Cheap Sega Sports NHL 2K3 (Video Games) (Xbox) Price

Related Products

Customer Reviews of Sega Sports NHL 2K3

Deliverence From Poor Gameplay!
I cannot tell you how happy I am that SEGA has brought back their NHL2K franchise. I enjoyed NHL2K and NHL2K1 immensely on my old Dreamcast. Last year however, as an XBOX owner I only had one option. That option being EA Sports' NHL2002. Now, I will hand it to EA for their presentation; it is unmatched. The players on the EA game actually look like who they're supposed to be. It looks like Steve Yzerman, or Mario LeMieux, or whoever, and the animations are great. However, I have always been letdown by the gameplay on EA sports games (Madden included). While the SEGA game has the old generic polygon looking face that could be anybody and is not as flashy with the animations, etc, it is instantly forgiven because they got the most important thing right: Gameplay. NHL2K3 plays like a Hockey game should. I shouldn't win every game 14-1 like I do with EA. What enhances this game further is the addition of ESPN into the mix including utilizing their on-screen scoreboard which is an exact match to the one used on National Hockey Night. The commentary is fine and would only be better if they got Bill Clement and Gary Thorne to do it.

Another reason this game is a must buy is because the controls make sense and are easy to learn. Nobody would play Hockey games with me outside of NHL HITZ due to the often frustrating configurations, etc. I had a friend over the other day who owns a Playstation rather than an XBOX (he'll learn) and within 5 minutes we were engaged in a 2-2 tie in the 3rd period and he was exclaiming "Wow, this is really fun".

I cannot recommend this game enough whether you're a die hard Hockey fan like me or just a casual gamer who enjoys playing sports games with friends. Worth every penny.

---

A few tweaks, but MUCH greater than NHL 2003
Hossman's Scale: 4.6/5.0 Rating: A-

Pros: 1:Some game that can actually compete with EA's hunk of junk

2: #1 in REALISM!!! (the first time they're fighting for a puck on the boards)

3: Franchise Mode is still fun

4: The only game on XBOX u can play online

5: Pretty Deep commentary...

Cons 1: ... that cant even pronounce names of players correctly

2: Graphics feel like ur playing NHL 99 on N64

3: No Franchise Revamp like in NFL and NBA?!

Perplexing: You would think ESPN would give Sega Sports it's best commentators.

Final Verdict: BUY!!! if you hate EA's NHL game. Whatever you do, at least rent it.

---

Why all the raves?
I partially owe my love of hockey to NHL '93 on Sega Genesis, and I have played most hockey games since then. I find this one to deliver the least amount of fun and highest amount of frustration of any that I have played.

Here is my laundry list of problems with this game, some that I would consider major and some that I would consider peeves:

1. Graphics
This game looks like N64/PS1 graphics. Games wind up being the dark blobs vs. the light blobs, as far as I can tell.

2. AI

Players skate right past the puck when they're under computer control. The only thing the AI does on defense is collapse everyone in front of the net.

3. Player Differentiation
Every player plays just like every other player. Paul Kariya can hit as hard as Chris Chelios. Adam Foote is as fast as Mike Modano, with turbo, on the breakaway. They all look the same. They all play the same. EA Sports' system of Heroes and Big Hitters sure looks brilliant in comparison.

4. Commentators

This game licenses elements from ESPN--why do we get Mono and Tone for commentators? They're boring and repetitive. How about Gary Thorne and Clement, Clement, hands of cement? Or Dave Strader and Darren Pang? Barry Melrose's machine-gun laugh before a game? John Buccigross saying "He is clutch, and clutch is everything in life?"

Commentary typically sounds like this: "He's going to have to continue to make saves like that if the" (pause) (insert team name here) (pause) "are going to have any chance!"

(The worst error: when I won the Stanley Cup, the commentators said, and I quote, "The Stars are one step closer to the Stanley Cup!")

5. Soundtrack
If you like the same cheesy organ riffs over and over, this soundtrack is for you!

6. Officiating
The puck-carrier can get a penalty for hooking. Yeah, right, Sega! And the goalie can sit on an unplayable puck while 20 seconds run off the game clock before it's called "Puck Frozen." Oh, and then there are the random times that the puck is frozen for no reason...

7. Shooting/Scoring
This is the real killjoy of the game. It's very easy in NHL 2K3 to have 50 or 60 shots and not score a goal. There are only two shots that can score: skate in on the off-wing and deke the goalie to the inside, and take a slapshot from the faceoff circle. One-timers (the staple of EA Sports) rarely score. Redirections don't score. You can't cherry-pick just outside the crease. If a defenseman takes a slapshot from the point, it's almost always blocked, and never beats the goalie.

8. Default Settings
Team strategy settings default to manual for both player and AI teams. That's right, unless you choose to set the computer team to Automatic strategy changes, it uses the same strategy for the ENTIRE game, regardless of score. Also, the default voice mask for online play is Anonymous, which ranks somewhere between "nails on the chalkboard" and "Gilbert Gottfried" on the annoyance scale.

The only advantages that this game has over NHL 2003 is that it is XBox Live enabled, has the concept of a minor-league system, and has some nice along-the-boards gameplay.

It's a real shame that this game is as poor as it is. NHL 2K3's "controllability" of what you can do during the game is top-notch. It smartly uses the triggers as modifiers for other buttons to let you have real control over what the players do. The gameplay options are extremely customizable (but they left out the setting for "Fun").

All in all, rarely have I played a game that delivers less fun than NHL 2K3.