NHL 2002

by EA

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005N7YJ
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: September 19, 2001
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #27,864 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #7 in Video Games > PC Games > Sports > Hockey
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Platform: PC | Edition: Standard

Amazon.com Review

The EA Sports NHL series has always offered high-octane, smash-mouth hockey for fans of the game--and even those who just crave great arcade action. Early incarnations didn't simulate hockey very well, instead offering a sort of XFL version of the game. They were big on action, hits, fighting, and hat tricks, but quite small on niceties such as realism. That was forgivable when gaming was new, but as the graphics and technology grew, EA started hearing from fans of the sport, fans who wanted real hockey--a true simulation rather than an arcade game.

When EA Sports started moving in that direction, the arcade fans grew frustrated; they missed their fun arcade action gaming. Finally, last year, EA Sports went a long way toward pleasing both camps. NHL 2001 played like the arcade game loved by most, but offered gameplay sliders that let simulation heads and hockey purists tweak the action to real-world NHL speed and playability. NHL 2001 was almost perfect.

Good news: NHL 2002 maintains that near perfection and is essentially the same game as last year. There are new rosters and stats, of course; and the graphics have also received yet another coat of polish--making this, by far, the prettiest PC sports game around. The game plays pretty much the same as before, from the excellent controls and the innovative sliders, to the Face-in-the-Game technology that lets you add your mug to any player you create, to the wide selection of NHL and world teams, to recurring problems such as poor AI quality when the game handles defensive and offensive positioning. You can still install your own MP3 files to replace the default tunes and create your own league. And if that's not all, full and rookie draft options still let you manage your favorite team from scratch. It's all here, same as last year but with a slight face-lift.

What's actually new is cheekier commentary. It's still lightning quick and well voiced, only this time it has more mostly not-funny jokes. Even the PA announcer has a few zingers. There's a new camera system that follows the breakaway, called, fittingly, the Breakaway Cam. And there's another in-game gimmick based on trading cards. The Breakaway Cam is exciting, but it can also be alarming and disorienting. It can cause you to lose control in a crucial one-on-one with the goalie. You can turn it off, but, wow, does it ever show off this spiffy graphics engine. The card feature challenges you to perform hockey feats such as hat tricks or a certain number of saves, goals in a season, etc., and it rewards you by unlocking cool features like classic teams, sillier features such as themed rinks, and--hockey purists beware--power-ups like super speed. Another new feature is a fully 3-D crowd, which looks better than it sounds. The audience jumps, cheer, and adds a surprisingly effective immersive quality to the game. The effect is much better than the traditional 2-D bit-mapped crowds of yesteryear.

If you like hockey, you have no choice but this game. Sad but true, this is the only PC hockey game around. But at least EA's game is still more than worth the money, even if you're just upgrading from last year. EA, once again, has the coolest game on Earth. --Andrew S. Bub

Pros:

• The best graphics on Earth
• The best gameplay on Earth, whether you're a simhead or action fan

Cons:

• Defensive AI is still suspect
• Some of the new features are annoying

Product Description

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Purists should stick with NHL 2001 for another year, September 23, 2001

By 

Daniel Jolley "darkgenius" (Shelby, North Carolina USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: NHL 2002 (CD-ROM)

EA might want to modify their slogan for this game to say "Even if it's not in the game, it's in the game." A prominent arcade feel has been incorporated into this classic sports game, and it actually takes away from the game experience--while I am not a hardcore hockey gamer (mainly because I'm just not that good at it), I am somewhat of a purist, and the bells and whistles added to this incarnation of EA's NHL series are somewhat silly and certainly distracting. For example, a big hit or great save will generate several slow-motion replays right in the middle of the action, leaving you uncertain and thus vulnerable when you suddenly return to live action. When you score or make a big play, words announcing your achievement may pop up on the screen, and the display for some reason makes me think of the old arcade games I played as a youth. The concept of "collecting" NHL cards for myriad achievements just seems weird to me; if I want to see easter eggs and cheats in a game (and I don't, incidentally), I am more than content to know that such secrets are available for free all over the Internet. Even the game announcers have taken to making plain silly remarks for the sake of humor alone. Periodic game summaries seem like a good idea in theory but quickly become annoying. Many of these new "showy" features can be turned off, but I can't really see why the greatest sport game franchise in history feels compelled to prostitute itself to attract new, probably younger, players.

