Playstation 2 - NHL Hitz 2003

Format
Playstation 2
Publisher
Midway
Developer
Midway
Country of origin
US
Release date
30 September 2003
Genre
Sports

NHL Hitz 2003

By David Rasmussen
31st May 05

Doing a review in conjunction with Memorial Day (May 30th) is one thing.
Getting a game that works well enough to do said review, however, is another.
First time out I got Medal of Honor : Frontlines (really cheap) at Blockbusters, but the game wouldn’t load so it had to go back to the shop for another spin. When I got it back to Blockbusters I learned they didn’t have another copy of Frontlines for me to pick up.
Left with no other options, and a desire to review something, I picked up another thing that both served as a tie in to this week’s Hoop Days review (ie sports and not basketball, though I guess I could have bit the bullet and bought NCAA Basketball) and a tie in to Memorial Day… not really, but still I’ll give it a shot.
But I do plan to snap up a different WWII game (Medal of Honor : Rising Sun) for review shortly so be in the lookout for that. Now back to the review at hand…

Let’s see if you believe this.
Because Memorial Day is about America’s fighting men and women… some of who, yes, are hockey fans, I dedicated three weeks of hockey reviews just for them… don’t believe me, huh? Really!
Fans who have served the United States… oh-kay, maybe it’s not Memorial Day tied in… that’s what my review of Project : Snowblind is for. Anyway it could always be a Star Wars Episode III tie in since we could always say the owners are the evil Sith lords… or something like that.
Submit to the dark side of your pocketbooks, you Darth Sidious types you! You and your evil army of Clone Players, and your evil Darth Fanboys (somewhere in Canada someone is screaming “Nnnnooooo!!” for no apparent reason)… oh, wait, you know what? I don’t like hockey so why the heck should I care. Hooray for football (soccer)!

But since we’re on the topic, and according to X-Play the year 2003 was the last time people remember hockey as a sport, I bring you the 2002-2003 NHL Hockey season in three weeks of reviews… yeah, three weeks. Sorry. But it was REALLY REALLY REALLY cheap so I took all three for the price of a rental.

Week 1, this week, focuses on Midway’s 2002-2003 contribution with HITZ, the game you should start your cheap hockey playing with since this sports something the others seemingly don’t, a Hockey School to learn the game from (coached by an actual NHL hockey coach!)
Week 2 will be 989 Sports’ hockey game, NHL Faceoff 2003.
Finally, to wrap the three weeks off, we have a 2002-2003 game from the only franchise to give ESPN’s hockey game a run for it’s money in 2004-2005, that being EA Sports and it’s NHL 2003 game.

OK. Why the focus on hockey? Besides the fact that I’m going with a sports theme here, gamemakers have not yet given up hope on hockey’s return since it looks like they have already showed off their new 2005-2006 hockey games at E3 without even waiting to see if there would be a 2005-2006 hockey season, and hockey is just a sport that is going, going, going and near gone in terms of the sport itself?
So, well, since we may either be celebrating a new season or it’s final curtain call shortly why not celebrate the sports’ possible last great hoorahs before it’s “final episode” by looking back at an age when hockey was a sport, and not just a thing people argued about on the news and on ESPN Radio.
That and the price was right and cheap so I figured what the heck!

Oh, yeah, and then there’s this one slight problem… the feeling that nobody will care.
Let’s face it. This is a UK site and the sport that rocks here is football (soccer) and rugby, not hockey.
And with hockey getting a kick in the groin recently with their canceling their own 2004-2005 season I’m wondering if anyone cares anymore about hockey… except for the gamemakers who are rolling out new hockey games shortly that is… anyway three games for a little more than the price of one game rental is nice enough incentive for me to review these but not much of an incentive for you to read these.
But I’m going to look at these, and tell you which of these is the best by their gameplay alone (hockey fanaticism won‘t fit here since I‘m not a hockey fan(atic) to begin with), and whether or not the common everday sports game player will be as fascinated by these as the full time hockey fan might be.
That’ll work since we’re short of hockey fans here.

In this regard NHL HITZ 2003 might be your fix for the hockey fandom blues, or if you are (like me) a newbie who wants to try hockey but doesn’t want to be saddled with a game that has a hard learning curve.
The ease to learn this game starts off with it’s easy to master Hockey School mode, coached by a coach who has won the most (as of the game’s release) Stanley Cups in history, or something like that.
He’ll walk you through the game, patiently at that (no Bobby Knight choking incidents here), and get you ready to jump right in and start playing.
Next we have the mini games, six mind blowing games that’ll challenge you and are fun to boot.
Sure they’re not the party games of ESPN NHL 2K5 but they’re good nevertheless, and they’ll get you on the roll in terms of learning how to put those skills you learned in hockey school to good use.
After that we go into exhibition mode, to try out your game.

And as you enter here you’ll see that you have lots to look forward to.
First off all the teams (as of 2002-2003) are present, and accounted for… but since I’m not a hockey fan I can’t exactly vouch for complete authenticity. But then again nobody’s ever complained about a Barry Bonds of Hockey (I.e. somebody who refuses to allow their image to be put into hockey games) so I guess we have the full monty of players… hmm… and one player that looks an awful lot like Adam Sessler from X-Play… hmmm. That and you can also make your own players, so you can’t beat that!

Then we have the fields. We have real fields AND Fantasy fields ranging from the wild west to shark tanks, and a military base to the moon for starters! You can also pick international fields of play as well and this is NOT only in the Exhibition mode! You can also do it in the Season mode as well!

