ESPN National Hockey Night

ESPN National Hockey Night showcases more than 800 motion-captured animations from actual NHL players, including Washington Capitals superstar Jaromir Jagr, enabling gamers to fully feel the physical, fast-paced action of the NHL. The Create-a-Player option allows gamers to build a player, determine his attributes, get him drafted as a free agent, and watch him blossom into a full-fledged NHL superstar. Players set out to capture the Stanley Cup by battle hardening themselves in three different game modes--exhibition, season, and playoff.

If you remember back to this series on Genesis/SNES you will actually get a good idea of how this one works. The perspective is side-to-side rather than top-to-bottom, while the camera will zoom a little closer to replicate the television camera angles used on ESPN. The graphics are hands down better than EA's NHL 2001, and even those professional reviewers that dislike this game will agree with that. The AI is adequate, no glaring missteps, though I have seen isolated cases of my players standing there as the puck lies motionless 3 feet in front of them.

The game features all the real players, all audibly name-checked in the game by the above-average announce team of Gary Thorne and Steve Levy. One interesting error: I played a game with the Pens & Mario Lemieux was incorrectly referred to as Hans Jonsson throughout the entire game (kinda humorous actually.) Scoring is far from automatic, and chances are you will be racking up 20+ shots per period but only scoring maybe once out of those 20 times, depending on the skill of your players of course. The previous reviewer that noted the accuracy of the one-timers is correct, they are among the best ways to score but need to be used correctly to work, otherwise you will witness many embarrassing whiffs.

Passing is adequate, with both a straight pass and an off-ice flip pass (for those hard to reach places) which is one better than most hockey games. There is no separate wrist-shot / slap-shot button, it all depends on how long you press the button. Checks are actually realistic, especially along the boards, which is a far cry from EA's triangle "mug-shot" button that causes opponents to get dropped as if by gunshot. Changing players is accomplished by the R1 button and turbo is the X button. This setup is fairly counter-intuitive to every other hockey game in existence, but you will get used to it. The sounds is fine, the crowd reactions are accurate, the use of many ESPN-style trademarks and visual cues (after the whistle, the camera might pan to 2 players talking on the bench, like an actual hockey broadcast) serve to heighten the realistic atmosphere.

I can see why people would be initially turned off by the game. It is not your average console hockey game. I enjoy the slower pace, and still find myself hurting my thumbs as I try in vain to press the directional buttons harder to get the guys to respond quicker. But you need to work with it, because the overall pace does work, and does hold its own as a realistic hockey game. It isn't perfect: because of the controls defense is harder than it should be, faceoffs are a mystery to win, there are entirely too many shots taken, the loading times to get to game-stats are ridiculously lengthy, there is no franchise mode.

So the game does under-achieve a bit, but on the whole ends up being a great game for those that don't require the overly quick approach of other console hockey titles. It's one you need to think about and really pay attention to excel at. It's a nice change.


Realistic, but hard   June 20, 2001
 1 out of 2 found this review helpful

I play hockey and have been playing for the past 9 years so i think I would know what a good game is and which game [stinks]. I go for the realistic though challeging hockey game which is exactly what this game includes. I don't want a game that allows you to score a goal in less than 10 seconds into the game. This game is tough! I can say that but just like the real game of hockey, it takes skill and patience!... This game puts you in the skates of every NHL player and lets you feel the pain of getting nailed into the boards from some inbred defensemen. This game rocks and so do all you other hockey players. Stay strong!


horrible   May 25, 2001
 1 out of 4 found this review helpful

I love hockey and have owned every EA hockey game available all with satisfaction. Yes this game is more like real life than others, but if i wanted real life i would strap on my pads and go play. The players are slow and hard to move, and the button combo's are difficult to learn. I thought ESPN of all people could do better.