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"...it’s no surprise that Microsoft has announced its newest sports title, NHL Rivals 2004..." |
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Platform: Xbox Genre: Sports Publisher: Microsoft Developer: Microsoft Games Sutdio ESRB: Q4 2003
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NHL Rivals 2004
Already having developed an NFL, NBA, and a soon-to-be-released MLB video game for its Xbox, it’s no surprise that Microsoft has announced its newest sports title, NHL Rivals 2004, just as the greatest championship tournament in the world, the Stanley Cup playoffs, begins.
The quest for the Cup captures some of the greatest and most intense battles seen in any sport from the start of the Cup playoffs until the very last game as a new champion is crowned. Microsoft is hoping to capture some of that Cup craziness in NHL Rivals 2004, which has a plethora of game modes and features that should satisfy even the most rabid hockey fan. Here’s the official game info slap-shotted straight from Microsoft: Microsoft Game Studios announced its first hockey title for the Xbox video game system, NHL Rivals 2004. The game is scheduled to go top shelf in stores this fall. NHL Rivals 2004 will have all the modes of play that hockey fans want including single game, playoff mode, season mode and online play. In addition, NHL Rivals 2004 will showcase a variety of features including: An advanced stick-placement system with unique moves and countermoves to make the face-off as important in the game as it is in the NHL.
An in-depth Tournament Mode allowing gamers to set up an 8, 10, 12, or 16 team round-robin knockout tournament.
A challenging Rivalry Mode that instantly puts gamers into a grudge match between historic rival teams like the Canadiens vs. Maple Leafs.
Unique player roles including Snipers, Enforcers and Agitators offer gamers a chance to experience different aspects of the NHL game. Each player will have special moves indicative of their role on the ice. "The popularity of NHL hockey is based on the intense rivalries that teams and fans have with each other," said Kevin Browne, sports studio manager at Microsoft Game Studios. "NHL Rivals 2004 has captured the thrill and excitement of those rivalries. Gamers will be able to experience their own hockey rivalries through intense, competitive play, whether that be in single-player mode or with others around the world via Xbox Live." Hockey fans will be able to settle old grudge matches and create new rivalries online using Xbox Live. Gamers will be able to track individual and team stats, leader boards and win/loss records as well as support cooperative, team, ranked and non-ranked play. With Xbox Live, gamers will be able to download quarterly roster updates, All-Star game rosters and updated player ratings. NHL Rivals 2004 is scheduled to hit store shelves in the fall and will be Xbox Live enabled.
Microsoft is packing more features into Rivals 2004 than you can shake a Koho stick at. And it needs to if it plans to compete against the amazingly excellent Xbox hockey game from Sega Sports, NHL 2K3 (2K4 by the time Rivals 2004 releases). I especially like the inclusion of Rivalry Mode in Rivals 2004. Maybe I can extract some revenge for my favorite team, the Philadelphia Flyers, against those New Jersey Devils.
But the biggest asset by far is that Rivals 2004 will join the other Microsoft sports titles NFL Fever and Inside Pitch (and I well suspect the 2004 edition of Inside Drive) as Xbox Live compatible. Sega Sports’ NHL 2K3 is the only Xbox Live compatible hockey game right now, and it is truly awesome online. Microsoft isn’t satisfied letting Sega have all the online hockey fun and will be downright adversarial in challenging Sega’s hockey supremacy on Xbox Live. We’ll check it out this fall to see if Rivals 2004 can heat up the virtual ice and knock NHL 2K4 out of the hockey gaming arena. - Lee Cieniawa (April 19, 2003) |
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