Get into a run-and-gun affair and you'll almost certainly be gunned down. Because of all this, you've got to have a good idea of where you are at all times. Computer players will both dump the puck in and rag it across the lines. Centers get down and dirty behind the net, wingers fly down their sides and let shots fly from any and all angles, and offensive-minded defensemen have no qualms about moving in off the points if the situation is right. Positional play is much stronger this time around. Limits like this have been removed for 2004 now the computer presents different offenses, depending on the team and coaching style, and will throw the puck around with abandon in an attempt to generate scoring opportunities.īut don't mistake this for the usual pell-mell arcade action that makes no real sense to hockey fans - there is method in this madness. Last year, the offensive AI was simply atrocious, seemingly limited to just one or two attack strategies. For starters, the computer now gives you more to think about offensively.

The recently purchased design house has done yeoman work revamping the series, using the lessons learned while making the highly acclaimed NHL 2K for the late, great Sega Dreamcast to fashion the most authentic version of hockey to ever bear the EA label.Īs you probably expect, enhanced artificial intelligence is the biggest factor in the dramatic improvement between NHL 2003 and NHL 2004. Most of the improvements are, no doubt, due to the new development team at Black Box. This year, however, the company has followed through. Almost every September, a new edition of NHL arrives along with lip service about how the developers toned down the arcade emphasis to give us a game that Bobby Orr would recognize. Of course, EA Sports has made those promises before. All the graphical glitz and 'in the game' glam is still present in NHL 2004, although there is also a refreshing dedication to providing more than good-looking, rock-em-sock-em sound and fury.

The venerable EA Sports franchise has practically been reborn after more than a decade of wowing shinny fans each autumn, with an all-new development team and a sharpened focus that brings realism to the fore. Consider this a new beginning for the NHL hockey series.

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