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The Plot:
Certainly, sports games are a dominant part of the video game industry, but hockey and football certainly seem to be the two sports that deliver the most action and have the most potential for exciting gameplay. I've been thrilled with the football titles that I've played and NHL 2002 proves that developers (in this case, EA Sports) know how to really deliver the kind of fast-paced action that Hockey can be presented as.
NHL 2002 presents several different options for gameplay, including: Play Now, Season, Career, Playoff, Shootout, and Tournament. While none of those modes are unusual, there's a lot of smaller aspects of the gameplay to appreciate. Although the action itself is smooth and nicely presented, there are inspired perspectives such as the "breakaway cam" where, if you're gotten free of the defenders, the camera switches to a first-person perspective that is wonderfully cinematic, but still allows the player to take control and spot an opening to fire the puck through. Great gameplay also allows the ability to unlock "cards", which boost gameplay or add other tweaks to enhance the players.
EA Sports has crafted a terrific game. Hopefully, NHL 2003, which is set to be released in a little over a month, can smooth the graphics out even further while carrying over this title's marvelous gameplay.
Rating: 9/10
The DVD
Graphics: The graphics for NHL 2002 are quite enjoyable, but they don't really take advantage of the kind of visuals that the XBOX system can offer. Player models are nicely rendered and the animations, such as the puck getting ripped off or a player pulling back to smack the puck towards the goal, are smoothly presented. What I especially enjoyed was that the players movements are not clunky or slow; skating in this game is realistically fast-paced and is presented here with no slowdown or other faults to take away from it.
The action is presented with three different cameras: a default camera nicely captures the action and allows the player to easily follow after the puck. The other two available angles give a wider (although farther off) perspective. Instant replays and other non-play sequences such as the "breakaway camera" or post-goal celebrations are very nicely rendered and look excellent. Overall, while the game's graphics aren't outstanding, they're still very nice, nonetheless.
Rating: 8.5/10
Sound: The game's soundtrack is a bit of a mixed effort. The play-by-play commentary, a mixture of decent Hockey information and mediocre one-liners, is not exactly what the game needed. If the announcers are going to be funny, be genuinely, all-out funny (see "MLB Slugfest 2003"), but NHL 2002 tries to be a little of both and doesn't really succeed at either. However, an enjoyable aspect of the game is the ability to alter the soundtrack - the commentators and music can be turned off, leaving only the sound effects and the infrequent announcement. Overall, a respectable soundtrack - I would have enjoyed if the commentary would have tried to be more informative, but viewers aren't forced to listen anyways.
Rating: 8/10
Gameplay: The game's controls are excellent, as passing, shooting and other skills are smartly laid out and easy to control. Gameplay also seemed largely realistic, as well.
Rating: 8.5/10
Rating Issues: The game is rated "E" (Everyone). There is the usual rough Hockey action, but there's nothing too graphically intense or violent about the game that would take it closer to a "T".
Final Thoughts: I'm not even much of a Hockey fan, but I found "NHL 2002" to be a highly entertaining, fast-paced effort that offered exciting, realistic gameplay. Graphics and sound are generally very good, although the sport has the potential to appear slicker and more detailed with the XBOX's power. Recommended. ("NHL 2002" has recently been repriced, while "NHL 2003" is going to be released on 9/25/02).
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