ESPN NHL Hockey is the latest addition in Sega Sports and Visual Concepts' critically-acclaimed NHL 2K series of games. Though they aren't known for releasing their sports titles in conjunction with actual pro seasons' opening days or in anticipation of a competitors sports title, Sega and Visual Concepts have managed to make ESPN NHL Hockey the first game out of the gate for the 2003-2004 NHL season by releasing it nearly a full month before the season-opener. While this might inspire the thought that perhaps the game might have been rushed or is unfinished in some fashion, this is definitely not the case. ESPN NHL Hockey is, in fact, a spectacular follow-up to last year's NHL 2K3, building upon all of the best aspects of that game and correcting the bulk of its flaws.

Just an FFR, the ESPN has since been taken out of the title and replaced by "2K", as in "2K Games".  

For anybody who hasn't already, I definately recommend picking up a copy of this game.  Not only does it offer a lot more playing modes, customization, and just a better overall hockey experience, it's only 20 bucks so it's a lot cheaper than the EA hockey games.  When I first played the game, I was disappointed by the graphics, sure they don't compare to EA's, but you have to look beyond that.  Playing a season on EA and a season on 2K don't even compare to each other.  In EA games, you can unrealistically blow out opponents every game, and it gets very boring after about 3 or 4 games.  Even with the difficulty all the way up, the AI acts just as stupid as they did on "Easy". The only change is, they become more aggressive and go around checking everything that moves (even on easy, the amount of checking that goes on in this game is rediculous, it doesn't feel like hockey, just tackling with sticks, or "tank hockey" as it's been deemed by some).  In the 2K games, I always felt like I had to work for the win, it made it challanging and ultimately more rewarding to win the in end.  Anyway, thats my little rant, if anybody picks it up and has a PS2 modem, drop me a line and we can play a few games.

Nothing Beat EA's Hockey

I think EASports NHL 06 is great quality and I will probably buy NHL 07. Never been impress with the graphic of 2k