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Ea Hnl 2004
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Posted by: kennealy33
Today was the day that NHL 2004 was shipped out and I can't wait to get my hands on a copy! Who else out there plans on buying it and what comments does anyone have?
Posted by: kennealy33
Title should be NHL not Hnl!
Posted by: Tecil
I haven't like an EA hockey game since 2000. They have become less realistic and more arcade like in the last couple of years.
I prefer Sega's NHL series (now the ESPN NHL Series) over anything else.
Posted by: AK47
Sega's game is the one to own... no question. The gameplay from NHL2003 was just crap. Offense consisted of:
Skate down with a winger and set your center up for a one timer. OR...
Skate in with any star player, use the manual deke and score
Defense was completely nonexistant and it was absolutely no fun to play (check check check!). After expierencing the glory of poke checking in the Sega games, the EA game looks even worse.
All reports say that ea's gameplay is largely the same as last year. Yuck. All they've got going for them is the owners mode.
Considering the fact that Sega has finally surpassed EA in both gameplay and presentation (the espn effects are great)... nothing could make me buy EA's game.
Posted by: AK47
Well, after writing all that, I decided to download the demo at easports.com
Played it a few times and the game is improved from 2003. Skater control is the biggest improvement. The whole "skate in a circle just to turn left or right" is gone. Now you can actually make sharp turns. Checking is better.... the animations are much more realistic and the hitting just feels better.
All that said- the game still cant touch ESPN 2k4.
With all the improvements in EA's new game- its still the same game. IE- little defense and nonstop fast offensive rushes.
ESPN2k4 is the first game to ever make me feel like I'm actually playing defense. When you're facing an offender bringing the puck into your zone, you actually get a sense of urgency. Because of the realistic skating, you can be burned very easily if you charge him and miss. Instead, you have to keep your eyes on the offender and stick with him.... block his path to the net and poke check when you can. It really is incredible that Sega was able to capture this feeling in ESPN and its this realism that keeps the game way ahead of EA's NHL 2004.
Posted by: kennealy33
After having played both myself I will strongly agree that EA's gameplay has significantly improved from 2003 but isn't quite at ESPN's level. Having said that however it isn't like ESPN just blows EA out of the water. The fact is that they are both good but ESPN wins out on gameplay because if you were to rate them 1-10 EA would get a 9 while ESPN would get a 9.5.EA however does completly dominate ESPN this year in dynasty mode. To rank this catagory ESPN would get a 7.5 while EA would get the 9.5 to 10. While there are other catagories like commentary and visuals both games are pretty much on the same level with ESPN getting the slighter nod having Gary Thorne and Bill Clement as there commentary crew. In the end when you look at all of the catagories EA adds up to be the better game.
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