NHL Face Off '98 - SCEA (Sony)

Before writing this review I took a moment to look back at what I said 
about last year's version of NHL Face Off.  '"The best hockey game 
*ever*" wouldn't be stretching it as a description of this fine 
game...'   Well, I have to say, I guess last years words were premature 
because this years version of Face Off has taken a pretty good thing 
and made it even better.

Of course there are those folks that are in love with the EA label on 
things will likely tell you that EA's NHL 98 is the best, but that 
wouldn't be fair to this title.  Actually both titles are very well 
done, though I haven't spent time behind the controls of NHL '98, so I 
can't really compare Face Off with that title.

I can tell you though that Face Off '98 is extremely well done, and if 
you are looking for a *great* hockey title, then this one will fit the 
bill.


Some words about Sony's Sports division...

I received some e-mail shortly after I wrote my review for MLB '98 from 
folks in the upper level of Sony's Sports division that thanked me for 
my kind words about that program and asked for comments that I might 
want to make.

It started a bit of e-mail banter that I got some good news from.  One 
of the suggestions that I made to Sony was that in the future they 
needed to be more cognizant of the start of the season for the sports 
programs that they were writing, and they also needed to get their 
programs out at the same time as EA or before EA did if possible.

The answers I got back to those suggestions was that I'd be happy with 
release schedules in the future as Sony Sports was really ramping up 
and starting with Game Day '98 they would be releasing things either at 
the same time EA did, or earlier.

Sony Sports has come a long way.  They really should be congratulated.  
They've helped to establish the Play Station as the sports console of 
choice, and their great titles have really pushed the envelop.  Its 
hard to imagine that EA would have made some of the great programs that 
they have without the competition that Sony has put on them.

Personally I hope that we continue to see more innovations from these 
folks cause they have continued to make the gaming the best it can be.


Whats been added?

3-D Polygonal graphics is the answer here.  Sony has given this 
treatment to all of their sports titles this year, and Face Off '98 is 
the latest  (with NCAA Gamebreaker football on the way shortly!) to 
feature this new look.

The players in the game this year feature smooth and fluid motion and 
look very sharp.  The sprites that were used in the past looked good, 
but by using these 3-D Polygonal graphics now the camera can show any 
character from any side or location.

There are also shots of the officials making signals for off sides, 
icing, or other penalties that may occur.  These take place as small 
"mug shots" that appear on the screen in an area where they don't 
intrude, but are easy to pick up on.

In the Alanis Morrisette "Isn't it Ironic?" category, the game even 
features glass that shakes when someone gets slammed into the boards.


How is the gameplay?

This game featured just about everything you could imagine last year, 
and nothing is missing this year.  This is the one game where Sony has 
done it right in all areas.  The game is reasonably challenging, even 
on the Rookie level, but yet easy enough to sit down and play so that 
it invites someone to give it more than a few minutes of play.  On the 
tougher settings expect a serious match that will not be easy to win.


How does it sound?

The sounds are similar to last years version.  They're there in the 
background, but not obtrusive.

This years version does include arena specific goal horns for those 
folks that just have to have it like the home team does.

There's also the requisite booing when the visiting team scores, or 
cheers when the home team puts the bisquit in the basket.  And, as with 
last year, there's the traditional organ music in the background to 
help fire up the crowd during the game.


What's the final score?

I still have problems with the documentation for the game (as I did 
last year), or perhaps it is the controls that are used in this years 
version of the game.  I've tried using the controls as documented, and 
it seems that the speed burst that I expect just isn't happening.  It's 
probably me, but it seems that some controls are just not what has been 
documented.

There are other things that could be a bit better too.  The graphics 
are great, but the players seem small in the default camera shots.  The 
camera occassionally zooms in on the players, and when it does the 
players are bigger and easier to see.  During face offs though the 
players are relatively small in the default shots, and it makes it a 
bit tougher to see what is going on in the face off.

I have also seen a few apparent glitches in the game where the computer 
players seemed to get lost for a moment or two and didn't know where 
the puck was.  It didn't occur very often, but it was noticable when I 
saw it happen.  It was probably noticable more to me when it did happen 
because normally I wasn't able to get to the puck in time to prevent 
the icing call (I play with the icing penalty call turned on).

Last year I said that I was 'someone not normally high on Hockey 
games', but last year's version really got me into Hockey as a video 
game, and this year's version extends that even furhter.  Last year it 
was hard to stop playing long enough to type up the review, this year 
I'm having a hard time kicking my son off the game long enough to sit 
and play it, and once that happened, I'm back to not wanting to drop 
the controls on the game. :^]

Game misconduct if you don't go get this game and add it to your 
collection.



Rating: 9/10 


Barry C. Dowell


Vital Statistics

Genre:  Sports/Hockey
Game Format: 1 CD for Sony Playstation
Publisher: SCEA (Sony)
Audience: K-A (Kids to Adults)
Players: 1 or 8 (multi-tap adaptable)
Memory card: 4 - 5 blocks
Street price: $39.95