|
NHL 2004 Preview
 |
Developer |
EA Sports
|
| Publisher |
EA Sports
|
| Genre |
Sports
|
| Release Date |
9/23/03
|
After reviews showed that Electronic Arts NHL 2003 got crushed into the boards by Sega’s NHL 2K3 (though it still outsold the competition…) it was pretty much guaranteed that EA would come back this year with a greatly improved product. Sure enough, they have added in features and gameplay tweaks that they hope will take the series to a new level.
The focus this year is on creating a more realistic hockey simulation, something that’s typically been a weak point of the series. There’s also a deep Dynasty mode, which uses an RPG-like system of organization upgrades to keep users occupied. Gamers will be able to better their organization, over the course of a 20 year career as a General Manager, by upgrading training equipment, medical facilities, scouting abilities, and much, much more. Upgrades are paid for by earning experience points by, obviously, winning games, though gamers will also earn them for drawing good attendance and maintaining a profit as an organization. This feature, if it pans out as hoped, will be a huge asset to the series. An NHL RPG? Hah – take that, Brian!
Presentation is one of the strong points in most of EA’s longrunning series, and the NHL one is no exception. NHL 2003 had solid commentary and a quality audio/visual package with few weak points, and things look to improve a bit this year. The graphics will be improved, with even more player faces making it in, while the gameplay looks to remain as fast as ever. The game will still default to the top down camera that EA has been using since the days of the Sega Genesis, but I suppose you don’t fix what isn’t broken.
In the end though, it’s the action that holds the interest. Last year, EA’s offering was a bit too arcade like for many sports fans. The non-stop goalfests, long a standard in the NHL series, seemed pale imitations of the real NHL product next to Sega’s far more realistic gameplay. Things will be tightened up this year, with improved goaltender AI and better defensive controls. There’s a new hitting system in place, which may or may not be an improvement, depending on whether you’re the guy throwing or receiving the hits. The new hitting scheme sounds decent, though I wonder if it’ll result in matchups that degenerate into a ‘whoever hits most, wins’ format.
Puck control is also getting tweaked a bit, with the right analog stick again being used to maneuver the stick to deke out opponents. Theoretically, gamers will finally be able to come down the right side boards and cut in on the defenseman, while keeping their stick out of range of pokechecks. This will also let gamers tweak their passing, moving the stick to try and sneak passes through traffic.
Things look good for the series to make a run for the Cup this year, with numerous improvements in areas that have long been lacking. If all the new additions work out as hoped, NHL 2004 might have what it takes to unseat NHL 2K3 as the best recreation of the on-ice product this generation.
Preview by Rod Oracheski
|
