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There are new animations and new lines of play-by-play, as is expected of an updated sports title. But EA has taken last year's presentation style a bit further. Intro scenes are a bit longer and a bit more like a sports highlight show clip than your standard introductions. New music tracks have also been added with a harder pseudo-punk rock edge. But don't expect this to be a rock-em sock-em affair like Midway's NHL Hitz. At it's core, NHL 2003 is a solid hockey sim. One that will teach lazy Americans the intricacies of hockey. Oh, and there are fights too.
The best news of all is the franchise mode, which is a new addition to EA's NHL series. While we haven't had a chance to sit down and get in-depth with the franchise, just knowing it's there gives comfort that this will be one fine hockey game. Building off of last year's fabulous season mode, the franchise mode should be solid.
Outlook
NHL 2003 is skating along nicely and will give Sega's NHL 2K3 plenty to worry about. Coming this fall to PS2, Xbox, GameCube, and PC, NHL 2003 could make EA quite happy by the time Santa is shoving his fat arse down chimneys. The new deke function is fantastic and the addition of a franchise mode can only help the longevity of an already healthy sports franchise. I'd say we can't wait to get our hands on NHL 2003, but it's already in our hands. Jealous? You should be.
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Now here is some delightful screens:
Every year EA always adds in something special, or new. This year its the stick movement with the right analog. I can't wait to try this out, because I think it will work well. It might be a bit weird at first...but I'm sure it will work out fine. Maybe with this new stick movement control you'll be able to deak (sp?) around players and it will obviously add more realism to the game.
I really look forward to this game. NHL 2002 was great, and if EA con improve on that then this game is a must buy for any hockey fan.