NHL 2003

by Visual Concepts

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00006FWTZ
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches ; 8 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: September 23, 2002
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,505 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

Platform: PlayStation2 | Edition: Standard

Amazon.co.uk Review

Being huge hockey fans, we were excited about playing the latest in the long line of EA’s NHL series--but we must admit to being a little disappointed with this latest offering, as NHL 2003 in all truth is NHL 2002 plus a few shiny bits. The new features for 2003 are an improved franchise mode that has more of the hard-core managerial events to deal with, such as annual drafts, player waivers, more injuries and suspensions, and more Easter eggs and celebrations to unlock with the NHL cards rewards system. One major gameplay change has been added: the Gamebreaker is simply a power bar that slowly energizes as you play, and once it's full a quick button press will allow you to pull off some pretty funky moves. Also improved are the in-game physics--the puck now rebounds off defenders and sticks with more realism. Our main criticisms (and perhaps this is nit-picking) are that the overly comic commentators have really dumbed the game down and that there are too many Matrix-style, slow-motion effects.

NHL 2003 plays fantastically and is one of the finest sports games to grace TV screens anywhere. The presentation is top-notch, and most of the stats are up-to-date (although yet again many of the minor international squads still have imaginary players). But the new tweaks aren't really enough to justify shelling out full price if you already own last year's version--a lesson we hoped EA had learned after finally getting FIFA right this time. If you’re an NHL completist or a hockey fan, or have never played NHL before, then we recommend this game over any other. If you’ve already got NHL 2002 then you can do without this version's new features. --Laurent S. Hall

Product Description

The number one selling NHL interactive video game franchise continues a tradition of excellence in its 10th year with NHL 2003. The most user-friendly, accessible, entertaining, authentic hockey experience to date, NHL 2003 delivers excitement and addictive speed from the moment the puck drops.

New users can select 'Beginner' skill level including audio tutorial cues for a fun NHL 2003 experience and features such as Game Breaker, 'On the Ice' sound and Dynamic Deke Control offer both new and old NHL users alike the total control, speed, and hard-hitting competition that every sports fan loves.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars NHL 2003 - the odd year curse continues, October 10, 2002

By 

Nickels (Warrington, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: NHL 2003 (Video Game)

Things people didn't mention yet:
1. You skate right over the puck without picking it up. Happens a million times a game. Memories of 1997 all over again.
2. You have to tap the speed burst button - no more holding it down. This is very annoying after a while. You don't actually tap it either, you have to sort of push it in for a second, then let go and push it in again. Not something I want to concentrate on during a good hockey game, ya know.
3. Fighting somehow got slower and [sloppier] - I didn't think that was possible.
4. Overall speed is slower then 2002 even when you move the sliders up in the game settings.
5. Too many injuries even on low setting.
6. Glass breaks way too much. (at least in exhibition games)
7. Players look horible - really bad graphics. Worse then last year.
8. Dump the puck button blows. You dump the puck like a high pop up in baseball. A real dump-in is fast and around the boards. Again - this button was fine in 2002 so why did they decide to mess with it???
9. Special moves stink. You hit the triangle button and have to wait until the move is completed before you can do anything else. This is horible. Some special moves take so long that you are way out of position by the time it is done. Another case where something was fine in 2002 that got ruined in 2003.
10. NHL 2002 - play both of these games back to back. Which one did you enjoy more? Which on is faster, more fluid, and overall more FUN! 2002 is the clear choice.

There are some positives, but they do not outweigh the negatives. I like the new goalie animations, and the floater blue line goal is gone. Also, players do not shoot that accurate when a defender is near, and that is cool. All I know is that I played like 10 games of 2003 and was very frustrated at the gameplay. I poped in NHL 2002 again and it becomes clear the 2003 is simply not that good. The game is not terrible, but it is not better then 2002, and isn't that the point? I am returning this game, and praying that Sega finally dethrones EA as the champion of videogame hockey. I don't understand why EA continually makes a great game one year and then screws it up the next??? If you own 2002 just spend time updating the roster to be current, don't waste your money on this game.

