panicroom's Full Review: NHL 2002 for PlayStation 2
Be The Hero. Skating down the ice. One man to beat. Do you deke or spin? You Faked Him Out. One On One. You And The Goalie. All that stands in your way is the goalie. Where do you shoot? Upper left? Lower Right? Or, do you fake him out and slide in a little wrist shot? All This to think in a matter of seconds. Can you do it? This is it, it is all up to you. The Game is on the line, this is your final call. Do you have the guts and power to defeat the goalie? Do you have the skill, the confidence to score? All this excitement in less than a second. Imagine what the rest of the game is like…..
Feel like being a part of the game? Feel like seeing the players up close without going to the rink? Well, now you can. The high quality graphics of this game is just astonishing. It is just like sitting in the front row of stands, seeing the players skate, shoot and check. The attention they put to the everything on the screen is just amazing. The detail they put into the jerseys, the pucks, the stadiums and anything you can think of is just unbelievable. NHL 2002 is the best graphic hockey game out there. The new thing about the graphics is the way the game is played. What do I mean by this? I mean the angle of the game and the way the players move. It is almost like any other hockey game, an overhead view of the players. Well, you are able to change this old tradition. You are able to zoom out, zoom in, get ice level any many other angles. This makes the game better looking in how you like to play. Play traditionally or play new style. Enough with the angles, lets talk about the movements. The movements of this game match what you control. If you shoot upper left corner, it will go to the upper left corner. Thus, the goalie will try to stop it at the upper left corner. In other hockey games, the goalie stays in one spot and doesn’t follow the puck. When you zoom in, he isn’t even blocking the puck, it just looks like it is. You can do all the instant replays you want. Not once will you see a goalie try to save it on the right side when the shot is on the left. The good thing about this game is the way the players fake out, check, and shoot. The fake-outs are real fake outs that the pros use in real life. None of the hot stuff if you pass it around the guy and sprint after it. The movements of this are just amazing. The checks are just outstanding. The graphics of the checks are exactly like real life. The players body moves as it would in real life. The player does not fall down the same every time, different motions for different checks. This is what is so good about this game, the way they interpreted graphics into the motions of the players.
Graphics-9.5
Want real NHL action? Don’t want any unreal NHL games? Looking for a game as real as it gets? Well, you have come to the right game. NHL 2002 has the most realistic, the most in your face hockey you will ever see. The first time you play this game you will be hooked right away, not being able to stop. Well, most of you get hooked on a game and once you get a new one you never play the old one again. Not this game. I have had this game for more than a year and I have gotten many new games. I still play one of my favorites, NHL 2002. Like in almost any other sport game, the object is to win. Well, this is no regular sports game. The object of NHL 2002 is similar to other hockey games. You must, with your players on your team, score more goals than the other team to become victor. This is not that easy though. Although if you score many goals against the other team, they will be pounding on your goalie with slap shots, wrist shots and one timers. This is why this game is not easy. As an active person who plays a lot of sport games, these games are usually very easy for me. This game, however, is not. I play on medium right now, and it is just right. Each game is a great competition, coming down to the last goal, the last second. You might think I am dreaming, but I’m not. This is the first hockey game in which it is challenging to the person playing it so they will never get bored. You can always get better and try harder. This is what this game wants you to do. It wants you to complete each skill level, testing out your skills to higher and higher levels in each one.
OK. If you are not into hockey, that is alright. This game will still be exciting. Play through a grueling 82 game season, defeating as many teams as possible to make the playoffs. Then, in the playoffs, face the best teams of the league to try to win your one goal throughout the season. The one thing you bled for, the one thing you felt pain for, and the one thing you felt the feeling of defeat for. This, my friends, is the Stanley Cup. Defeat this and you will be the champion of the game. Your game, your rules. Play it how you like.
