Cool Combo: NHL Rivals 2004 and XSN Sports

What do you get when you mix two of the hottest things in console gaming—XSNsports.com and Xbox Live—with a product designed for the Xbox from the ground up? You get NHL Rivals 2004, one of the coolest games that will ship this holiday season.

NHL Rivals 2004, an Xbox exclusive from Microsoft Game Studios’ XSN Sports line, will offer the unbeatable combination of world-class gameplay, magnificent graphics, slick-as-ice controls, online play via Xbox Live, and the ability to track your progress in leagues and tournaments on XSNsports.com. It takes competition to the next level and lets you build your own rivalries with players around the block or around the world.

NHL Rivals 2004 is yet another great offering from XSN Sports—the first was NFL Fever 2004—which means the game is guaranteed to be as authentic as the NHL will allow. Meanwhile the gameplay is fun and easy to learn.

Here are some of NHL Rivals 2004’s biggest and best features:

• Pivot Control: Control backward skating on offense and defense with a simple pull of the trigger.
• Pinpoint Passing: Move left while making a pass to the right.
• Heads-up Coaching Controls: There’s no need to stop the game to alter your team’s playing style. You can do it on the fly without stopping the action.
• Authentic NHL Gameplay: You’re going to be impressed by the “ol’ time hockey” feel when you pin an opponent to the boards, dive in front of an opponent’s shot, or blast a slap shot at a rival goalie. There’s an assortment of role-specific moves also available in game, from an enforcer’s big can-opener check to sniper’s spin-o-rama move.
• Five modes of competition: Play in Single Game, Season, Tournament, Playoffs, and Instant Rivalry modes. Instant Rivalry drops you right in the middle of the NHL’s most intense rivalries, like the Canadiens vs. the Maple Leafs, so don’t forget to buckle your helmet.
• Xbox Live enabled: Your broadband Internet connection is the doorway to a world of competition. Play in ranked and non-ranked standard games with up to 10 players on six Xbox consoles over the Internet. Even play a wide-open game of Pickup hockey on a small rink where the rules are loose and the hits are heavy.

When played on your Xbox console, NHL Rivals 2004 is a full-featured game that offers a variety of game modes to keep you engaged for hours on end. But the thing that pushes this game over and above offerings from other game studios is its ability to connect hockey fans from around the world on common rinks. Like all XSN Sports titles, there is a lot more to NHL Rivals 2004 than the disc and the manual that are included in the neon green box. This is a game that will grow on you, with online stats and updated rosters that will be available for download to reflect the latest happenings in the real NHL. There are other types of downloads planned, but I’ll be shoved into the penalty box if I reveal them at this time. Let’s just say it will be well worth your while to return to Xbox.com’s NHL Rivals 2004 pages frequently to get the latest news and information about the game.

If you love the NHL or you just want to dive into a game that’s intense and fun to play, you’ve got to give NHL Rivals 2004 a shot. It’s an experience you can’t beat with a hockey stick.

By Keith Procter