Nah, masks of power play a large role in 09.
Anyway, incredibly bored right now, so may as well post my "reviews" of the 09 sets.
Skrall: Like the body design, love the shield, hate the swords on the arms. 5/10
Gresh: Very cookie cutter, but makes cookie cutter look good. Love the use of the Nuparu and Gorast claws as armor. Love the bladed weapon. Love the "jungle" element, hopefully that means plantlife. My favorite. 9/10
Tarix: Color scheme is good(hence why I love Brutaka), weapons are awesomesauce, but the simple Inika shoulder armor on the chest makes it looks really empty. 4/10
Strakk: Finally, armor that looks representative of the figures element. Mask could do without the "mouth", but still looks good. New torso? Cool. Axe is cool. 7.5/10
Vorox: Tan, it hasn't been around since, when? Robo-riders? Love it. Mask and "tail" are awesome. Arm and leg armor look like they have a lot of potential. Hewkii blade? No. 7.5/10
Malum: Cool mask, weapons look very nice. Short and muscular design is meh. 6.5/10
"Matoran/Impulse": Kinda disappointing that they are just different colored Av-Matoran in terms of body, but the recolored parts are cool. Best new weapon is Metus's snowflake shield. Berix is best, Zesk is worst.
Tuma: Awesome. That is all 9.5/10
Fero & Skirmix: Cool "Rahi" design, standard "Matoran". 7/10
Overall: Life counter concept is...interesting. Hands are neutral for me. Want all of them though.
That is all.