Quest for the Cup

I’m taking a break from having my Islanders pound the Rangers to tell you that Stanley Cup madness has come to the Xbox! NHL rivalries—between teams and fans alike—are some of the most intense and persistent in all of professional sports. It’s these very rivalries that are responsible for much of the game’s huge international appeal. NHL Rivals™ 2004 lives up to its name, bringing all this intensity and excitement right into your living room—and then carrying it far beyond.

Are you ready to enter the rink?

Heating Up the Ice
NHL Rivals 2004 gives you the chance to become a hulking, trash-talking, dentally challenged professional hockey player. Thanks to excellent graphics and an impressive frame rate, the gameplay is exceptionally fluid and comes closer to real hockey than anything other game out there, providing enough options to satisfy even the most diehard fan. Your players can skate left while passing right, for example, and pivot 180 degrees, while maintaining their skate direction, to improve your defensive tactics. You can change your team’s attack strategy on the fly and even pin opponents against the boards. And, what’s a hockey game without a fight? The fighting system allows you to decide whether or not a fight will occur and gives you control over your player’s fisticuffs.

The authentic arena sounds and believable crowd reactions add to the realism of the experience. Audience reaction rises to match the level of the tension on the ice and increases to fever pitch during playoffs or grudge matches. There are authentic rink sounds galore, including the famous Phoenix Coyote howl. The athletes themselves are impressively rendered, with detailed jerseys and authentic equipment. And, the arenas are uncannily similar to the real thing, featuring degradable ice and shakable glass on the boards.

All these features add up to a hockey game that’s detailed and realistic enough to satisfy even the most demanding fan. The game wraps all this believable simulation around a competitive core that lets you do more than just watch these epic struggles; it puts you right in the middle of the action.

You’re right in the middle of the action.

In a League of its Own
NHL Rivals 2004—combined with XSN Sports and Xbox Live support—gives you everything you need to create and experience classic NHL rivalries both at home and worldwide. This unique brand of competitive online sports gaming lets you compete against players from around the world. Immediately after you enter this arena, courtesy of Xbox Live, you’ll be scheduling your own grudge matches against players living everywhere from Boston to Bangladesh.

If you want immediate competition, set the game for Instant Rivals mode, and let the ice chips fall where they may. Write your own chapter in the ongoing saga of such great NHL rivalries as the Red Wings vs. the Avalanche, or the Islanders vs. the Rangers. Authentic color commentary documents the history behind the animosity, and then the ice becomes a virtual gladiatorial arena as the teams square off and do battle for the honor of the latest victory in their longstanding rivalry. And, if you need more than two teams to make your rivalry worthwhile, set up a round-round knockout tournament, which sends the winners into a special grudge-match event.

But, perhaps a single game isn’t enough to sate your appetite for antagonism? Maybe you need a little something extra—say, an entire season? Season Mode allows you to form a team and play through a complete NHL season. As the season progresses, you can trade players, put players on the injured/reserve list (yep, the game features meaningful injuries!), or sign free agents. You can also acquire rookies, minor leaguers, or create your own players. The action doesn’t stop there, either. You can take your team into postseason play or create your own special tournaments.

Intense hockey competition. Bring it on.

As you would expect, the network supports league formats, so you can host your friends in special tournaments. But, you can also seek out matches against players from around the globe. The network tracks all the stats for your team and players, so you can follow your progress, and live leader boards display your team’s win/loss records. You can even get new quarterly roster updates through the network, as well as All-Star Game rosters and updated athlete ratings, ensuring that your gameplay is always up to date.

With its unique blend of hockey realism combined with intense online play, NHL Rivals 2004 should gain the attention of dedicated online sports fans. Now, if you’ll excuse me, the Rangers need a little more thrashing.

By Jason Carl