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Intro With the launch of Xbox Live and the subsequent refusal of EA in adopting Microsoft's service in lieu of their own, Microsoft has released their very first NHL title with NHL Rivals 2004. And although it's a decent first offering boasting a wide array of options and modes both on- and offline, it's just not enough to overcome the flaws that plague Rivals' gameplay. Gameplay: 6/10 Anyone who has so much as touched an EA NHL title or Sega's Visual Concepts-turned-ESPN NHL Hockey series will be immediately familiar with Rivals. For one, the control scheme reads almost exactly like the game's predecessors and competitors with the standard shooting, passing, and checking options. Unfortunately, Rivals fails to copy the deke systems of it's competitors. Rather than allow players to make their own dynamic deke on the fly to adjust to the situation, Rivals utilizes a single deke command that produces the same generic animation and results no matter how hard or often you cram on the poor B button. It's a sorely missed feature, but only the tip of Rivals' gameplay faults. One thing that Rivals does pave new ground in is it's unique role system. Each player on every team is assigned one of four roles: balanced, sniper, agitator, and enforcer. Snipers are, obviously, the shooters, agitators hit people, enforcers make sure they don't hit back, and balanced players excel at nothing yet are good at everything. As a game progresses, certain situations will unfold that allow a player's roles to be utilized by hitting the accompanying "role" button on the controller. For instance, on offense an enforcer holding the puck will do a bump-and-run on the defender and attempt to skate by. While on defense however, an enforcer will lay down a check so hard that maniacal cackling and trash-talking (to the unresponsive TV) is all but assured. Overall, it's a great idea and it's nicely executed--kudos. Unfortunately, not all of the gameplay feels as polished as this. For one thing, every action--from shooting to passing to checking--all feels delayed. This is especially true for executing one-timers and dekeing. It just feels muddy, as if the NHL mandated that ice be replaced with molasses. Tasty? Yes. Good for playing hockey on? No. Rivals also features some rather odd AI. On one hand, computer-controlled goalies will dive, kick, and glove save with beautifully animated grace becoming of some sort of ice ninja. On the other hand, the game can pull off some third period comeback magic like only a computer can. Go into the third period with a hefty lead and be prepared to be punished by a questionable series of penalty calls and magic blue line goals. Sure, it ups the challenge, but there's a difference between challenging and frustratingly cheap, and damnit, this is CHEAP. On the other side of the puck, CPU controlled teammates will make runs at the goal and find space for themselves, while defenders will hang back and mark up on the most dangerous forwards. Using the d-pad, players can control their team's strategy from defensive to aggressive to somewhere in between, and it's nice to see teammates respond accordingly. Furthermore, scores never seem to get too out of hand. Offensive teams like the Red Wings tend to pour in more goals consistently than say, the Columbus Blue Jackets, but not so much that it's ridiculous. Face-offs are handled in a rock-paper-scissors manner that, although a good idea, takes the skill out of the face-off game, instead making it a guessing game--a guessing game that the computer AI will win more often than not. And then there's the fighting... The good news: there is fighting, and a lot of it. The bad news: the fight system is so poorly executed, you'll find yourself actually trying to avoid getting into fights due to the clunky controls more reminiscent of Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots than hockey fighting. Just once I want to see some jersey-pulling, teeth-losing, goalies meeting at center ice brawling. But until Blades of Steel 2004 comes out, I'll just play Virtua Fighter 4. Releasing a sports game without a franchise mode is pretty much a death sentence these days, and Microsoft has done just that. Franchise modes allow players to become immersed and involved with their favorite teams, and when the mode is absent, it's sorely missed. However, there is a season mode, but yet there are no salaries or drafts to speak of. Once the season is done, it's done. That's it. Fin. But
like all Microsoft first party sports titles, the main attraction here is the
online modes. Being part of the fledgling Xbox Sports Network (XSN), Rivals
takes advantage of all that the service offers including competitions, online
seasons, tournaments, and ladders. Add to this player stat tracking via email,
and it is a very rich experience indeed. But what's cool, I mean really really
cool, is the option of pickup hockey. Pickup hockey allows up to six different
Xboxes to log on and play a short little pickup game of 3-on-3 (or however you
want to divide up six players) on an outside rink. Each player is represented
by a single onscreen player, no character switching is allowed, making for a fun,
fast, and furious experience that makes me wonder why they didn't bother including
a single player version. Online competition is fierce, but pretty friendly if
you find the right people, and the extra modes and stat tracking do a lot to enrich
the experience.
Graphics: 8/10 Sound:
4/10 Control:
6/10 Overall:
6/10 [ top ] | |||
