Customer Reviews

NHL 2003

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I've bought every one of EA's NHL game series since it was first released and I always log in 4 or 5 seasons with each year (400-500 games). Every year they've made considerable improvements over the previous years. However, when NHL 2002 came out, it was the first time the game didn't get better... it actually got considerably worse. Game control dropped a notch, defense AI became worse then it's been in years, and most of the goals scored by the computer were cheap blue line slap shots. Worst of all was the new `feel' of the game... EA turned much of the game into a joke. This included the stadium PA announcer telling bad jokes and the color commentator who once had intelligent things to say along with player facts, being replaced with Don Taylor who goofs around constantly and says nothing but poor one-liners and dumb jokes. I played about 65 games before reverting back to playing NHL 2001.

NHL 2003 sinks even further then the previous year. Player control feels muddled and at times annoying (example: player will skate right over the puck without picking it up). Defensive AI is just as bad as last year (way too many breakaways)... no improvements at all. Although the game seems to have matured a bit since 2002, dropping many of the announcer's bad jokes, Don Taylor is still as annoying as ever. You have the option to turn the color commentary off, however it only cuts down on his comments... he still chimes in quite often. By game number 30, I had to resort to turning the volume of the play-by-play down completely. The new menu system needs some tweaking as well. You don't have as much control as previous years (player and goalie sliders are gone leaving you with a much less tunable game) and some of the game options can only be changed after you start playing the game, which means you have to set them for EVERY game.

Overall, playing against the computer is awful. If you play anything above `easy' the game becomes heavily one sided in favor of the computer's team. Your goalie is always horrible (regardless of who you use) while the computer's goalie is like superman, anticipating where you'll shoot the puck before you do. If you manage to keep the shots down and get close to shutting out the computer, 95% of the time the computer will score a cheap goal in the last 30 second of the game, almost as if it was programmed into the game itself. The computer's team will block your passes and slap shots with incredible ease and will consistently score a goal against you for every 4-5 shots they take. It's unbearably frustrating to fight through two periods only to have 7 straight goals scored against you in the third. Less then 60 games into the season, I've already abandoned NHL 2003...

The problem with EA's NHL series for the last couple of years is the overall development of the game. EA seems too concerned with adding cutting edge technology to the game that they forget to fix the problems of the previous year. The graphics are great and the animations are impressive, however that doesn't mean much if the game itself isn't any fun. When my goalie fails to stop five straight 200-foot slap shots or my defenseman gets beaten to the puck by a computer controlled player one step behind him, I really could care less about new `Game Breaker' and other useless eye candy features. For next year's version, EA needs to dump Don Taylor and restart programming from NHL 2001. They need to worry more about the core of the game. Anything less and NHL 2004 will be the first of the series that I won't be buying.

If you play against another person, many of the game's flaws are less evident and the game becomes tolerable. However, if you mostly plan on playing against the computer, I highly recommend skipping this year's version and hoping for something better from EA next year.

when EA sports says it has the #1 hockey franchise ever. Well, if you wanted to know why its because it has no {explicit} competition for the past 10 years!

well, lets look at the few positives that it has.

Pros: 1.Realistic Shooting.(finally)

2.EA trax gives us ACTUAL and GOOD music.(finally)

And now the Cons.

Cons: 1.A lot of em

2.In-game passing is horrid

3.Scores in 20 minute periods are unrealistic

4.Player control is depressing

5.A franchse mode that hasnt improved since NHL 2001

6.Play-by-Play gets repetitive fast

7.EA Online costs $$$ this year

8."New" pictures were taken at the start of last season

Perplexing: when will someone ever come out with a good hockey game?

The verdict: dont buy this if you have 2002 or 2001. only if you have 2000 or 99 for comp or just want to be kept up with statistics

My two cents: The Good:
1) Interface-Menu's are intuitive, and provide access to anything you need in a matter of clicks, team management is much improved.
2) Improved Season/Franchise play (you can select and unselect user control of every team throughout the season).
3) Physics (Puck, player, and goalies are all improved. The only hitch is the oft difficult task of picking up loose pucks, but it comes with adjusting to the newer physics).
The Bad:
1) Once again, they left out a ton of jerseys (Hartford's Green, and Buffalo's Old home jerseys for example).
2) The above mentioned loose puck issue, again, it comes to you with experience so...
3) The Color guy is still there from 2002, whoever writes Don Taylor's jokes needs to get a new job...I just turn him off.
To disagree with other reviewers:
1) You can turn off the music, and you can import your own.
2) You can set up plays, I do it, just be patient and hope your guys have good passing (or turn up the pass accuracy within the game, most things can be tweaked thusly).
3) If it's too slow for you, there's an option to up the tempo or slow it down.
4) At least in Season/Franchise mode, it remembers your pressure/strategy/lines/options.

Conclusion: Best version yet, and I've been buying it every year since '93.

I just hope they add alumni teams next year! Gretzky and LaFontaine return!!

The nice aspects of NHL 2003 can be summarized rather briefly: more realistic play around the goals (no more magnetic goaltender) and a more intuitive menu system. That's all. Players who are expecting an improvement from NHL 2002 - go back to NHL 2002 and play that for one more year. Don't waste your money on this disappointing offering.

Compared to it's predecessor, NHL 2003 is stripped down to the bare bones and it feels unfinished. Handicap sliders (adjusting goalie skills and player speeds) are gone from Franchise and International modes. The entire NHL Cards system is gone. All of the cool cheats and goal celebrations are gone. The players no longer look like their namesakes.

