Not that any of that is bad, per se. It's totally a matter of taste. What is a bit distressing is that 2003 plays like a slightly sharpened 2002. Little things have been done to improve the game over last year's offering. The AI has been improved, the control is even more solid and diverse, and the graphics have gotten slightly better. A couple of features have been added--like the gamebreaker--but nothing like the improvements we saw from 2001 to 2002.
As always, though, this is a well-presented package. EA are masters of making sports games look great. The menu system is easy to navigate, load times have been cut down (although the wait to play a game is still overlong), and there are a ton of features to keep you busy. The NHL Cards system is back for another go, as is the Franchise Mode.
There's a lot to do, which will add to your time investment (might as well schedule some time off work now, or at least polish your sick voice). NHL has always been one of the most addictive games around, and fans will be happy to read that it still is. Even when I set a nightly deadline, I always go over it by at least three games before dragging myself to bed.
Gameplay
The thing that EA hockey games have always had going for them is control. This game boasts some of the tightest, most responsive control in sports video gaming. There's almost no other way to say it. This game just feels great. From skating to checking to passing, everything feels solid and natural, and what's more, it's easy to learn. The solid control is what makes the game tons of fun to play. It contributes to the flow of the games that has always had a good tempo and feels to it. It also serves to put you deep into the action immediately, and keeps getting better as you discover more and more features.
A couple of these features have been added to the control scheme this year. In addition to better shot blocking, there is a cool new deke system that enhances gameplay, and livens up goal scoring. The system uses combinations of moves on the right analog stick or both analog sticks in unison (to shoot while deking) to produce a specific deke result. For instance, if you press right then left quickly on the right analog stick, you'll perform a one-handed deke, provided your player has good enough deke skills. This feature adds a new dimension to control, and it feels really good¿ especially when you light up a goalie after faking him out of his jock.
But fancy deking is not where it ends. As you do more and more nifty moves, a meter fills up in the lower right corner of the screen. When it is completely full, you can press a button to turn on the "gamebreaker," which feels a lot like the lubba-dubba breakaway, where the camera zooms in on you, the audio goes underwater, and you are left alone with the beating of your heart. Almost like a Matrix or boost mode, the game breaker allows you to move faster and crisper than the slowed-down world. While the idea is a good one, its execution--like that of the breakaway shot--feels a bit off. While the sense of intensity it produces is great, it doesn't feel like it actually helps you score. The camera angle is too low and the ice feels more claustrophobic in this view, which is the opposite of how it should be. In fact, it's more comfortable to remain in a zoomed-out situation where you can assess everything on the ice at a glance.
That points to another issue: the default settings. The default camera is too zoomed-in to allow for much of a sense of team layout. In this zoomed-in view, you either have to pass to someone nearby or send a pass into space and hope one of your teammates will skate to that space to receive your pass. It also doesn't make for a very realistic hockey experience when all of the penalties and other rules of hockey need to turned on before gameplay. Another area where the default feels "off" is in game speed. This is the one area where bending reality could have benefitted the game. The default game feels a little sluggish, and could use a boost.
Of course, these things are a matter of preference. Luckily, there are sliders for just about everything, which is great. This allows you to customize your experience and tailor the game to your specific style. You can toggle things as abstract as "puck elasticity," which gives a sense of the breadth of customization.
However, one thing that is missing is a save slider. It would have been nice to jack up the goalie save percentage on both sides of the ice, to avoid the ridiculous scores that frequently come about. While the focus of this game is clearly on scoring, even on the highest difficulty setting, it isn't rare to put up total goal numbers in the double digits, and that just doesn't reflect the sport very accurately.
Part of this is due to the fact that the CPU AI is at one time too good and too bad. Both stem from the same problem... the puck sticks to everything. Passes are easy to make, even on a super-fast breakaway, and easy to receive in almost any condition. You can hold the puck through a group if you're deft enough with the analog stick, and you put more shots on the goal as a result. FIFA in its last incarnation did a good job with pass reception. If you passed the ball in too hard, it would bounce hard off of your legs and be easy to pick up by a defender. NHL mimics this dynamic slightly, but needs to go further. Sure, there are a lot of pretty, clean passes in the NHL, but there are an equal number of ugly passes due to pressure and hitting.
The main issue with NHL is, as I've said before, the fact that it adopts an arcadey feel. If you're an avid hockey fan, you may balk at the wide-open nature of this game. Sure, you can slow it down and try to play "real hockey," by making lots of passes, setting things up in your zone, and looking for opportunities to score, but the game actually favors a more run (or skate) and gun approach. Fans of the series will be right at home. After all, this is the game we all fell in love with. Those demanding more simulation aspects may feel let down.
But, for all of these complaints, NHL is a joy to play. The multiplayer experience has always been great, but the single player holds its own as well, thanks to a decent Franchise mode. It's not as deep as it could be, but it's got all of the options that a basic franchise mode should have: trades, the ability to sim games, the ability to make off season moves, and multiple seasons of fun. The trading is as rudimentary as it gets. There's no haggling, just a straight "yes" or "no" from the team you're trading with. You can do odd-man trades, though, which is definitely nice.
