989 Sports has given NHL FaceOff an overhaul this year, including a new
graphics engine, motion captures, and player moves. The changes were
necessary to try to keep the game in the same league with the bigger franchises
in the hockey game field. However, the changes did not go far enough and
the result is a game that is still a notch below the top players.
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| Pardon me, good sir. |
The game's graphical enhancements have failed to bring it up to par with the
PS2's better looking titles. The player models bear only a passing
resemblance to the real players and the textures used for the uniforms are fuzzy
and lack any details. The new motion captures make player motion look
good, but the transitions between the different motions are awkward.
You don't even have to wait until the gameplay starts to see that NHL FaceOff
2003 falls short graphically. Games begin with a pressbox cam shot of
center ice as lasers trace the home team's logo on the ice. The scoreboard
and logo look so fuzzy you'll wonder if the opening sequence was lifted from
some old PS One code.
It's hard to categorize the game as either an arcade version or simulation of
the sport. Gameplay can be pretty fast (the game gives you the option to
slow things down if need be) and players seem to be magnets that snag all passes
that are "close enough". On the other hand, steals and blocks are quite
common and it is far from a given that you'll be able to move the puck down the
ice and keep it in your opponent's zone.
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| Waiting for the puck to drop. |
It's possible to accept this type of game and just adjust your style of play
to match it,
but what really weighs the game down is its AI. The computer's defensive
scheme is to swarm the puck handler with at least four defenders. You'd
think that this would make it easy to find an open man to pass to, but your
teammates are slow to make it up the ice and don't really make an effort to move
into a position where they can take a pass. On defense your team does not
use the swarm tactic and is, of course, slow to get back and help on defense.
It also seems that your team has decided that chasing down loose pucks is
exclusively your job, as they're more inclined to watch a nearby puck than to go
for it. Goalies do a pretty good job of blocking shots, but they're also
likely to put the puck back into play with two members of the opposing team
camped out just outside the crease.
To its credit, NHL FaceOff 2003 is an easily accessible game. The rules
of hockey can be relaxed so new players won't have to strain themselves trying
to make sense of icing and the two line pass rule. All beginners really
need to learn is which button passes and which shoots.
The game also includes a number of gameplay modes, including a practice mode
that allows you to set the number of players on the ice. You can use it to
handicap the other team while learning to play or to practice power plays.
In addition to the quick match, tournaments, and shoot-out modes, the game
features career and season modes. The most notable feature of these last
two modes is that you can not specify the number of games to be played. A
season is always a marathon 82 game endurance trial. In the career mode
your reward for sticking it out to the end of the first season is a generic
draft and free agent signing session that pretty much just involves looking for
the player with the highest rating.
In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated:
65%. A not so ready for primetime player in the hockey game field.
