NHL 2004
| NHL 2004 | |
|---|---|
The cover art, featuring Dany Heatley
|
|
| Developer(s) | EA Black Box |
| Publisher(s) | EA Sports |
| Series | NHL series |
| Platform(s) | GameCube, Xbox, PlayStation 2, PC |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | Sports |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer, online multiplayer |
| Review scores | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Publication | Score | |||
| GC | PC | PS2 | Xbox | |
| EGM | 7.33/10 | N/A | 7.33/10 | 7.33/10 |
| Game Informer | 9/10 | N/A | 9.25/10 | 9/10 |
| GamePro |   |
N/A | |
|
| Game Revolution | B+ | N/A | B+ | B+ |
| GameSpot | 8.6/10 | 8.8/10 | 8.8/10 | 8.6/10 |
| GameSpy | |
 |
|
|
| GameZone | N/A | N/A | N/A | 8.9/10 |
| IGN | 8.8/10 | 8.8/10 | 8.8/10 | 8.8/10 |
| Nintendo Power | 3.8/5 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| OPM (US) | N/A | N/A | |
N/A |
| OXM (US) | N/A | N/A | N/A | 8.6/10 |
| PC Gamer (US) | N/A | 67% | N/A | N/A |
| Playboy | 88% | 88% | 88% | 88% |
| Aggregate score | ||||
| Metacritic | 85/100 | 87/100 | 85/100 | 85/100 |
NHL 2004, developed by the EA Black Box studios, is an ice hockey video game. It is the successor to NHL 2003. The game adds three European Elite Leagues: Germany's Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), Sweden's Elitserien (SEL), and Finland's SM-liiga.
The game included many improvements to its gameplay (more realistic puck and rebound control and better checking) and game modes (a completely reworked franchise mode renamed "Dynasty"). In addition to the gameplay improvements, one particular non-gameplay improvement was added. When a team wins the Stanley Cup Finals, a large-scale celebration ensues. It included players skating around the ice holding the Cup over their heads. This then led to the common snapshot of the team and the coaches that holds true in the NHL. A "secret" song ("Shatterday" by Vendetta Red) plays while the animation shows the stats of the players in the picture, ending with the captain. Because of these additions, it was praised as one of the best games in the series to date. The Dynasty Mode, regarded by many gamers, still has its flaws – trades were very difficult to accept, and only allows the player to manage the team at the maximum of 20 seasons.
Another new feature of NHL 2004 was allowing the player to select when to fight, where previously it had been a somewhat random occurrence. When two players' names flashed onto the bottom of the screen, accompanied by the word "Fight!" and a bell sounding, the person playing the game could push a button to begin a fight, or hold off until a later time. Furthermore, goaltenders were able to fight however, goalie fights appear to be completely random, as the names of other players are shown at the bottom of the screen, however, a goalie fight can be triggered by beginning the fight while the goalie has control of the puck; also, goalies are not thrown out of a game for fighting; in real life, goaltenders who fight are given both a major for fighting and a minor for leaving the crease, resulting in game misconducts for both combatants. The game however contained a glitch. On breakaway plays a player can maneuver the deke analog stick for an automatic goal. By the time EA Sports heard news of the glitch hundreds of thousands of units had been shipped around the world. The Create a team feature allowed the player to create a new NHL team and put it in the game and the player could choose between NHL jerseys as the team's uniform.
...
Wikipedia