Sept 21, 2007

We sports gamers live to complain. If the latest version of our favorite annual title isn't significantly different than last year's- except, of course, for every little existing detail that we already know and love- then we all moan that the developers are lazy and resting on their laurels. However, when the makers move forward with innovations to jar a mature series out of the doldrums, we writhe in loud agony on message boards a𓂃round the world.

To that end, NHL 2K8 will tick off some and deli🎃ght others. Although there are a few minor gameplay modifications here and there, for the most part it's exceedingly familiar to anyone who's been mixing it up in the series for the past couple of seasons. And that's not necessarily a bad thing, after all- the on-ice mayhem is perfectly smooth, big hits send skaters flying all over the ice, there are plenty of modes for single players and groups🐻 alike, and an in-depth franchise returns to suck up all kinds of disposable hours.

Above: The PS2 version doesn't look nearly as good as this, but it plays better