PlayStation 2
Released in 2004 by EA Sports
Grade: B
After EA took big strides for NHL 2004, this edition feels like a slight step back. It sacrifices smoothness and nifty moves for fast, frantic, hard-hitting action that harks back to the PS1 NHL games.
Where it falls in the series
This is the fifth of nine EA hockey games for PS2. The online dorks seem to agree that NHL 2004 was the cream of the PS2 crop, but I also think NHL 07 is worth a look. EA started producing NHL games on Xbox 360 for 2007 and on PS3 for 2008.
Praises and gripes
The first thing I notice playing this game is how fast it moves. I didn’t even think to use the speed burst button for half a game. This game leans far toward the arcade end of the spectrum of EA’s hockey games, evidenced by the fact that all the rules are turned off by default.
It inherits the skill stick control that debuted in NHL 2004, but using it is far less useful in this version. Big body checks come easy and often, and you’re better off dishing the puck with the crisp passing controls than trying to skate around anybody (especially because that added speed makes tight turns feel jumpy). Defenders can even plow opponents over when skating well behind them, which is very unrealistic. The game is all about passing quickly, and teammates do a good job finding open areas to receive the puck.
The scoring logic seems slightly improved from NHL 2004. I didn’t suffer any fluky goals from bad angles. You’ve got to put a lot of pucks on net, and only well-executed one-timers can sneak past the goalie. The CPU is tough to beat on the high difficulty settings.
Despite the frantic action, there are new features that add unnecessary depth. There are now two shot types, “shot” and “wrist shot,” but the wrist shot is inexplicably less responsive at times, which makes it useless to the average gamer. There are little icons that appear next to your player’s name and clutter the screen. During stoppages, you choose how your players set up around the face-off circle (but, on the bright side, goalies are adept at passing the puck, so there aren’t a gazillion face-offs). EA always had a knack for adding useless features, I tell ya.
The graphics are what you’d expect from this era of sports games, a bit choppy, but not terrible on the eyes. They look better on an old CRT television; on newer screens, the game looks unusually dark. And the sound is decent, even though body checks sound like a bomb.
Overall, this is a pretty fun round of hockey, but it’s not very memorable. If you landed on an island with just a PS2 and this game, you could fall in love with it, but these days, it doesn’t stand out much.