hockey

NHL 2002 was a great game that needed a few fixes to make it perfect. NHL 2003 is not the fix that was needed. Heres the good and the bad,
The Bad
1)Game Play is Slow
2)Editing Lines is harder as not all relevent player information is displayed, forcing you to keep switching to the rosters list
3)Sound and Graphics Issues keep popping up here and there
The Good
1)Goalies play better
2)Passing and Shots are more realistic
3)Menus are easy and display all the info you need right up front.

All in all its a good game but could be better. The biggest problem is the Game Speed. Its not your hardware that is slow its the game itself. In NHL 2002 you could increase the game speed, the spped bursts and more here it has the options but very little effect. Also Direct3D and DirectX 8.1 Compat. is needed on your Video Card. Its a fun Game but not an improvement over NHL 2002

The Good

I'm not usually big on sports simulation, but this one is pretty good. It isn't to tough and the options are good(love the create a player mode). I liked the fact that with create players and trading you could take the crappiest team in the league and make them the best(which I couldn't do on the last NHL game I bought which was 94 on the old Sega Genesis.) Or vice versa. Lol. The P.A's hilarious(my favourite is when he announces that their accepting resumes for a new p.a(public address) man. And it's the hometeam that wants to get rid of him. Kudo's for not making the p.a just bland and repeating the same thing about goals and such.

The Bad

Well there's a few bad points to it. Your AI controlled players on your team are next to useless(they give incoming forward wide berths in your zone. and seem to skate senselessly around) Cheap goal(Backhands going in on in from the bluline? 100mph slapshots from right in front of the net?) and as some have pointed out already, the AI controlled team goes on scoring spurts where everytime they shoot the puck at your net it goes in. But there's a balance they forgot to mention that you also go on these type of spurts and they don't happen in every game. But it's still annoying when your up 3 goals near the end of the last period and your suddenly down 2 with 10 seconds to go. Also the animations and p.a stuff is a bit repetetive.

The Ugly

Why do all the coaches look the same?(plus the NHL president) and is it just me or do all the coaches look like a young Vince Mcmahon?

NHL 2003 is a fenominal game! I have it for PC and it is so cool! the graphics have improved greatly since last year, there is a new game breaker where the game goes in like a slow moe for like 5 seconds so you can see where to shoot to go for goal.The players respond more accurately to the puck. But wait. the year is almost over. why get that when you can get NHL 2004,which is comming. It's more physical than ever before, with new Bruise Control, an all-new fighting system, more realistic player collisions, and powerful visuals such as popping helmets and breaking glass.Total player control allows you to direct 2-button touch sensitive passes anywhere on the ice, call team strategies on the fly, and aggressively tie up opponents against the boards and in front of the net. Take on the role of GM for up to 20 seasons, drafting and trading players, negotiating contracts, and managing the financial bottom line of your franchise. Earn valuable experience points to upgrade your GM office and/or purchase improvements to staff and facilities, thus improving your team's on ice performance. 39 new international teams from Germany's DEL, Sweden's Elitserien, and Finland's SM-Liga. My advice to you would be wait untill NHL 2004 comes out and then see which one you like more.