PlayStation 2

ESPN NHL Hockey

To sum it up, there is no hockey game available that can touch ESPN NHL in terms of realism. Will this year's three other titles hold up in comparison? That remains to be seen, but anyone who is a hockey fan would do well by spending their hard-earned cash on this title. Do yourself a favor and pick ESPN NHL Hockey up.

Sega has taken the ESPN license and ran with it this year in their sports titles. Gone is Sega Sports, and now we have ESPN VideoGames. The first game to be released under the new name was ESPN NFL Football. This game integrated the ESPN license beautifully in to the game, and it made the gamer feel like they were a part of the ESPN experience. Following on the heels of ESPN NFL Football, Sega has released ESPN NHL Hockey. Just as they did with their football title, they integrated the ESPN license fully.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…. No, it’s not Christmas time already. It’s the beginning of hockey season, when the long three month stretch following the end of the Stanley Cup Finals is finally over, the players return to the ice, and the new hockey video games are released to hungry hockey fans everywhere. This hockey season is met with even more anticipation than usual, given that Sega promised a hockey game that would eclipse even its own superlative NHL 2K3, easily the best hockey game released for the 2002-2003 season. That game had the best gameplay of any modern hockey game, but lacked the presentation quality that made Electronic Arts’ NHL games so popular over the years.

With the new hockey season right around the corner, ESPN NHL Hockey is the first ice hockey title to be released before the other competition vie for your attention. For those gamers that don’t already know, the ESPN franchise is really the newest incarnation of the Sega Sports NHL 2K games but now with a more ESPN-styled presentation. The result is a game with plenty of hard-hitting hockey action with that authentic televised presentation that makes the game feel like you’re actually playing professional NHL hockey. How good is this game, you might ask? Let’s just say it’s the kind of game that will bring tears of joy to any sports fan’s eyes.

SEGA and Kush Games have taken the sport of hockey to the next level. ESPN NHL Hockey is a near-flawless gameplay experience that is marred only by a slightly deficient Franchise mode, but when you have a game that exudes this much quality in just about every other facet I’m more than happy to overlook it. Besides, what would they have to fix for next year’s inevitable sequel? Needless to say, if you aren’t already on your way to the store to pick up this outstanding game what are you waiting for? It doesn’t get any better than this.

If you can look past the lesser Franchise mode options, you will find a better NHL home with Sega's offering this year...and probably next year.

Sometimes, we in the world of video game journalism are given to hyperbole. But in this case, it can't be overstated. ESPN NHL Hockey is the finest hockey video game we've ever played. This paragraph can stand for everything that follows. If you're a hockey fan, and you play video games, go buy the game. You will not be disappointed. If you enjoyed last year's effort (called NHL 2K3), you'll be pleased with the level to which Visual Concepts, Kush Games and ESPN Videogames (once called SEGA Sports) improved on their stellar season last year.

This game is the best hockey game on the market this year. It's the perfect example of hockey done right on a video game. Sega Sports did an excellent job with this game. The gameplay is superb, the graphics and sound are stunning and you can play it for months. This year's winner for best hockey game is ESPN NHL Hockey, hands down.

This season, Sega comes back with the ESPN license for yet another round of hard hitting, in-de-face hockey. With ESPN NHL Hockey (essentially 2K4), they’ve trotted the Great Zamboni onto the ice and smoothed out a bunch of the bumps from last year’s game. The result is a highly polished ice-capade that shines so brightly, you’ll need a pair of shades to play.

ESPN NHL Hockey is the latest addition in Sega Sports and Visual Concepts' critically-acclaimed NHL 2K series of games. Though they aren't known for releasing their sports titles in conjunction with actual pro seasons' opening days or in anticipation of a competitors sports title, Sega and Visual Concepts have managed to make ESPN NHL Hockey the first game out of the gate for the 2003-2004 NHL season by releasing it nearly a full month before the season-opener. While this might inspire the thought that perhaps the game might have been rushed or is unfinished in some fashion, this is definitely not the case. ESPN NHL Hockey is, in fact, a spectacular follow-up to last year's NHL 2K3, building upon all of the best aspects of that game and correcting the bulk of its flaws.

Saluons la performance de Sega qui nous surprend chaque fois un peu plus avec la série des NHL 2K, renommée pour l'occasion en ESPN NHL Hockey. Sega nous offre ici une véritable simulation qui étonne par sa richesse de jeu et sa marge de progression. Les parties sont réalistes et gagnent en intérêt au fil du temps et de la pratique, là où certains concurrents donnent tout d'entrée de jeu et s'essoufflent très rapidement.

In recent seasons, Sega's 2K series swept to the forefront as the 'game to get' for hockey purists. Along with a freshly minted name, this year's edition comes with some fun mini-games, sharper graphics, and an impressive use of the ESPN license. But at its core, ESPN NHL Hockey 2K4 still remains focused on what it has delivered so beautifully over the past few years: challenging, highly realistic action.

The TV-style presentation is nice, but all the fancy graphics sometimes disrupt the flow of the game. The announcers keep up with the action well enough, but rarely say anything interesting. I like ESPN Hockey. Purists may nit-pick, but casual gamers with enjoy the nonstop action.

Overall the ESPN franchise offers a lot to hockey fans, and the gameplay, while actually not all that different from last year's version, is enjoyable and fast paced. However, if I were Midway, I would be extremely interested in why my game ended up with SEGA’s name on the license... Guess we’ll have to see if NHL Hitz Pro ends up looking like EA, oh wait, it did…