To See Hockey At It's Best, Just Watch TV

First, right out of the gate, I'll explain my philosophy on sports games: You'll never, ever, never, never, ever be better than the real thing. EA Sports definetly does the best job in trying to create a real gaming experience, but if you want sports, turn on your television. There's bound to be something sport-like, whether it be soccer on Telemundo (WHICH IS HILARIOUS, by the way), or a horse race on Fox Sports Network. I continue to play NHL 2002, and i bought it back in February. But, as all sports games do, it tends to get very bland after a while.

The graphics in the modern day sports game are always good, so I expected those type of graphics in NHL 2002. I was happy to see that the graphics were very nice and smooth, especially with a high-end machine. The gameplay is great. I love the big hitter, big shooter idea, where certain players get abilities based on their real life statistics. I also love the fantasy draft, in which you are allowed to draft a team of players from a large pool. The game modes, which include Quick Play, Season, Playoff, Tournament, and Shootout or synonomous with all sports games today. Another great feature is the EA Ditty Importer, a downloadable add-on which allows you to put your MP3's into the game to be played during intermissions, goals, etc. It's hard to figure out, but if you do, it's muy muy cool. The pros outweigh the cons, but the cons really do hurt the game.

My biggest gripe is the online mode. The EA Sports Lobby runs like my grandmother: extremely slow. It kept on refreshing and reloading every 10 seconds and really didn't have many people in it (wonder why!). Avoid the Online Modes at all costs, they really don't make much sense. Try putting an online mode in Grand Theft Auto III, see now that'd be CRAZY! But that's another story.

Great game, hilarious commentary (at first, then it gets old), and very smooth graphics. I really like it, but not enough to love it.