ESPN Hockey Night

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ESPN Hockey Night

ESPN tries it's hand at video games with National Hockey Night on the PlayStation 2. Many of the ESPN games that have seen or played are simply put terrible, however National Hockey Night doesn't fall into that category, in fact it might be one of the best sports games on the PS2.

The game has pretty nice graphics with nice smooth motion captured players gliding across the ice and the goalies make lifelike saves. The fans in the stands even look real as they drink beer, clap and cheer wildly after each goal or great save by the home team goalie, the arenas look decent, I mean how much of the arena do you really see during a hockey telecast anyway? Not all of the arenas are licensed, for example, instead of Nashville's arena being called the Gaylord Arena (like it is supposed to be called), its just called the Nashville arena. The players faces look somewhat real, some you can tell easily, while others are completely off. When you create-a-player their isn't many choices as to what your players face looks like, but just a minor detail.

The presentation and sound in this game is amazing. Because it is made by ESPN everything that is used on the broadcast is pretty much put into that game from the ESPN theme music to actual Hockey Night announcers Gary Thorne and Steve Levy. Although their commentary does get a bit repetitive at times, show me a sports game where that DOESN'T happen, it is overall pretty right on. The game at times seems to be one long commercial for ESPN, with every face-off being accompanied by Thorne reminding you to check out espn.com for the latest in hockey news, or to call your local cable company to get ESPNEWS, which makes it feel even more like a real telecast. Something that did bug me though was that every time Mario Lemieux touches the puck, he is simply called jersey number 66 instead of by his name like the other players in the game, my guess is because he came back so late in the season they had to rush to add him and couldn't get the vocals recorded before release, again a minor detail considering other hockey games failed to even include Lemieux. Also the crowd actually responds to what is going on in the game with loud cheers and boos when appropriate.

Now on to the actual game play. When I first started playing the game I thought it was one of the worst and most difficult games to control. The players moved sluggishly and the controls were poorly placed. However the sluggishness disappears when you just move the "game speed" option up a notch, and once you play it for a while you realize how easy it is to control. The game is pretty realistic, when I played the games usually ended up in the 4-3 range which is about how most NHL games end. The only thing that really annoyed and frustrated me to no end was the fact that the computer scores on almost EVERY rebound. That happens because when your goalie makes a save for some reason he slides way out of position, and there are always rebounds when the computer shoots, but for some reason when it's you doing the shooting nary a rebound to be seen. Also the computer is almost never called for any sort of penalty while it seems like my guys are always in the penalty box for some fabricated infraction. Something else that is annoying is when two players get into a fight, you don't get to control the action, you just see them throwing a couple punches which is pretty lame.

The game has the same options that every sports game has with Season, Playoff, and Exhibition matches nothing to spectacular there. I have to say that this game has the best ending to any sports game I've played. After you win a championship with most games they play cheesy music while showing clips of real live players, never your team just random teams celebrating after a win. However with this game as soon as the final horn blows the actual players that you've been controlling all season long throw their sticks into the air and begin to celebrate by hugging each other and dancing around while the vanquished team sluggishly skates off the ice with their heads down. Your team continues to skate around with Lord Stanley Cup held high and championship hats adorning their heads, while other teammates get interviewed by ESPN, then there is they show a clip of your entire team posing and waving to the camera surrounding the Stanley Cup, like I said it's easily the most realistic and rewarding post championship celebration I've seen on a video game. Overall I believe this is one of the better games out there for PS2 and should be checked out, however if you rent it play around with it a little because at first it is very frustrating, but once you get it down it's one of the most enjoyable games to play.


	Steamer Trunk \| home stuff about me \| album reviews \| PS2 game reviews \| pictures \| web watch \| getting in touch NCAA Final Four 2002 \| Grand Theft Auto \| EA NHL 2002 \| Dave Mirra BMX \| Nascar Heat 2002 \| Crazy Taxi \| Madden 2002 \| NCAA Football 2002 \| Madden 2001 \| Triple Play \| Knockout Kings \| NBA Live 2001 \| ESPN Hockey Night \| NCAA Final Four ESPN Hockey Night ESPN tries it's hand at video games with National Hockey Night on the PlayStation 2. Many of the ESPN games that have seen or played are simply put terrible, however National Hockey Night doesn't fall into that category, in fact it might be one of the best sports games on the PS2. The game has pretty nice graphics with nice smooth motion captured players gliding across the ice and the goalies make lifelike saves. The fans in the stands even look real as they drink beer, clap and cheer wildly after each goal or great save by the home team goalie, the arenas look decent, I mean how much of the arena do you really see during a hockey telecast anyway? Not all of the arenas are licensed, for example, instead of Nashville's arena being called the Gaylord Arena (like it is supposed to be called), its just called the Nashville arena. The players faces look somewhat real, some you can tell easily, while others are completely off. When you create-a-player their isn't many choices as to what your players face looks like, but just a minor detail. The presentation and sound in this game is amazing. Because it is made by ESPN everything that is used on the broadcast is pretty much put into that game from the ESPN theme music to actual Hockey Night announcers Gary Thorne and Steve Levy. Although their commentary does get a bit repetitive at times, show me a sports game where that DOESN'T happen, it is overall pretty right on. The game at times seems to be one long commercial for ESPN, with every face-off being accompanied by Thorne reminding you to check out espn.com for the latest in hockey news, or to call your local cable company to get ESPNEWS, which makes it feel even more like a real telecast. Something that did bug me though was that every time Mario Lemieux touches the puck, he is simply called jersey number 66 instead of by his name like the other players in the game, my guess is because he came back so late in the season they had to rush to add him and couldn't get the vocals recorded before release, again a minor detail considering other hockey games failed to even include Lemieux. Also the crowd actually responds to what is going on in the game with loud cheers and boos when appropriate. Now on to the actual game play. When I first started playing the game I thought it was one of the worst and most difficult games to control. The players moved sluggishly and the controls were poorly placed. However the sluggishness disappears when you just move the "game speed" option up a notch, and once you play it for a while you realize how easy it is to control. The game is pretty realistic, when I played the games usually ended up in the 4-3 range which is about how most NHL games end. The only thing that really annoyed and frustrated me to no end was the fact that the computer scores on almost EVERY rebound. That happens because when your goalie makes a save for some reason he slides way out of position, and there are always rebounds when the computer shoots, but for some reason when it's you doing the shooting nary a rebound to be seen. Also the computer is almost never called for any sort of penalty while it seems like my guys are always in the penalty box for some fabricated infraction. Something else that is annoying is when two players get into a fight, you don't get to control the action, you just see them throwing a couple punches which is pretty lame. The game has the same options that every sports game has with Season, Playoff, and Exhibition matches nothing to spectacular there. I have to say that this game has the best ending to any sports game I've played. After you win a championship with most games they play cheesy music while showing clips of real live players, never your team just random teams celebrating after a win. However with this game as soon as the final horn blows the actual players that you've been controlling all season long throw their sticks into the air and begin to celebrate by hugging each other and dancing around while the vanquished team sluggishly skates off the ice with their heads down. Your team continues to skate around with Lord Stanley Cup held high and championship hats adorning their heads, while other teammates get interviewed by ESPN, then there is they show a clip of your entire team posing and waving to the camera surrounding the Stanley Cup, like I said it's easily the most realistic and rewarding post championship celebration I've seen on a video game. Overall I believe this is one of the better games out there for PS2 and should be checked out, however if you rent it play around with it a little because at first it is very frustrating, but once you get it down it's one of the most enjoyable games to play.