Review: NHL FaceOff 2001 is smooth as ice

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	GALLERY

by Cheat Monkey

(IDG) -- Sony's NHL FaceOff 2001 takes center ice for this year's hockey season. Developer SolWorks has added a lot to this sports sim, and it makes a difference. The question is, just how much of a difference?

Ice gladiators

Sony and EA have traditionally fought it out in all the professional sports simulations for PlayStation. Generally, EA has remained a few steps ahead, but Sony continues to build all its sports games into contenders. This year's FaceOff has a host of new features and modes.

You can pick from the traditional season, playoffs, or exhibition games, take on goalies one-on-one in a new shootout game or play a tournament, in which up to eight teams can compete in two separate pools for the championship. The new practice mode is just like a regular exhibition game, except you can set the number of skaters on each team.

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Computerworld Minute

All the new teams and rosters for this year's season are included, and the new draft is straight-forward, but you can cheat a bit by gradually trading up against the computer once the draft is over to build a much better team. Menu navigation is done well, but you'll have to refer to the manual to get around some areas.

On the ice, the game plays well. Icon Passing makes easy work of setting up plays and the controls are simple but effective. There's just one check button, and you can't select a poke check with your stick, so the bodies go flying with a ton of open ice hits that just wouldn't happen in a real game. Still, there are a ton of other options, like give-and-go passing, drop passes, and fake shots.

The AI in NHL FaceOff 2001 is pretty tough as well. On the higher levels of difficulty, the defense will clog the slot in front of the goal, and your opponent is much more aggressive with checking and shooting. Still, your goalie may put the puck into his own net from time to time when you just want him to pass to a teammate. You can pick between Normal, Aggressive, and Conservative settings for offense, breakout, defense, and forechecking, but you can change them on the fly as well to adjust to game situations. The manual does a good job explaining the differences between the various settings.

Puckheads

Mike Emrick and Darren Pang return again to give the play-by-play and color commentary, which seem about the same as last year's edition. The banter from the broadcast booth lags a bit too far behind the action at times, and there is a good amount of repetition, but that's par for a fast action game on the PlayStation. On the other hand, Emrick and Pang have a good feel for the game and it shows through in their analysis.

The graphics are almost as good as they're going to get for a PlayStation hockey game. The skating, shooting, and checking animations are great. There's also a nice replay on penalties to round out the game's replays and overlay graphics. A good selection of camera angles complements the action, but there's no reverse angle to flip the camera for a better perspective.

FaceOff 2001 overview

FaceOff 2001 is a genuine contender for the PlayStation Stanley Cup this year. It shows a lot more polish and precision than previous versions, and will give you hours of hard checking NHL and international team competition.

Graphics: 4.5 (out of five)
Fast and smooth animations make FaceOff a fun-playing hockey game.

Sound: 3.5
Good but repetitive commentary, with decent on-ice sounds.

Control: 4.0
The lack of a poke-check button hampers the otherwise tight controls.

Fun Factor: 4.5
Hard body checks rule the gameplay, but the defensive and offensive flow is well done.

FaceOff 2001 tips

• Use icon passing on the powerplay for a better conversion rate.
• Cranking a slapshot from the point doesn't score often, so try from a bit closer in.
• For the highest scoring chances, you need to move the goalie before you shoot. Cut across the crease, then lift the puck high with manual aiming.
• Watch the ref for movement on faceoffs. With practice, you should be able to win 80 percent of them if you develop the right timing.
• Dump the puck before line changes! The computer can counter attack very fast.

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