Customer Reviews

NHL 2001

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

NHL 2001 is by far the best hockey game I've ever played. For any system. Hands down. This is a bold statement, considering I've played EA Sports' since the beginning (only skipping NHL 1999). The graphics are as crisp as any game i've seen on the PS2 thus far. When you turn the game speed up, this baby just screams. The hits are huge, and the camera movement totally fluid. The player models are also oustanding.

The only big drawbacks that this game has is the Create Your Own Player feature and the fighting. The fighting is just weak. There's only one punch to throw, it seems. The worst feature of all was one of the ones that i look forward to every year: Create A Player. The options you're given are just too oblique. You can't pick your face model or haircut, and you cannot create a very racially diverse team, to say the least. I even tried to make a player from Nigeria and he still turned out white. NHL '98 was much better from this standpoint, and i don't see why this game was left so lacking.

This is an amazing game. I dont understand people complaining about the frame rate. I have now played 20+ games in a season and I have encountered no slow down, no graphical glitches or stuttering (which would indicate frame rate problems)nothing but smooth as silk game play! The graphics are amazing, each players face is accurately modeled they even blink their eyes! The Gameplay is not overly fast, but is just about right (though you can customize game speed to your liking). My only real beef is that the higher the level you play on the worse your goalie becomes, so defense is a priority on ALL-STAR level. Players tip shots in front of the net and goal celebrations seem to change the more important the goal is. Score a tying or winning goal late in the game and the player really celebrates. Absolutely everything can be customized, rules, settings, rosters, players are all able to be tweaked to your liking. This game is great no doubt about it this and SSX is all I have been playing. If you like hockey you will love this game. I have a sega dreamcast and this game embarasses the heck out of nhl2k.

I've had my PS2 for over a year now, and NHL 2001 was the game that I bought when I got the system. After adding substantially to my PS2 game library, I find myself always going back to NHL 2001. The graphics are great, the color commentary is good (it's downright awful in NHL 2002), and the game play is phenomenal. This is easily the best game I've played for PS2, and if you're thinking about buying NHL 2002 but don't have 2001, I'd recommend picking up a used copy of 2001 for 12 bucks and saving the 40 bones that would go toward extra cut scenes (that you just end up skipping all the time after playing about a period of the game) and slightly better player faces.

This is the best hockey game yet! From the home team intros to the ultra smoth rendering! It even announces your name or other created players! Lots of game modifiers from puck elasticity to recovery from a hard check. This game has it all even old school jerseys. The audio is awesome as you here fans screaming to the penalty box opening.

I have put a frightening amount of time into NHL videogames, EA and non EA. I recall debates over Ice Hockey or Blades of Steel, which was more rad? The 80's were dope... Just to get a few things straight, I'll sum up the last few years of hockey game history:: NHL '98 for PS changed everything

NHL '99 was one of the biggest disappointments of my highly cultured life. Total ...

NHL 2000 was good, Kept me happy. breakaway deke move is born

NHL 2001 (PS) not too different once you got used to it

NHL Faceoff 2001 (PS) lamer graphics, more realistic positioning. Finally a playable alternative

NHL 2001 PS2 --- Here we go: The graphics are awesome. A total joy if you are a hockey fan. But, when I first played, after the amazing intros, I was pretty scared that this game really was going to ..., that the odd year jinx was back in effect, and that I had paid a little bit too much money for a box that I would only be using as a DVD player. The default speed is way too slow. There is a weird graphical slowdown that doesn't really hurt gameplay but is pretty annoying, although you do get used to it. GAMEPLAY: The scoring is far too reliant on one timing, there is very little that you can do one on one with a goalie that doesn't involve basically stopping, winding up, and taking a big shot. The goalies aren't good enough. Oh yeah, and there is a pretty weird cheap goal bug -- just take a wrist shot from the boards just inside the blue line to the far side. If he's a good shooter it's usually a goal. Wack. I like the way the dump in button works though, you can actually cycle the puck now. Still no drop passes which .... No all time teams. The bottom line: If you are a die hard video game hockey fan, you know you want it! Get it! Even if there are a whole lot of imperfections, nothing else comes close yet. Maybe NHL FACEOFF 2001 PS2 will be good, but until then, you will be happy with this game. I can't wait for next year.

EA Sports certainly put all their attention to this years hockey games to the Playstation2. Their NHL 2001 for the Psx1 was terrible and nothing new when compared to last years title. However, on the Psx2, things are much different and the disapointment level is much less.

