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Well it is time again to lace up the old ice-skates, and with the two big boys (EA and Sega) in the industry of video sports slugging it out to see who will be crowned king of the hockey rink for this season. But people often forget that there is a third contender, the underdog if you would, in the world of hockey video entertainment. This is probably due to their lack of success in the last few years in the “mainstream” sports genres, Basketball, Baseball, and Football, however, 989 has quietly put together a solid and entertaining hockey franchise on the PS2 and the PSX. Now graphically, NHL Faceoff 2003 is put together very solidly. Player models have a realistic feel about them, especially the faces of the players. However, this is all wasted, due to the fact that the game is so poorly animated. Slap shots, body checks, and deke moves are extremely choppy and jumpy. Seeing the players lift their sticks and slap the puck before they put their sticks down is awfully humorous to watch, but gets old very quickly. But even with the animation problems, 989 Sports, has brought forth an entertaining hockey title with concrete controls and great tempo for the game of hockey.
The pace within the game is fast, but not ridiculous, giving diehard hockey fans a chance to play as their favorite teams for an entire grueling season, as well as, allowing the fair weather fan or someone that knows little to nothing about hockey to be able to pick up the controls and dive right into the game without many problems. Unfortunately Faceoff’s franchise mode is far from deep; it does however come complete with a create-a-player feature that is really quite good. However the lack of a financial model, or even a point system, makes playing for multiple seasons dull and monotonous. Also there are fights in this year’s version of Faceoff, but they are lackluster at best, and serve no greater purpose towards the overall gaming experience. Faceoff’s presentation is put together superbly, really it is topnotch for a sports title, announcers keep up with the action. Also they don’t repeat the same old lines over and over again; and the pre-game introductions give you the feel of a real life televised NHL hockey game. All in all, I was fairly impressed by Faceoff’s presentation, player models, and intuitive controls. However the weak animations and sub par franchise mode in the game keep Faceoff from achieving greatness. If EA’s and Sega’s hockey games don’t float your boat or you are just in the mood for something different this year, then give this year’s version of NHL Faceoff a try. This season, we now have proof that not all games that 989 studios develop are instant bargain bin material.
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