has anybody played ESPN NHL Hockey yet?
 

I am really looking for a review/comparison between that and NHL 2004. I know NHL isn't out yet but I thought maybe somebody could direct me to, or give me, some reviews/comparisons. I want to get a hockey game, and am toying with the idea of getting ESPN because it was released, but I am not sure yet. Any insight is appreciated.

i'm interested in this too. does both espn nhl and easports nhl have online play? that's the deal breaker for me.

Apparently ESPN is online for the PS2 and the Xbox. Like all EA Sports games, NHL 2004 is online for the PS2 only. I don't know if they'll have five-on-five play like NBA Live 2004, though.

ign ps2 review
ign x-box review

Comparisons (based on every review seen so far):

* ESPN NHL 2k4: Stellar sim
* NHL 2004: Rugby on ice

Until Black Box gets a chance to largely build up NHL 200X as their own, original game (assuming the talent defection that formed Next Lexel, to continue working on the Hitz series, wasn't too devastating in the hockey area), for the next few years, it will be ESPN for sim hockey fans and Hitz for arcade hockey fans.

Again, EA's NHL game will sit in a very uncomfortable middle.

i plan on getting nhl hitz pro too. I wish they would include the old school 3 on 3 version too. nhl hitz 2003 that was the funnest nhl game i've ever playes

EA's NHL series has always been number one, I don't see that changing anytime soon.

I just noticed.....ESPN hockey has Gary Thorne doing play by play.....this game might rock afterall.....

Looks like NHL 2004 is going to have a better franchise mode, but damn ESPN looks good. I wish it was on the Cube this year :(

The EA NHL "wraparound" XXXX has never been a great game. It was always easy to pick up and play, but as soon as NHL 2k cma out, ockey fans knew that if they wanted a more realistic hockey sim, sega's game was the one to beat. Four years later and it's the same thing. If I want to play a great game of hockey I pick up Sega, if i want to win games 15-1 on All-Pro I play EA.

I love Sega's hockey game, in fact, it is the ONLY hockey game (2k3) where I have played all 80+ games and playoffs (I won the Stanley Cup with Boston Bruins yesterday!). It is an awesome game b/c I never got tired of it after playing almost 100 games! I can't wait to see what they do this year and get into the Franchise mode alittle more.

I can't compare between different titles, but I had NHL2K3 and just got the new oxm demo of espn nhl. The difference is dramatic enough that I'm going to buy it. The graphics are hugely improved and it just seemed to play smoother. 2k3 was great and the new one seems much improved.

ESPN NHL hockey has the greatest controls in the history of sports gaming. You can DO EVERYTHING. The game is incredibly smooth, and is the best hockey game of all time.

I have never played the 2k series before so I have no idea :D

I thought 2K3 kinda sucked, so hopefully this year it will be better. Hopefully the control is a bit better....I just never could get into last years game

Is it in stores today?

Yes, in all the stores that typically get the games on the shelf one day after shipping (mainly your game-specific stores).

Best Buy's computers show a Friday arrival, so that's probably somewhat similar for Circuit City, ToysRUs, Walmart, etc.

I will put another vote out there for ESPN NHL Hockey. I switched over to 2K3 from EA last year, and the difference is night and day. You can do EVERYTHING you should be able to in hockey - switch your offense and defensive lines independently, pin people to the boards, you name it and it's in there. The graphics left a bit to be desired, but the new OPM demo shows a lot of promise. Just remember that you will have to tweak the sliders a bit in order to find the right settings for your tastes.

I think NHL 2004 lets you fight for the puck on the boards this year. How is ESPN's fighting? EA always made their fights look super unrealistic.

ESPN's fighting is lousy, thank goodness. Kush actually concentrated on improving the hockey in its hockey title.

Hopefully, it will always be last on their 'to-do' list every year.

Are they going to make it realistic i.e. Thorne butchering everyone's name, calling 1 player a different player, calling a player someone else who isn't even on the team anymore, his knuyck knuyck piss poor jokes etc etc etc?

I hope they have a feature to turn the announcers off or this bitch will be on MUTE.

Effing moron Thorne.

Wow the overwhelming support for ESPN is incredible! I expected it to be more even between NHL and ESPN. Well I am sold on getting ESPN! I think I will trade my Madden for it and pay the difference once payday gets here. What I liked the best out of everything I heard is that the games are actually realistic in ESPN. I know that every year I played NHL by EA, I would jump into the season immediately and lose the first couple games. After that however, I would win and just start crushing teams by like 14 goals. I always use the Flyers, and lets face it, they can barely score 4 goals a game so, as a stickler for accuracy in my sports games, it always kinda bugged me. Thanks for all the responses and reviews.

I disagree. NHL2k3 OWNED on every system

And ESPN NHL 2K4 is FRICKEN SWEEEEET!

I'm blown away by the realism. The options. THE CLASSIC TEAMS YOU CAN UNLOCK! YES! SOMEONE FINALLY PUT CLASSIC TEAMS ON AN NHL GAME, NOT JUST JERSEYS! I can finally put the 92 Penguins against the 87 Oilers! WOO HOO!

