NHL Face Off
by Sony Computer Entertainment for the Sony Playstation 
Price: $59.95

	Like most gamers, I greeted the news that Sony was developing in-house
sports titles for release on their Playstation with a great deal of skepticism. 
Most of Sony's previous releases had fallen under the category of "looks great,
but where's the gameplay?".  Sony's situation was not aided by the fact that
most gamers were waiting with bated breath for the release of Electronic Arts'
NHL '96.  After comparing early shots of NHL Face Off and the PC Version of NHL
'96 (which Playstation owners were assured was subpar compared to the game they
would receive), it seemed that the first battle in the Playstation hockey wars
would be a no-contest.
	
	However, rumors are circulating that Electronic Arts has canceled the
Playstation version of NHL '96.  These say that with all the production delays
and difficulties EA considered it wiser to hold the game until next fall, when
it will be reincarnated as NHL '97.  Whether these rumors are true or not, one
fact remains and that is that NHL '96 is at the very least delayed.  For
Playstation owners who are tired of waiting for a mythical release date, there
is at the present only one game in town.  And that game is Sony's NHL Face Off.

	Sony Interactive Sports?  Who the hell are they?  Those are undoubtedly
the questions that are jumping at light speed from synapse to synapse of every
Playstation sports gamer's brain.  Most people, myself included, gave them
absolutely no chance of producing an adequate sports title.  However with NFL
Gameday and now NHL Face Off, Sony's reputation as a publisher is rapidly
improving from that of a well-monied purveyor of mass-market eye-candy to one
that actually cares what kind of experience the buyers of their games have
after the moment of purchase.

	NHL Face Off begins with a beautiful CG rendered introduction, which
ends with a Hockey Night in Canada-esque face-off, the "camera" slowly zooming
into the face-off circle.  From there it is time to choose your game from a
plethora of options.  There are many to choose from, including:
	Three Skill Levels (Rookie, Veteran and All-Star)
	Individual Game, Playoffs (Single Elimination or Best-of-Seven) or
Season
	One-Player, Two-Player Head-to-Head or Two-Player Cooperative Play
	Player Creation, Trades, Free-Agent Releases and Signings
Basically this game has almost every option you could want.  However, there is
one fairly glaring omission.  That is the lack of Eastern and Western
Conference All-Star teams.  I would have greatly appreciated it if the
developers had included this feature.  Hopefully someday there will even be a
hockey game with an All-Star weekend (I can dream can't I?).

	NHL Face Off is a graphical tour-de-force.  The game can be played in
one of four modes.  The first is an Ice-Level view, somewhat akin to Stanley
Cup for the SNES.  This view has minimal pixellization and easy control,
although things can get confusing when multiple players are close together. 
The second view is a Blades of Steel like horizontal view, and the third is a
vertical view, reminiscent of EA's NHL series, although a little closer to the
ice.  The fourth view, native to this game and my personal favorite, is the
fairly high-level diagonal view.  This view allows the player to see a large
portion of the ice, making offensive play making easier than ever before.  

	The players are well drawn and animate fluidly.  The skating, shooting
and checking are all very realistic.  The goalies are especially impressive on
their saves and clears.  There are slight animation problems when the players
enter and leave the bench area, but overall nothing major.  In the area of
realism it would have been nice if the players had their own names and numbers
on their jerseys and if they had been sized realistically, but there is always
next year.  The ice looks excellent, as do the lines and face-off circles.  The
rink rotates and scrolls smoothly.  Having all the individual arenas (with
corresponding ice surface areas) would be nice.

	The sound is also well done.  The cheering and booing of the crowd is
so accurately timed that you feel as if you are really in the game.    The
sound effects are amazing.  You almost cringe when a hard check is delivered,
and the sounds of the slapshots may have all in the room ducking, then jumping
as the whistle screams and the siren wails its beautiful announcement.  The
music, especially the songs that are played to inspire the home team to
victory, also help to add a great deal to the realism of the experience. 
Although there is no announcer, I have yet to decide if that is a positive or a
negative.  For the most part I did not even notice the absence of voice in the
game.

	The play mechanics and game control are easy to learn and well thought
out.  Shooting and passing are effortless, and soon one-timers will be flying
from the sticks of your forwards left and right.  In the face-off circle,
hockey has never been better, a specific button finally makes these contests
realistic.  On defense, the different types of checks are a welcome change from
the "speed bursts" of yesterday.  I have noticed that the poke-check (the L1
button) is very effective at both avoiding penalties and keeping the puck out
of the crease.  My only wish is that on defense the player could choose which
player to change control to, occasionally I find myself behind the play after
switching.  Manual goalie control was also well thought out, stonewalling the
opposition has never been so easy, nor has clearing the puck to start a 3-on-1
breakaway.  

	The game is, however, a little on the easy side.  Those gamers that are
adept at sports titles (particularly EA's NHL series) should set the difficulty
to All-Star level the first time they play the game.  Aside from this, NHL Face
Off is an excellent game and most importantly, fun to play.  Sony should be
commended for the quality of sports games they are bringing to market. 
Electronic Arts should pay close attention, because there's a new player in the
game, and the competition just got a whole hell of a lot closer.  WOW!!!!!!!

NHL Face Off
Publisher: 	Sony Computer Entertainment
Producer:	Sony Interactive Sports
Availability:	NOW
Price:	$59.99

Graphics:	8.75
Sound:	9
Control:	9
Difficulty:	9
FUN:		9.5

Overall:	89%

Matthew J. Tunis
you can e-mail questions or comments to:
mjt7506@ritvax.rit.edu