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Keep the name simple, eh? EA Sports’ NHL series has been going on now… for a long time. I’m not quite sure how long but man; I remember playing the early games back on the Sega Genesis. With all of the NHL’s troubles, it seems that hockey fans will have to be satisfied with some interactive gameplay; thankfully, NHL 2005 fills that void nicely.
The game’s dynasty mode is where you’ll spend much of your time in NHL 2005. Here, you take control of a team owner and given objectives to complete in order to keep on. You’ll need to meet these objectives (whether it is turning a profit or actually having a good team), and you’ll be able to expand your roster and team’s training and facilities in order to get a better team. Additionally, you’ll be able to trade players and re-sign those on your team. The game has a neat touch in the re-signing aspect. You can now longer be frugal and try to give the player the lowest amount of money possible in hopes of receiving a yes, since after a few tries they will simply walk. It is an interesting aspect to the game and something that I unfortunately came across in a negative way.
To keep up with all of this information, you’ll be given a PDA, which tracks all your messages including upcoming trades or messages from those in the staff. It is a bit text-heavy, but useful in keeping track of everything that is going on.
On the ice, the game is fast-paced and leans if ever-so-slightly to the arcade side of things, but thankfully that works well. EA Sports hyped a new feature in the game – the Open Ice Control system – which gives you much more control over the puck and allows you to plan elaborate defensive and (sometimes offensive) plays. You can set up a pick on an opponent (be careful not to get caught, this isn’t allowed and you’ll get penalized) or simply set up a proper pass. Passing to your teammates is a breeze, and you’ll be able to do so in a very reliable manner.
Once you have sharpened your skills enough, it is time to head for multiplayer. The Xbox version of the game allows you to play with up to three others. Additionally, you can also head online. Online play suffers from a bit of lag. Its unfortunate but it is possible to find a good server with minimal lag, although in my experience, you’ll always find some.
The game’s visuals are great, however. The rinks look good, although not particularly great, but the player models really take the cake. They are incredibly detailed, particularly in the faces of the players. The player models for coaches don’t share quite the same level of detail but hockey fans should be able to recognize them. The animation on the ice is excellent, as expected, and everything looks natural in motion. The Xbox version of the game looks very sharp, but unfortunately, does not support progressive scan.
The game’s audio is good but nothing too extraordinary. The sound effects do a good job at aurally expressing the on-screen action, while the game’s soundtrack is varied enough do keep things interesting. It would have been nice to add custom soundtracks to the game, but unfortunately we cannot. The commentary from Craig Simpson and Jim Hughson isn’t particularly appealing, but they do add a few helpful lines here and there. The audio quality is excellent, thanks to the game’s Dolby Digital support.
In the end, NHL 2005 is a good hockey game. The actual gameplay is pretty solid throughout, the visuals are excellent and the rest of the presentation isn’t too shabby. That said, it doesn’t do anything principally different and online play could have been implemented better, so there is definitely room for improvement. -- Jake Wilson, PGNx Media
---- Oct 21, 2004
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