A funny thing happened after that NHL 2002 review, however…two funny things, actually - Midway’s NHL Hitz 20-02 and Sega’s NHL 2K2 arrived in my mailbox. Suddenly, EA Sports’ NHL had some serious competition on the gameplay front. NHL Hitz established itself as the superior “pickup and play” party hockey game, supplying fast 3-on-3 action, great fights, meaty hitting and fun galore. It’s like Midway took everything that was great about NHL ’94 on the Genesis and updated it for this generation of consoles. Sega’s NHL 2K2 took over the simulation side of things, with realistic speeds, physics and deflections, strategies, shot totals and AI behaviour that actually reflected how real hockey is played. Of course, it was on Dreamcast, which means fewer people were exposed to it, but still – a new, deadlier simulation was available. Playing NHL 2K2 was like the sun breaking through the clouds – I didn’t realize how grey the weather was until I saw the light. So did EA step up when challenged? Did they take a page out of their NBA Live counterparts’ book and retool, revamp, re-gird-their-loins in order to slap down the upstart competition?

In a word, no.

Looking at last year’s review, I’ll pull a couple of quotes to see if they’ve been addressed for this year’s update.

“There are some problems when carrying the puck into the offensive zone with a defensive player - the forwards tend to go offside when in this situation way more than is acceptable.”
Sports gamers have been railing about this for ages now, and it’s still present in NHL 2003. A faceoff just outside the blueline, with the attacking defenceman lugging the puck over the same blueline, will nearly always trigger an offsides call. It’s like the forwards don’t realize that they can hold themselves onside before going in.

“Fighting is the usual throwaway nonsense that EA has provided in previous years, and this is very disappointing…I suppose that everyone has to have an Achilles' heel, but the fighting portion of NHL 2002 smacks of laziness.”
Would you believe that it’s even worse this year? Stand still, raise your elbow and fist up to head level, and whack away with wooden animation that is an insult to watch, let alone participate in. There is more care taken in the new pre- and post-fight animations than the actual fight itself, and it just doesn’t measure up. For those of you who don’t like fighting in your hockey, that’s fine. Drop the slider down in the options and you don’t have to see it. For those of us that do, however, what is presented here is a waste of time and would be better off pulled entirely. Yikes.

Gameplay is similar to what was offered in NHL 2002 from an AI point of view. The style of play isn’t for purists, but there is fun to be found here. There are some changes added to NHL 2003 such as the new Dynamic Deke Control. NHL 2002 allowed you to take over the deke control by holding down a button and steering the puck manually – an awesome idea and implemented intelligently. Well, NHL 2003 allows you to use the right analog stick in conjunction with the left stick to create some amazing deke moves on the fly. One handed, spin-o-ramas – provided the player involved has the requisite skill, there’s real creativity involved in this aspect of the game. There is also a Gamebreaker meter “borrowed” from NBA Street, whereby performing dekes and scoring goals builds it up to the point where it can be triggered for extra speed and skill. Like Don Cherry would say “That ain’t hockey.” but it’s pleasurable enough, and can be turned off if desired. What can’t be turned off, unfortunately, are the little animations that are triggered after every stoppage in play. Goalie makes a save? An animation plays showing an opposing player getting in his face. There’s an upcoming faceoff? Guys jostle for position and yap at each other. It’s ironic that in the year that the NHL implements new rules to hurry up the game, EA Sports seems determined to drag it out beyond all necessity. Why a slider isn’t included to cut down the number of canned animations is beyond me, especially since EA Sports’ own NBA Live has this option. I wouldn’t be shocked if there were more useless movies in this game than Metal Gear Solid 2.

