Customer Reviews

NHL 2004

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

With NHL 2004, EA Sports has made an important shift back toward the heart of this impressive series; I have every version of this game going back to 1996 with the exception of NHL 2003, as last year's game took a very wrong direction in my mind. My feelings for NHL 2004 are somewhat mixed, and I think there are a few important things that fans and potential buyers should be aware of. First off, the game has never looked better (as long as you have the hardware to truly support it). Finally, the faces of the players look impressively life-like, the camera action never gets in the way of gameplay, and the look of the action is at times of jaw-dropping proportions. Most importantly, the game feels more realistic; I, for example, am experiencing a feeling on power plays that is unlike anything I have experienced in earlier incarnations of the game. The most impressive visual aspect of NHL 2004, though, has to be the crowd. I can't believe how good the crowd looks in this game; spectators are true individuals, sporting a plethora of outfits, and reacting separately. You will see one guy jump up and cheer while those around him merely watch the ice intently, and fans indulge in "the wave" in a realistically unorganized fashion. I sometimes find myself watching the crowd in wonder rather than concentrating on the action; that's a mistake, though, because players have more moves than ever, and the goalies make some mind-boggling Hasek-like saves.

NHL 2004 is also more challenging than previous releases. I am forevermore a hopeless player who must compete at the easy level, and my days of winning high-scoring contests may well be over; this is partly due to some control issues I have with the game. The first thing that I learned from firing this baby up is that my Gravis Gamepad seems to have gone the way of the dinosaurs. Oh, it still works, but I have yet to master decent control of my players, and I find myself unable to indulge in some of the new fancy additions to gameplay NHL 2004 offers. To experience all of the facets of gameplay, you really need a right-analog controller such as the Logitech Dual Action or Microsoft Sidewinder. Total player control is not possible with a gamepad such as mine, and thus I am unable to execute all of the possible player moves, including bruise control shots to specific parts of an opponent's body and, most unfortunately, the new and seemingly much improved fighting system. Oh, I'm still able to make some bone-crunching hits and revel in the sight of breaking glass and helmets being separated from my victim's heads, but the real magic will not be at my fingertips until I upgrade my controller.

One thing I don't like about NHL 2004 is the fact that faceoffs occur very quickly after stoppages of play. In the past, the slight delays after calls afforded me a much-needed moment to regroup, take a breath, and check the feeling in my left hand, but now you had better be ready soon after the whistle blows. Worst of all, at least to me, is the fact that you can't really do anything on the ice after a call is made; I have always taken great joy in delivering as many brutal blows as possible after play stops, dishing out the punishment while only rarely being hit with a penalty in reaction to my dirty tactics, but I'm forced to play a cleaner style of game in NHL 2004. Even delivering great shots to my opponents during gameplay is much harder in this new version, partly because of the limits of my current controller.

On the plus side, and this is a major improvement that lends gameplay a much more significant air of realism, you now have the ability to shove your opponent and engage in scrums along the boards; this much improved board play is to me the greatest innovation offered by this year's release. Another improvement is the audio commentary; gone are the constant jokes and fluff, replaced with serious play-by-play announcers who lend a further air of realism to the game. Those interested in the management aspects of the game should love the new, much deeper dynasty mode which allows you to guide a team over the course of 20 years with an impressive degree of micro-management options. Another extra comes in the form of 39 new international teams at your disposal (drawn from Germany's DEL, Sweden's Elitserien, and Finland's SM-Liiga). Online play is also improved with NHL 2004.

There is a lot to love about this game, especially if you have the hardware to enjoy all of its many offerings. In my judgment, you need at least a 1GHz processor, 256 MB of RAM, and a 16x CD/DVD drive. Your video card is really your most crucial piece of hardware, though, as you'll need a video card of at least 32 MB which features one of the following chipsets; NVIDIA GeForce 256 or greater, ATI Radeon 7200 or greater, Matrox Parhelia, Sis 315, or Xabre. For complete player control, you would also do well to invest in a Logitech Dual Action or Microsoft Sidewinder controller. If you have the system, you will experience the closest thing yet to realistic enjoyment of the coolest game on ice. I would not spend the money to upgrade your system just for this game, however. Even with the more complete control of the action which this game makes possible, I much prefer the control and feel of NHL 2002, yet, in the final summation, the truth of the matter is that NHL 2004 offers enough improvements in terms of realistic gameplay that it is clearly superior to any previous version of this outstanding series.

