NHL Face Off 98

Sony's sports division is definitely on a big roll right now. It's been proven that they can do the 32-Bit polygonal format quite nicely, and they haven't hesitated to use it in all their new sports games, the latest of which is NHL Face Off 98.

Building on last year's strong points--mainly responsive gameplay, icon passing and applied team strategy-this year the emphasis was obviously put on the new polygonal look. Much the same as GameDay 98, the new Face Off makes the transformation to polygonal players. Keeping the competent gameplay, Al and frame rate while incorporating the new 3-D engine and polygonal graphics isn't easy, but at this point it looks (and plays) like they've done a very thorough job.

We expect all 26 official logos, stadiums, teams and players from the '97 season to be used. Statistical tracking is as extensive as ever with several categories for teams, players and users, including points, assists, penalty minutes, wins, shutouts, etc.

Cool new additions include 3-D fighting with uppercuts, plus pushing and pulling (no ear biting, though). Actual ingame moves such as hip checks, backward skating, drop passes and poke checks, to name a few, have benefitted greatly from the polygonal treatment. A lot of new sound effects have been added in many areas of the game, from fighting to the rippin' organ tunes.

It's premature to say that NHL Face Off 98 is the new king of the hockey sims, but at this point it looks good enough to shut down the current competition.

The Achilles' heel of Face Off '97 was its mediocre graphics, but in Face Off '98, Sony's at the top of its game, sliding one through the five-hole with outstanding player graphics and slick arenas (the boards visibly shake when players arc checked into them!). Still, gameplay's always primary, and the '98 season looks like another tight race with EA Sports' NHL '98 (see this issue's "Sports Pages" for the review). While this unfinished version largely played like last year's game with a facelift, Sony plans to add key elements like team-specific A.I. in the final phase of development.

The game still blazes by at a blindingly fast pace, and the analog controller handles sweetly. On the features side, Face Off's strategy stacks up poorly against NHL '98, but the game will offer cool touches like calling for passes and head-butts in lights. If Sony pulls it all together with Face Off '98, hockey fans will have a lot to celebrate.

NHL Faceoff suffers from a few minor shortcomings, but Sony sure concentrated on the right stuff for its stellar hockey debut: fast, kick-butt gameplay.

Siren Time

The puck drops into this Faceoff with almost all the right features. Gamers hit the ice in Exhibition, Season, and Playoff modes from four extremely useful views. The action goes down with all the '95-96 NHL teams and players, and you can create and trade players and free agents.

Hockey pros might miss niceties like all-star teams and a shootout mode, but they'll love every second of the fierce, remarkably speedy action. The brick-wall goalies sneer at cheesy shots, and the CPU teams play ferocious D and smart, whirlwind offense. Faceoff s tough, addictive gameplay demands well-planned, well-executed strategies.

Controlwise, your team fires off checks, slap shots, wrist shots, and one-timers with pinpoint precision. Passing and skating handle like a dream, too.

But the lack of fights, holds, drop passes, fake shots, and other pro moves will leave you feeling empty-handed at times. Switching to the key defenseman also occasionally takes too long, which can hang your goalie out to dry.

The Crowd Goes Wild

The strong graphics depict a solid 3D arena populated with smoothly moving players. Little details, like goalies who neatly snap up the puck and defensemen who slyly hook their opponents, make for startling realism. The sprites are a bit small, though, and become too pixelated in the close-up views.

Outstanding sounds keep the adrenaline pumping. Much like FIFA Soccer, the crowd hoots and hollers along with the action during intense moments, but grows silent and boos when you blow it. The other sounds are dead-on. like the energetic organ music that echoes through the rink.

Go, Baby, Go!

When the whistle blows, Faceoff makes Sega's pathetic attempt at 32-bit Saturn hockey look like high-school puck slinging. Next-gen hockey fans should stick with Faceoff-you'll be too busy blasting the puck and checking opponents to notice its negligible flaws.