For people who like this game, please look at my top 10 list up there and tell me how these are not all real problems?

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why the front cover didn't change, September 28, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: NHL 2003 (Video Game)

If you look at where it says "NHL 2003" at the front cover. You'd know the style didn't change. But that doesn't mean that game is the same as it was on NHL 2002. NHL 2003 for one will have more cheats and nhl cards for you to use! I heard some comments suggesting that the nhl cards are more arcade-style so just dont use if you dont like it. That's the most reasonable conclusion. Some people can use it, and some can just play without them. But they are fun to collect! The commentary by all means was a bit too far off. The jokes the commentator said were funny but many people think it's not realistic in real-life television. But they're wrong, there are commentators to drop some jokes in real life and EA has done that because the same people who complanied also complained in the 2001 nhl version that the words each commentator had were all boring and dull. Really, I dont understand this. NHL 2003 is the greatest nhl games ever and like all EA games, there's bound to be a new gameplay improvement and improvement especially in graphics, player's details, and ofcourse the details around the stadium. This game had the most realistic technique ever made. And that is the new 3-d modelled fans. Their graphics were created in a more cartoony way in 2002 but now the detail is polished and things are going quite well. The thing EA was always to delicate at was the how the fans react to a goal or to a shot that almost went inside the net. You do not hear the sound you do in real-life games. You only hear some noise and that's about it. Nothing else to excite you. Ofcourse the audio technique could improve and the cheering can be specified that each team has their own traditional songs, claps, and probably instrumental music. This is mostly required for FIFA since they aqquire songs from many regions around the world but even the United States has their own songs. Maybe you could hear a voice saying "Go Islanders Go" if you were playing home at the New York stadium. I hope the manufacturers do that for the next upcoming 2003 or 2004 game. My advice, buy this game. EA is still better than Sega and you can trust them to make you a good game. So dont do anything silly and buy a sega version or a NHL hitz because those games are arcadish not the EA versions.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Technology Doesn't Seem to Equate to Improvement, November 10, 2002

By 

Dean "cowslower" (Lakewood, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: NHL 2003 (Video Game)

A preface: I'm the proverbial sucker for all things EA Sports. They have me squarely in their annual cycle, picking up Madden, NBA Live and NHL Live every year at $... a pop. Unfortunately, the trending on a pair of these items is reaching ridiculous levels in the tiresome department.

NHL Live, despite significant steps forward in other games, remains the most overall disappointing title I've experienced in the past five years. Actually, it's been longer than that since improvements have been made in this item to notably upgrade the quality of play and level of ongoing enjoyment.

The sketchy graphics, serio-comic facializations, horrific commentary and infantile crowd characterizations have been covered to death by others. I won't even bother to harp on all of those points.

Instead, my basic complaint about the game is that the earliest versions of hockey games - going back to the early 90s - remain, in stunning fashion, more patently satisfying to play than NHL Live 2003. Considering the marked improvements in technology for gaming over that period, that is truly a damning statement.

Where to begin? The blocks of unviewable screen, the games with 42 quality shots on goal and no red light, the dicey individual player control, the sudden speed-up sequences, and on and on.

I have extraordinary respect for the folks at EA, and my early experiences this year with NBA Live demonstrate to me that real innovation and commitment to improvement exists. However, in a year in which a staple like Madden was - in my opinion - roundly stomped and superceded by NFL 2K3, continuing to see the same idioscyncrasies in NHL Live hamper enjoyment and limit my continued interest is incredibly disappointing. It is doubly so because I believe the hockey medium holds so much potential at a personal gaming level, and because some hockey issuances in the past have lived up to that potential. NHL Live 2003 falls woefully short.

And so back to the store in goes in trade, and with it goes my cyclical purchase. I'll get back on board when EA steps up their own game.

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