For PC users, SOLID sports games are a rarity. This year, however, we're seeing a revolution in PC sports gaming with titles like Madden 2004, Tiger Woods Golf 2004, and now, NHL 2004 from EA. Don't be fooled: THIS IS NOT LAST YEAR'S VERSION OF NHL HOCKEY FOR THE PC. Gone are the asinine commentary, the ridiculous deke moves, and overall warp-speed game play. This year, Electronic Arts got smart and reevaluated their once best-selling hockey franchise and put it back on the map with gorgeous graphics, exciting gameplay, precise control, and a true simulation feel that hasn't been there on the PC for quite some time.

I tried ESPN Hockey for the PS2 this year, and honestly, it doesn't compare to the PC version of NHL 2004. Graphics, sound, and gameplay are all superior. Yes, the ESPN version has the cool "owner's box" feature, but honestly, do you want to get rewarded with enough tokens to play with the '84 Oilers, only to find that instead of Wayne Gretzky, it has "Center" with the wrong number and statistics? You then have to manually go in and change everything to fit The Great One's stats. Not fun.

The "Dynasty" mode is NHL 2004's answer to the GM mode of ESPN, and it's much better. You can set practices, promote players, trade your 3rd line wingers for some help in goal, etc. All of this comes into play during the season in terms of people in the seats, revenue, and all the stuff that goes along with being a successful GM. Truly a great feature to the game, and one that adds ton of replay value.

Although the presentation could use some work, as it takes three or four mouse clicks to simply make a trade or get stats on a player, this game is essentially the best that has come out for the PC in a long time. The hitting has been toned down, and actually, almost made too difficult, but besides those gripes, NHL 2004 will reward players with unparalleled graphics, smooth, slider-controlled gameplay to fit your talents, and sound that brings out the best of the arenas across the country.

If you have a PC and you're a hockey fan, then you owe it to yourself to pick up NHL 2004.

I saw my first hockey game when I was about 10 years old. I was walking thru the living room when I noticed my mom watching intently while Derrick Sanderson and John Ferguson were wailing on each other in the center of Boston Garden. I stopped to watch the fight. I stayed to watch the game. I've been hooked ever since. I go to as many games as I can afford. I've converted most of the people I work with into die-hard fans. I don't want to age myself but I purchased my first video hockey game for the Intelevision game system back in 1980 (those little stick figures could really move). I think I may have purchased every hockey sim since (with the exception of Wayne Gretzky Hockey and NHL Hitz). EA Sports has pretty much dominated the genre since 1990 peaking with the release of NHL 2001. NHL 2001 was close to being the perfect sports sim. All that was required to make it perfect was improving the AI but for some reason EA decided to change the graphics engine in 2002/2003 and add cartoonish incentives for people who don't like hockey. NHL 2004 has returned to the lofty standards set with 2001. The graphics may have actually topped 2001 (although the face recognition system in 2001 has yet to be matched by any sports sim). The AI picks up the puck where 2001 dropped it. The defensemen actually play defense (remember 2001 when they used to hide behind the goalies?). The player movement is simply unbelievable. Goaltenders stop the puck with their pads and gloves. You can see them straining to see thru screens and following the puck when it goes behind the net. They also incorporated loose pucks in front of the net. Goals can be scored on scrums in front of the net. One thing EA sport has always gotten right was the pace of the game. The strides of the player cover exactly the amount of ice that they should. The controls are laid out sensibly (try making line changes in (2K4). The audio has always been the best in the industry. You can hear the skates cutting up the ice, the puck thudding off the goalie pads. If you have a surround sound system it sounds like you're sitting in the middle of Chicago Stadium. Even the fans look like real people (instead of cardboard cutouts). Clearly EA is feeling the heat of the competition. NHL 2004 re-establishes them as the undisputed leaders in hockey sims. I still wish they would include the vintage teams and the Hall of Famers (2K4 does) but I guess you can't have everything. Anybody who loves hockey will love this game and hey....the people who don't can buy 2K4. I hear they have air hockey. P.S: Traditionally this franchise has always been strongest on the PC.

