Customer Reviews

NHL 2003

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

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?

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.

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.

Some people will like this game. Those people will like this game because of the meticulous statistics, the tedious attention to the detail, right down to what the players' faces look like up close.

But most of us that buy this will buy it for the game play. Those of us that do will be disappointed. The first few days I played NHL 2003, I was impressed. Good graphics, acceptable audio -- and it's OH so much fun to just bash the guy with the puck into the glass in a head-on collision. But then it started slipping.

I was noticing how, on the easy level, I was constantly ahead by 50 goals at the end of the game. (No, I'm not exaggerating.) I tried medium and hard. Hard is impossible. The computer is just too fast, I couldn't keep up.

There is no defense in this game. If your opponent shoots, the only thing to stop the puck from going in is the goalie. It seems random, when the shot goes in and when it doesn't. It doesn't even matter the situation, it's just a roll of the dice.

Those are my two biggest complaints in this game. Those two things take so much of the strategy out of the game that it just doesn't seem worth playing anymore.

Good for a few hours of fun, but save the money.

NHL 2003 is by far EA Sport's best new game. As my mom was watching play she was awed by its amazing graphics, as I am. The controls make it easy to feel like the player. Amazing dekes make your jaw drop. Plus you can manually deke! I love the Create A Player option. To add on to what I have already said the NHL Cards option is so neat. With Easter Eggs, a Task List, and special celebrations you are just plain awed. I also like the feature that you can choose your team's uniform. You have a choise of an old, alternate, or home/away uniforms for most teams. There is also an International Game Mode. There are also many more moves by the goalies. The fighting is real too, with three different types of punches. There is also a gamebreaker. If you fill up your meter and press Z, the play slows down to make you feel captured in the moment. If i were you, I would buy it, NOW!

Certainly not the big change that happened from 2001 to 2002, but enough new/improved bits to be happy with owning it. The default speed is a little less frenetic this time around, and as a result the CPU won't get breakaways 75% of the time, merely about 33%, which is still pretty bad, but we're improving. The puck physics are also improved, with a lot of good deflection angles that make for more fun gameplay. There is a slight tendency to not take possession of the puck when it's seemingly close enough, but that's actually not a very bad thing, creating more wide-open situations instead of such a possession-heavy affair.

Goalie animations and new saves are probably the highlight of the new game, but that sorta speaks a lot to what needs changed in this series (i.e. more than just a few new fancy goalie moves). There are some annoying gameplay matters that need addressed, like the strange tendency for the CPU to overplay at the end of periods seemingly to prevent shutouts. The continuing AI habit of your defensemen never getting back to cover attackers. The CPU using the cross-ice 1-timer a little bit too much and a little bit too well. And maybe it's me, but why can i seemingly never catch up to their breaking attackers? They seem to always be that step quicker.

And since i'm complaining, try playing with the "on-ice sounds" turned on (which thankfully mutes the none-too-funny color commentary) and tell me if you really hear anything different than in a normal game. I wonder if that's what they meant, because as a "feature" it's fairly unimpressive. And at least Don Taylor was funny last year, this year they seemed to tone him down, which just makes him more annoying. A lot less is actually funny.

But despite all that, it still is a fun game to play. The physics are fun, the game (on default difficulty) isn't a huge scorefest, the slower pace makes it a bit more deliberate and sim-like. All in all, i find it more enjoyable to play than Sega's offering... a game in which you can have 75 shots and 1 goal (probably a less than stellar goal, to boot). So, yes, EA could do a lot more, and the improvements from last year to this do sorta make you scratch your head and wonder how much they really worked on it. But it remains head of the class. Though the inertia is showing.

I am still on the fence on this one. I can't even call this an improvement to the series. At least you can score unlike the 0 goals in 115 shots like 2002. Let me start by saying this market is ripe for a decent Hockey game. EA has yet to put it all together and deliver for PS2 (hopefully next year).
Ok on to this game.....The fluid animations are for the most part gone as well as the majority of digitized faces. In are choppy cut scenes and horribly proportioned faces with one large eye looming as they skate by (you will see). The speed burst button and big hit button are no longer the be all end all. Now we are actually forced to deke and poke check/hook (even though it still isn't very effective). Nothing frustrates more than lining up the big hit and your guy launching the other way. What the heck is that? Players also seem to skate their own way even when you are controlling them (yes even more so now). The create a player is basically unchanged. Fighting is better now thank God. No more getting laid out by Claude Lemieux.
In a nutshell this is the same EA game we have seen for years with the run of the mill tweaks. The only reason I keep playing is because EA minutely changes the game play every year and I am always hoping it is better. Yet again not this year. Still as [bad] as last year. Buy if you must after all there aren't really any real hockey games out there.

I'm one of those who must have EA's NHL title each and every year, so take that into consideration when you see my 4 stars.

