Though my love for the sport wanes on whether or not the Carolina Hurricanes are doing well from season to season, my love for the videogame always remains the same. Whether it's choosing a team of two skinnies and a normal in the old hockey game for the NES, skating with Gretzky on the Sega Genesis, or fighting in NHL 2K8 I just can't seem to get enough of the coldest sport on the planet.

If you haven't sat down to play a hockey game in a while, chances are good that you're going to be left a bit dumbfounded early on trying to figure out just what buttons do what and how best to use them to actually succeed, score, and win at the game. We'd go over point by point every button and action, but frankly you want a review and not one that reads more like the manual (besides, there is more than one control scheme, so you can go back to simpler times and not use the game's controls to their fullest, though honestly we think you'd be missing out then).

The game and its controls are broken down into offense and defense. While on offense you sprint, deke your opponent out of their boots (figuratively only), pass, and of course shoot. Though simple reading it like that, there are multiple ways to play and use those controls. For example, though the game lets you pass with the left bumper, we found ourselves relying more on using the X-button and a directional point with the left thumbstick to saucer pass to the nearest teammate that was there. On the other side of the puck, defense is filled with quick sprints, diving saves, and wicked checks. Your fingers will fumble around on the controller as you search for the right button, but after playing a few games you'll find a natural rhythm and you'll be passing on the fly, switching between men, doing a deke, and scoring the winning goal in no time at all.

If you don't want to rely on your computer controlled goalie and have your win or loss solely based on your game skills, by pressing the Back button you'll be able to take control of your goalie, slide him left and right to get his arrow green for a better block, and then once the shot is fired off you'll have to quickly move a circle over the spot where the shot is heading, and get close enough to make the save. Switching to the goalie seems to slow the game down a tad for those moments, so if you want nothing but action all the time going at full speed, you'll probably want to relegate goalie duty to the computer (and you won't suffer because of that decision either).

Though the game of hockey remains the same, NHL 2K8 throws a few new features into the game that mixes up the gameplay nicely. The biggest inclusion this year is the ProStick, which is the all-purpose right thumbstick that acts as your actual stick on the ice you are holding. When on offense you can move the right thumbstick to move the puck around, such as trying to fake your opponent like you're going to shoot to the right, only to slide it back to the other side and slip around; it works relatively well, but we found the ProStick plays a much more important role when on defense. On defense, the ProStick is imperative to attempt a steal, as you can shove your stick in the way to try and break up a pass or you can shove it at an opponent in hopes of swiping the puck right from them.

In terms of gameplay you've also got a new face-off scenario, which has you using the ProStick to actually get in there and making your move, trying to swipe the puck in your direction for control. With face-offs you'll get some clean wins, but a lot of times you'll tangle up against the guy going against you, and suddenly it becomes a tug of war with the both of you trying to kick it in your direction or one of your players sweeping in for the snag. Also new are the Superstar Moves, which are moves made famous by some of the great players throughout hockey history. In order to do one of the moves, first your character must have enough skill to be able to do so, because not all hockey players are created equal. If they are able to perform the move, all it takes is holding the left trigger in and a quick two-button combo. Admittedly the moves are a bit superfluous as it's certainly possible to win games never using them, but they certainly look stylish and can help with those tense shootouts for the win at the end of a game.

There are several different modes in NHL 2K8, such as the Quick Game with the teams of your choice, a single season, a tournament, training so that you can perfect all the news controls, but obviously the two biggest modes are going to be the franchise mode and the games over Xbox Live. The franchise mode is extremely deep, featuring plenty of options to really be the coach of the team, making calls, substitutions, trades, contract negotiations, and much, much more. The franchise mode also features cool new additions like waivers, salary cap management, a better draft system and free agent signing period, and player progression and dynamic player types. The great thing about the franchise mode is it is as deep as you want it to be or as simple as you want it. If you want to let the game handle certain features that's fine. If you don't want to worry about manually calling for line changes, let the game do it for you and just focus on playing the game. Whether you're into the hardcore aspects of managing your team or just playing the game, NHL 2K8 will have you covered. As for online play the games were pretty smooth and fast with only a tiny hiccup here or there to break the fluidity up for a short time, but nothing major or game changing where a win or a loss will be decided by a factor other than skill.

A big thing sports games always end up being is seeing who can find the weaknesses in the AI and exploit it first and to its full potential. We're happy to report that through our playing we haven't found any such weaknesses on even the Pro setting. In past hockey games one of the best ways to score a goal was the one-timer, but for NHL 2K8 things have been changed. Yes, you'll still be able to score on one-timers, but only if you're properly setup to make the actual smart shot. For instance, in older games, all you had to do was activate the one-timer and you'd automatically get off a good shot, despite the fact the puck might have been right behind you at the time; not so with NHL 2K8 as it's all about placement. We've actually found ourselves scoring more with strong slapshots, a good deke at the right time, or simply being in the right place at the right time after a rebound off the goalie.

A sports game also needs to have some top-notch animation, but sadly NHL 2K8 does not as it's quite the mixed bag. When you're tied-up in a faceoff, giving brutal checks, or doing a deke to the right or left the game performs admirably and animation is quite solid. Transitions on the ice, however, sometimes range in quality since it isn't uncommon to see a character go from smooth and life-like turns on the ice to suddenly be going through an animation in an all too quick a fashion, such as skating along when suddenly you're rocked by a check and find yourself tumbling over into the opposing team's bench. Animation and realism isn't just a factor on the ice either, as the fans in the stands really need to convey action and emotion. The game does a good job of letting them scream and chant and boo, but when you actually see the fans the graphics aren't up to snuff at all and characters are very wooden and more place markers than living people. Besides the animation, the graphics don't appear all too advanced either, as there really isn't much thrilling about guys sliding along the ice. The look of the ice and glares and reflections off of it look great, but many of the faces when zoomed in during a close-up moment look like the same caveman.

On the audio side of things, NHL 2K8 features a pretty good effort on the soundtrack front, featuring some songs from the 80s and several more alternative numbers; it has just as many flaws as it does gems. In terms of commentary, the stitching of audio lines to make complete thoughts and sentences is basically flawless as hardly an instance of tearing was noted, but the problem is that the commentary is fairly dry, and many of the remarks repeat way too often. I get it – hitting someone hard makes it feel like an earthquake. If you only want to focus on the sounds of the fans making noise, the skates digging into the ice, the roar of the goal alarm, or the crunch of a collision with the boards, it all sounds brilliant.

If you're looking for a next-gen hockey game in terms of technical benchmarks, NHL 2K8 will let you down in quite a few ways. If you want a hard hitting and wickedly fun hockey game, though, you'll find the game an utter blast. We wish the game was rounded out a bit more on the technical side, but the sheer fun makes up for many of the ultimate problems.

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