When I was first given a copy of EA's NHL 2004 to review, I thought it was a joke. I thought one of the production guys got to the game early and screwed around with the cover art. You see, on the cover of NHL is Dany Heatly. For hockey and sports fans that have been living on the moon, under a rock, with their fingers in their ears for since last year's Stanley Cup and Jiggy and the neutral zone trap, Heatly was involved in a car crash that had the 22-year old right winger behind the wheel of a speeding Ferrari. The crash left Heatly with a broken jaw and various injuries and his teammate, Dan Snyder, dead.
NHL 2004
Platform: PC, Playstation 2, Xbox, GameCube
Developer: EA Black Box
Publisher: EA Sports
It was quite obvious that the cover was already in place before the crash and Heatly is a deserving choice to be a cover boy. Last season, he scored 41 goals and was named the MVP of the all-star game. It almost looks like the Madden curse, where whomever appears on the cover of another EA title, John Madden Football, finds a way to get hurt. Let's hope next season, when Marian Hossa or Jarome Iginla take their cover shots, they leave the keys to their Italian sports cars at home.
Now, onto the game.
EA has made lots of sports titles in the past 15 or so years and have me impressed beyond belief. These are the same people that have made the new Tiger Woods 2004 possible the best golf game ever and has it in contention for best game ever, period, along with NHL 93 for Sega (No, I will not make little Wayne's head bleed). This year alone, I have played every EA title that I can find and really have not found a title that I dislike.
Until I hit NHL 2004. I don't want to sound like I dislike it or hate it, but I was kind of disappointed after a few rounds through. With expectations at the ceiling, I found a game that visually was the finest hockey title of all time. The graphics are incredible, from the rinks to the players themselves. The new Coyote's uniforms are available and the team plays in the new Glendale Arena. While I have not been to the gem off of the 101 on the west side of town, it's wicked sweet to even see this in a video game.
The game play is something else. One of the first changes I noticed was the passing. EA has changed its hockey passing to be more like football passing in their Madden and NCAA games: the harder and longer you press the pass button - the harder the ball will come up. It's the same here. If you just tap the button, your pass will be horrible and most likely not even be at a teammate. If you hold the button down longer, the pass will be more accurate. However, if you're trying to push the puck up ice while your opponent is trying to make a line change, you will fail and be the target of ridicule from friends, family, pets, and anyone that passes by.
To top off all of this, you can't control the player with the puck with the D-Pad. As an old school player who is still hesitant to changing to the analog control at all, this disappoints me.
You would think shooting the puck would be the best way to score, but you're wrong. The one timer in front of the net, a staple of every hockey game ever made, is the best way to score. As the St. Louis Blues, I thought if I controlled Big Al MacInnis, I could fire my 100+ mph slap shot toward the net and put some points on the board. However, if you want to score, most of the time you're left to dumping the puck in front of the net and frantically pushing the shot button to hope the puck will find the back of the net.
Don't even bother trying to score on the breakaway or a penalty shot. Simply flying toward the net and putting up a shot won't work, even if you are Mario Lemieux. Using the R3 analog button, free style controls, sometimes helps, but try to work your offense.
One of my favorite parts of the game is the Dynasty Mode. Most EA games feature some kind of career mode that lets you control a player, coach, or general manager over time to put your drafting and scouting skills to the test, and NHL follows suit. Here, you are the GM and your goal is to make it to the GM Hall of Fame. After a little bit of searching, I realized that the GM hall of fame was a not a real place, but it is still fun in the game. If you earn enough points, you have a spot waiting for you. For every 100 points you earn, you get to buy new things like a staff or new arenas.
Overall, I would give the game a B-. There are other hockey games that I prefer to play, but at least this one is the best to look at. I'm sure next year's version will have some flashy features; but hopefully, improvements are made in the gameplay. Let's also hope that the cover boy doesn't happen to kill anyone either.
Reach the reporter at jeffrey.hoodzow@asu.edu.
