Background Info

PC Screens(8)

Fox NHL Championship 2000 is essentially the sequel to Radical Entertainment's Powerplay 98. The latest edition features a whole range of gameplay and artificial intelligence improvements, a brand-spanking-new graphics engine, and a whole lot of Fox attitude.

Powerplay 98 was well-received by the hockey sim community, although it had a number of subtle gameplay flaws that limited its long-term replay value. The challenge for Fox and Radical with NHL Championship 2000 was to fix those gameplay holes, and at the same time do a better job of wooing arcade hockey fans - without turning off the hardcore sim fans that represented their core audience. Read on to see how well they walked this razor's edge.

Note that I'm playing a beta version, so I won't mention bugs other than to say that there are no major gameplay issues. The few glitches I saw look like things that can be cleaned up in time for the game's release.

The Verdict Is In
The first question to be asked is whether the game will please the sim fans. Make no mistake about it. NHL Championship 2000 has the best artificial intelligence (AI) yet seen in a PC hockey game.

The most obvious and dramatic demonstration of the AI is the way the defencemen play. They stick to their positions. They make hits and they intercept passes. They block shots. In short they make you work for your scoring chances. Playing ten minute periods I am getting between twenty and thirty-five shots per game, which is just about right (and much closer to reality than any other hockey game).

This not only makes the game more fun and realistic, it allowed the developers do pull off another first - realistic goalies. The goalies are better than in Powerplay 98 (yes, the "sweet spot goals" have been fixed) but are not the brick walls we saw in EA's NHL 99. They don't have to be, because they have actual defense in front of them, so they aren't facing 100+ shots per game.

The defencemen also play their roles well in the offensive zone. A good example is on the powerplay, where you can actually control the puck and pass it around the offensive zone. I usually despise penalties in hockey games, but it is so well done here that it is enormous fun.

The offensive AI is also improved since Powerplay 98. The computer teams are much more capable of scoring now. I still see a tendency for the computer to drop-pass a bit much in the neutral zone. They could be made stronger by tuning this.

The puck and player physics are superb. The puck seems to move as it should. The realistic puck physics also help maintain realistic shot counts, since point shots can often go wide or over the net, just as in real hockey. You can even do nice little bounce-passes off the boards, a feature I haven't seen since the original Wayne Gretzky Hockey series ten years ago.

You have excellent control over the players. They seem to have the right amount of momentum. You can make big hits but it isn't easy; you can also make moves to avoid the hits if you see them coming in time.

Scoring itself seems realistic. Good cross-ice one-timers are a high percentage play, as are close-in clear shots. I also managed to score on a couple breakaways. I got another goal on a rebound that caught the goalie out of position.

The coaching options are simple, realistic, and effective. You can control every important aspect of your team's play - defensive coverage, breakouts, fore-checking, pinching defencemen, etc. The computer makes reasonable coaching decisions, such as pulling his goalie late in the game if he's down one goal and gets a face-off in your end. The line changing has also been improved - it uses a similar system as Powerplay 98 did, but the user interface has been enlarged which makes it easier to work with.

The statistics display is very complete. Radical has done a superb job in this area. As well as all the typical stats it includes counts like shot blocks and the number of goalposts hit. You can even sort the stats to see which player has the most playtime, who is winning the most face-offs and so on. Very slick.

Another Powerplay 98 issue that has been resolved are the camera angles. Finally we have a 3D hockey game that allows the user to control zoom level. Playing at 800x600 in the overhead mode I can see half the rink at one time, which lets me see plays developing and hit open players with passes.

There are a few minor issues that sim fans might not be totally happy with. At the highest skill setting the gameplay seems a little too fast to me. I wish there were a game speed setting independent of the skill level. But it's only a bit too fast, not a lot - it seems like the kind of thing that could be fixed with a little roster editing of players' speed attributes.

As far as I can tell there's no real momentum system that makes your team go harder when they score goals or make big hits. I also can't find a way to lock my control onto one player (e.g., so that I can play center for the whole game).

What About Arcade Fans?
I think arcade fans will really like this game. There's a skill level to suit everyone, and a host of other options to customize the rule set (i.e., turning off penalties, icing calls, etc.). The games are close and competitive.

The game's presentation and commentary is absolutely first-rate. It is done very much like a Fox TV hockey game. It has everything from the opening light show, to goalie introductions, to in-game color commentary. One of the neatest things is that the commentary is quite accurate. For example, I scored one goal by pulling the face-off back to my defenceman for a quick shot. The commentator called the goal as "right off the draw." It seemed like he was actually watching my game! Another nice little touch is that the commentators know when it's a "rivalry" game, such as Canada vs. the USA, or Dallas vs. Detroit.

The graphics engine itself has also been totally redone for NHL Championship 2000. It is very pretty, smooth, and fast. Sound is detailed and well done. The player models and animations look great. The player scaling issues in Powerplay 98 - some people thought the players were too big for the size of the rink - have been fixed.

Conclusion
Playing against the computer AI produces close, competitive games. I played a few head-to-head games with a friend and they were even more intense. The advanced AI also makes head-to-head games tougher, because your defencemen are usually in the right place to break up plays. If the Internet play works well it will be a very popular feature.

I think Fox has a real winner on their hands with NHL Championship 2000. And I'm certainly not as easy one to please when it comes to hockey sims (see http://www.sports-gaming.com/editorial/hockey1.shtml if you don't believe me). This game isn't perfect, but it is going to be a big hit with both the hardcore sim and arcade hockey fans this year.

Correction: An earlier version of this preview suggested that NHL Championship 2000 uses the Quake graphics engine. This is not the case. The game uses a proprietary engine that has nothing to do with Quake. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused."