Finally A TRUE Hockey Sim

For years I have played EA Sports' yearly NHL games (since NHL '95 on the Genesis) and was satisfied for a while but as the years passed NHL became ho-hum, while the whole time being NOTHING like the real NHL. I was easily reaching double goals by the middle of the second period on All-Pro mode, there was no reference to the infamous neutral zone trap, and the spins and dekes looked like they belonged in a basketball game, nobody on skates could do what their video game counterparts were doing. I longed for a hockey game that would challenge me with the hardnose defense one-goal-margin, tie games aplenty brand of hockey that is on our television almost every night from mid-October to early June. NHL 2K3 was like a gift from the hockey gods. The graphics are right up there with NHL 2003 and the controls go much deeper than it's EA Sports counterpart. This is real NHL hockey. The only glaring problem with this and any other hockey game out there is the camera. While you can play comfortably with most of the camera angles offered, none of them are truly perfect. The ESPN presentation as with the other 2K3 games this year is excellent and while not commanding all your attention, you definitely know it's there and it gives the TV style presentation that much more oomph. The commentary at times can be a little sparse but for the most part is on top of things and the color commentator definitely does his job pointing things out to those "watching at home" while not the comedy act from NHL 2003 (loved by some hated by others) it fits it's niche very nicely. Overall this is the best hockey experience that 50 bucks can buy. Unless you live in an NHL town then that's the best hockey experience you can buy. But this is about as close as you can get to being there without having to pick your teeth up off the ice.