NHL FaceOff '97
Reviewed by Inkhands
NHL FaceOff '97 is a rather basic hockey game. It really
doesn't have a lot of options, but it has enough to keep it
interesting for a little while. What the game mostly has is
the fact that it's a fairly fun game to play, especially if
you like the sport of hockey. The graphics are average, but
the game play is actually solid.
There are four modes of play in this game; they are
exhibition, practice, season, and a playoffs mode.
Exhibition, of course, is just one game. Practice is merely
a slight variation of the exhibition mode. In both modes you
choose the two teams, but in practice mode you can select
how many players will be on each team separately from one
player to six. You can put six players on your team and only
one on your opponent's, or anything in between that example.
The playoffs mode lets you set up sixteen teams of your
choice. You choose if the games will be a series of one game
or a series of seven games. Then you're on your way to the
Stanley Cup. The season modes allows you to play as one of
twenty six teams. You play about eighty games per season.
You can choose to play as any of these teams. For example,
if you select a Colorado schedule and the game will be
against Detroit, you can still select to play as Detroit,
instead of Colorado. You can choose one player or
multiplayer in both the season and the playoff modes.
There are certain options that are available in all modes.
You can set the difficulty setting and how many minutes will
be played in each of the three periods. The difficulty
levels are rookie, veteran, and all star. The time
selections are five, ten, or twenty minutes. You can turn
all penalties off, or leave them all on. You can also leave
certain penalties, such as icing or two lines pass, on or
off. Injuries can be left on or off and you can also choose
to leave fighting on or off. This really gives you the
ability to customize the rules of your game and how it is played.
There are options that allow you to adjust your goalie
settings and your team strategies. You can have the goalie
play in or out of the goal. You can also choose if you want
the goalie to be on auto or you can manually control him.
The team strategies are basically choosing between a zone,
normal or pressure defense. You can also choose the type of
offense, breakout, fore checking, and if you want to have
center, right or left wing positioning. There are also other
minor adjustments such as the players are identified by
their names or the numbers while on the ice and also if you
want to see pictures of the players or not. This game also
has an instant replay option. You can choose this option at
any time to see the last play by hitting the start button
and choosing the option. You can also end the game at any
time by selecting the abort game option.
This game keeps team and player stats for your season, but
it also keeps a set or records. Each difficulty setting and
each time period setting has it's own set of records. There
are about fifteen records kept on such things as most goals
per team in a game or in a single period. There are also
player statistics on how many saves, points, assists, and
goals any certain player might have. So, if you want to set
a record in every single category that will take quite a
while, considering there isn't just overall records, but
records depending on the difficulty and period length settings.
This game also allows you to edit your rosters. There is an
option that allows you to check each player's card, which is
basically their abilities in about ten different areas. The
players in this game are real life players from the real
life teams. You can trade players, release them, or sign a
free agent. You also have the ability to create a player.
You name them, set their number, position, and weight. You
can also decide if the player is left or right handed. You
are given 450 points to spread out over eleven ability
categories. They all have the starting value of 40 points
and you can adjust each of them to what level you wish using
the points. The categories are such things as a player's
skating ability, speed, shot power and shot accuracy. You
can also set their passing ability, puck handling,
endurance, aggression, and checking. The final two abilities
are offensive awareness and defensive awareness.
At the beginning of each game you can see how the two teams
match up. They are rated on a scale of 1 to 100 in five
areas. The areas are offense, defense, goaltending,
checking, and power play. There is also an overall score.
Most of the teams rank somewhere between the low 80's to the
mid 90's in the categories. Overall, they usually rank
somewhere in the mid 90's . This allows you to see which team
is supposedly better than the other in each area. It also
lets you see which team is supposedly the better team overall.
During the game you can adjust the view perspective. There
is the default vertical view, which takes place overhead.
