ESPN NHL Hockey 2K4 Review (Xbox)

STAFF REVIEW of ESPN NHL Hockey 2K4

Wednesday, September 24, 2003.
by Rick Wallace

We Will ..We WillRock You! Plays in the background as the puck drops in the final minute of play in Nashville, TN. Legwand wins the faceoff and passes off to Timmonen. Timmo passes down ice to Walker waiting on the right side. Quick pass to Legwand at the point! He shoots! He scores! INTENSE! Sega along with the help of the ESPN licensee has scored a game winner with a brilliant job of making NHL 2k3 an even better game in 2k4. ESPN NHL Hockey 2k4 is chock full of extras, animations, and game play that will satisfy the need of any diehard hockey nut. Some of these option include mini-games, token collecting for special unlockables, in depth franchise and of course fluid online play. The ESPN style overlays and themes make you really wonder if you are playing the game or watching Tuesday Night Hockey. ESPN announcers Gary Thorne and Bill Clement call the game in almost unbelievable accuracy. If you want the best hockey game on the market youd best be looking in the direction of ESPN NHL Hockey 2k4.

This game is an outstanding addition to any sports buffs collection. I would highly suggest picking this up immediately if you havent already. Sega has now knocked off the mighty EA NHL Hockey series and you can be sure they plan on staying at the top.

One of the first things you will notice in the new game is its gameplay. Its as smooth as silk and the graphics are definitely greatly improved over last years title. New deke moves with the use of the right analog stick are a great addition to an already solid control scheme. Scoring takes a lot of skill on the higher difficulties (Pro and higher) while on the lowest 2 difficulties you can pretty much light up the lamp as much as you like. Youll have to master the one-timer, as the one-man scoring maneuvers from last year are not near as easy to pull off. I am referencing the Swoop (S-maneuver) for those that know exactly what I am talking about. While it is still possible to pull of this maneuver, it is not nearly the scoring opportunity it was last year. Goalie AI is much more solid disallowing this cheap maneuver to be depended upon as your only offense. Did I say it was impossible to score with this maneuver? No, but a lot more difficult and those that rely on this as their only scoring opportunity will sadly lose most of their games. SUGGESTION : Learn your offense and do not rely on these cheap maneuvers to begin with. Those of you looking for a good fighting engine will be greatly disappointed again this year, as it doesnt seem like they spent much time in this area. So dont expect Capcom vs Marvel when the gloves are tossed off. Most people will be happy to hear that the up and down ice debacle form last year has been fixed. Now, when you play as the home team you always go up ice twice no matter which team you are. These are just a few of the great improvement made in gameplay. I could go on and on for pages about player handling, puck physics and so forth.

Online play is so fluid its ridiculous. There is still the somewhat discerning divergence error or synchronization error. Most of this is due to an opponent making line changes before the puck is ever dropped. It seems that if you can play through to the first stoppage of play and then make your line changes youll be able to finish out a lot more games without errors. The unfortunate side of the online tends to affect league players. Last year you were able to load a profile with all your league settings, so you needed only to remove your voice mask when the game started. This year you have to set all your settings once you enter the game with your opponent. Voice mask is off by default, so at least they got one thing right. ESPN allows you to use sliders to adjust your gameplay quality, from game speed to penalties to aggression. Tweak them to your preference. I have personally been playing game speed 1, penalties 4, and All Pro difficulty and the game statistics have been so realistic its scary. It seems unfortunately that there is some sort of cheat that affects the scoreboard and issues multiple wins for one game. This is one issue that needed fixed from last year and seems to be somewhat overlooked. NHL has also instituted the quitting option, which means if your opponent feels the need to quit, you will be given the option to allow it or not. If he decides to just pull the plug he will be given a DROP on his Live record. Sega says they will use this statistic to possibly reign havoc on the quitters. Thats a definite plus for all of us legit players online. Justice can finally prevail.

Sega has decided to add an option to their hockey series called The Skybox. Basically it is to rival Maddens long time Madden cards. You use the crib to spend credits on unlockables, view challenges complete, player records, trophies won, etc.. There are old-timer jerseys to unlock from as far back as the early 1900s. You can also unlock mini-game such as air hockey, mini-rink and pond hockey. All three have there own appeal. I personally enjoy the pond hockey the most as there are no rules, its 2 on 2 and very fast an fun. Its high scoring and a great multiplayer game! Also included in the games arsenal of extra is an All Star Skills competition. Here you will test your skills of accuracy, speed, puck control, strength and many other tests of skill. If youve ever watched the NHL Skills Competition on TV then you are probably frothing at the mouth to compete yourself. Go ahead and try and tee of with the hardest shot, or act as a sniper and pluck the targets out of the net in an accuracy contest. You want to know what the best thing is about the skills competition? Not only can you show up the computer, but you can take the competition onto Xbox Live and compete against the most skilled players from around the world! Now thats an option! As you complete the skill challenges in single player you will earn tokens to use toward unlockables. You will also notice many of the token challenges have to do with season play as well. Youll have to win a game in the Stanley Cup, win 5-games in a row on Pro difficulty, have a 3 game road win streak, and these are just Level One Challenges. 2 other Levels to complete.

As I mentioned before the graphics have been improved 100 times over. The arena renditions look outstanding and the reflective ice is just sweet. A lot of folks were upset that the camera angle seemed so distant last year, and Sega took that into account this year and put the camera right on top of the ice at a ¾ angle. Player animations and goalie saves are almost unreal. Youll see players making that last second dive at the puck to poke it in the net as he slides by. The goalies butterfly, lay out, dive, glove, stick handle, stand on their headneed I go on. Its amazing! I havent seen any slowdown at all during gameplay, and that is a plus as hockey is a fast paced game and would suffer greatly from a framerate problem. Ice animations, such as ice spray when stopping, players being checked into the team benches and glass breakage have not been forgotten. Player checks have quite a variety of styles. They are well done and enjoyable to watch.

