Unless EA Sports will come up with an improvement to the NHL series next year, NHL 2002 will remain the ultimate hockey game for the PC for some time. With the new reduced-price jewel case edition, there is no reason why even casual PC hockey gamers shouldn't pick it up. The graphics, EA's forte, are outstanding. The players in the game have an uncanny likeness to their real-life counterparts and the actual games look like they could as well have been televised. There are some new controls that add to the flexibility of your players: by holding down the pass button instead of just pressing it quickly, you can flip the puck over the opponents' sticks. Players that receive a pass will stretch for it or kick it forward to the stick depending on the situation. A new deke function has been added, that enables you to take control of the player's stick and fake out defensemen and goaltenders.
There are four difficulty levels ranging from Beginner to Hard, and even then, each level is totally customizable in most gameplay areas. You can boost goalie skills and player speed individually for the teams and there are also numerous sliders that control puck and ice physics.
The actual gameplay is more about arcade-like entertainment than true-to-life ice hockey. The game is about crashing the net, shooting hard and delivering bone-crunching checks, at the expense of positioning, strategy and defensive AI. The commentating style, courtesy of veteran Jim Hughson and sportscaster Don Taylor, ties in with the more light-hearted humoristic approach. Hockey purists may not agree, but I personally find their wise-cracking extremely funny and far more entertaining than the predictable, stilted color commentary of previous versions. ("It starts with a pass into the offensive zone by A. B unleashes a backhand and it's in the back of the net.")
The short version is, NHL 2002 is fun. Very fun. It has that elusive "just one more game" feel to it, a feeling that few other games have been able to give me. Hockey purists may be less than pleased about the more arcadish features, but a casual hockey and gaming freak such as myself is very pleased. The latest version might have more realistic physics, but on the whole, this is widely superior and feels like a more complete game than its successor NHL 2003. Expect sleepless nights and aching fingers!