In my opinion, this year's title plays much differently from last year's. The puck and player physics are much better, meaning obstacles are solid and the puck is easily deflected (both intentionally and unintentionally), but control seems way off. Maybe I have the speed cranked up too high or maybe my DualShock is a little fried, but I find that I often skate right by the puck without taking possession of it. As does the computer.

As for this year's sweet spot (last year's was skating left to right through the slot), I haven't found it 4 games into the season, but I'm averaging 3 goals a game. Not bad. (I guess the developer's thought this year's Islanders would be better than last year's. It's too bad that the game makes the real Islanders look so disappointing.)

The graphics, however, are a step down from last year's. Does anybody else think all the players look like a sick mixture of Bert (from Sesame Street) and Jack Nicholas as the Joker (in Batman)? Why are their mouths so wide?

Strangely, the default camera angle [bites] the big one. Using the Classic camera angle, you can't see large chunks of the ice. So I prefer the Ice camera angle, which is like overhead, but it lends to more realistic plays because I can actually see the ice.

The color commentator is more annoying than ever, so I guess I'll be cutting him loose soon.

I do like the cut scenes in which the goalie and defensemen jostle with forwards between plays.

Overall, I think this game is more of a hockey simulation than an arcade style game. So if you were really pleased with last year's game, you might be a bit disappointed with this year's game. Each time I play it, though, I like it more and more. I'm starting to see the players look more and more like their real-world counter parts and less like Bert/Joker.

It may sound unbelievable but this game is better than NHL 2002.
Where NHL 2002 left off this game picks up. This game is awesome. Definetly buy this and wait for NHL 2004.

I have to agree with most of the critics here: most points are valid. Having played the last few NHL's, I'm surprised at the lack of significant improvement over 2002.

1)Franchise mode (after 2/3 of a season)--trading is a joke. Still no trade meter, like Madden '03, to give you a sense of what's fair before pulling the trigger. Even if you follow the NHL, you still have no idea if the CPU will potentially accept a deal. Default rosters--for a game coming out in October, they still have antiquated teams(including Fleury on SJ). For instance, Tom Chorske and Bobby Dollas still on the Penguins? Not since the end of the 2001(!) season. Please. Also, there's no trade log among CPU teams (like in Madden). You have to check each day to find out who got traded, or else you'll never know what the trade was. Before I knew it, Matthieu Schneider, Zubov, Macinnis, and a few other high profile d-men (it rarely was forwards getting traded) were all on other teams. Trade offers from CPU made me laugh too--their scrubs for my young guns, every time. No free agents, either.

2)Gameplay:
A) Deke button--unrealistic. The deke takes so long to evolve, if you're on a breakaway with speed burst, start the deke halfway between the blue line and faceoff dots. Otherwise, you'll skate right by the goal with the player locked in a silly deke position, and you're unable to shoot (except at the back of the net). But who in real life starts a deke that far away? What happened to the spinorama? Apparently, EA's guys don't seem to care that much about either issue.
B)Game/puck physics--much more realistic than '02, except for the "bouncing off" part that someone else mentioned. If your player loses out on a big hit, instead of flopping straight down he pinballs backwards and gets completely out of position. Many have complained about skating right by the puck without picking it up. However, I'm happy with the fact that there's no more of that "magnetic puck" syndrome, where your player sucks up the biscuit if it's remotely near him. The puck deflects accurately. Puck handling and movement are definitely improved, making the game overall more difficult. One reviewer put it best: the game becomes more of a simulation now.
C)Shooting--I agree, slap shots are impossible. You shouldn't have to play with Al MacInnis to get off a hard shot, nor hold the button down for an eternity only to get flattened. There still is, however, one automatic way to score with a star that's left over from 2002, though it requires a bit more precision than before. Stick a left-handed stud on your RW, feed him the puck on a breakaway, and I think most of you know the rest. It still works.
D)CPU's AI--what AI? Every CPU team stubbornly gives the puck to a forward, who inevitably brings the puck down the wing, waits for a teammate in the slot and then fires a slow saucer pass halfway across the rink to that teammate for a point blank one timer. This is how CPU scores 75% of goals. Somehow, I get scored on constantly, not by the big guns, but by the grinders. Go figure. YOU can try running this kind of offense, but I promise your checkers will never score, and worse, your snipers will score once in a blue moon. Even when operating behind the net, and feeding to a wide open Mario in the slot--you have better odds playing the lottery.
E)Animations--worse than '02. Choppy as everyone has said. Crowd animations are repetitive, choppy, you can't really X-button your way through them. What happened to the player faces? They're all robotic albinos or had their faces powdered! Only true improvement is, as others said, goalie moves--namely, stacking the pads.

This game, in some ways, is better than '02, and in a couple ways even worse (color man was somewhat funny in '02, downright annoying in '03)! Otherwise, improvements one would expect EA to have made, have not been addressed yet. I'll still play out this season, but let's hope things change next year.