Game Reviews

NHL 2K

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NHL 2K
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| NHL 2K

Another year, another sports game - and another comment about "another year." But still, here we find ourselves with a new NHL 2K, and I imagine you want to know if it's any good before you spend your cash on it.

Know first that I haven't played much of the earlier NHL games (from any company) on mobile, so I'm not the person to ask for a comparison. However, I will say that there's some interesting and enjoyable stuff here.

There's also some not so great stuff.

Icing problems

First the good. NHL 2K is a decent hockey game on mobile. It offers up a choice between two control schemes, makes use of some cool cinematic camera angles, has a fair few game modes to play around with, and the Career is actually kind of neat.

Unfortunately the one-touch control scheme doesn't work very well. The virtual stick and buttons work much better, but do occasionally create issues when taps won't register thanks to placement or hitboxes.

It's also difficult to find a camera angle that shows you everything you need to see without it being so far away as to make figuring out what's going on harder than it should be.

And keeping track of the puck is a challenge even when you do zoom in a fair bit.

Live the dream

For me, at least, the Career Mode is the game's biggest highlight. I've really been enjoying the simulation aspects and being able to slowly tailor my custom player using skill points earned by doing hockey things.

In other words, you can earn points to upgrade defensive abilities by playing defensively, offense by playing offensively, and so on.

I also rather enjoy only having to worry about a single player on the ice, though needing to wait my turn can be a bit of a drag even with the fast-forward button.

NHL 2K is, as I've said, a decent hockey game. I doubt it'll win over anyone who already owns or has played earlier games in the series, but it could be worth a look for newcomers. So long as they're prepared to deal with some camera and control issues.

NHL 2K

There is some entertainment to be had with this year's NHL 2K, but it has more than its fair share of problems
Score
Rob Rich
Rob Rich
Rob Rich is the editor of 148Apps.com