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NHL 2004


Fanpuck33_

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I only have EA's NHL 2003 on PS2.

What about the players on NHL 2004? How good are Canadiens like Theodore and Koivu? On NHL 2003, Theodore is rated 98 and Koivu 84, I think.

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After his bad season is 2002-2003, Thedore is down to a low 90 rating. I think Koivu is still a mid 80.

It's a shame Ryder wasn't included in the game though.

High ratings on 2004 are hard to come by, they really cracked down on rating guys highly. The online play is excellent, after not being able to play online since March, I increased my rating today to 1363 overall. Hopefully I can get it back up under 500.

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i got nhl 2004 for ps2 andI got the network adapter, but my network cable does not reach to the room with the tv! It sucks, but hopefully this can eventually be fixed.

NHL 2k5 is coming out pretty soon - I wonder how good it will be. I could never decide if i liked the 2Kx series or not.

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Yeah, I had a similar problem back at school. My LAN connection was in one room, and the TV in another. Luckily, my friend generouly gave me a 50 foot LAN cable. I couldn't believe he just gave it to me, those things are expensive.

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I never played online, but, love all the NHL games. I made a pretty good version of Ryder... not too good, but good enuf to make it on the 2nd line and such, muahaha, lol.

Im anxious for 2005, i also liked the controls. Each year it gets better so, we shall see.

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I was happier with 2004 than I had been with any of the EA Sports games for a long time (the last 'great' being Pronger's NHL 2001). The management (my favourite part of the game) was quite real and quite enjoyable. Sure, after 10 years you lost half of the NHL players, and after 15 it was almost pointless to go on. However, it was solidly built. Players could no longer change directions instantly, the passing was more believable, trading with many draft picks, and the goalies were right 90% of the time. Yes

NHL 2k5 looks great except for two little flaws - the player's skating and the player's shooting. Check out the demo on the ESPN homepage with ESPN motion. The graphics look great, the fans look real, the goalie moves quite accurate, and the 'between-action' visuals stunning. However, the skating and shooting look awful, and, seeing as that's 90% of the game, it doesn't look like it'll win any awards.

NHL 2005 from EA should be pretty good. Apart from last year's additions, it has the following:

-Better player control, directionally, and with passing and holding on to the puck

-A new playcalling system that allows you to choose offensive and defensive face-off strategies every time the whistle blows.

-World Cup

-More realistic skating

-Awesome multiplayer practices (4-player free-for-all vs. a goalie)

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Originally posted by Fanpuck33

After his bad season is 2002-2003, Thedore is down to a low 90 rating.  I think Koivu is still a mid 80.

It's a shame Ryder wasn't included in the game though.

High ratings on 2004 are hard to come by, they really cracked down on rating guys highly.  The online play is excellent, after not being able to play online since March, I increased my rating today to 1363 overall.  Hopefully I can get it back up under 500.

I can't stand the ratings in NHL 2004, especially the Dynasty Mode.

In the Dynasty Mode, most players will play below potential.

Dan Cloutier was rated higher than Jose Theodore. :nono:

Under no circumstance can allow Dan Cloutier to be rated higher than Jose Theodore. In fact, Theodore can have a broken leg, and he still deserves a higher rating. That rating pissed me off a lot. They should make sure some players will always be better than others, such as Theodore > Cloutier.

Ed Jovanoski should not be allowed to beat up Sheldon Souray. I fought with him once, and Jovanoski one -easily. What the hell kind of outcome was that? Souray would rearrange Jovo's face in a fight.

Brad May, should not be allowed to win any fights. He's rated way too high in toughness.

Yanic Perreault's face-off rating is in the low 50's. He's been leading in face-off's for the past 4 years at over 60%. He should have the highest face-off skill rating in the league.

Alex Auld is not better than Mathieu Garon and should not be rated as if he is.

Todd Bertuzzi is not a 'hero' and should be rated as one. In fact, he shouldn't be allowed to score in the playoffs.

Ribeiro sucks in that game. Sucks.

:nono:

Rivet should be rated lower and be a better fighter.

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Originally posted by TheAussiePosse

The management (my favourite part of the game) was quite real and quite enjoyable.

But still, these management options are well behind those of Madden 2004. Madden has so many more individual options and goes much more in-depth. But I guess anything is better than other years EA hockey games, where you signed FA by selecting who you wanted to go after and hoped that the computer let them sign with you. You couldn't even control your teams offer.

And the whole GM's office is kinda silly. They could have taken the time they spent on that and come up with a direct passing system or scouting options more like Madden's.

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Originally posted by Ribeiro

I can't stand the ratings  in NHL 2004, especially the Dynasty Mode.

In the Dynasty Mode, most players will play below potential.

Dan Cloutier was rated higher than Jose Theodore.  :nono:

Under no circumstance can allow Dan Cloutier to be rated higher than Jose Theodore.  In fact, Theodore can have a broken leg, and he still deserves a higher rating.  That rating pissed me off a lot.  They should make sure some players will always be better than others, such as Theodore > Cloutier.

Ed Jovanoski should not be allowed to beat up Sheldon Souray.  I fought with him once, and Jovanoski one -easily.  What the hell kind of outcome was that?  Souray would rearrange Jovo's face in a fight.  

Brad May, should not be allowed to win any fights.  He's rated way too high in toughness.

Yanic Perreault's face-off rating is in the low 50's.  He's been leading in face-off's for the past 4 years at over 60%.  He should have the highest face-off skill rating in the league.