I played the game for like 3 hours on my XBOX and on live and it's SMOOVE...

The goaltenders move so realistically...I was even able to bounce a shot off of Marc Denis back and into the goal while he looked around for it...

2k4 may be the best hockey game ever. EA lost it like 3 years ago...

and hitz is def. fun...but I'm all for a sim...

This game is so good, its unbelievable, the new advanced controls are great. Using the triggers for slap shots and flip passes, allow you so much control. Also using the right stick for dekes is fantastic, i love flying down the wing, and throwing on the breaks, and then putting a flip pass on the tape of the guying charging up the middle. The al is also much improved, not only the defence, but your own players play their positions much better, no more 2 on 1s and the winger hangs out at the boards.
I can now play "real" hockey, dump and chase, cycling down low, and most importantly, you can pass back and forth with your D in the offensive zone and they stay on side.

The live play is so smooth and voice chat was like talking on the phone, at least so far, I have only played 3 games.

Just like ESPN football, there are a lot of extras, air hockey and mini rink are available right off the bat. Mini rink is 2 on 2 on a really mini rink, its a lot of fun, and its great you can play it online. I can see some major battles on this, once people get the hang up the different style of game play.

This is the best hockey game ever made, and i have played them all.

Heh, they have a place like that here in San Jose. 3 on 3 though, but the ice is so small. Run and gun games i.e. 10-8 etc.

you guys suck, making me wish I had an Xbox or PS2 so I an get this....Hell, I may go and buy an Xbox just to play it, lol

btw, how is ESPN's franchise mode? I guess NHL 2004 will let you GM for 20 seasons, and upgrade stuff like your office and such.

I'm loving it as well, but I can't get online to download roster updates or play online. I guess I may have gotten ahold of a bad copy or something. Otherwise the game play is excellent, much like last year. The franchise mode is pretty basic nickdawgy. It has the email features and draft like NHL2004, but you can't set prices for tickets and stuff (not that I care about that feature from Madden anyways) The slider selection is incredible. If you want a free open hockey game with lots of scoring set the sliders more open, and if you want a real NHL game, set em more closed. This game is incredible.

How is the create a player feature (I'm assuming there is one)?

I freakin' hate posts like this. Because now I have to go out at lunch and spend even more money to buy this game, on top of the ESPN Football I was already going to buy.

I know. I've been buying the EA version since it was first released on Sega Genesis (back in 92 I think?) but this thread has me all fired up to pick up ESPN. I know I'm going to end up buying EA's too because I'm not sure I'm ready to abandon the series yet. Maybe I'll buy ESPN first and get EA when the price comes down at the end of the season.

You can DL the demo of NHL 2004 for the pc if you want to try it out. It is pretty dang good.

But ESPN smokes it.

I've been playing NHL games since my favorites NHL 95 and 96 but this game is just amazing. I definatly recommend ESPN this game has definatly made me excited about sports games again.

picked up ESPN today and I LOVE IT!! This game is soo damn good. The controls are incredible, the graphics and animation soo smoothe and realistic that it almost looks like you are watching an actual game, and the game is either extremely challenging or easy...depending on the options you set. It is amazing how you can customize the difficulty level. The first game I played I chose rookie just to get a feel for the game and I crushed the Predators 7-0...I was the Flyers. That was obviously too easy so I upped the difficulty to pro but didn't mess with the sliders and as the Flyers I lost to the Sabres 3-2 with 5 seconds left in regulation. I played another game on pro and reduced the sliders for the computer slightly and won in OT.

I love how you can actually PLAY defense in the game and watching the goalies move is so nice because it is soo fluid. They really flash the leather and bite on the dekes and can be responsible for pucks bouncing into the net off of them...I could just go on and on! One minor complaint, the goalie stick-handling and passing could have been better. My thanks to all that recommended this!

must....control...urge....to....buy....game

Me too. I've bought like 8 new games in the past month, but this sounds pretty tempting. I keep telling myself that the price will plummet like every other Sega Sports game (except World Series Baseball) after a couple of months. We'll see.

The worst part of the game is passing with the goalie; it's difficult to hit your players with the pass. Also it can be tedious trying to hit your players in stride with passes...but make no doubt, this is the best hockey game I've ever played (2nd being NHL2k3).

Sorry about that, i just had to share my joy :) I won a game online last night in overtime, i jumped up and cheered, then I realized how big an idiot i would look like if someone was watching.

That is the reason i bought an xbox last year, i had to play hockey online, now i love the system.

okay, I am gonna buy an Xbox then.....besides this game, any other recommendations?

If you like sports espn football is also great. Castle Wolfenstein is a blast online if you like fps. Capcom vs snk, can be had cheap and plays well online, Mopo gp2 is the best online racing game. As you can tell, I mostly use the xbox for online gaming, I really enjoyed the first Buffy game. What type of games do you like?
You can't go wrong with this system, and there are a lot of great games, and if you buy some of the older titles, they can be had real cheap.