Specifically, Rivals' AI is often questionable at best, especially when it comes to goalies. The game just feels very loose and sloppy in some key areas. NHL Rivals 2004 is most certainly geared to cater to fans of simulation hockey but lacks the cohesive gameplay of its competitors. The role-playing system is definitely a cool idea, and Rivals actually executes it pretty well. Enforcers can give a defender a little bump-and-go while holding the puck, and they can wallop opponents with hard can-opener checks when on defense. For instance, snipers can use a nifty little spin maneuver when holding on to the puck, and they can also perform a stick clip move to disrupt the shots of opposing players. Roles are also defined by a specific action that can be performed by pressing a "role" button on the controller in the appropriate situation.
Snipers are your goal-scoring threats, agitators are your penalty-drawing guys who break up plays, enforcers are your fighters, and balanced players aren't especially brilliant in any one category but have respectable abilities in each. Each category is about what you would expect it to be. The four role categories are balanced, sniper, agitator, and enforcer. To elaborate on this a bit further, Rivals assigns one of four role types to each player. Each player in the game has his own specific type of role on the team, just as in real-life hockey. NHL Rivals 2004 does have one unique control innovation that ties directly into what is referred to as the game's "role-playing" system. Additionally, the lack of a "freestyle" deking system, similar to what EA and Sega offer with the right thumbstick, is a little disappointing. For the most part, Rivals' controls are fairly responsive, though certain actions, like deking and winding up for a slap shot, feel a little bit off and require a little bit of off-timing to perform correctly.
Coaching schemes can be altered by using the directional pad, and you can speed burst and pivot with the right and left trigger buttons. The right thumbstick lets you pinpoint pass to other players by tapping in the appropriate direction you can execute a drop pass by pressing the right thumbstick in. Rivals' primary player controls, when in possession of the puck, include deke, pass, dump, and shoot buttons, while dive, stick check, body check, and player switch buttons are used when not in control of the puck. NHL Rivals 2004 is Microsoft's debut venture into the world of the NHL.Īnyone who has played either ESPN NHL Hockey or NHL 2004 ought to be able to pick up NHL Rivals 2004's controls pretty quickly. Unfortunately, NHL Rivals 2004 doesn't do much to set itself apart from the competition, and, additionally, it has some rather problematic flaws that deteriorate its gameplay to the level of subpar, at best.
Rivals 2004 is a simulation-style hockey game that clearly draws influence from gameplay elements found in both EA and Sega's NHL games.
NHL 2004 REBUILT CONTROLS PROFESSIONAL
Earlier this year, Microsoft announced NHL Rivals 2004, the company's very first attempt at the sport of professional ice hockey.
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