I did buy NHL 2004 today....and I played it straight from 2pm - 5:30...the Dynasty mode is what makes the game...from trading...signing free agents...drafting...financing the team, etc....stats themselves aren't totally realistic (goalies GAAs & points in a season).
I don't have Sega's version....I was having problems scoring...but not lately...my only complaint about the game is...during Dynasty Mode's season...I've been getting scores like 9-6, 10-5, 6-6, etc. That plays havoc with the reality of the stats. Hard to have a legitimate GAA with scores like that.
I got it as well. It doesn't matter what your skill level is, you can make it tough to score. I'm seven games in, I've scored 16 goals (including a few empty-netters) and allowed 9.
If anything, the current scoring is a bit low, but the players start off dynasty mode below average (you have to build 'em up), so it may pick up.
The play is excellent, by far the best of any hockey game I've seen. Highly recommend it.
Im still trying to figure which game should I send my money on... espn or ea's nhl... i didn't really like ea's game play last year, so I hope they made it better for this year. but I'm an EA Sports fan and Madden 2004 really kicks some ass
I bought ESPN a couple days ago and I'm a little disappointed. Freezes on the cutscenes, the line change option stays on the screen far too long during gameplay and is not particularly intuitive, injuries are endless even when set to almost nothing.
The animation is acceptable but not groundbreaking. The game is difficult, you do have to fight through checks and hooking, but I'll be checking out EA on the next paycheck. If its even slightly better, I'll get it. I'm not sold on this game.
I bought ESPN a couple days ago and I'm a little disappointed. Freezes on the cutscenes, the line change option stays on the screen far too long during gameplay and is not particularly intuitive, injuries are endless even when set to almost nothing.
The animation is acceptable but not groundbreaking. The game is difficult, you do have to fight through checks and hooking, but I'll be checking out EA on the next paycheck. If its even slightly better, I'll get it. I'm not sold on this game.
Actually there is no slider for injuries...so frequency can't be adjusted..this is a problem
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Arcade Berzerk (fast bullets) World Champion
So far, the EA game is pretty damned excellent, although choosing what kind of practices to run is a real balancing act. I have the Ducks at 8-3, although my goal differential is not that high. I haven't won by more than two goals and I got waxed by the Rangers 5-0.
Leading scorers are Chistov at 7-1-8 and Prospal at 5-3-8 (Chistov's numbers are inflated by a couple of empty-netters). Having trouble scoring with Feds. He's only at 2-0-2 on the season.
Ward has replaced Sauer in the lineup for me (the game just wasn't kind enough to Kurt) and I picked up Sandy McCarthy from the free agent pool to add some grit. Current lines:
One change that's kind of a bummer... there doesn't appear to be a way to export stats into Excel as there was in previous games. Too bad, that was a nice feature.
Someone has to help me figure out a way to prevent the absolute blowout games. I've had scores of 11-10, 9-7, 7-6, etc. Also, I've seen guys with over 100 goals at the end of the season.
Is there someone to change this and make it more realistic?
It's times like these that makes me wish I had gotten ESPN NHL Hockey instead....
Someone has to help me figure out a way to prevent the absolute blowout games. I've had scores of 11-10, 9-7, 7-6, etc. Also, I've seen guys with over 100 goals at the end of the season.
Are the numbers of shots inordinately high as well? All I can recommend is fiddling with the sliders. Lower the shot power and accuracy, lower the passing, decrease the game speed, alter the puck physics, increase the aggressiveness of the AI, etc. etc. etc. It's up to you to figure out WHY scoring is so high and adjust accordingly. This game is almost completely customisable.
I'm still partial to NHL 2002. That's got more feel to it than '03 and '04 for some reason. I haven't played enough of '04 to say it's better than '03, but my playing partner likes it. The fighting is MUCH, MUCH better and realistic! It's no longer the fast punch across or upper cut. I like the fighting! LoL
Anyhow, my playing partner is a kings fan and i noticed that Camalleri is rated a 79. weird... he was injured most of the season. Though, Chistov is rated a 78 and is 3 pts less than Camalleri in potential. Is it just me does this seem wrong? Oh yeah, Andy Mac was rated at 79. bleah!
I bought NHL2004 and ESPN2004 for X-box. I love the graphics, but i think i just got used to the controls for the PS2. Oh yeah, about the controls, the speed burst button(For NHL'04)... you have to hold it down, instead of rapid tapping. ehhhh... guess more realistic that you gain more speed the more you stride. i don't like that feature right now.
I agree with mtyduk8. MY stats are realistic, but the SIMed games of the computer are insane. Jaromir Jagr in 6 games as outscored my entire team by two times the amount, he's got like 33 goals.
I had the exact same issue with the unrealistic stats but i found how to fix it. i played on easy before and when I simed games on easy the scores were insane. Now i play on Medium and the games i sim are realistic. If you play on Medium and still find it hard then fix the Goalie Boost,Player Boost sliders.