Alex Auld is not better than Mathieu Garon and should not be rated as if he is.

Todd Bertuzzi is not a 'hero' and should be rated as one.  In fact, he shouldn't be allowed to score in the playoffs.

Ribeiro sucks in that game.  Sucks.  

:nono:

Rivet should be rated lower and be a better fighter.

It's true, the original ratings from the game are quite bad. But if you have internet connection for your PS2, you can download some modified rosters with much better ratings and with all the new players (for e.g. Ryder). If you have a PC version then it's also no problem to get a better roster. The best thing would be if you edit the roster with a tool like NHL View.

For me the Dynasty Mode was the best new thing in the EA NHL series for years. Sure they play below average at the beginning but that's the challenge. You've to get a good record, make some good trades or simply re-sign some of your players ... then you get credits and with this credits you can upgrade the coaching stuff, the training facilities and so on. With all the upgrades your players will get better and they will steadily improve ... simply build a dynasty, just as the name of the mode says. ;)

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In NHL 2004, I still couldn't believe EA did like half the cyber faces for the players and barely did some ingame pictures.

Thank god there's people out there with the time and dedication and don't mind working on what EA forgot to do.

(Note, in case you didn't know, EA NHL 2005 is being made in Montreal, EA as a studio somewhere near downtown. So if that game sucks rating wise and still half ass complete, you know where to throw you molotov cocktails).

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The previous versions (NHL 2001), did a better job on the commentating.

They had better between-action clips and commentators often said interesting things,

Hughson: "Did you know Paul Kariya learned to juggle?"

Clemet: "He did Jim. To improve his hand-eye coordination."

Clip of Turgeon skating.

Hugson: "Did you know Pierre Turgeon was a Montreal Canadiens captain?"

Stuff like that is nonexistent in NHL 2004. The commentating is smooth and interesting in 2001, at least in the computer version.

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I agree. The play by play comentary is really poor in NHL 2004.

Pretty often they claim that Theodore can take out the defence to dinner if he manage to keep all the pucks out.

Even if I'm trailing by two...

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Originally posted by ch_nl

I agree. The play by play comentary is really poor in NHL 2004.

Pretty often they claim that Theodore can take out the defence to dinner if he manage to keep all the pucks out.  

Even if I'm trailing by two...

What's up with that part?

The commentator will sometimes say, "He's going for a shutout!"

When my goalie has let 2 goals in. :lol:

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it screws up stuff like that all the time. I really like it when im on the PK and it talks about my powerplay record or the opposing teams PK. Even better is when they tell you that your fourth line wing with 3 goals is an offensive dynamo.

NHL 2004 commentators are far too obsessed with faceoff ratings for my taste.... being good at faceoffs is a good thing for a team, but perhaps they could say something about the offensive or defensive level of the team. Some very simple code could allow them to say stuff like:

whether a team's average goals per game make a comeback likely.

Whether a teams lead is safe based on the goalies GAA.

If you wanted to get only slightly more complicated they could talk about easy to compile stats such as a team's record in 1 goal games, division strength, season record against opposing team.

All this would probably add a lot to the sound allocation on the DVD, but probably not much to the actual software. Some stuff like that would really improve the game experience for me.

Also, it would be kind of cool if you could sign coaches. They already have some coach skins and their names stored. It might be interesting if your coach had a skill rating and some attributes that would affect your teams ability to apply offensive or defensive strategies. Probably annoying and unworkable, but I thought it might be interesting.

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I'm noticing more and more that the game seems pre-determined.

For instance, I'll be leading a game by 2 goals from the 1st period. The rest of the game, I can't score. Whether it be on the breakaway, point - I just can't score on their goalie who all of a sudden seems like a brick wall.

Last 3 minutes, they score 2 goals to tie it up.

I notice this a lot in the playoffs.

I've also noticed that if you choose auto line-changes, the computer is absolutely obsessed with putting out 3rd and 4th line during the last 10 minutes as opposed to the 1st and hero lines like its suppose to.

It's gotten so bad that when the game is tied or when I'm losing by one, with a minute left, the computer puts out 4th line. I usually have to do a manual line-change.

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Why even allow the computer to do your line changes? Not only do I not trust the computer to do my lines, doing it manually makes me feel like I am that much more in control of the game.

Games are definitely harder in the playoffs, but I haven't noticed that they are "fixed." I win every game by a number of goals, and I play on maximum difficulty with penalties and rules on.

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I used to do auto-line changes but like Ribeiro said the computer would pull a gay stunt and put the 4th line when I'm down by one. I got fet up so I do it manually, same thing except I'm more in control.

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I'm playing in the playoffs right now (1st round) - medium level.

Why is the computer obsessed with injuring all my players?

Round 1, game 2 - Mike Grier is injured for 5 weeks. For that, I had Rivet nail Czecowski (or however it's spelt) and his neck broke.

I got Mark Recchi just for the playoffs. Game 4 - Injured with 20 seconds in the game left. In which I said, "Hell no!" And quit.

Game 4, 2nd try - Markov gets nailed. Injured. He wasn't doing anything either. I won the face-off and all of a sudden I see Markov flying across my screen. :nono:

The computer won't tell me how long he's injured since the highlights bar at the bottom will enjoy tell the score between Buffalo and Boston. I have no clue about Markov's injury. :nono:

In comes Hainsey...

:eyes:

[Edited on 2004/8/16 by Ribeiro]

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