EA Sports' NHL 2002 goes Top Shelf!

EA Sports has made the quintessential hockey simulation in NHL 2002. It is the next step in a long line of hockey games dating back to NHLPA '93 for Sega Genesis, which I also own. Each year EA Sports comes out with a new version of its hockey games for each game platform. For years it was NHL 94, 95, 96 and 97. From then on, NHL 98 was on the PC and the graphics were an unbelievable step up from the Genesis. I was hooked.

I have bought every edition for the PC since NHL 99. This newest version is very similar to NHL 2001 (which I was upset about, even the menus look similar) but there are some nice additions that were made to it that calmed me down.

FYI: My system:
AMD Athlon XP 1700+
512MB DDR RAM
ASUS A7N266 Mainboard
GeForce2 Pro 64MB DDR Video Card
SoundBlaster Live! Value Sound Card
Plextor 16/10/40A CD-RW Drive
Gravis Gamepad Pro USB

Getting Started:
The game loads up nice and fast after showing you the generic "EA Sports - It's in the game" video and then a not-so-exciting video for the game. In the past two years, EA has changed their intro video from actual NHL footage (real people) to footage of the actual game being played...its certainly not as cool.

If you wanted to play right away, you can select the teams and controllers and start skating immediately. If you wanted to take the time to set the game up to your preferences, go into the options menu and start tweaking. You can change everything about the game. In the AI Options section, be careful what you change. Small changes will make a big difference out on the ice.

One of the nice options is being able to import your own menu music. You have to download a program from EA's website but its easy. I've replaced the normal songs with ATC - Around the World...it just seemed festive with the Olympics going on and all.

If you want to do a season, you have many options availible to you including, but not limited to:
Number of teams
Number of games
Difficulty
Number of Playoff games per round
Rosters: Current, Fantasy Draft, Rookie Draft
You can customize your entire season to fit your every need.

If you choose to do a tournament, you enter an Olympic-style playoff system to see who is the best team. You can choose Olympic teams or NHL teams.

The gameplay is the same that its been since NHL 2000, with a few minor changes. The goalies now have a range of incredible-ism. They can be brick walls or total sieves if you want them to be. All up to you. One nice addition is the "saucer-pass" which lets you float passes through the air to your teammates...just like real hockey. The Big Hit is the same as a body check, only you can throw these at any time and produce a highlight-reel hit. Fun, but not totally realistic. Everything else is just about the same as it's been for 3 years.

Now I think its time for some of my dislikes. First and foremost, the game announcers SUCK. They ditched Bill Clement (no argument from me there) but they replaced him with some idiot who makes wisecracks through the whole game. While most of them are funny they just get on my nerves after a while and I shut them off. For an example:
Color Dude:"That was Save-tastic!"
Play-by-Play Dude:"Don't you ever run out of those?"
Color Dude:"No-tastic."
Stupid, funny, unnecessary. Other features I don't like: Breakaway-cam - this is a "camera angle" that zooms in when you go on a breakaway. All you can hear is hard breathing and a heartbeat. This did nothing but screw me up when I got a break. I could never score because of the change...split-second delay messed me up. Kills all game tempo. Also, the "Save Cam" did the same thing...after your goalie makes an "amazing" save, the camera switches into replay mode and shows the save from 3 or 4 angles. Its retarded, I don't care about the saves, and it screws up my rhythm. Luckily you can shut both of these off in the options. These were among the new things that EA Sports came up with to throw in the game to make it "improved." My advice is to get rid of the hoo-hah and stick to a real game.

The NHL Cards thing is kinda neat, although I don't really see the purpose. If you accomplish certain tasks in a game or season, you will be awarded points that you can purchase a pack of cards with. There are cards for various players which give them "strengths." I never use these things. The only cards that I do like are the "Celebration" cards. These enable different goal celebrations which you can do by hitting a button after scoring. Kinda funny, but that's really all it is.

One thing that EA Sports has done that I appreciate is give us updated roster packs on the NHL 2002 website. This lets us update the teams when trades are made without having to actually make the trades. Its handy for people who don't have the time to sit down, read the newspaper and find out who got traded where and for who, and then make the trades in the game.

Lastly, I have a beef with the graphics. They look the same as they did 3 years ago. No better, but no worse. I'd really like to see EA Sports work on the arenas better. There is no distinction between arenas except for the ice. Other NHL games like Sega Sports NHL 2k2 for Dreamcast has awesome detailed arenas that look just like the real thing.