A OK game, but it gets boring since the gameplay isn't strong enough.
The gameplay makes all the impact in these kind of games. Having some mayor downs in gameplay makes the general score lower then if I would multiply and divide all four aspects. It's still a OK game however.
Graphics: 7.0/10.
The graphics of the NHL games has been ok over a long period of time, I don't believe that the graphics is the main concern of a hockey game player. The faces of the players have some resemblance to the reality, but who cares about that really? The menus are ok and when playing you can se most of what you want to se. It's hard to give long passes though!
Sound: 6.0/10.
The sound on the ice is ok. But it would be nice to se a NHL game with a different type of music in the menus for once. Also, using the Swedish commentary legend, I grew tired of the same phrases over and over again. The pronunciation is partly weird but it's a nice try anyway Arne.
Gameplay: 6.0/10.
Games like this is all about the actual feel of the gameplay. This game was actually better then I expected, but it still has some downs. On the good side, you can handle your team pretty easily and make most of the plays that you would like. The control of the PS2 is also used well even if I couldn't find any way to change action on the buttons. On the bad side you cannot pass some players when trying, because the remote doesn't seem to understand where you point the pass. Also the teams, and most of all the players, feel a bit Americanized. All the North Americans seem to strong to check, but the players from the rest of the world flies like glows on the ice. Try to play North America against The World! The individual setting on checking shouldn't differ this much, even if Eric Lindros may be A BIT harder to tackle then say Peter Forsberg. How to play this game is simply to crash the net with strong players and hope for a bad rebound when your opposition tries to pass the puck with his/her goalie.
Story: N/A.
It wouldn't be that fair to write a story to a NHL game. Though the game itself has a season mode – Doh!
Idea: 7.0/10.
The idea for this game is classic and not much is made differently from the prerunners. It works fine, but I would like to se some difference in layout and approach some time in the distant future.