In honor of the new CBA: ESPN NHL 2005 for Xbox
Written: Jul 25 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great gameplay, ESPN presentation, deep franchise mode, new defensive and checking features
Cons: Mediocre graphics, a few bugs, repetitive play-by-play
The Bottom Line: Worth a purchase for the jonesing hockey fans among us.
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| s_trimble's Full Review: ESPN NHL 2005 for Xbox |
Hockey fans out there--there are still a few of us, I'll warrant--already know that there will be an NHL season come this October. That's right, hockey's back. I, for one, missed the hell out of it. It's quite a relief to know I'll be able to see my Flyers and the brutal poetry that is professional ice hockey at its highest level once again.
To fill the void over this past non-season, I've played a lot of video hockey. My favorite game is ESPN NHL 2005 for the Xbox, developed by Sega. In honor of the new collective bargaining agreement and the new season to come, here's a review.
PRESENTATION
From the moment you turn on the game, you get the feel of National Hockey Night on ESPN. The trademark music and graphics are there, and it adds a real flavor and excitement. If you're a fan, it's pretty sweet. The game loads quickly, and you're ready to go.
MENUS
The opening menus are all right, but not the most intuitive. You can start a quick game right away, or peruse the Game Modes and maybe start a season or a franchise. One thing I don't understand is that there's a quick game in the main menu, and an exhibition game in the modes sub-menu. They're the same thing, as near as I can tell.
Once you choose the game you want to play, choosing your teams is a snap. Use the trigger buttons to choose a team, pick your jersey color, and you're off.
Deeper into the game, the menus can be a bit more challenging. There are three different menus for changing your rules, options, and presentation, and there's quite a lot of room for customization. But it can be overwhelming for someone who just wants to turn icing off, or change the length of a period.
GAMEPLAY
This is what makes or breaks any hockey game. You can have the best graphics ever, but if you can't make a check when you need to or execute a one-timer, then forget it. Happily, ESPN NHL 2005 is one of the better-playing hockey games I've encountered. Movements are fluid, controls are intuitive, and thanks to pretty sophisticated AI, plays can be executed with a minimum of frustration.
Unlike the EA Sports NHL series, the speed burst and check functions are separate. Speed burst is controlled by the right trigger, and a small meter underneath your player model indicates the burst. It fades when the player gets tired. Check is the "b" button, pass is the "a" button, shoot is the "x" button, and poke-check is the "y" button. Pretty standard stuff.
What's not standard are a few new additions to the gameplay. First of all, there's "Intense Contact." Instead of pressing the check button, you can use the right thumbstick to deliver a stick check to the opposing player's body. This leaves you vulnerable to penalties, but looks pretty cool when you lay a guy out with a spear.
Another wrinkle is the defensive control. When controlling a defenseman (or forward who's back in the defensive zone), you can hold the left trigger and the player will skate backward. At the same time, move the right thumbstick from side to side to sweep your stick back and forth to try and flip the puck off the enemy's stick. In practice, this works pretty well. You lose some mobility skating backward, but with timing and practice you can make some pretty effective defensive plays.
All in all, the gameplay is pretty good. At the lower difficulty levels, you'll find yourself executing 20 one-timers a game and burying about half of them, but the opposition smartens up real fast when you set it to Pro and above.
GAME MODES
The game is pretty deep. There are the standard exhibition games, season mode, shootouts, and more, but the franchise mode is where it's at. Like the season, you control every aspect of your roster, and can make trades and sign free agents. But in franchise, you have to hire a coach, decide how much to pay him, scout players on other teams, scout your minor league team, try to find players in other countries during the offseason, work them out, scout them and sign them. It's almost a role-playing game at that level, but if you're really interested in the front-office aspect of hockey, I haven't found a better simulator.
In season and franchise modes, you can decide to play a 40- or 82-game season, plus 5- or 7-game series in the playoffs.
One minor thing about season and franchise--it's kind of a pain to save your progress. You have to go through three menus just to save the season, and it's easy to forget.
GRAPHICS
Graphics are good, but not breathtaking. Truthfully, I expected a bit more sophistication--the game looks like it could have been made two or three years ago in terms of graphic presentation. Up-close character models are good, even recognizable as actual individuals, but the gameplay is a standard overhead view that really hasn't improved over several generations of hockey games. I suppose there's not much that can be improved in that regard, but it seems to me the picture of the action could be a bit clearer.
Also, character collision can look a bit goofy when a player disappears into another, or the puck goes through a defender's foot--stuff like that.
In short, don't be disappointed--the graphics aren't spectacular.
SOUND
It's pretty cool to hear ESPN's Gary Thorne and Bill Clement calling the plays. Overall, the designers did a pretty good job integrating them into the game, but there isn't much variety in their statements, and sometimes they make comments that don't reflect the play. They repeat quite a bit, and I suspect you'll turn the play-by-play off after a dozen games or so.
The music is good, the player sounds are good, and the crowd noise is good. What else is there?
BUGS AND GLITCHES
There's at least one nasty insect in there. First of all, the season mode can freeze up on you while you're making trades or selecting a game to play. That really frustrated me. I had to start over in the middle. I think a bug like that can potentially ruin a game experience.
There are other little things, like a lot of spearing penalties called--when was the last time you saw a spearing penalty?--a lot of goalposts hit, and a lot of broken plexiglass. But I've found no other major glitches.
OVERALL
If you like hockey videogames, this is a worthy entry. It's cheap, too--max retail price is $25, I think, and I bought it new at GameStop for $20. For that price, it's worth a look.
At least until the season starts.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
s_trimble
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Member: Stephen Trimble
Location: West Chester, PA
Reviews written: 127
Trusted by: 95 members
About Me:
I'm back to my roots, writing business newsletters for Progressive Business Publications.
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