The game itself, I must say, is still excellent. The action is as intense as ever, the set of skills required to excel has increased, and important new features from real hockey have made their way into the game. The ability to make a scoop pass is much appreciated, as is the ability to knock pucks out of the air and up on to your stick. Goalie animation is improved, making room for some pretty spectacular-looking saves. A new feature I do like is animation of the crowd reacting to the gameplay. Overall, however, I feel that NHL 2001 is superior to this game, particularly in terms of gameplay. Icing, two-line passes, and the like just don't seem to happen enough in this game regardless of the settings I choose--I find myself playing minutes on end without a stoppage of play, which does my left thumb even more damage than usual. I have a harder time keeping up with where my teammates are, as well. Perhaps the most disappointing feature of NHL 2002 is the animation of players following a goal. Basically, the scorer sticks his arms up and just stands there for a minute; then, after the replay, some other teammates come around him to congratulate him. This goes to make goal-scoring almost anticlimactic.

All in all, this is still a great game, but it is saddled with flaws not of performance but of design. I buy this game every year as soon as it comes out, going back to 1996, and I will continue to do so. Sadly, though, this year's release comes down to being a purchase based on loyalty rather than enjoyment. Purists, I feel safe to say, will be much better served by simply embarking on a brand new season of NHL 2001 and waiting to see if this year's hopefully anomalous trend toward arcade action is reversed in NHL 2003.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love This Game Because It's Fun, September 24, 2001

By 

F. Liao (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: NHL 2002 (CD-ROM)

Well, when I first got this game 5 days after its release, I can say for sure that this is one of the best hockey games I've ever played. Though, the last EA Sports game I bought was NHL 99, and the rest I played were demos, this is by far one of the best concoctions.

Some of the new features that give it a "story-like" feel may annoy some users. These include the 3-time replay of great saves and big hits during gameplay, which might make the user lose his/her sense of the moment until the replay ends. Also, when you are breaking away, the screen just tints blue and makes a heartbeat sound is probably one of the features I don't like about the game.

The NHL Cards are a new thing. I really have no opinions about this because these cards are more like cheats and special abilities which might turn away people in the wrong way. Though, it also gives more unpredictability to the game (except for the cheats). Luckily, it could be disabled on a per-game basis.

The AI has improved over the NHL 2001 demo I played. The goals made by the computer looks more skilled now than NHL games of before. It doesn't look like the CPU decided to score at that time, but the AI makes an effort to make a goal like any other player. In fact, I'm able to make goals farther from the net, which evens out the playing field. Also, the defense of the computer doesn't include trying to check you at every moment. It seems to try to poke check you and loosen the puck a lot of times, which gives you some chances to recover.

Anyway, soon I will be trying to play online via EA's Match Maker. Though, users should know that you can only play online until October 1, 2002, where they probably cut us all off so that we buy a new version of the NHL series.

BTW, those gamers who want a real simulation might want to look elsewhere. There is a big tradeoff made between fun in general and realness.

I love this game and it would become a classic in my collection.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Goal!!!, December 22, 2001

By 

"dragoon3763" (Dunedin, Fl) - See all my reviews

This review is from: NHL 2002 (CD-ROM)

EA sports needs to stick to making hockey games. Thats what they do the best at in my opinion. Madden, Fifa, Nascar, Nba, are all good, but their hockey games rule. In 2002 they have many new features like the card based system where you get special goodies to help you in the game. Plus they brought old features from 2001 back like the dittie importer, team creator, and face generator. The gameplay in 2002 is better. Its more realistic and has music during all the breaks and just feels more realistic. The players do special dances and stuff when the score goals and they show continous stats. A new feature is the crowd momentum. 2001 had just the Momentum bar. 2002 has the Momentum bar for the players and for the Crowd. The more goals you score the louder the crowds get and then you're team gets more pumped up. This is one of the most realistic sports games to date. the NHL series is my favorite of them all and if you like any other NHL games I'm sure you'll like this one.

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