Decent game , but there are excellent hockey games around.

User Rating: 6.8 | NHL Rivals 2004 XBOX
By stevebomb | Review Date:
NHL Rivals 2004 was the first and only hockey game i bought since the masterpeice that was NHL 2002. I bought NHL rivals simply because it was online , and i was finaly ready for an alternative to what i thought was the "be all to end all" game of NHL.

Most of this review will be comparing Microsofts first and only Hockey sim , to my beloved favourite sports game of all time , NHL 2002 by EA sports back in 2001.

First off , as NHL 2002 had rather cartoon like models for there athletes , NHL rivals 2004 has a more realistic aproach to the players on the ice , Better Looking Features and detailed faces , even tho many of the players seem to have the same face.
the animation is on par with Ea sports' 2002 effort. But a major flaw in the graphics of Rivals 2004 is the choppy framerate that makes the games cutscenes and sometimes gameplay realy hard to enjoy with the bad framerate. But other than Bad framerate NHL Rivals 2004 is a very good looking game , from rinks , to players , to uniforms , to the general well done Television style Presentation.

Sound is well done , with slapshots , bone-crunchine slams and general scrapping of ice skates perfectly presented .
The commentary like most of the Microsoft sport franchise is well done , but just not on standards with the Ea commentary of the time. I would rather hear the funny one liners of the EA team from NHL 2002 than the boring play by play in NHL rivals.

gameplay takes some getting used to as some of the control buttons are backwards compared to the EA title. But overall Controls are responsive and well laid out. the general Hockey experience is pushed towards sim mode more than the Fun goal-scoring of NHL2002. Gaols are fewer and almost seem like a fluke when the score. the ever so Important element fighting system , feels more polished then ea sports' button smashing , but its still no Fight Night.
Overall the game isnt as fun as the old NHL2002 , because its more sim oriantated.

modes of play include Quick match , Instant Rivals ( pitting two real life rival teams togever) and The season/franchise mode , witch dos'nt go into as much Stat detail as NHL2002 , but all the Trades , Injuries , Create-a-player modes are still there.

Again , NHL Rivals 2004 is a decent Hockey game , but there isnt realy much room for a decent effort when you have gaming exellence in NHL2002 and i cant even imagine what it was like with the latest titles from EA sports at the time.At the time at least NHL rivals was Online ..............

Load Comments (0)