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[DMczaf]

http://media.sports.ign.com/articles/526/526403/imgs_1.html

 

[bishoptl]

*sniff*

I'll buy one copy on the cheap because it has Naslund on the cover...but it's staying in the plastic wrap. For real hockey thrills and chills, nothing beats ESPN!

 

[Tabris]

Oh come on, it may have a chance of being good.

I mean NHL 2002 was a solid game! They just totally went down hill with 2003.

I'll still give it a chance. It does everything else right besides gameplay. So if that changes in 2005, then I'll be happy.

 

[darscot]

Why did Naslund agree to this cover?

 

[Fatalah]

BlackBox has been in charge since last year's game. Blackbox, if I'm correct, established SEGA's earlier hockey game before Visual Concepts took over.

In other words, EA's hockey game has potential. First things first though, how about some facial animation on the players?

 

[bishoptl]

Black Box did a good job with NHL 2K and the NHL Hitz series...then Next Level amped up Hitz and Kush took 2K4 to new heights. Unless EA completely threw out the old engine they've been creaking along with since the PS2's debut (and they didn't, not with those 9-month development schedules), I'll hold any EA-developed hockey title gingerly between my finger and thumb while holding my nose. Pinball on ice, indeed.

 

[DopeyFish]

wow, though it might not play well... it looks really good!

 

[Alucard]

Those shots look almost too clean.

Until the controls are fixed and I feel like I have complete control over my players, ESPN will stomp on this any day of the week.

 

[FightyF]

After EA bought BB, half of BB left to start another company to resume work on the Hitz series. The only thing you can really credit BB for in the newer games is the crowd.

The gameplay has been changing for the better. This year it looks like the skating has been tweaked to feel/look more realistic. The speed and physics have been fine-tuned.

But ESPN still eats this game for breakfast.

 

[Mike Works]

Saying this game will be good because BlackBox is behind it is like saying a one-legged Lance Armstrong would win the Tour de France on a tricycle.

 

[Kudie]

As a developer in general, Blackbox also made NFSU, which turned out to be a very popular game.

 

[DCX]

Meh...the models just look weird...to skinny, the jerseys are painted on...it just looks wrong.

DCX

 

[DopeyFish]

Meh...the models just look weird...to skinny, the jerseys are painted on...it just looks wrong.

DCX

lol, then i wonder what your comment on espn nhl would be. EA has got their models properly proportionate for the last 5 years running. Sega/VC just got their models *almost* porportionate just with last edition... though they are still a little too skinny