Expectations were high last year when the EA franchises made their way onto the Playstation 2. Madden 2001 clearly redefined the Football genre and sports games in general. Unfortunately the rest of the EA line up suffered from various gameplay or frame rate issues. While NHL 2001 was not a bad game in itself, it lacked the polish and pure fun gameplay that we have not seen since NHL 1995 on Sega Genesis or Super NES. Particularly annoying was the stuttering frame rate that slowed down during mid ice interactions. Fortunately, the development team looked at what players wanted, took in the various criticisms and addressed everything in developing NHL 2002. The result is clearly the best hockey game at this point to ever grace a console.

Graphics
The developers have taken the best animations from last year and added a slew of new precise animations in order to bring the visual experience closer to reality. Players are now able to reach for passes, deke manually, lift passes, and kick the puck up to the stick. Perhaps the biggest improvement is in the framerate and pace of the game. This year there is absolutely no slowdown to be found. This in itself raises not only the visual bar but ultimately the gameplay. It is also nice that players have the option to adjust the speed of the game thanks to comprehensive gameplay sliders. While the things that count are in place, it is now the fine details that we are going to pick at. While each arena is used by name, each is only recreated in parts and not in their entirety. We would like to see the fine detail in arenas comparable to the stadiums in Madden 2002. And although the player models are tight right down to almost every wrinkle on their real-life counterparts, where are the coach models? I want to play as the Leafs and see Pat Burns rubbing his chin in disgust. Regardless, NHL 2002 is the best looking hockey game this year on the PS2.

Sound
Not only did EA address last year's visuals but they also revamped the voice work. Colour-commentator Don Taylor returns once again with play-by-play veteran Jim Hughson in the broadcast booth to provide insightful and exciting commentary. Most improved is the incredible humor brought forth by Taylor's endless jokes against the game of hockey, EA Sports and videogames in general. We have not heard this kind of humor since Hughson teamed up with Buck Martinez back in 1997 for Triple Play baseball. Taylor's comments have brought to us to tears in laughter on more than one occasion. Hats off to the script developers Jeff Mair and Doug Holinrake. In addition to the humor comes a very large voice sample database. We have played over 30 games and have only heard a few phrases repeated here and there. It would appear that the voice work really does match what is going on in the game. It is not the case where random samples are played over and over again in situations that do not warrant them.
As if the flawless voice work was not enough, EA Sports went out of their way this year to hire on the best soundtrack heard in years. This tasty soundtrack is courtesy of Barenaked Ladies (no word of a lie, I went to the same high school as these talented guys), Sum 41, The Tea Party, Treble Charger, Jet Set Satellite and more. Each of the bands has their most popular songs included in NHL 2002. The Barenaked Ladies are debuting their new single "It's Only Me" through the release of NHL 2002. The entire line up is solid and fits quite nicely throughout the entire game. Even the in arena music and P.A. is fantastic. All of this is presented in DTS Interactive audio technology for those with a home theatre set-up.

Gameplay
The development team has basically taken some of the old school techniques and mixed them with the best of the new in order to deliver a solid control and gameplay experience. Maneuvering the players along the ice is more smooth and fluid when compared to last year's iteration of the game. A number of new moves have been added. Two of the most useful is the ability to raise the puck off the ice when passing and the freedom to control your own stick during a break-away or deke move. The Big Hits have been toned down a bit in favor a more realistic game situation. Nevertheless, if you want to rock someone with their head down you are more than equipped to do so. EA added a break away cam which puts you almost in the first person as you go head to head with the goalie. While the feature is neat, we found it to be ultimately annoying and difficult to properly control the player. More time should have been spent to ensure this feature was as smooth as the rest of the game The new shot meter allows players to take wrist shots, snap shots, and blazing slap shots. While mostly effective, we felt that the player should be able to get off a shot more quickly. There are moments where there is too long of a pause between pressing the shot button and actually having the shot leave the stick. Another problem is with the one time shots. They should be a lot a smoother and more responsive. I don't know how many times I have had a two on one and the one timer has not been effective because it can't get off properly. Further tweaking in these areas would tighten the gameplay even further. Lastly, we would love to see icon passing as an option.

Value
NHL 2002 is the most value packed hockey game we have ever played. NHL cards have been added this year. Just as with Madden 2002, the cards are purchased with points which are earned by performing game moves and reaching milestones. Cards provide the player with boosts, cheats, and other great un-lockable features.
The new EA GameStory tracks events during the game and tells compelling stories as they unfold. Stories are represented using television style camerawork, replays, overlays, play-by-play and colour commentary.
There are 6 Modes of Play including; Play Now, Season Play, Career Mode, Playoff, Shootout, and Tournament. The career mode is 10 seasons of incredible replayability. Add to this the fact that EA even threw in a Create Player Mode which is essentially enables gamers to create themselves, as an intense power forward, or a gritty defenseman with a variety of hairstyles and colours, mustaches, beards, eyes and other features. Also, Barenaked Ladies fans will be able to play as band members by their names and saving the musicians to the players' team of choice.

Final Word
After years of yearning to return to the glory days of NHL'95, EA Sports has unleashed what we envisioned next generation hockey would be like. NHL 2002 is the most playable hockey game to appear on the Playstation 2 this year. Whether you are a casual hockey fan or a crazed Canuck like myself, NHL 2002 is a solid purchase that belongs on your PS2 shelf. We are already salivating at the prospect of online play in NHL 2003.