NHL 2004
by EA Sports
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Video Game Reviews of NHL 2004
Customer Review: OK
Summary: 3 Stars
The graphics on the menus screens are awful and the graphics in general are no improvement on last year. The gameplay is improved. It is much more difficult to get a break away and offense is more strategic. Hitting is cool, but at times difficult. The fighting engine is improved. This is by far the most difficult addition to the series in terms of controls. You need to have the right king of controller in order to use all of the available features. A Gravis Gamepad Pro won't cut it anymore. Overall a game worth playing, but the graphics have been a dissapointment.Customer Review: Well now!
Summary: 5 Stars
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.