourself.

NHL 09 will be getting a demo later this month on both Xbox Live Marketplace and the PSN, so keep an eye out for that and Round Two.