New reviews
Posted by @ 5:59 PM, EST
Gaming Age slashed up a review of EA’s NHL 2001:

Game play is solid as the hockey ice below your skates. Sure, it may be 3D, but it still plays as well as the old 16-bit titles if not better. You have complete control of the game, be it dekes, checks, or even penalties. You want to get thrown in the box, poke that stick out there to trip that on coming skater. The A.I. has even been bumped up past the PC version, as it's more difficult to score. You are bound to find money plays, but it'll take a while, believe me. Bottom line, this game is fun, fun, fun. You can adjust the speed of the game to your liking, which is a big plus. If you're a fan of the NHL series, you're getting the same fun as hell game, just with a major facelift! The game is a joy to play, and luckily isn't effected in the slightest by the slowdown mentioned earlier.

Controlling the action is easy since the game has a straightforward and fairly basic control setup. However, getting good to the point of being able to consistently land tricks and jumps is another story. The game's realistic physics make it hard to learn how to play, since you're consistently fighting your board's amazingly natural tendency to slip out from underneath your feet. Learning not to fall is, of course, extremely important, since your career depends on it. Every time you fall when you're boarding on film, your pay gets reduced.

The Adventure mode tells the game's story. Players take on the role of a pilot flying a variety of missions in an unexplored area of the world. Four islands make up a mysterious environment, where harsh weather and treacherous terrain make flying small aircraft dangerous as well as difficult. Players attempt to accomplish a variety of tasks, with the ultimate objective being the discovery of an ancient ruin. In order to uncover the ruin, players must recover pieces of an ancient map, which usually involves landing in an abandoned temple.