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THE SPORTS JOURNAL | NEWS FILE |
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REVIEWS
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NHL 2004 Review
Posted on Tuesday, March 16 2004
| REVIEW INFORMATION |
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By
munky
"NHL 2004 is by far the best hockey game on the market right now. EA has made huge strides and is beginning to realize what hockey gamers want. Here’s hoping they continue this path with NHL 2005." |
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| DISAGREE ? POST YOUR OWN REVIEW |
Publisher
: EA Sports
Developer : Black Box
Release Date : OUT NOW !
Genre : Sports - Hockey
|
| 8 |
Gameplay |
| 8.5 |
Graphics |
| 8 |
Longevity |
| 7.5 |
Presentation |
| 8 |
Sound |
| 8 |
Overall
Score
(not average) |
Platform :     |
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HOW IT STACKS UP
| THE
GOOD |
| Great Strides made this year, heading in the right direction. |
| THE BAD |
| Still slips into arcade style on occasion. |
New this year is the ‘Choose your fight’ feature. No more abandoning a breakaway in the last ten seconds of the game because Krzysztof Oliwa didn’t like the names Jody Shelley was calling him. Now if there’s a fight on the way, you can decide when to start it. You’ll be notified at the bottom of the screen of who wants to drop the gloves, and you can choose the opportune time to chuck knuckles – or not fight at all if you like. You’ll also be treated to an occasional goalie fight (it turns out that Jose Theodore is quite a goon – who knew?).
Gameplay - 8
Longevity – EA has expanded the ever popular Dynasty Mode this year. Now you can take control of your team’s finances, sign free agents (using actual dollars), make trades, and alter ticket prices. The more effective you are as a GM, the more upgrade points you’re awarded. These upgrade points let you improve upon several facets of your organization. You can hire better trainers, buy better equipment for your training facility, improve your transportation to away games, etc. All of these upgrades will improve your team’s attributes in various ways. A better legal team will allow you to sign free agents to cheaper contracts for example.
Also included in Dynasty Mode is a farm system. Each team has a handful of prospects on their farm team, and you can call them up whenever you see fit. This also comes in handy when you have injuries to deal with. You aren’t obligated to sign a free agent; you can call up a prospect from the minors to play with the big club. Very cool.
Also new this year is a selection of European leagues. You can play as teams in Elitserien (Sweden), the DEL (Germany), or SM-Liiga (Finland). This can be a refreshing change, and playing on a huge international ice surface takes some getting used to.
Longevity – 8
Presentation - On ice, NHL looks sweet. Using the Broadcast camera angle (I can't understand how people can play with any other angle) the game looks just like a real NHL telecast.
Last year, gamers complained that the scoreboard would obstruct their view of the puck in the corner. EA has fixed this issue, and now the scoreboard will dissolve if the puck should find itself in the corner - handy.
NHL 2004 looks, by and large, very similar to NHL 2003. The save/breakaway camera has been done away with, as it was a distraction and more trouble than it was worth. If you've played previous versions, you know what to expect.
Presentation 7.5
Overall – 8/10
NHL 2004 is by far the best hockey game on the market right now. EA has made huge strides and is beginning to realize what hockey gamers want. Here’s hoping they continue this path with NHL 2005.
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