Outstanding!
What I noticed immediately when I placed this game into the 'Cube was the perfect collaboration between Sega and ESPN. "ESPN's National Hockey Night" is the closest thing we have in the United States to "Hockey Night" in Canada on the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Company), though I am realistic to understand that hockey is the ugly stepchild of pro-sports in the U.S. (soccer being the red-headed, ugly stepchild). Still, ESPN knows its hockey and the marriage between ESPN style and Sega substance creates an excellent balance. Any sports nut can hum the theme to SportsCenter, and any hockey fanatic knows the theme to "National Hockey Night." Both are packaged nicely, along with the menu graphics, in this game.
All the typical modes of play are accessible here, like exhibition and season, and a particularly deep franchise mode. However, the first star of NHL 2K3 goes to its gameplay and mechanics. It's amazing what attention to detail can yield. The controls are smooth and adaptable, with a scheme that allows for the realistic feel of controlling skaters on ice (it isn't easy to stop on a dime) while keeping it simple enough to make control adjustments intuitively. I haven't seen physics and mechanics this stunning in quite some time! The puck bounces, flies, and slides like the little thing most people can't seem to follow on television. In one instance, I had Brian Leetch take a slapshot from the point and the goalie kicked at it for a save. The puck knuckled past the raised sticks of other players and dipped sharply before skidding over the blueline out of the zone. Completing passes and lining up shots requires more patience and skill as so much could go wrong during the act. NHL 2K3 mimics this and plays fantastic.
Adding to the gameplay is the beefy AI. Even on a moderate setting, the opposing, non-human team plays hockey like a pretty decent squad. For one thing, a game is just as likely to end 1-0 as it would end at 4-3. As I recall, one of my own players took a dumb penalty late in the game, and my opponent found a seam through my penalty killers and scored a brilliant backhander to beat my goalie 2-1, the Hurricanes over the Rangers.
To counteract the skilled computerized players, there is a deep system of offensive and defensive strategies available, but unlike basketball, these aren't set plays. A fairly keen mind or anyone who has watched hockey for a little while could probably get the gist of it, but I think it's safe to say that more casual players would most likely just play a straight-up, up-and-down game of hockey. My suggestion is to study the strategies for various scenarios carefully if you're going to set a lengthier time limit, because it really becomes a help when the Columbus Blue Jackets somehow stonewall all of your easily negated one-timers.
Duel of the hockey sticks.
