User Rating: 8.7 | NHL 2004 PC
By BucketSmith | Review Date:
By far the best NHL ever - NHL 2004 has made tremendous improvements in gameplay as far as I can tell (about 15 games so far played with 10 minute periods on MEDIUM level). Defense has been dramatically improved with new actions such as pinning a player to the boards and the ability to hook players better than in previous versions to slow down the assault. Passing takes alot of practice and you will find yourself constantly being frustrated trying to move the puck - which is a good thing - it was much too easy to dominate the ice in past versions, and this feels more like the frustration I know players must feel when playing the real thing. The dynasty mode adds tremendous value to the game, though navigating through the menus to get information is not executed as well as in the past. As well there are some bugs - computer shots on goal are still staggeringly high most of the time, EA has made all of the away jerseys the home jerseys and vice versa, and some of the throwback jerseys are with the wrong teams (Minnesota North Stars for the Wild instead of the Stars for example). Also, sometimes your players will be out with the flu for 3 days, but still in the lineup - so are they out, or not? Minor annoyances aside (and I'm sure a patch will address alot of these minor things) the gameplay is the best it has been yet. Any diehard NHL series buyer must own this title - the game is a new challenge and the dynasty mode adds a ton to the experience. If we can just get EA to put a decent instruction manual in with their products (how do you fight in this game? - did I mention there is nothing in the manual about how to play the game?) and tweak a few little bugs, we may finally have the hockey game we've always wanted.

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