To start with, this game looks amazing. Everything from the animation of real-looking checks, facial expressions, player complaints (when called for penalties), injuries (players grab their hips for hip injuries and wrists for wrist injuries), realistic deflections, goals scoring by screening goalies (put a guy in front of the opponents goalie and watch the late reaction by the netminder), all the way to the coach yelling at the ref and other players on the bench interacting with the game is simply amazing. Some other great things in this game are the best features ever. Take all the gameplay options to creat bigger checks, more rebounds, etc. My favorite option is with the game clock. All games are 20 minutes (FINALLY!!!), but you can adjust the clock speed (not length) to make periods go to actually 20 minutes or speed the clock to go 10 or 5 minutes (this is really a good thing because I hate losing my power-forward for the whole period for fighting if I play a 5 minute game). Back in the game is the ref kicking out centers from the faceoffs who's controlled by a button-mashing player. Stat tracking, injuries, and suspensions are done perfectly. Gameplay is right on, too. Gone is the sloppy control and game physics and the AI on the All-Star level is dead-on to real life teams and players--I'm currently playing a season with the Rangers on the All-Star lever and I currently have a 20-21-6-1 record with my top scorer having around 46 points (no more unrealistic stats).

The bad in this game is limited. The main thing I can't stand is the ultra-poor goalies. Far too many weak goals are scored. The only way to eliminate this is to learn how to control your goalie manually, or be frustrated on a regular basis when your goalie weakly waves at a super-slow wrister from the point and totally misses it. If you can learn to play as your goalie when on defense, you'll eliminate this problem. The other main problem with the game isn't as big as the goalie problem, but improvements can be done to make the fighting better. The fighting looks great, but still, players just stand there and take a beating (the fighting in this game is very similiar to the fighting in the original arcade "Blades of Steel" that came out around 1990).

Overall (graphically, sound, options, and overall gameplay), this game is the best hockey game I've played in a long time--if not the best ever!!! Tweak the gameplay options to your liking and from the pre-game introduction to the three-stars of the game, you'll find out that this is the best hockey game this year!!! I'm not just saying this because it's on the Psx2--I'm saying this because it's been a while since I've really enjoyed a hockey sim on ANY platform.

i would wait and see what faceoff is like. graphically, nhl 2001 is great, but the pregame and in-game "puff" pieces get tired after a while. the gameplay is choppy due to slowdown, which occurs when there are several players in the same end of the ice. also, its tough to find a good camera angle, they are either too close, which makes it diffiuclt to set up 1 timers or its too far away, which makes the guys look like midgets.

on the plus side, this game has tons of options to keep you busy & its just plain fun to play. the AI is very very good on the all-star level.

the 2 questions i have for EA Sports is, how can u make a game with slowdown on a 128 bit system and why cant you make hockey games like the old NHL series for the sega genesis?

Before you go out to buy NHL2K1 this fall go and take a look at this. Insane graphics, tons more options and game modes then NHL2K, and much better controls then 2K. To start off NHL2K had good graphics using one off the close cameras but go far away and boom it looks like trash. This you can try anything you want and it won't make a difference. You'll always end up with great picture high resalution, and a smooth framerate. About game modes how routine is it to incourperate that u can control multiple teams in one season into a hockey game. I dont know what happened but 2K had 3 options, Exhibition, control 1 team through a season or 1 team through just playoffs. Next 2K made you have to hunt to find your standings, also you couldn't simulate many games at a time making you have to hit the button 82 time s to simulate the season. I was relieved to finally play NHL 2001, it had all the game modes you need, enough options so you can custimize your gameplay and a much more advanced player creating system then Sega will ever match. Finally the controles. There easy to use and probaly custimizable (Im not sure if there cusimizable because i never had a problem so i never checked.) If you've played 2K you already know the controls but for those who don't, A was pass B speed burst X was shoot and the triggers were for coaching and line changes. Maybee use the easy to reach triggers for pass and shoot and the harder x and y for coaching and line changes. Overall its a great game along with the all star ps2 line up (madden 2001 tekken tag tournament ridge racer V NHL 2001 Unreal tournament grand tourism 2000 and metal gear solid 2) Buy it, I gaurinty you you'll have lots a fun.

I have to say, I really dig this game. The graphics aren't perfect, but they are pretty good and most of the hockey players look like their real life counterparts.

The game is rather balanced and it's way fun to check someone into the glass and steal the puck. You can practically feel the exhiliration when you score a goal or the disappointment and anger when a goal is scored on you. The replay of goals is really tasty, let's you have to feeling of really being there.

The Season mode is nice, because you have to make sure that you have a well balanced team and that you don't let your goalie get too fatigued throughout the course of the 82 game season. I've been playing thru the game with the New Jersey Devils and I know how each of my players does his part, who the strong and weak members are and how to use them to their optimum. This is fun for any Hockey fan, but EA has always made some of the best sports games in existance.

And I thought NHL 2000 on PS was great! Wow. This game is incredible, from the amazingly lifelike graphics to the insanely customizable gameplay. The front end presentation is spectacular, as we have come to expect from EA Sports. The sound is immersive and really adds to the excitement of playing. There are camera angles suited to any taste and the in-game, pseudo-tv-sports-broadcast style is plenty convincing, Some of the play-by-play is so spot-on it'll give you chills. I can't wait for NHL 2002 (and I wish Triple Play Baseball on PS2 was just as good!).