Customer Reviews

NHL 2003 (Xbox)

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

 

 

One word for this game: Spectacular!

I'm a big Hockey buff so of course i went to get this game. I was a little disappointed with NHL 2002 so I wasn't so excited to get this game at first. When i played it, I was stunned! The graphics are awesome, the music is excellent and the gameplay is off the hook! EA Sports really outdid themselves on this game. Take control of your favourite team in the Franchise Mode. Skate to the top and win the prized Stanley Cup! Think you can win it? Try out the Playoffs Mode and win your way to the Stanley Cup! Also, think your team can become the world champs? Well if you think so jump into International Mode and take control of a team such as Japan or Italy and become the world champs! Create your own player and it'll be like your skating with the pros!

You cannot pass up this game so find a copy off the shelf and get it into your system!!!

i think this was a pretty good game because of the realism. i espicially liked the manual deeks and the automatic deeks as well. you have full control of the game settings. you can choose how fast the gameplay is and many others. i think this is the best hockey game out there today. i would also recomend you buying this awsome game.

I have been an EA sports nhl fan since the 92 version on sega genesis when there was only playoff hockey, no player names and no line changes. i could only get federov into the lineup in detroit if yzerman got hurt. every year i would run out to get the new edition the day it came out and then play it for days on end. i did the same this year with 2003 and i was completely disappointed. it was such a step backwards that i ended up keeping my 2002 version and took a couple hours to create rookies and trade players to make the rosters current and i went to the local game craze (video game / hobby shop) and traded my barely used 2003 in for hitman 2 which by the way IS an incredible game (if you have both 2002 and 2003 like i did trade in 2003 and get hitman 2). i am going right now at 10:30am on 12/30/02 to get segas xbox release of nhl 2k3 and i will most likely be donating my ea 2002 hockey to my buddy who got xbox for christmas but only has the 007 and halo for it. nhl 2k3 ALL THE WAY!

First, I rented this game from Blockbuster and played about 3 exhibition games and 2 season games so far. So, a lot of this review will be more like first-time impressions because I have no intent to buy this game and finish it per my opinion. So, here goes my review:

This is the first time I've every played the NHL series on the XBox. Previously, I've played it on the PC with NHL 2002 and NHL 2000. Unfortunately, I'm pretty disappointed with NHL 2003. A lot of emphasis has been put on presentation of the game rather than the gameplay itself. Also, the pace of the game has been slowed down since last year. Though, to some, it might be a change EA has made for realism, but for me, it seems to slow down this game too much in a sense where it takes too long to get a shot off to the net (this means trying to get everyone into position and keep passing until I get a good one-timer, slap shot, or write shot). Also, passing seems to be a bit strange because I find myself passing to no one every time I try to drive towards the net and pass it back to a defensemen.

In all, I'm not having much fun with this game. I even played this game with my friend and we switched to another game after playing half of a game. So, in terms of being fun, I would just pass on this year's game and probably wait for Sega's NHL 2K3 and give it a try. I know some audience might like this game, but for me, it was a disappointment.

I have been a huge fan of hockey video games for about 20 years, and of all the games I've played, this is by far the worst. I would rather play blades of steel, on my gameboy, in the dark, with a fork stuck in my eye. This game is just awful. I loved the NHL series by EA sports until this. Thinking about buying this game? Don't. Save yourself the money, go to a garage sale, and pick up an old super nintendo, and NHL '94. Now there's a hockey game.

Last year, it was an easy decision. If you wanted five-on-five hockey on the Xbox, you bought NHL 2002. Now, NHL 2k3 is on the market and you have to decide between EA's NHL 2003 and Sega's 2k3. While I am a big fan of the Sega Sports line (including NFL 2k3), I haven't played NHL 2k3 and I won't. I have always loved EA's hockey offering and despite many negative reviews here, I really like the improvements to NHL 2003. It is important to realize that I like these improvements not because it makes the gameplay more fun, but because it makes the gameplay more realistic.

