

It also has very little in the way of character features to choose from. Unlike those others, NHL 09 doesn't allow for putting your own mug onto the player models via EA's Game Face, which would have been a very cool feature for a smash-mouth game such as hockey. Unfortunately, the Create-A-Player isn't as good as in some of EA's other sports titles. One of the sweetest graphical pluses may go unnoticed at first, but as you are skating, the ice does get more and more skate and scuff marks, also adding to the realism.

The normal mapping of the player uniforms helps bring realism to the ice as well. The player models look outstanding, and the arenas top the charts as well. This year's 2009 version of the NHL franchise looks as great as ever.
