NHL 2004

List Price: $29.99 Discount Price: $5.96

Features:

• ESRB Rating: Everyone
• Genre: Sports
• Mission: The new season brings enhanced passes, searing slap shots, and a variety of new ways to check your opponent

Accessories:
PlayStation: The Official Magazine (1-year)	Electronic Gaming Monthly	Play	Tips & Tricks Magazine

Customer Reviews:

Love hockey, HATE this game [Posted on 2004-07-13]
I love hockey. I have most of the EA games before this one and I really like them. So I rented this one, and thank God I only rented it. I hate this game. It wont save settings, passing in the game is incredibly stupid, and it will edit your lines automaticly if you sim any games. Plus the controls suck something fierce. If you like hockey than stick with NHL 2003 and pray that NHL 2005 is a lot better. Plus I only gave the game one star because there was no option to give it zero stars.

Good Game [Posted on 2004-07-17]
I know people have complained about a hit fest and bunching of players, but overall, this is a very fun game. I found it easy to make the game very realistic and dispell the problems people claim to have by adjusting the gameplay settings (about 20-25 diff sliders) to a more reaspnable level. The visuals are great also. Real equipment, good faces, popping helmets, and individual player hair. Gameplay features allow you to control when players drop the gloves, what kind of hits you perform (over 100 hit animations), and to turn and stop on a dime. But by far my favorite feature in '04 was Dynasty Mode. This mode is even bigger then Madden. Play happiness, different upgrades (ex. hiring goalie coaches, scouts, managers, lawyers, equipment managers, trainers, and more), and more. There is to much to list.
Bottom line, even if you arent a hockey fan, pick up this game.

good game, could be a lot better. [Posted on 2004-08-31]
this game on the whole is pretty fun, but very very frustrating. i had one game that i went into the 3rd up 13-1, and i barely won 14-13. the catch up logic is pretty gay. the players on your team aren't that smart either. whenever i try and spring a guy for a breakaway, he turns away from the puck. when you have the defensive pressure set back when you are trying to protect a lead, you are almost giving the other team a comeback.

the game is also way too easy. i have it on difficult, and my team isnt that great, and i still win every game.

they also dont have teams top prospects on the rosters. im a philly guy, and to not see jeff carter, mike richards, or even joni pitkanen, was kind of upsetting.

the player models are ok, but i saw screens from espn, and they looked a lot better. there are 2 or 3 different head shapes and some players dont even look right (ie. dan mcgillis looks just like kim johnsson). the arenas all look the same too. i would have liked to see my home away from home (the wachovia center) look a little more like it does in real life

dynasty mode is ok, but there is no way to track injuries and the "expensive retirement gift" is a big nothing. i thought there would be some cool unlockable, but i just won a house.

the fighting engine is a great idea, just poorly executed. it gets way too hard sometimes, and guys like brashear will loose to someone like jason blake.

there are good points to this game though. i love how the right analog stick is used to deke. i had nhl 2002 and constantly held triangle to manually deke, just cause it works so much better. it makes the goals a little more gratifying.

the intros are cool, but they are a little repetitive.

the one thing the nhl series has done right all along is the celebrations for winning championships. and this one is no exception. the stanley cup celebration is fun to watch. me being from philly, where when our teams get a wiff of a championship they just pass out, it is fun to pop the disc in and play a playoff and win so i can finally see the orange and black life the cup.

it is cool when you win a world championship too, and getting to hear the different national anthems.

the menu screens are very nice as well. picking your favorite team as the background is a nice feature.

all in all this is a pretty average game. it has its strong points, but it is weighted down by many flaws. if your a devote ea fan, pick it up, but dont expect to be blown away.

NHL has done it again!!! [Posted on 2004-11-24]
NHL gamers, this game (besides thu 2005 version) is absolutly thu best hockey game ever! graphics r awsome, season mode rocks, and online mode is unbelievable! my only complaints: ALL thu athelete's faces look thu same and it is SOOOOO easy to score even on thu most hardest difficulty level. this game will keep u entertained for weeks and weeks and weeks! this is a must have 4 sure!

Very Good Game [Posted on 2005-04-13]
This game is good because it has a lot of things to do. You can also make seasons and play games with your team. The graphics are very good and there is also a very good separate fighting mode. Another reason this game is good is because the controls are easy so you do not get confused with the other controls. Out of a lot of hockey games this would be one of the best. Overall, I think this is a very good game.

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