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NHL 2002 REVIEWS
USER REVIEWS
| NAME: [nt.ICEMAN]
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| PROCESSOR: 650MHz AMD Athlon RAM: 128mb GRAPHICS CARD TYPE/RAM: GeForce2 GTS/32mb
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| RATING (out of 10): 8
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REVIEW: My first fear when getting NHL 2002 was that I wasn't sure if it could entertain me for longer than a match or two. Well I was wrong, because this is a surprisingly addictive game that will have you playing again and again. Now obviously the gameplay won't suck you in on the same level as Black & White or Commandos do, that's not what i'm trying to say, but it will keep you entertained for long periods of time.
When you start the game, you have a number of choices facing you which similar to those in FIFA: play now where you can just pick two teams, and start the action straight away. Then there's the longer investments, season, tournament, play-offs, and a quick penalty shoot-out. So i'm guessing everything's there. In the season mode, you get to pick a team (or teams) and guide them through a season which is stupidly obvious. But this is a proper season, you can trade players, change stats, line-ups and all of that. As EA say, if it's in the game, it's in the game.
One great addition to the game is the NHL cards, these are cards that you can buy with points that you earn during gameplay by completing varying tasks. These tasks can be as easy as scoring a goal, to getting a shut out, to trying to score a hat-trick with two players and so on. The cards themselves give your players boosts, like making a player a hero for one or two periods. There are also other types of cards, cheat cards, easter egg cards, and celebration cards to collect.
The first thing I noticed from playing NHL 2001, is that this is a generally harder game, not saying that you can get 7+ goals in a game, but you might find that you will have to work harder to do it. The game is also much more frantic and fast-paced than before, and you might not get a lot of time to do as many of those fancy tricks that you like. The two commentators are always making jokes, while still calling the plays. They also comment on the type of game that is going on, wether it be a close one or landslide. The commentators add some quite funny comments, though it may not be Eddie Murphy funny it is still good to hear.
I do however have a criticism of this game, and that is the uncanny knack the AI has of coming back from a seemingly hopeless situations. For example, you're up by six in the third period and it's looking like an easy win, but all of a sudden the opposition get a goal back, then another, but you think nothing of it, but then they get another (you see where i'm going with this), eventually the game is tied and you are gob smacked. So now you're in over time and the next goal wins, and guess who gets it. But generally the games are challenging one medium and higher, and the situation I mentioned doesn't happen often. If you have never played a hockey game before, then I recommend playing on easy, because beginner will be to easy.
I would recommend this game to anyone that like fast, frantic, arcade fun in a game, and you don't even have to be a fan of hockey to enjoy it, but if you are, then there are plenty of stats to fiddle with.
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