Introduction:

NHL (National Hockey League) is the ice hockey program of North America. In 1990, EA Sports begin creating games for the game consoles, with all the teams, players, and a few more extras (Season, Playoff modes, Create a Player, etc.) NHL 2004 was made as the 14th game of the series.

Story:

The games don't have a story, well, this one didn't. But, unless you count the Season or Dynasty Mode story. Not much to say here.

Gameplay:

Gameplay is amazing. The passing, shooting, hitting, and stealing play never gets boring and will not get weak. Basics are to pass around to your 5 players, deke the opponents and shoot the puck to try to score. Now it's easier hit with the Bruise Control addition. It's not hard to forget the controls, because you can get the hang of it quickly, and soon be able to win easy. If you are winning easy, set the difficulty up one level.

Some bad things are penalties. The clock slows down during that, and during the last minute in the 3rd period, the clock also slows down. Another thing is to move when on defense, when for some reason your player moves out of the way, giving the opponent the breakaway. For some reason, every now and then the goalie leaves his left for no reason. But, other than that, it's great and fun!

I give the gameplay: 8/10

Graphics:

The graphics are better than the other 13 games. It's much easier to see the players and there are more details in the crowd and arena. Graphics don't mess up and become discoloured like in some games. But, for the crowd the people are always bald and always look the same.

I give the graphics: 9/10

Sound:

The music is awesome. There is the playlist in the menu that as about 7 or 8 songs that, will get boring if you play this too much. The commentary is great, but it somehow shows the same things said over and over again, but until a few weeks ago when the said some things different.

I give the sound: 7/10

Replayability:

Replayability is endless in NHL 2004. Season modes however, once they are done, you cannot replay the season.

I give the replayability: 10/10

Challenge:

Challenges can be set to different levels: Beginner, Easy, Moderate and Difficult. Beginner is very easy and has some extra commentary on the controls. Easy is a bit harder, and the extra commentary is gone. Moderate is harder than Easy, and lastly, Difficult, which is extremely hard, unless you can get over 10 goals in a game in Moderate.

Frustration:

The game dents to get frustrating. Some things mentioned are penalties, clock slowing down, Difficult and Dynasty Mode.

I give the challenge: 4/10

New Features:

This game not only has improved gameplay, but new features:

Create a Team: Now you can create your own team, and chose the Crowd chant, Logo, Jerseys, Arena and players.

Bruise Control: A new hitting way in the game. Charge up your power and completely own the other player.

3 new European Leagues: DEL of Germany, SM-Liiga of Finland and Elitserien of Sweden.

I give the new features: 10/10

Dynasty Mode:

The best new feature in Dynasty Mode. It allows you to become the GM of any of the 30 teams in the NHL for 20 Years. Getting office rewards, making Draft Picks, Upgrading your team and setting Practices are only a few of the new features.

Unfortunately, is very hard and will get boring

I give the dynasty mode: 6/10

Overall:

Good game. The 14th game is one of the best. With the additions and improvements, it's a game to get. (Even though it's been out for 3 years, but it is still great)

I give NHL 2004: 8/10

Conclusion:

It was worth buying. I even was surprised of the updates.

Written By: MattC13
E-Mail: matt__c__13@hotmail.com
Date Submitted: May 15th, 2007

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