989 Sports hockey game. S***! Wait...This game is actually good. No, wait! It's better than good. It's great. Wow!
User Rating: 8 | Gretzky NHL 2005 PS2
NHL FaceOff 2003 was probably the worst hockey game ever released for the PS2. They didn't even make a 2004 because of major suckage. I shuddered to think about 2005 when they said that they were making one. My shuddering was useless. Even though it is not as superb as ESPN or as great as EA, Gretzky is a solid game. But, wait. The Great One's retired, right? Why are they basing this game on him? Gimme some answers people. The number of extremely hardcore hockey fans in the US equals the number of NHL teams in Canada: 6. I am one of those, though I don't play because I only weigh 120 and am 16 years old. I am a very tough hockey game reviewer. The gameplay is solid. I commend them for their creative ideas on how to pass, shoot, and score. There is now a targeting icon on the net to aim where you want your shot to go. There is give and go passing, where you hold down the X button to pass to a teammate, the teammate is controlled by the CPU, and when you release the X button the puck comes back to you. The controls are a bit clunky and need a little bit of work, though. The fighting is very laughable. Very laughable. Very simple: Square: Punch, X: Block, or something like that. That's it. The graphics are not close to EA or ESPN's, but they are still very decent. These are the best crowd graphics I have ever seen in any sports game ever. They don't sit there doing nothing or jump in unison like they're stapled together. The faces are nice, the jerseys are decent, and the glass actually has reflections on them. I know that one day 989 will beat out EA...some day. The ice could use a wee bit of work and the puck has this stupid red triangle-type thing around it. WTF is up with that? The sound is good as well. The skating, checking, and crowd sounds are very close to realistic in every way. However, I wish there was some player chatter and the commentators, although great in real life, are annoying as hell. "Wow, Mike, that looked like that was shot out of a cannon." Who says something so generic? People should buy this game if EA is too expensive for them and ESPN is just not their thing. People should also buy this because I want them to see how far 989 has gone in two years. 8.0 out of 10. +Solid graphics especially crowds +Huge improvement from FaceOff 2003 +Wes gots Gretzky -Not as fun as EA or ESPN -Bad commentary -Mediocre controls 