If you are deciding between the two, I feel it goes something like this: those who want a more realistic, true hockey-like feel will enjoy EA Sports NHL 2003. Those who want to pick up a game and just start playing go for NHL 2k3. Do you like spending time managing your lines, learning about and controlling your offensive and defensive strategies? Do you feel that it is too unrealistic for most players to be scoring from the blue line on a backhand? You sound like a NHL 2003 player. This describes myself. I would rather have the challenge of assembling a good team, managing that team, editing my lines to put myself in a good position to win, and then execute it in each game.

To those of you who are upgrading from 2002, I wouldn't say the game makes leaps and bounds but it improves in many areas. Many of the improvements revolve around making the video game more true to real hockey. The biggest change is the ability to control the puck on dekes. Fake the goalie out one direction, then shoot from another. Previously, any dump-in would circle its way around the boards. It was quite easy to play "dump and chase" by dumping with one player on one side and chasing with another on the opposite. Now, not so. If you don't aim your dump-in, it will go the direction you are facing and many times come off at a more realistic angle, often straight back at you. It used to be in 2002 that you could clear a puck during a penalty kill regardless of your body direction or clearing angle. Now, not so. Poke-checking is much more realistic and passing is not as accurate. The goalie AI is a huge improvement. The goalie will now make a handful of different saves, including poke-checks and stacking the pads. Another improvement I really enjoy is the ability to have the goalie partially stop a shot and have it still trickle through. It's frustrating if it happens to your goalie, but again, makes excellent strides towards simulating real hockey.

One area for improvement is definitely the camera angles. I was really disappointed after moving from NHL 2001 on my PC (I liked those angles) to NHL 2002 on the Xbox. Unfortunately, NHL 2003 camera angles are the same as 2002. There are a few reviewers here who don't understand that there are also many things to change in the form of options. If you are scoring too much, up the difficulty level. If the game is too slow, up the gameplay speed bar.

I'm one video gamer that likes NHL 2003 and feel that it was worth my money.

I am not an extreme hockey enthusiast by any stretch, but I have always been a fan of hockey-based video games. Sometimes, you just get a craving for some fast-paced slapshot, body check, hat trick action, right? So, even after reading several negative reviews, I decided to rent NHL 2003 and give it a try. The result: my hunger for an exciting hockey game was completely satisfied. Maybe this isn't the best hockey title out there, but the game NHL 2003 is fun and competitive with comfortable, easy-to-learn controls. Isn't that what playing a good game should be all about?
The graphics certainly aren't jaw dropping or eye opening, but they are very appropriate for the style of the game. One of the coolest aspects of NHL 2003 is that you can customize the rules and settings to your liking. Unlike other titles, the adjustments you make do have a positive impact on the overall gaming experience. You can alter the levels of fatigue, injuries, fights, pass/shot accuracy, and many other critical stats. Of course, you can also set your own sound and camera angle preferences which is great because the soundtrack and the announcers probably won't win any popularity contests.

Bottom Line: If you are interested in playing an entertaining hockey game for your x-box, then you should definitely buy or rent NHL 2003.

This game was a bomb seriously. If you like slow gameplay, easy scores, horrible checks, and annoying announcers go for it and buy this game. It has no shoot out, and most of all it has NO on-line play. I rented this game twice, cause first didn't like it, so I gave it another shot, but NO... I have a long time fan of EA Sports NHL games, but this one bites. I went and bought myself NHL2K3 the game is awesome in most every way, and it's on-line! Go get yourself NHL2K3 if you are really into hockey, play the sport, used to play the sport, watch it, or whatever. Don't waste your time on this...

This game was a waste of my money. I have always been hearing how good EA's hockey games are so when I bought my xbox I bought NHL 2003 thinking it would be a good game. How wrong I was! The game ..... I found it very unrealistic and sloppy. They added all the extra stuff in but forgot about the gameplay. Luckily I got NHL 2k3 for christmas and I was sure glad. It was 5 times better. Sega knows what makes a good hockey game. The game play was awesome and so was the online play. Another great game made by sega.

I have purchased every EA Sports NHL version from when the very first edition came out, way back when. This is the first time I have ever returned one. NHL 2003 is a huge, HUGE disappointment. The graphics aren't very good, the gameplay is much more along the lines of an arcade game than a simulator one, and the AI/goalies are terrible. On only my 2nd or 3rd game I was scoring 15 or more goals! Stick with 2002, it's a much better simulation and the games can be competitive.