(PS2)
Graphics - 10
Sound - 10
Control - 9.5
Replay - 8
Well, here's a game I knew was gonna be good, and was one of my top choices to play first on the PS2. It seemed to slip by everyone, but this is definately one of the best of the PS2's launch games. The atmosphere of the game is more than what you'd expect. It's extremely real, and you really feel like you're actually there, or watching the game on TV.
Graphically, this game is simply amazing. The players look very realistic, move realistic, and well, act realistic. They even blink, and blink normally! The visors look great, as do the helmets. They both reflect the arena's lights as they would in real life. I wouldn't be surprised that if you just walked into the room with this game playing, for a few seconds you might even think that this game was real. The graphics are just that good. The only gripe is the slight drop in framerate when you pass by the players bench. It is definately noticeable, but won't really effect the gameplay.
The sound of a sports game makes up about 80% of the atmosphere. This simply, has the best sound of any sports game ever. While the announcers aren't quite up to the standards of the 2K series in my opinion, they still keep it sounding real. But in NHL 2001, the sound of everything else is nothing less than perfect. When a team scores, if the siren doesn't tell you, the announcers will, and if you still haven't got the idea, the crowd (assuming the home team is the team that scored) will. You watch a game on TV, and a game on NHL 2001, and you'll notice is extremely similar. Finally a game gets it right in the sound department. It's not fair to compare this to NHL 2K because NHL 2K is a year old, but this is how sound is meant to be done in a sports game. To top it off, the sounds of the skaters on the ice, and the checks are right on. You can even hear the players jawing at the refs if the camera gets close enough!
NHL 2001 controls exactly like it's PSX counterpart. You can do the usual (slapshot, wrist shot, pass, etc.) plus dekes and spin moves. Your players will do a behind the back pass if you wish, or power up for the cannon shot at the net. I don't like how my shots can top 100MPH by players who aren't the world's greatest shooters. It's just slightly unrealistic (sarcasm). Hell, it's not uncommon for one-timers to top 130MPH. Now we're entering stupidity. That aside, you can really micromanage NHL 2001 to be very realistic, or what NBA Jam would be like if it was made into hockey. You can change the puck's elasticity, how often it rebounds, and even how much friction the puck has. During the all-star game, I decided to have some fun, and put the checking power all and recovery time to the max. The World All-Stars were lying all over the place, and my North American All-Stars were sitting in the penalty box... I decided to play w/out penalties on eventually, as it was more fun than the stupid All-Star games we have now (the very lighted hearted play is almost sickening).
This is a very good buy for any PS2 owner looking for a game to showoff the PS2's power. Since it plays so well, it's also a great game to play. If you're a hockey fan, I don't see any reason why you shouldn't have this game in your hands already. The lack of a franchise mode is really surprising, but the gameplay itself more than makes up for it. Buy it, buy it now!
Overall - 9.4
- The Drop