Sega Sports NHL 2K3

Other products by Sega

Product Details

• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B00006IKBG
• Media: Video Game
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #21,785 in Video Games (See Bestsellers in Video Games)

Product Description

Platform: PlayStation2

Amazon.com Review
Realistic gameplay combined with total control over your team make Sega’s NHL 2K3 the game of choice for serious hockey fans. The game captures all the intricacies of the NHL, from the furious, hard-hitting action on the ice to the day-to-day decisions made in the front office. Don’t like the production you’re getting out of one of your players? Send him down to the minors for a few weeks of seasoning to get his game in order. Prefer high-scoring shootouts or 1-0 grind-it-out defensive struggles? Tweak the game’s highly customizable AI to set things just the way you like them. Regardless of your preferences, NHL 2K3 delivers the goods to make this a more than passable hockey sim.

Like most of Sega’s recent sports releases, NHL 2K3 hangs its hat on stellar gameplay and sweet graphics. Little, if anything, is overlooked: players move and react much like their real-life counterparts--goalies are especially acrobatic; the puck seamlessly glides, flips, and bounces around the rink and off the posts and goalie’s pads; players can be pinned to the boards during a scramble for the puck; missed shots are covered up by a diving goalie or slapped in off ensuing rebounds; arenas are painstakingly re-created and feature music and sounds specific to each. Off the ice, there’s plenty of strategy and options to tinker with. NHL 2K3 boasts over 30 sliders to alter effects ranging from ice friction to referee collisions. And, of course, there’s the franchise mode that allows up to 250 years of dynasty building. --Larry White

Amazon.com Product Description
Sega Sports NHL 2K3 delivers player realism down to size, skill, and behavior, resulting in individuals that exhibit lifelike styles of play. The all-new franchise mode lets you capitalize on player accuracy to develop a team that plays your brand of hockey: you can draft hotshot rookies, trade for players who complement your team, and compensate for injured players. You can also put that precision to work on the ice by anchoring lines with key players and rotating those lines to create the matchups you want. The game also features a new ESPN broadcast system, so scores and highlights are presented in the network's characteristic style.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars NHL2K3 vs. NHL2003, December 4, 2002

By A Customer

If it's in the game, its in NHL2K3.

A hard-core NHL player on the EA side of the tracks since NHL94 I finally broke down and shelled out the [money] for Sega's shot at hockey on PS2. Initially I was impressed by the ESPN features and definitely floored by the depth of the user options, GM choices, etc. The gameplay is smooth, the offensive and defensive strategies and plays are incredibly fluid and the true hockey fanatic with seasoned experience will really be able to get the most out of this game.

The graphics off-the-ice are impressive, the players faces are also top shelf but the game play graphics aren't as fluid as EA's and the moves aren't as realistic. You can't have it all... you can tell just by the size of the manual that more thought went into NHL2K3 and their first attempt at hockey on the PS2 is definitely a sign to watch out EA, because SEGA has your number. I enjoyed the fact that there weren't all gimmicks like NHL cards, cheat options and choose your own celebration. All this including gamebreaker and dynamic dekes are [bad]. Anyway who knows and follows hockey is acutely aware that you have to play 60 minutes (or 15) to win. NHL2K3 does it self a favor by putting all its flavor on the ice and the ESPN brand helps the whole game's realism. If only EA could learn from this.

A CBC Hockey Night in Canada graphic environment would probably take NHL2K3 to even better heights, maybe for next year. ESPN's dedication to hockey is definitely falling off due to their acquisition of the NBA. Don Cherry, hotstove, etc.

To sum it up, I've got both NHL2003 and NHL2K3 but it looks like I'll probably trade in EA's title and go for the Cup with Sega, ...

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great step towards achieving a definitive hockey sim!!!, November 14, 2002

By	Jaha (CT United States) - See all my reviews

For those of you like myself who are fed up with EA's atrocious offerings to the hockey masses the last few seasons well say hello to your new hockey guru's at Sega. NHL 2K3 is the closest thing to a hockey simulation ever to grace a console or PC. While this game is far from perfect and loses out to some of EA's developments the game surely will compete for a good share of the hockey market.

Having been a loyal follower of EA's yearly installments (I purchased every single addition of the NHL series since the first one on Genesis back in 91 and I have had each one up to 2002.) I grew disgusted with their improvements. They abandoned the traditional hockey feeling the games represented and moved to a satirical arcade like score fest. 2002 was so ridiculously bad I played it for maybe an hour before I put it on eBay. So naturally when NHL 2003 hit the shelves I was tempted bt I held out for Sega's addition. And boy was it worth it.

