"A great hockey game from EA Sports..."

As you all should know, EA Sports has come out with some great hockey games. If you want to play one though this is the game to get!

This game is by far the best hockey game ever made by EA. It has great feature everywhere you look that some designers wouldn't even think about! Its great to be able to play more than one type of hockey on just one game!

This game is also possibly one of the funnest hockey games ever. It has shootouts, coaching options, seasons, exhibition games, playoffs, tournament and you can even play against your best friend over the internet!!

If its good graphics your looking for, don't turn your head at this one! It has great graphics to say the least. It has great player details, pretty good replays and even fans cheering. This game definitly has some of the best graphics when your looking at hockey games.

When it comes to Gameplay this game is still standing believe it or not! It has a variety of different styles to play with and many different skill levels to test you. It isn't too hard but it does take a while to complete seasons and tournaments.

This game is also pretty hard. If you want to score a lot of goals you'll have a hard time. You can make it easy but that is sort of boring, if you really want to play this you won't make it easy on yourself and you'll find it rather hard. Another reason why this is such a good game. Its pretty hard!

Gameplay 9/10
It has many different modes such as tournament, season, playoff, remote leagues and exhibition games so you won't get bored too soon. You can play on three or four different skill levels aswell. If your still stuck you can make your team better by trading or even creating a replaca of...YOU! So its not that hard because of the fact that it doesn't have many rules. The games are realistic as they take about an hour to complete which is just like the real NHL, the checks are hard and the goalies are good so its realistic for sure. The players get tired too, there are line changes, you can call time outs and knock down your rivals captain in a fight. It has good gameplay because of the realisticism and its variety of modes.

Graphics 8/10
The graphics aren't anything special but they are over average for hockey games now a days. I find most hockey game either have one good camera angle but you'll have troubles with the controls or they only have one view that is easy to play on but the graphics suck on it. In this game you can put it on a few good views and play to your full potential. The replays are pretty good but there is quite a bit of room for improvement. The scenes with people in the crowd are also a bit lousy. The between play needs improvement but when your actually playing they are great!

Controls 9/10
What can I say? Its just a keyboard. You don't really need to be a great keyboard kinda guy to be good at it. Although I did find it a bit difficult to stay in control of the puck cause the default controls aren't like shooting games like Duke Nukem so I changed it. If I were you I would too.

Music/Audio 8/10
In between gameplay you'll hear some music. Its not the greatest but you do notice it. Its again like the NHL and makes the game even more interesting. While your playing though, there is commentary. Its pretty cool. Its better than having to do it yourself. They have a very wide variety of sayings and I'm still finding new ones. They pinpoint who has the puck, what their doing with it, how they have been doing during the game, how they have been doing during the season, what a great goal they scored, what a hit, etc. You get the picture right? They say all this in detail and in a variety of ways. Trust me, you won't need to turn on your radio while your playing this game. Unless of course you think this music sucks!

Fun Factor 8/10
This game is fun. Period. Got it?, fun. It is a great game that is fun. It can get a bit boring after a while though. If you like hockey it probably will last quite a while though. You'll be able to enjoy replays of great goals and saves from last month with the replay save feature. You can compete with the national teams, draft yourself in a draft, score the winning goal in a shootout, lead your favorite team to the cup. Its a lot of fun whether or not you like hockey but much better if you do.

Difficulty 8/10
If you want a challenge with your new hockey game you'll make it hard on yourself and play at a harder difficulty. It'll be rather hard and you might have troubles with some teams because of the way you play. If you want though you can make it easier on yourself and you'll score lots and probably win every game of the season. I think that is sort of cheap but hey, its all up to you, and none other than you.

Overall 8/10
This game is quite possibly the best hockey game for any system or computer ever. It is hard, it is fun, it has great graphics, its quite replayable, it has many different features, great gameplay and its easy to learn how to play. No matter how you look at it there are lots of good things to say about this game. Even if you hate hockey you can't change the fact that this is a great game!!

Gameplay 9/10
Graphics 8/10
Controls 8/10
Music/Audio 8/10
Fun Factor 8/10
Difficulty 8/10
Overall 8/10

A great hockey game by EA Sports. Buy this game!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/03/00, Updated 04/03/00