As for the off season offerings, you can view Awards, compiled stats and manage your rosters by signing free agents and releasing players. There is also a rookie draft function, but, again, this is very basic. All you really do is take a look at a list of rookies and their ratings/positions, and select according to that. In order to improve considerably, NHL needs to follow the example of Madden or NCAA, and be almost as much about the front office as it is about the field. Until then, we'll be content playing a truckload of games (ten seasons is the limit), collecting the NHL Cards (which are tied to the Franchise Mode) and winning every trophy under the sun.
Graphics
The graphics just keep getting crisper and more polished as the series rolls along. This year's offering is the best looking of all. While the player models haven't changed all that much, except for getting better textures overall, the arenas and ice continue to look better and better. There is a brilliance and gleam to each arena. Everything almost seems to be bordering on "too shiny," but that's because we've grown accustomed to watching hockey on TV. When you go to the rink, it's dazzling, just as it is in the game. The crowds have improved as well. The camera cuts to them between plays, and they look more filled out than in previous years. In the background, they are rarely seen, so don't really come into play.
As always, the player animations are top notch as well. Some new animations have been added, especially with the new deking system. The movements are all well-captured and realistic. One marked improvement is the backhand shot animation. To this point, every hockey game has made the backhand gesture a little too forced and grandiose. But NHL 2003 tones it down to good effect. There were several backhand goals that looked just like ones you'd see in the NHL. Another cool effect is the puck tracking. If the puck is popped up in the air, a player will tilt his head to look up at it and try to guide it down to the ice. This kind of attention to detail adds a lot to the experience.
The only truly bad animation in the game takes place during the fighting sequences. Players look more like rock'em sock'em robots than real people, so stiff are the movements. But this is a minor concern, primarily because fighting is rare. All of the other animations are like butta.
NHL 2003 boasts a pretty robust game story dynamic, which helps you get into and follow the action. Part of this is handled in the commentary, but a lot of the "story" aspects are also broken down into various cut scenes. In one scene, you might see two guys scrapping after the play. In another, you'll see a player being carted off the ice with a sprained ankle. These scenes are well placed and fit nicely into the flow of the game. They are also are your opportunity to see player faces and emotion, which are fairly good. The only problem with the cut scenes is that they're fairly repetitive. Luckily, most of them are quite easy to skip.
One last thing for the frame rate hounds out there; While the game is generally good, it does tend to chop slightly when too many players are on the ice near the net. It's not terrible, but its noticeable. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, live in bliss (and don't look too hard at the TIE Fighters in Star Wars). For those of you who do watch, you'll notice slight chugginess. It definitely doesn't hinder gameplay, though, so please only talk about it when you're trying to impress a geeky date.
Sound
The sounds of gameplay in the NHL series have always been unmatched, and that trend continues here. Everything about the game sound effects is crisp and well captured. In fact, a lot of what you're hearing in the game is taken from an actual hockey rink, so that adds to the realism. Sure, EA still likes to boost up the sound of shots and hits, but that's just artistic license.
Crowd sounds are very responsive, another thing we've come to expect from EA Sports. Not only do they react to big goals, they get on their feet and yell for crushing hits, big saves and breakaways. As hinted at before, the game breaker and breakaway segments have their own audio rules. When you go into one of these situations, everything goes muffled, and you hear the sound of your heart beating louder than anything else. This is a cool effect in that it really intensifies the situation, actually producing the same kind of physiological response as a real breakaway would.
The commentary remains as wacky as it was last year, with color man Don Taylor piling jokes on top of Jim Hughson's play-by-play. Those who hated it last year will want to turn the color off immediately, without passing go. The office consensus last time around was that the commentary was a breath of fresh air. This year, it's more of the same. Don Taylor peddles his off-brand humor non-stop, sounding more like Jack Handey (of "Deep Thoughts") than a sports analyst. Either it will tickle your funny bone, or it won't.
The coolest thing about the commentary, though, is not the humor. It's the fact that it ties into the game and season story. The announcers remember basic things from the past and comment on career milestones. It's unbelievably cool to hear them laud a guy for going over 500 goals in his career, or bring up other performance-based stats in the midst of commentary --What's more, NHL 2003 boasts of the least repetitive tracks out there.
Speaking of tracks, this EA Sports Trax thing has to go. While its cool to have bands highlighted and included in the game, the pop music invasion is a little much throughout the game. Every time a new song plays, a little pop-up window appears telling you what the artist and song is. Not only does it always obscure the very thing you're trying to look at, it intrudes on the game experience. If it were restricted to the menus, it would be easy to deal with. But when a band fires up before face-offs, and to highlight momentous plays, it gets a little too in-the-face.
Verdict
If you don't yet have a hockey game, you really can't go wrong with NHL 2003. It's a fun, tight-controlling, well-presented game that makes good use of the NHL license. However, those expecting a sim-style game, beware. NHL 2003, like last year's edition, slants more toward arcade-style hockey. All the bells and whistles may just annoy the hardcore fan who's looking for a pure hockey experience.
The bottom line is that NHL has always been a great series, and brings us another good installment. But this year's game just maintains at the status quo level. True, that's a high level, but it isn't the marked improvement we were hoping for.