There are many modes your are able to play in NHL 2002. Each mode, I think, is exciting in its own way. Each Mode describes something about the game. These modes include:
1)Season/Career- This is where you guide your team through a full NHL season. Fight through the hardships of fatigue, illness, and injury and you will have a shot at your one goal; the Stanley Cup. Play up to 10 seasons and you are you have yourself a NHL career. The season is where it all happens. No practicing ,no mistakes. Every shot, every goal, every save and every check count. The object of this mode , like I said, is to play out a whole NHL season. To do this, you must score more goals than the other team as many times as you can. The more you do this, the more you win. The more you win, the better chance you have to making it into the playoffs. Control your team just like a regular NHL coach. A Season is hard work, but it will pay off at the end when you are holding the Stanley cup and the other team is crying in defeat. To make your team a Stanley Cup winning team, you should make trades, sign free agents and switch your lines often so one person does not get sick or become fatigued. These are the keys to winning it all. Be a smart coach and a smart player of the game. Also in this mode, you will have to face almost every hockey team. This is a special treat for you. You get to see other players attributes and stats when you play them. They might be a good choice for a trade if you really need what that player is good at. Study the teams, study the plays. Each time you play NHL 2002 you get better and better. This is also a good thing because each game you will play will get tougher and tougher so be careful. The season is just like a NHL season, except you get to control everything. The points is no different as it is in the NHL. There are wins, losses, ties and overtime losses. Overtime losses count as one point in this game. Here is the rap on the post-season. You are able to see what team there are in the playoffs, seeing their stats. This is good because now you can see their weaknesses and encounter on that. Beat one team, go on to the next team. Make it to the final round and you only need on more win. Can you do it? Well either way, if you do or don’t, there are awards. After the entire season is over, the league hands out the awards. From top goal scorer to the league MVP, they have all the awards. Now for the Career. The career takes a lot of work. You have to worry about players retiring, you have to go in the draft and you have to look for free agents.
2)Playoff-If you would like to go straight to the action, straight to the intensity of the game, go the Playoff mode. If you do not want to go through the trouble of the season, playing all of those games, this is the mode for you. This is one of the best modes. You are able to set the teams, set the rules and the playoff structure. If you want to win, put all bad teams in the playoff. If you want some competition, put the good teams in. Either way this mode is just for the excitement of the playoffs and the victory of the Stanley Cup without the hassle of the season and the career. You are able to play this mode with up to two players. Compete against your friend or join up and show your skills. Your goal is the same goal as in the season, to win the games by playing to the best of your ability.
3)Tournament- Isn’t the tournament the same thing as the playoff? No, it is not at all. In a tournament, you are able to play teams all around the world and the NHL Teams. This is a great experience, seeing what players other countries have. You are able to control the tournament, selecting the teams that are in and the teams that are out, the number of games and the rules of the game. This is where you get to see a new side of hockey, a different team that you probably never saw play. This is where you get to see how other countries chose their players and play their hockey while you are playing your hockey. The objective of this mode is to win the tournament by defeating all the teams you select to face, winning the trophy and being the victor once again.
4)ShootOut- Getting kind of lazy huh? Just want to test out your ability to fake out the goalie and score? Need practice with the breakaway cam? Well, this is the right mode. Take it down the ice and take in the pressure of a Penalty shot battle to the finish. Take five players to face a goalie one on one. What can get better than this? You get five shots, five chances with a time limit. Just like a moment from Mighty Ducks, this is a great mode. What even makes it more special is the breakaway cam. This is when someone is on a clear breakaway. The camera zooms in on the player and on the edges of the screen it gets blue. It only shows you and the goalie on the cam, nobody else. This is a great opportunity to see where you place your shot and how the goalie reacts.
Gameplay-10!(this gameplay is that good!)
In my other reviews, I usually talk about the sound and control next. Well, its not the fact in this one. I now must talk about NHL Cards. NHL Cards pay off for all your hard work you put into the game. As you make big plays and big hits, you earn points. These points are used to purchase NHL Cards for you. What do these NHL Cards do? If you buy a pack of NHL Cards and there is a player in it on your team, this will enhance their skills greatly for one game. Save these for an important game. There are other NHL Cards you get in some packs. These cards are “wacky cards”. These cards might make the players have big heads, these cards might make every person on the ice big hitters, or it might make everyone not so big hitters. Other things like those are found from the NHL cards.
Now for the sound in this game. The sound, in all, is outstanding. From the sound of the checks to the shot of the puck, everything is nice and clear. No fake sounds like “AHHHH” when the person gets checked. These are real groans and moans, real emotions. This section is not to talk about the sound, more the music though. This is, by far, the best music round up in any game. That’s right, in any game. This game as music by sum 41, the barenaked ladies and other great artists. This music is almost music that everyone knows. This music gets you pumped up before the game, putting you in a good mood and feeling good about yourself to win. Now for the controls of this game. This game has extremely easy controls. Move your player with the arrows, shoot, pass and check. That’s all you have to know to win a game. You can add in all the fancy fake-outs once you get used to the game.
Sound-9.6
Controls-8.4
Lets round up this review on NHL 2002. In all, this is one of the most realistic and exciting hockey games out there. For all hockey and non hockey fans, this is a must buy.
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