The handicap sliders are sorely missed, for the difficulty levels are terminally mismatched. Playing on Easy will give you 10-1 and 14-3 scores after a day of practice, whereas on the Medium level, you're in for the fight of your life.

Instead of making an effort in the AI field, EA Sports allows the computer-controlled team to cheat in order to get the edge:

- Forget winning man-on-man situations along the boards.
- When star players get the puck, don't waste your energy trying to check the player and take the puck, because you won't be able to (your own star players are not allowed the same invincibility).
- At the end of a game where you have a 1 or 2-goal lead, be prepared to see the opposing players swarm like flies - totally at odds with the late-game fatigue that your own troops are experiencing.
- Don't be surprised if you outshoot the computer 35-10 and still tie the game 5-5.

I will not launch into the debate whether this is a hockey *simulator* or a hockey *arcade game*. I just know that it's entertainment software, and as such, it falls far below the mark for me. I wouldn't recommend it.

Coming from a guy who has been a huge EA fan since the days of NHL 94 on the Sega, I must say NHL 2003 is very dissapointing. Although the game does have many postives - the graphics, the cool goalie saves and the announcers - it is filled with many, many negatives. What were the guys at EA drinking? To start off with the gameplay is awful. Is seems as though EA has moved backwards in providing the user with accurate on ice controller movements. How many times does the skater have to skate over the puck before he picks it up? On top of that the times where the puck is just sitting in the open and no one is able to get to it is ridiculous, & god forbid the puck goes behind the net. If it does be prepared to have to try and grab it two or three times. 90% of the time the computer controlled team will always get to it before you do. My biggest pieve is the fact that in order to make you player change directions, the game is designed so you have to "swing" him in a large 360. No more changing directions on the stop of a dime. This one point alone is a major reason to not buy the game. Be prepared to control your own line changes. The computer automatically changes your lines just about every time you pass the red line with the puck. This means that everytime you get in deep to the oppostions side you have no backup. The lines are changing. The setup screens are packed with way too much info and poorly designed. The words user friendly do not apply here. The menu screens give the feeling of Windows 95 maybe even 3.1. Yuck! Another negative is that when choosing an on ice strategy option in the coaches section, the game automatically defaults back to its default setting every time. So say if you pick the "rush the net option" the game will not remember that when the game starts. My last sour point about the game is when you play online with someone you are forced to change ALL of the personalized programmable setting every time. So before every online game you have to change things like "no fighting", "no injuries", "game speed", "speed burst %", etc. I wish there was a comments phone line at EA. Things have to change or else my EA hockey collection stops here!

NHL 2002 was my first game for Playstation 2, and I loved it. The new one has, of course, this year's rosters, but until I found the menu to speed it up, I was frustrated. IT CAN BE SPEEDED UP TO LAST YEAR'S SPEED- but again, it's a menu item. The grpahics are greatly improved, and yes, the announcer guy is still annoying, but the music has gotten annoying. I liked last year's more, and at the same time the music this year is kind of featured in a way so as to appear as a music video. Wierd, and lesser quality music. My nephew has never seen a hockey game, but all he wanted to do once he saw it was play, play, play- so if you want a good game, this could be the one, but go into your menu screen early!

Well, I thought 2003 was very good but after playing for a couple of weeks, I got more and more frustrated because my players keep on skating by loose pucks. Also, any time an opposing players has the puck in the corner, if you don't get the puck away from him fast, he is going to center it to a "wide open" teammate in front of your net which results in a goal 9 out of 10 times. As another reviewer said, the defensive positioning is awful. So, what I did was this. I loaded 2002 back up just to see which was better. I got back on 2002 for five minutes and there was just no real comparison. 2002 flat out plays much better than 2003. I am taking 2003 back to the store for a refund. I am still confident that 2004 will be better than 2002 but until then NHL 2002 is it!

this game is a good one and worth the money, but just barely. the shooting is realistic, no more shots over 110 mph, and the golies make saves that actualy look like the ones the pros make. the music is cool,and the dekes are awesome. The graphics are very good in this game too. Some of the problems are that the golies are not good. You can sometimes let a backhand shot go from the blue line, and it will go in! unforgiveable. when you are playing, the crowd looks like colored paper, but that is not relivent. Also, there is no player or golie boost in season mode. Also unforgiveable. Don Taylor has dropped many of his dumb jokes, but some are still there. Otherwise, this game is one of the best. I recommend it to all hockey fans

first i would like to say this is a great improvment on NHL 2002. Now here are the pros and cons:
PROS:
Realstic Gameplay
Amazing Dekes
No more 110 and up MPH shots
CONS:
Like very hockey game the powerplay set up stinks u just dont rush in and shoot u set up!
Start screen is ugly
Overall this is a very good game though

I have purchased this, tried it out and am sad to say that it is a disappointment compared to 2001 and 2002. As stated in the previous review, the menus are way too busy and hard to get around in. The time it takes to load the game and play it is slower than last year. The game play itself is laborious and not as exciting as last year. As far as I can see, the "face in the game" feature is gone. When I downloaded the game there is no "user" file in which to import ditties and players. There's fewer options in the create a player mode. Only two eye colors, limited skin tones and, as I said, no face in the game. This year's default music is way too loud and obnoxious, catering to 13 year olds obviously. EA has always been on the cutting edge of creating great interactive sports games and up until now they've made the best NHL game. This year's edition, however, is a textbook example of the old adage "if it ain't broke don't fix it." Well EA fixed the game and hurt it in the process. If you want real excitement and lots of creative options, your best bet is to go with NHL 2002. I won't be purchasing 2004 unless they vastly improve it over 2003.