In certain areas this game vastly improved. I enjoy the franchise mode. There is more involvement in the total aspects of a hockey team. Unlike 2003 where there are two or three Gretzky caliber prospects every draft year that immediately dominate the league, 2004 is more realistic, having average prospects overall that will develop into great players. When it comes to trading, there are still some flaws, which is understandable until artifical intelligence is invented. For instance, occasionally there are ridiculous trades made where a the top team in a conference trades away their best player for a lesser player and a low draft pick. Atlanta does this often, trading away either Kovalchuk or Heatley for an average player, after which they fall drastically in the standings. There are usually no financial reasons for this. As far as the game play goes, it has become more realistic in certain areas, while overdone in others. One thing is the hitting. While it has become more realistic visually, it is a lot harder to hit opposing players. The skating is improved in certain aspects, but in others it is frustrating. The major problem with the gameplay is momentum. When the opposing team captures the momentum, it is sometimes extremely hard to do anything. The opposing team will knock you down every time you touch the puck, while stop any clearing attempts, and will slap pucks at your net at overly-rapid rates. But not just this. Even your players will be drastically affected. Every time you pass it to a player when the other team has the momentum, if they receive the pass, for some reason they are always skating the wrong way. So you have to turn the player, but then you are usually checked hard in doing so. Sometimes, in key situations always, my player I'm controlling will just stop. Nothing I do will move him. If I switch players, suddenly that player stop. This lasts a few seconds. And it only happens when the other team has the momentum. The balance, of course, is way off when it comes to this momentum factor. When the opposing team scores a goal, a slight majority of the time they will score another goal seconds later. I've played a game where I was winning and held the momentum. Suddenly I was caught offguard and the other team scored a goal. No problem, right? Well, in less than a minute they scored five goals on me. It was as though my players had suddenly smoked something and my goalie had fallen asleep. Suddenly the other team will make perfect passes to the front of the net where their teammate will be sitting unguarded. This is too skewed. It is extremely frustrating. On close games, more often than not, the opposing team will score within minutes of the end of the game off a shot from behind the goal line, while I'm controlling the momentum and in perfect position. At these points I come close to taking the cd and breaking it, it makes me so mad. It just doesn't happen in real life, or at least not that often. A common occurence is there will be a minute or so to go, the game will be tied, and a less than average goal scorer will float a shot past a defensemen that is obviously guarding him perfectly, they will be stationed on the goal line at the boards, the goalie is leaving absolutely no room for any puck to get through, as well as there being other players between the shooter and the goal, and somehow it trickles over the goalie and inches it way slowly past the goal line while the goalie is just standing there still looking at the shooter and other defensemen won't get to the puck, despite standing a foot or so from the puck. This needs adjustment. There are other things as well, but you get the idea.

When I got Nhl for Christmas, I was so excited. This game is so cool. The create-a-team is so cool but I wish they had more logos to choose from. Here are the pros and here are the cons

Cons:
-Can't play as any retired legends
- It's hard to control the goalie
-When you deke you usually lose the puck
- No practice or shootout mode or anything like that

Pros:
- Great graphics
- Big realistic bodychecks
- Easy to score on easy levels
- your choice about fighting or not
- ability to download current rosters off the internet
- dynasty mode where you control just about everything
- so many camera modes to choose from
- you can put created teams for all modes
- you can assign created players to any team including the all-star

Many more good things about it but this is all I can think of at the time. I recommend this game all NHL gamers.

Wow, this edition of EA's NHL line is vast improvement upon all others. It's realistic to the point annoyance in many aspects. Players missing the net, and making bad passes on great opportunities has caused me a great deal of frustration a number of times. A players skills fluctuate from game to game depending on a number of factors such as morale, quality of travel, practice rink, equipment, gym, and locker room. Player progression is dependent on the quality of your coach and not just his stats or potential. I've yet to see a goalie let in a shot from the blue line as well. Skating has become much more realisitic as well, you can no longer reach top speed in just a couple strides or continue at high speed after making a sharp turn. What I don't like about 04 is that for dynasty mode you have to play the long season, that means you play 82 games every season plus play-offs. When a team proposes a trade all you see is the overall stat and how much they get paid, you don't see their potential, age, or anything else. It's become nearly impossible to make any trades because there is no way of knowing what other teams want or determining how likely a team is to accept. All trades offered end up with the user holding the short end of the stick. Also there are no longer box scores for previous games.

I love hockey. I'm not the world's biggest fan, I don't know every stat in the universe. I can't tell you who the second fastest skater on a breakaway is in the league today, and I doubt I ever will be able to.

This game feels so much like being at a hockey game that I couldn't care less about it's flaws. Visually and audibly, the game is gorgeous. The sound of the skates on the ice, the clicking of the puck, the great cross checking animations, the look of the uniforms, the fast passing and the sudden scoring. All of it captures the mood of a hockey game so well.

Gameplay is very strategic. If you're used to old school hockey games (like I was) where you can just pop the puck in by skating around the net every time you want a goal, get ready for a challenge. You're going to need some skills to play this game. Likewise you're given a ton of play options so you can break out those skills: fake shots, poke checks, dekes both manual and automatic, wrist and slap shots, kneels and dives on defense, and a lot of other great stuff. Learning to control the game is a challenge itself.

This game isn't perfect. Like every EA sports title the interface isn't so well designed and online play can be very buggy. The passing game is really funny sometimes, and has made me throw the controller - I don't know why my computer controlled teammates skate off in another direction *right after* I pass to them.

