Nothing upsets me more than a bad hockey game. So, after being thoroughly disappointed with the debacle that is Sega's NHL2K for Dreamcast (see my review at http://www.epinions.com/content_27783892612 for more on that), I broke down and picked up EA Sports' NHL 2001 for my PC. Granted, it's the kind of game that I'd much rather play on a console, but not owning a PS2, the PC version was a good substitute. Besides, EA has been doing NHL for nearly a decade now, I figured; they should have gotten it right by now.
And they have, for the most part. There's a reason that EA's NHL series is considered the standard in video hockey. It's unparalleled in realism, accuracy, and pure fun. Of course, that said, it's not a perfect hockey experience, but it's about as good as you're likely to find. (Besides, if it were perfect, there would be no reason to buy the next year's version.)
Probably the most noticeable feature of NHL 2001 is ists wide range of options that are customizable. You can do everything from adjusting the offensive and defensive strategies of your team down to selecting from a number of real hockey formations, to actually altering the elasticity of the puck so it behaves differently.
NHL 2001 ships with all NHL teams from the 2000-2001 season, plus all-star teams and international teams. Want to play as the Swedish? Now you can! Rosters are current as of the beginning of that season, but updates are available at EA's web site for every month following the beginning of the season right up to the March trade deadline.
Control is fairly standard and fully customizable. You can play with the keyboard and/or any number of gamepads, all of which can be set up to the player's taste. Standard buttons are available for pass/change player, shoot/poke check, speed burst/body check, and deke/big hit. Additional buttons can also be mapped to change lines, change coaching options, pull/replace the goalie, etc. While this is a nice touch, keeping all of these functions readily available, I find that certain functions, like changing lines or pulling the goalie, are actually rather dangerous to keep on the gamepad. After all, hockey's a fast game; it's very easy to push the wrong button and give your opponent an empty net. In all, though, the control is pretty standard, so it's easy to pick up if you've played a hockey game in the past ten years or so.
Graphically, NHL 2001 is extremely impressive. It's clear that the designers spent a lot of time on the players' faces, because you can actually tell the players apart based on their faces. I was amazed that Petr Sykora actually looked like his team portrait. (I'm a Devils fan, by the way, if that wasn't already apparent.) In game player movements are very nice too, if a bit over-exaggerated. I mean, while it's cool to see guys go head over heels over a big hit, it's a bit unrealistic given how often it happens.
The only real complaint I have is in the automatic instant replays after a goal or a save. For some reason, EA picked the worst possible camera angles for those shots, so you rarely see how the play was actually set up. The behind-the-goal angle is the absolute worst; the goalie takes up around 50% of the screen, so you can't see what's going on with the puck. This is obviously a very minor complaint, though; it certainly doesn't ruin the overall experience.
Sound is also good, but not excellent. There are little bits of music in between plays and periods, which are standard hockey music. Some rock, some techno, a little organ music here and there; overall, a good selection. The sound effects, what there are, are quite good. There's a very audible clang whenever the puck hits the post (usually followed by "Oh!"s from me and anyone I'm playing with). The commentary is also fairly good, though there are some problems that is associated with any in-game commentary. It tends to get repetitive, of course, and it's occasionally off, screaming, "He's one-on-one!" when there are two defenders between the attacker and the goal. In all, though, it's fairly on, and if the color commentary gets annoying (as it can after the first few times) you can turn that off while keeping the play-by-play, which is a really nice feature.
The game itself keeps very closely to the spirit of real NHL hockey. The game is very fast (as opposed to NHL2K, which moves at a snail's pace in comparison), and very action packed. Goals are far from impossible, but, just like the NHL, you need to set up your shots. Even when goals go in that don't seem like they should, it's often because the goalie was being screened, which is often the cause of goals in the NHL as well. Also, since you can set the coaching so your players always follow a predictable pattern, it's a rare occurrence when your teammates are not set up where you expect them to be.
Unfortunately, there aren't enough increments for the difficulty level. On Rookie level, I blow by the opposition 11-2. On Pro, I get decimated by a similar score. There really needs to be a Semi-Pro level for those of us who want more of a challenge than Rookie provides, but aren't up to the challenge of Pro yet. While you can adjust player and goalie efficiency, I find that to be less than an exact science.
Also, fighting needs to be toned down in a similar fashion. With fighting turned up to the first frequency setting above "no fighting," I find roughly 3-4 fights per game (with 10-minute periods). In a real NHL hockey game, it's rare to see as many as two fights in a game, if you see any at all. I like the fighting, I just don't like as much as the lowest frequency provides.
These are nitpicks, though. Overall, NHL 2001 is currently the best hockey game I've played, and very close to the real thing. If you're looking for a solid hockey game to play alone or with friends, NHL 2001 is the way to go.
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