NHL 2001 PC Review - Gamer's Pulse

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NHL 2001

Ah, summer! A time to relax, kick back, and enjoy. Enjoy what, you might ask? Well, certainly not all those great new games…at least not usually. This summer past has been surprisingly good for games, what with the likes of Icewind Dale, Diablo II, and many other excellent titles making their way to store shelves and onto hard drives. With all of these great games taking up my time, I nearly missed the annual release of EA Sports latest hockey title, this year’s iteration being NHL 2001. Man, am I glad I didn’t miss it altogether!

This is the tenth year in the franchise, and the eighth straight year NHL has visited the PC. In those eight years, I haven’t missed a single version, and I have seen both the highs and lows. This year, my friends, may very well be the best one yet. Perhaps the single greatest complaint hockey fans have had with other games previous has been the apparent lack of computer AI. EA attempted to address this over the last couple of years, by introducing the coaching strategies of Canuck’s bench boss Marc Crawford. An excellent coach despite his team’s recent performance, the addition of his game plans had little or no effect. This year, all that has changed.

Typically when booting up a new NHL game for the first time, most veteran players will find that the Amateur AI setting will be a bit too easy. Goals fly in a mile a minute, and that holds true this year as well. Pro tends to take a little time to get used to, and within ten games or so All-Star holds almost no challenge. This time around, I’ve been playing a league on Pro level, and while I’m dominating the league in most categories, I still lose the occasional game, and nothing is guaranteed. AI improvements extend beyond the abilities of goalies, however: now, even those slug-like heavy hitting defensemen have a place. Positioning of your players without the puck accurately reflects their offensive and defensive ratings, and you’ll almost never see a clean breakaway occur; rather, you’ll have to skate into space and make a few well-timed passes to make it happen. So far, I haven’t found a surefire goal scoring play, either. Coming across the net and aiming to the far top corner works about 30% of the time, but even this depends to a large degree on the shot power and accuracy of the player moving in. Perhaps the greatest improvement to the AI is the ability to adjust it on the fly. Sliders are provided for several aspects, so if you don’t like the way something is working in the game, change it!

All of the options players are used to from the previous games are here again, and the ability to create your own on-ice avatar is present and appreciated once again. There’s something special about hearing your own name called by Jim Hughson as you streak down the ice - or “Spanky”, as I’ve chosen to have myself called. Speaking of the play-by-play, Hughson is up to his usual snuff, and the color man is, for the very first time, helpful rather than annoying. I have yet to feel the urge (which usually hits around game 20) to turn off the announcer, simply due to the overly-repeated tidbits of information. Crowd noises are well implemented, and the on-ice action is accompanied by the swish of blades, the smack of passes, and the reverberating crash of solid body checks against the boards. Music throughout, from the intro to the menu screens, is topnotch in the usual EA Sports manner. Speaking of the intro, one quick note: for the first time in several years, there is no actual NHL footage included, and there is a reason for this: the graphics.

This game is just gorgeous. Remember those spooky looking stares all the players kept on their faces the last couple of years? You know, the wide-open eyes and the oddly happy grins, no matter what was happening on the ice? Well, welcome to the world of emotional display, my friends. Yes, the players actually smile, grimace, swear (hey, I can read lips here!), and generally exhibit emotional responses appropriate to the action. On-ice effects are even better than in past years, and with only a few exceptions the arenas are spot on for detail (those two or three arenas that refused to give licenses to EA Sports for inclusion in the game have been recreated accurately by users already). One nice detail that has been included this year is a moving crowd. Yes, I know they kind of jumped up and down last year, but now they actually clap! Okay, so that isn’t a huge deal, but next to the freaky looking player faces, the fact that they all jumped like a bunch of Mexican jumping beans was the next largest bit of graphical eeriness, in my opinion.

Technically I found very little wrong with this game. While the AI improvements are the most noticeable change in the game, the lack of noticeable bugs is right up there on my list of things done right. The last couple of iterations in the series have required at least one patch due to compatibility issues, but this version looks very stable (with the exception of Internet play for some people - see below). The only crash I’ve experienced was due to the use of my screen capture program, which in reality I didn’t need to use, as EA has kindly included a built in capture utility; just hit the Print Screen button to save your own moments of glory.

A lot of what is right with this title are the little touches. The moving crowd, emotional faces, and better defenseman positioning I’ve already mentioned, but it doesn’t stop there. No longer must you mash the speed burst button to keep moving at top pace; now, simply hold it down and your player will streak down the wing. Of course, he’ll also be moving as slow as a sleigh on water in no time, as he tires into the red zone. Another great addition is the Momentum Meter. Every time you lay a hit, take a shot, win a fight, or get the puck off a face-off, the momentum of the game swings a little in your favor. Get enough going, and your entire team benefits by playing beyond their rated abilities. Of course, the opposite holds true, so try not to let your opponents gain the upper hand. A new Big Hit option has been added to the defensive abilities, and let me tell you, you can really lay a beating down - of course, you’ll likely pick up a penalty while you’re at it.