Once of the most outstanding features in the game is its sounds!!! The commentary is almost 100% dead on with every on ice maneuver and pass you perform. Gary Thorne sounds like he is actually watching the game as he calls it. That is definitely impressive as I have never seen commentary so !&%$@#* good in any game! Bill Clement gets a little repetitive in his analysis, but I guess there are only so many ways to talk about a player without needing another disk or 2. The crowds chant player names and get quiet and loud with the performance of the home team. Youll hear all the unique goals horns and buzzers from every arena in the league. The sounds are just absolutely solid in this game and you couldnt really ask for much more. Any game that includes the great tune We Will Rock You by Queen has to be one of the greatest sports titles ever made. I mean how could sports games have lasted this long without that tune laying in the background to fire up the crowd!

Suggestions: Suggestions: The game is outstanding, but I would possibly add the possibility of using downloaded rosters online. Speaking of online, the scoreboard ranking system and glitches really needs to be fixed. Its unfortunate that many of the legit players have to suffer due to the tactics of a few that just want to see their name in light. Also, bring in some sort of hockey pregame show or even a post game highlight reel.

Overall: 9.6 / 10
Gameplay: 9.6 / 10
Visuals: 8.8 / 10
Sound: 9.8 / 10

Comments

Xbox Game Search

Latest News

Xbox One allows auto-resume of games via the cloud

While it’s unlikely that most people will be able to afford TWO Xbox One consoles at launch, the possibility of starting a game on one console, pausing and then moving to another console to continue playing it will be possible, thanks to "The Cloud".

No use hiding, Xbox One Kinect can see in the dark

It also can read your heart rate and your emotions, see your body in high definition (even your fingers) and even recognize you based on voice alone, among other cool things. The potential of Kinect-enhanced gaming just got real.

Remedy announces Quantum Break for Xbox One

Remember that weird, live-action TV show that you could stop and watch on almost any television in Alan Wake, Night Springs? Well, it seems that developer Remedy has taken the concept one step further, merging game and TV show in a fresh new way.

Forza Motorsport 5 announced for Xbox One

Forza 5’s long rumored appearance at the Xbox One reveal was hardly a surprise, but the fact that it is coming out this year AT LAUNCH and will look as good as the trailer and dashboard presentation suggested is enough to get excited about!

Call of Duty: Ghosts DLC out first on Xbox One

The more things change, the more things stay the same, but if you are loyal to both Call of Duty and the Xbox platform, then this can only be a good thing, as once again, you’ll be getting all Call of Duty: Ghosts DLC first on Xbox One.

Xbox One not backward-compatible with Xbox 360

As we all suspected, the new x86 architecture-powered Xbox One will not play Xbox 360 games -- in any fashion whatsoever. But once again, there’s a bright side, as the Xbox 360 will still have a future alongside the Xbox One...

Xbox One, bundled w/ Kinect 2.0 out late this year

Is it the all-in-one box that we’ve always wanted (and feared)? Yes. Does it come with and require Kinect 2.0 to function? Yes again. Is it a hulking mass of a machine? Bingo! But on the bright side, tech behind the console and Kinect look BADASS!

See News Archives

Top Community Gamerscores

1. Symmetric-XBA - 129,293
2. hellonearth159 - 88,000
3. Variation-XBA - 81,605
4. Timmy Bauer - 58,335
5. Symmetrics Love-XBA - 47,993
6. Enamelized420-XBA - 41,520
7. Silent-XBA - 38,782
8. Ainokeatoo-XBA - 34,076
9. Roujin-XBA - 31,498
10. Yankeez - 30,859
11. Kamshaft-XBA - 29,839
12. Casper - 26,315
13. Soda Jones - 24,253
14. Tampad - 22,221
15. Highlite23 - 19,309
16. Whisper - 13,272
17. TAXCOLLECTER675 - 13,226
18. HaZarD SFD-XBA - 12,802
19. Kraft - 7,035
20. l Maximus l - 3,010
21. Shadow20002 - 2,880
22. LiLJoe608 - 2,485
23. Sam-XBA - 2,130
24. MixMasta - 175
25. Smill -

Community Forum Activity

clan members
Post by anthony705
0 Replies, 79 Views

What did you guys thing of the Reveal?
Post by Kamshaft-XBA
7 Replies, 152 Views

friends
Post by anthony705
0 Replies, 225 Views

[FCBX] FaceBox Clan
Post by FearfulInk
3 Replies, 379 Views

Double XP weekend Black Ops II on Xbox 360
Post by LiLJoe608
0 Replies, 795 Views

3 Days to Go !
Post by Kamshaft-XBA
11 Replies, 1997 Views

Halo 4 Avatar T-shirt (Ladies)
Post by Silent-XBA
0 Replies, 384 Views

#XboxReveal
Post by Rajio
9 Replies, 2601 Views

[RARE]Xbox 360 XDK XNA EXPO MODEL
Post by itchy
2 Replies, 2218 Views

Magic the Gathering
Post by d-dub363
1 Replies, 480 Views

Clan Member Wanted...
Post by FearfulInk
4 Replies, 969 Views

Community Playdate
Post by tote gunzz
7 Replies, 2420 Views

Dirty Laser Lens
Post by thAshAdyOne
0 Replies, 458 Views

Just looking for some more friends
Post by Grravy420
8 Replies, 1045 Views

Comunity Playdate! Come play with Xboxaddict.com!
Post by Kamshaft-XBA
13 Replies, 1497 Views

Xbox Addict