Season mode allows you to play for the Stanley Cup by picking a team and working them through the year.
From the draft to the playoffs you’ll have lots of work to do if you want to master your chosen team and reach the top of the ladder and the elusive Stanley Cup! I picked St. Louis because on the back of the box the Adam Sassler looking dude was playing for St. Louis… yeah, it’s not him but… never mind.

Once you get into gameplay, and really start playing, that’s when things get fun.
It’s fast paced, the gameplay is hard hitting and it is really easy to get into the action quite fast.
I liked the gameplay the best since it was easy to pick up, and once I got into the basics I was wailing away working hard for those goals. Of course I still have lots to master before I start to really get a hang of this but getting started is easy, and wanting to learn how to master it is no problem here.
And since this game had an easy to master Hockey School section to play I got the hang of hockey fast, and I even earned a bonus fantasy field (Jungle Stadium) for passing Hockey School!

Besides the above modes we also have a Tourney mode, a Franchise mode where you make your own team to face the world, and mini games. Then we have the unlockables! Over 150 different unlockables from gear, to new Fantasy fields, and more! And, if that wasn’t enough? We also have pop quizes that happen after every game (from what I could see of it) that’ll earn you points for each correct ansewr!
Then we have the 2003 soundtrack featuring Rob Zombie, Powerman 5000 and Incubus to name a few.
Which is nice and all except I’m at a loss here concerning the music… well, I don’t know the players but I do know if they’re good or not.

When it comes right down to it all of these quirks and extras serve up some solid gaming fun for the budget minded player who wants a quality game but wants a really good discount too. The only other game I can think of that’s cheap, and also as good, is ESPN NHL 2K5 that is out now. That is also looking good DESPITE the fact ESPN NHL 2K5 probably doesn’t have fantasy fields, unlockable gear and weird mini games like in this game!

Midway’s HITZ 2003 is a hit, and for the low low price you can probably find it for at your local Blockbusters or similar place that sells low priced games? You can’t go wrong with this one!
The gameplay is solid, the modes are fun no matter how you slice it, and I liked the Hockey School and mini games which added some depth to the game. For a newbie like me who is not used to playing hockey playing this game was just too good. A solid experience that made it fun to get my feet wet on hockey gaming wise for the firs time. If you can find it for a good low price you should grab it, you’ll enjoy it!

NHL HITZ 2003 Breakdown
What’s Hot?
I didn’t think I would like hockey, but after giving Midway’s NHL HITZ 2003 a spin I found that it does have some merits and it pretty interesting to play… if it is done right.
With a ton of playing features, loads of extras including unlockables, fantasy fields to play on, mini games and more you just can’t go wrong with this game. And considering you should be able to grab this for about a few dollars now if you can find it for so cheap? That’s just even more incentive to give this a spin.
A game that’ll get your feet wet for hockey, and give you a reason to check out ESPN’s NHL 2K5 and possibly it’s 2K6 game if it comes out with one, HITZ 2003 is a good way to get into the hockey “spirit”… which may be the only game in town just in case the game goes the way of the dodo and only video game hockey remains after this coming fall and the supposed launch of 2005-2006 hockey.

What’s Not?
Well, let’s face it. This won’t be sweeping the UK anytime soon.
Hockey is going to be a game that’ll only sweep players for it’s solid playability rather than it’s “fanbase” since I don’t think there’s many hockey fans in the UK.
HOWEVER, in that regard, from the playing aspect alone? The game does have it’s merits and should be at least rented to see how one receives it. Still, with a ton of real and fantasy elements combined for a solid gaming experience? You can’t go wrong here. And, again, it’s for a low low price now so you should have even more incentive to grab this when you can.
At least rent it. If it tickles your fancy buy it. Simple as that.

Moments to Remember?
Besides the mini games? Duking it out on fantasy fields is a highlight. The space field, or the shark tank field is nice… what I really liked was the disco field… oohh, all the flashing lights! Good thing I don’t succumb to flashing lights and go into seizures like that episode of Poke’mon featuring Porygon that sent hundreds to the hospitals due to seizures.

What to Ignore?
Nothing. It’s all good here… oh, wait. Don’t you play as an owner in some of these modes? Does that mean your evil now? Did you fall to the dark side without even knowing it?
Then there’s the fighting system (where two hockey players get into a fight) which is kind of awkward and not very easy to control. But then again since you’re not getting into a fight every 5 seconds you don’t have to deal with this enough times to even worry about it.
As for the bone crunching glass breaking moves as you slam and trash your opponents? Hmm… it was OK though I don’t know what “perfect” bone breaking in hockey games is supposed to be so forgive me if I’m not up on what makes a good body smashing system in a hockey game.
Otherwise if I have complaints they are few and not enough to warrant passing on this bargain game.
For it’s low price you are actually getting a fairly decent game here. In my opinion this and ESPN NHL 2K5 should be in your collection if you like tinkering in the hockey gaming arena.

Overall?
For a low priced hockey game from 2002-2003 I have to say this is one that I really enjoyed reviewing, and enjoy playing. With all it’s modes, it’s fantasy fields, it’s extras and unlockables AND it’s mini games (to name a few) we have ourselves a little winner here folks!
It got my feet wet on hockey, and now I think I’m ready for ESPN NHL 2K5 and the inevitable 2K6... Which may be the last hoorah if Hockey vanishes after this year. Oh, well. There’s always College Hockey to base games on.

-- David Rasmussen 31st May 05

Playstation 2 NHL Hitz 2003 Images