2K3 has so many neat features it would make the "Dynamic Deke" boys at EA's heads spin. The franchise mode alone is worth the price. Following in EA Madden's football series (something NHL never did) the franchise mode isin depth and adds so much to your season it is outstanding. Like the NFL 2KX series the franchise allows you to sign free agents, draft players, make trades, etc.. Salaray is done on a points system with each team having a cap they can spend. Your roster is realistic to league standards and you have a minor league system that stores prospects and utility players. Something Ihave never seen before but always thought would be neat is the addition of unsigned talent to each team. Every team has a selection of 5-7 players or so who are unsigned. In a pinch you can sign one of these players, and some of them are pretty decent, or you can offer their rights in a trade. Add that feautre to a 9 round draft and man talk about realism. The player rating system is pretty generous and many mediocre players are graced with 80 or higher marks. Overall though the players are pretty realistic to their real-world counterparts.

Some other great features I find exciting about the game is the depth of the game strategy system. You have numerous otions for fore checking, back checking, defensive zone breakouts, neatral zone movement, and attack zone. You can trap or play a free flowing game. There are countless posibilities of strategy and to top it you can assign a certain strategy to each individual line. THat way your main line can play aggressive while your checking line is defensive oriented. This is great if you like to play realistically and cycle lines according to game situations. Star matchups are easy now with the ability to set them before the game so if you prefer a certain line out against their number one unit you can set it before the game and set how important that line matchup is. The addition of being able to change your offense and defense seperate from each other is a great way to prevent getting trapped on a change and keep good D out with your weaker lines. The only flaw with that system is changing lines on the fly is tricky with the button configurations. Pressing up cycles your offense and down is defense. This is tricky if you are carying the puck since you have to take your finger off the analog stick and that leaves you vulnerable while you cycle around. You can also switch strategies on the fly with the play. So as you can see the francise mode offers tons to tweak and add to your seasons yet the only downfall with spending lots of time on these menus is you better get used to the National Hockey Night theme song from ESPN because that is the ONLY music in the menues and it cycles about every minutes or so.

Now for the game. The overall presentation of the game is well bland and boring. The intro is nothig flashy and way behind EA's intros. The commentary is boring and poorly constructed but at least it is not as moronic as EA's has gotten. Many times the comments have nothing to do with what is going on in the game and the color guy never seems to answer the play by play mans questions. Game emotion is also pretty low as the crowd rarely gets into it and the annoucers rarely get jumpy. It's bearable though and you don't really notice it. Music and cut scens are also pretty weak but hopefully these will get improved upon with later additions. The gameplay makes up for everything though. Gameplay is outstanding. It is a medium tempo not the lightning fast EA addition. Plays can be set up and the speed burst works but no more blowing past defenders with ease. Puckhandling is crucial and passing is a challenege that needs to be mastered. Shooting doesn't always seem to go as aimed but this depends on how your player is positioned. Backhands are significantly weaker than forehand shots ect.. One timers are effective but harder than past EA games. The fights up the board are also neat because you can actually cycle the puck now effective and it works. Goalie movement is great and puck control is very realistic. No longer can goalies dive on the puck for a cover then fire it out. If a goalie goes down and covers the puck to pass out he needs to drop the puck to his stick which takes time and usually leads to turnvers. Defensive play is solid but still lacking at times. On the default difficulty setting I blew out Pittsburgh with the Leafs 12-2 and was scared that this was too easy yet the next game was a respectable 4-2 win over Ottowa and games have been much closer. Raising the difficulty level another notch or two makes the game very challenging.

All in all NHL 2K3 in my mind blows EA out of the water with a superb franchise mode and great gameplay. They are lacking in presentation but that will change once the franchise picks up some popularity. I haven't even tried some of the other features in the game like the challenge modes, etc.. If you are hockey fan and are looking for a great hockey sim this is as good as you are gonna find on todays market. If you like massive scores and crazy lighting fast games pick up NHL Hitz or 2003 from EA but if you want a traditional hockey game that matches the quality of Madden and NFL 2Kx pick this up you will love it and hate ESPN's Hockey Night theme music forever!!!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Have, November 24, 2002

By	"oraznal" (Ronkonkoma, NY United States) - See all my reviews

I have to agree with all the reviews here: This game simply rocks!! It may take two or three games to get used to the feel of the game especially for those who have grown accustomed to EA's games, but once you settle in and realize that you are playing an authentic game of hockey with realistic scores and intelligent opponent and teamate A.I. you will be amazed. The physics of this game are almost perfect and some of the goalie animations will leave you shaking your head in disbelief. This games flaws are minor and as the other reviews have stated, exist mainly in the presentation department. With some play by play improvments and better cut scene animation this game would be perfect. As it is now it is without a doubt the best hockey game ever released for a console. An absolute must have for any fan of hockey.

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