Midway has expanded its original NFL Blitz series to now include ice hockey in their latest installment, NHL Hitz 20-02. Midway acquired the services of Black Box to develop Hitz. Black Box is a Canadian developer that is made up of many ex-EA employees. Their first title appeared on the Sega Dreamcast in the form of NHL2K. They were supposed to develop the franchise further but Sega decided to bring it back in house to sports developer Visual Concepts. Thus, Black Box turned their energy towards the more profitable Playstation 2. These guys know how to make hockey games and that is why I am somewhat disappointed in Hitz. It is basically a revamped version of Wayne Gretzky Hockey which appeared a few years back on the Nintendo 64.

Graphics
As in most over-the-top adrenaline games, the players are bigger than life. Huge player models with real player faces and expressions have been conveyed with competence. As nice as they are, they do not compare to the high poly-models used in EA's NHL 2002. Does this really matter for this type of hockey experience? Not really as this is not about visuals but about hyper-reality. It would be nice however if the player models were a bit tighter. Regardless, the animations are outrageous and over-the-top in all aspects. Players go flying into benches, helmets come flying off and players leave the ice in order to really crush their opponents. Each NHL stadium is presented with a lot of minor detail. In fact, Black Box knows arena detail better than anyone else in the business. Still as many of you may remember from Gretzky on the N64, the ice surface is very small in order to keep the action at all times on full speed. As a result you have little time to recover from massive hits or even multiple goals. The crowds are fully 3D modeled and are quite interactive.

Sound
On the one hand the soundtrack is solid with the likes of Limp Bizkit, Korn, Fuel and more. The colour commentary on the other hand is extremely poor. The voice work is the same guy who did the Greztky game five years ago. Very little has changed as the over used one-liners bore by the end of one game. The time has come to hire someone else and have the voicework compliment the onslaught taking place on the screen.

Gameplay
The gameplay is the adrenaline , over-the-top style that we have come to expect from the Blitz franchise. Players can leap, glide, check, pass and score on would-be defenders. Hitz is a three-on-three (plus a goalie) romp complete with big hits that can break the glass and the ability to have from one player to the entire team on fire. When you catch fire, all of your attributes will increase slightly making it easier to score goals. You will know your player is on fire when flames and smoke trail him as he skates down the ice. To attain fire, you must score three goals in a game. An entire team can catch fire when you score three consecutive goals in a row using a one-timer. To extinguish an opponents fire you must score a goal or beat him in a fight. Speaking of fights, Hitz sports the best hockey game fighting engine we have ever seen. While pounding away, you can block, throw a sucker punch or a quick jab. Even after getting knocked down, you have the ability to get back up quickly for a few more blows before the referees intervene. There is more to the game than just landing big hits. In order to avoid some of those hits, your players have the ability to deke-spin and guard the puck. Timing these moves is crucial for success.
Our beef with gameplay has to do with somewhat loose controls. It is difficult at times to control the player that you really want to control. As a result, many times the game turns into a button mashing exercise.

Value
There are four main modes of play: Exhibition, Championship, Franchise and Skills. Most of your time will be spent in the Franchise mode where your created team of players will take on all of the NHL and Fantasy teams to win the coveted Midway Cup. Credits are awarded for winning Exhibition and Championship Mode games. These credits are held in a bank where they can be taken out to purchase items in the hockey shop. These unlockable items include historical jerseys, fantasy stadiums, fantasy heads, fantasy teams and other rewards designed to add colour to the game and enhance its replay value. The Skills Mode is a first for hockey games and is quite fun to play. This will be a big favorite when friends come over. The skills are spread out over a number of difficulty levels. You begin on level one but as you clear level one items you move up a level and the difficulty greatly increases. We have longed to have target practice in a hockey game and Hitz has finally granted our wish. No hockey game is complete without a create player mode and Hitz delivers. Finally, as hyper-realistic games goes, there are a slew of cheat codes that can be entered while the game loads.

Final Word
After EA Sports' Rock The Rink bombed on the PSOne, it looked like the extreme hockey genre would be abandoned. Fortunately Midway and Black Box have returned to the genre to churn out a very plausible extreme hockey game. If you are a fan of arcade, over-the-top action then NHL Hitz 20-02 is for you. However, the king of hockey games this year for the all around gaming experience is EA Sports' NHL 2002.