EA Sports NHL 2003 For PC Reviewed

Well, the NHL season is upon us once again, and our friends at Gamers Depot take a look at EA Sports NHL 2003. This NHL version seems to be much like the other NHL games from EA Sports previously, but with international teams, better graphics, and updated team rosters. Updated, that is, until the real NHL teams started to make trades about the first week in the official NHL hockey season. However, to get to the point of the review, in our opinion NHL 2003 is not like any traditional hockey game we have played. Instead, it appears that the latest 2003 release of EA's NHL represents an unrealistic and 'non-authentic' playing style of the game of hockey.

Since I am an avid NHL fan of both the official game and the video game, I couldn't let this pass without contributing a few comments about NHL 2003. I have to agree with GD that I, too, am beginning to question the realistic nature of the NHL hockey series.

Previously, each revision of NHL hockey from EA Sports has brought new rosters, as well as new features and improved graphics. Even at the beginning of the Sega Genesis days of NHL, EA has made attempts to improve the game. However, as time has passed, it seems that either EA is not listening to the fans of the game, or perhaps EA considers the PC version of NHL not its prime audience target.

To EA's credit, the graphics are simply stunning, and on my Radeon 9700 Pro with a 2.53GHz Pentium 4, the game plays very smoothly. The realism of the graphics is, however, overshadowed by some very 'bizarre' Artificial Intelligence used by the computer to control the other players on your team. For example, rather than the AI of the game following your lead and the puck, it seems that the other players on your team have their own agenda and just wander aimlessly around on the ice, leaving you to solely fend off an aggressive player or computer opponent. There appears to be no team strategy built into the computer game.

Scoring on the computer-controlled goalie is fairly easy: you just pull a few slick fakes and deeks, and whammo, you shoot and score. That is about all there is to it. Even at the highest levels of the game, I was left wondering what had happened to the defense. I am not sure that the AI of NHL 2003 has any understanding of this technique at all.

The easy scoring and lack of defense are bad enough, but the new MTV-style music videos that have been added to NHL 2003 are, to me, annoying and a terrible distraction. I love the concept of adding cool background music to the game, but NHL 2003's use of NHL players as part-time VJs within the game is just over the top. This either should be toned down and less invasive to playing the game, or there should be an option to turn it off.

I have to agree: NHL 2003 surely doesn't "play" like the NHL releases of years past. The graphics are great, but this arcade-style play and lack of real hockey realism are very sore spots for me. If you are a fan of the NHL series and want the updated team rosters and the improved graphics, NHL 2003 is worth checking out. However, I think hard core hockey fans will be very disappointed with the game play.

You can click here to read the complete review at GD.