On the sound side, there is the good, the OK, and the absolutely horrible. Dolby Pro Logic and DTS support are present and accounted for, and the game sounds are wonderful. The silly sound effects from last year are gone, thankfully, and the PA announcer is back on his medication and keeping the comedy to a reasonable limit. Jim Hughson is the best play-by-play announcer in the business, and his work in NHL 2003 is very good. While I love Don Taylor in small doses, a full game with his witty quips start to grate on the nerves…but his colour commentary is still tolerable. The commentators incorporate the GameStory into their observations, noting milestones, previous games played between opponents, and the like. It’s a sweet touch, and more extensive than last year’s version. “On The Ice” sound is a new option, where there’s no commentary at all, just the sounds of skates on ice, bodies hitting the boards and the slap of the puck. To be honest, manually turning off the commentary gives you the same effect, but you can never have too many marketing bullets on the back of the box, I suppose.

The target of my rage on the sound front is this new EA Trax nonsense, which is infecting EA products like the plague. Look, we realize that you want to sell records and get exposure for your licensed bands. That’s fine, I like Queens of the Stone Age as much as the next guy, but…the absolute SECOND that the marketing gimmick interferes with gameplay, it needs to be yanked from that area. Pop-ups promoting the band and single show up everywhere, during the pause menu, all over the front end, and most unforgivably – during gameplay. That’s right, there will be events during gameplay where a pop-up will obscure part of the ice and that’s just not on. I had a few friends over to help test the multiplayer portion and the first time this happened, they started wailing like banshees. Listen EA, people don’t shell out 80 bucks Canadian so you can pimp your music in the middle of a game. It sucks, it’s intrusive, it’s like being hit over the head with a sledgehammer - “HEY MAN BUY THIS BAND’S MUSIC WHOOO IT RAWKS OUT” - and it needs to be limited to the front end and/or goal replays only. Hell, the only place during the game where it’s implemented effectively is during certain goal replays – it’s almost like someone on the NHL team wants to direct music videos. EA Trax needs to be reigned in or have the plug pulled before they alienate their user base entirely. Gah.

The graphic presentation in NHL 2003 is very slick. Uniforms are sharp and detailed, the ice looks smooth enough for you to jump into the television, and the aforementioned new deke moves and added goalie animations are very impressive to watch. Player faces are still a mixed bag, with a few superstar players looking like themselves, but most of the others looking like they could be anyone. Players who score hat tricks finally get some recognition, other than audibly – there’s a nice shot of fans standing up and tossing their lids onto the ice, then the ref picking up a hat and tossing it. The frame rate is solid, unless there’s a bunch of guys crowding the goalie, but even then it’s not too jittery.

Options available include the usual suspects – exhibition, playoff, tournament mode, international play, NHL Cards, Create A Player – plus the well done franchise mode. Picking up Rookies, trading players and building a dynasty has never been this much fun. Retirees, rookie drafts, injuries, hot and cold streaks, end of season awards, 10 game years of GM work – it’s all here and not bad at all, although nowhere near as deep as Madden’s. Maybe one day.

EA Sports finds itself in somewhat of a quandary now – it’s not sim enough to match up with Sega’s offering, and Midway has a faster, more fun arcade hockey game in NHL Hitz. Going from the frontrunner to odd man out in the space of year is not good at all. Playing NHL 2003 after playing NHL 2K2 is like playing pinball on ice – it’s fast and fun, sure, but suffers in comparison on the realism front. Turning the Easter Eggs on in NHL 2003 is arcade-style fun, then NHL Hitz does it much better and with more panache. With the promise of new options like pinning opponents against the boards coming in NHL 2K3, this effort from EA makes me shake my head in frustration. If you enjoy the EA hockey style I strongly suggest that you pick up last year’s 2002 and update the rosters. It’s enough of an improvement over NHL 2001 to warrant the purchase, and it’s available for cheap now. NHL 2003 is more like an expansion pack than a fully realized new version, and the load of irritants (read: EA Trax) introduced in 2003 are nearly enough for me to swear off the series entirely. EA Sports’ NHL series has serious competition in the gameplay arena now, whether it likes it or not. It looks great, and plays well for what it is, but there are better games available. Unless EA recognizes this and adapts accordingly, there’ll be someone new holding the Cup in coming years.