One goal is always at the top of the screen and the other
one is always at the bottom. It does not matter which team
has control of the puck, the view never changes sides, but
it does follow the action. I have seen this view used in a
lot of the later games, such as some of the Super Nintendo
hockey games. There is also a side view, which looks very
much like the view used in the Nintendo hockey games Ice
Hockey and Blades of Steel. Basically, the camera appears to
be at the side of the court and it moves from left to right,
depending on which direction the player with the puck is moving.
There is a diagonal view that is somewhere in between the
side and vertical views. It appears to be as high as an
overhead shot, but the view is at a slight angle. It's as
though someone is sitting in a corner and looking down from
the stands. The final type of view is an ice level view. It
basically puts the camera at the game level. It looks as
though someone is on the ice with a camera and following
closely behind the person that has the puck.
The challenge is medium in this game. You do have the three
difficulty settings, but the game really is fairly easy on
either setting, but not extremely easy. That's enough to
make the challenge medium. The game moves by very quickly.
The seconds tick off the clock at a very fast pace. This
makes the game both somewhat intense and frantic, but it
also makes it a fun game. If the game moved slower it would
be boring and seem drawn out. The speed of the game makes it
much more enjoyable than if it the pace was slow. There are
three periods per game. If the game ends in a tie, you go
into overtime periods. The game ends when someone scores,
even if you are only one minute into the overtime period.
The control on the option screens are pretty fast and easy
to pull off. The loading times are kept to a minimum. You
don't have a loading time every single time you choose an
option, like I have seen in some sports game on the system.
You simply click through a menu. The X button confirms and
the triangle button cancels. The game won't save on it's
own. You have to remember to click on the memory card option
to save and load your games.
During the game, the control is just as easy. You pass with
one button and shoot with another, while holding the
directional pad. On defense you select which player to
control with one button and then guard a player by hitting a
different button. This allows you to attempt to steal the
puck from your opponent. It also allows you to knock the
other players down. The control responds well, but a little
confusing the first few times you play it. However, it
shouldn't take long to get used to what button does what.
There is no music in this game, with the exception of a pipe
organ rendition of the Star Spangled Banner at the beginning
of a game, just before the first face off. The announcer
only speaks after a scoring shot. He will say who made the
shot and who assisted that player. He also informs you when
there is one minute left in a period. You can turn the
announcer off on the options screen. As for sound effects,
you can hear the crowd cheer and the players skate across
the ice. You will also hear the puck skid across the ice as
well. After a goal is scored you get a faint siren noise,
that sounds like a fire truck passing by. That's about all
there is to the sound in this game.
There is nothing fancy about the option screens. You have
backgrounds of people playing hockey. There is an
introduction when you first turn the game on of real and
fake players playing the sport. You can easily skip through
this. As for the actual look of the game. You seldom see the
crowd and when you do it doesn't look very impressive. The
white ice is possibly the best looking thing about the game
graphically. It is very clear and shiny. The players aren't
detailed. They are more blocky than anything else. They
don't move very realistically and they all look the same.
The team's uniforms are all different colors, but they all
look very dull and the colors are far from vibrant. This
game looks like a dull painting. The graphics are certainly
not a high point of the game. This game is a few years old
though and it does show it's age.
The fast pace and the high amount of fun you might have with
it gives it a pretty good replay value. You can play through
a couple of seasons and not get too bored with the game. It
probably needed a few more features or options, but you do
have a few modes and the ability to create your own players.
This game gives you the ability to customize most of how the
game is played. Overall, the graphics and sound are both
average, but the control and game play are both solid. The
replay value is above average and the challenge is about
medium. This is a pretty good hockey game if you like the
sport. If not, then this is certainly not a must have for
any player. I've wasted quite a few hours on this game over
the years. It's not the best hockey game available, but it's
a pretty good one.
Graphics - 5/10
Sound - 5/10
Control - 7/10
Challenge - 6/10
Appeal - 7/10
Game Play - 7/10
Replay Value - 6/10
Overall - 7 out of 10
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