If you're a serious puck-o-phile who knows everything about the game, you might not enjoy this title. Very knowledgable hockey fans have told me that the stats on the players are not very well done, especially speed stats. They've also told me that the passing game is, bluntly, total crap, partly because of the player's tendency to stop their forward motion or do a "u turn" when receiving a pass. This is a real problem when playing against a computer opponent that can be very skilled at taking the puck, especially when the player you're passing to "u turns" right into an opposing player who cleans their clock.

If however you're a casual hockey fan, or can forgive flaws like these, or you're just someone who loves the spirit of hockey, this game is great. It may not be perfect but that hasn't stopped me from yelling when I smash guys into the boards or shouting like a happy fool when I one time a great shot into a net.

Let me start out by saying that NHL 2004 is an excellent game for the PC. However, I can only compare this year's product to NHL 2000 and NHL 99 since those are the only other two editions that I have.

The gameplay for NHL 2004 is the best that I've seen. It's realistic in that players can pin each other up against the boards, one on one battles in the corners are present in the game, and dishing out checks requires more precision in which you have to line the player up in order check him. These three hitting elements didn't exist in past versions and is probably the most realistic part of the game. Also, the check button enables you to shove players which is great since this allows you to push a player off side.

The graphics are great as always. No real problems here but EA has taken a more cartoonish approach as far as facial animation is concerned and player's faces are either very accurate to real life players or they are completely off. The new fan animation and involvement is also cool since they wear the different home team's jersey.

Sound in the game is great. The sound of the puck banging off the glass and boards sounds exactly like it does at a real hockey game. Also, the fan chants are great. You'll hear plenty of "Let's go Rangers" chants and "Go Leafs go" chants and the like. In fact, fans begin to boo the home team if too much play is going on in their defensive zone or if the home team can't create anything on the powerplay.

Some detail is missing. For example, after a playoff series the players don't shake hands. This of course is a minor part of the game, but it would be cool if EA included this in future editions.

Overall, NHL 2004 is a great game that hockey fans who crave for realistic present day NHL style hockey will love. However, I wouldn't recommend this game for those who like arcade style hockey with a ridiculous amount of scoring. But you can alter the AI to make it that way if you choose. However, the theme of this game is realism.

For those who TRULY understand the game of hockey and how it is played you will know to give this game a good review. It is much improved over the versions of yesteryear. Yes it can use improvements, no doubt, but overall I am pleased with this version and have been waiting since NHL 99 for EA to release something worth buying/playing.

The faults with this game are the AI, the computer does have a tendency to go on sprees of scoring when they gain momentum ar get a goal. But you HAVE to learn how to negate this! I have learned very well how to CONTROL momentum throughout the game, and this is what the designers of the game had in mind when they wrote it. There is also a little too much emphasis on the one-timer in this game, I would like to see a little more on the other facets of scoring as well. Also the bobbling puck that suddenly finds it's way into the net can be frustrating as hell. But heym thats video games for ya.

The pluses are the player movements, choice to fight, checking, (made it more difficult to do-because it is tough to do in real life!) And I LOVE the way you can grind in the corners in the offensive zone. There is truly nothing more real about Hockey than that.

I recommend this game to any hockey enthusiast looking for a good time. The upper levels can be tough to compete in, but in time you will be playing with the best of em. With a little arm pump I might add! For PC it is totally worth the $19.99. Go buy and have a blast. Trust me, I am a tough critic. This one is worth it!

NHL 2004 turned out to be a bit less than what I expected but it is still a fun game to play. The graphics are extremely good in this year's version. The crowd is in 3D and the players seem much more realistic than in my old NHL 2002. Some faces look a bit screwy but it is noting really bad.

Gameplay is much more difficult this year. NHL 2002 was a breeze for me even on hard but NHL 2004 presents much more of a challenge. The game does feel a bit more realistic though. One con is that hitting another player is made very difficult. I have not gotten off nearly as many hits as I wanted to and the Bruise Control system is hard to work with. It will take a while to get used to everything and the numerous controls. I play it on a keyboard and it is a bit too much for it. A gamepad will help but the amount of controls available can be a bit overwhelming. Advanced maneuvers will be challenging to pull off until you can get used to everything.

The interface seems fairly streamlined but in-game menus seem clunky as if it was still in early beta testing. EA could have done a much better job in making that look more streamlined. Sound is pretty much as good as it gets. Commentary sounds less cheesy and more professional. There are a few jokes thrown in but nothing as bad as the ones in NHL 2002.

Overall, its a pretty decent game once you get the hang of it. I am still training myself to work with the game on Easy right now and hope to advance up to higher levels one day. The only major con I see is the difficulty to control players with so many commands available at your fingertips. Most of you should enjoy NHL 2004.