Ask any hardcore sports game fan what their top three
favorite sporting titles are. More likely than not I bet at
least one of them will be a game from the storied NHL series.
Like just about every other EA Sports franchise, the Sega
Genesis was the first console to really put the NHL series on
the map, and why shouldn’t it have? The NHL games had a fast
– and fun – arcadey gameplay, smooth graphics and a
simple, yet intuitive, control scheme. After the 16-bit era,
however, EA’s hockey skills seemed to take a downfall. The
first few NHL releases for the PlayStation were hardly
anything to write home about (please, let us forget that
horrid NHL ’99), as the series had a problem defining if it
was a straight simulation or an arcade game. Thankfully, the
2000 iteration got its act cleaned up and ended up being the
best hockey game in years. At present time, the PlayStation2
is just a month away from launch, and that means another year
of hockey for the PS2 as well. Can the game live up the
previous year’s quality, or will it just be a rehash with
just updated eye candy? Only time can tell, but at this point
things are looking quite well.
Like most of the EA’s PS2 first-generation sport games,
NHL will not be a direct redesign of 2000. The play modes will
consist of Quick Game, Season, Tournament, and Playoffs, so
don’t expect a vast number of additions here (those are left
for the PC edition). NHL 2001’s main goal is to clean up and
polish the rough edges of the ’00 game, being animations,
physics and the presentation. While last year’s game played
pretty well, some of the speed settings and skating mechanics
were a bit off. One-timers scored too frequently, and more
often than not the passes would end up trailing the receiver
too slowly. EA is back to fix that though, refining the engine
to a T in an attempt to truly balance the game out (a
tough task, indeed).
NHL’s aesthetic will also be getting a
great boost, due in part to the power of the PS2 console. New
and more realistic animations will be added, plus some fresh
camera angles that should have no problem following the pace
of the game. Late game momentous comebacks will also be added,
so now those thrilling late-period wins can come true on your
television set. The visuals, of course, will be getting quite
a boost as well. While the overall package doesn’t look
nearly as impressive as the Madden and NBA Live games, the NHL
2001 is still an awe-inspiring game. Detailed player models,
improved textures and jerseys, plus an expanded TV-style
presentation will all add up to an ideal game for any NHL fan.
Not to mention that all official 30 NHL teams (including the
two new expansion teams), plus 20 International squads, will
be in the game too and you’ve got a hockey fan’s dream
come true.
Even though it’s still early and not quite complete, NHL
2001 has a lot of potential going for it. EA Sports can just
as easily screw this game up (as they’ve proved in the
past), but I highly doubt that Sony can afford to have a weak
hockey game in the early going for the PlayStation 2. With hot
graphics, improved gameplay and the charm of EA all rolled
into one, NHL ’01 could very well be the best hockey game we’ve
ever experienced come November.
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