''NHL 2004'' is an

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

sports video game A sports video game is a video game that simulates the practice of sports. Most sports have been recreated with video games, including team sports, track and field, extreme sports, and combat sports. Some games emphasize playing the sport (such ...

developed by

EA Black Box EA Black Box (formerly Black Box Games) was a video game developer based in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, founded in 1998 by former employees of Radical Entertainment and later acquired by Electronic Arts (EA). The developers are primarily k ...

. It is the successor to '' NHL 2003''. The game adds three European Elite Leagues: Germany's

Deutsche Eishockey Liga The Deutsche Eishockey Liga (for sponsorship reasons called Penny (supermarket), PENNY Deutsche Eishockey Liga) (; English: ''German Ice Hockey League'') or DEL, is a professional ice hockey league in Germany and the highest division in German i ...

(DEL), Sweden's

Elitserien Elitserien (literally, "the Elite League") is the name of several Swedish nationwide sport leagues. In many sports, Elitserien is the highest league, with the second highest named Allsvenskan. Elitserien leagues at present: * Elitserien (badmint ...

(SEL), and Finland's

SM-liiga The Liiga, colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. The league comprises 16 teams from all around Finland with relegation and promotion between the Mest ...

. The game was heavily modded during the last 20 years.

Gameplay

The game included many improvements to its gameplay (more realistic puck and rebound control and better checking) and game modes (a completely reworked franchise mode renamed "Dynasty"). In addition to the gameplay improvements, one particular non-gameplay improvement was added. When a team wins the

Stanley Cup Finals The Stanley Cup Finals in ice hockey (also known as the Stanley Cup Final among various media, ) is the annual championship series of the National Hockey League (NHL). The winner is awarded the Stanley Cup, North America's oldest professional spo ...

, a large-scale celebration ensues. It included players skating around the ice holding the Cup over their heads. This then led to the common snapshot of the team and the coaches that holds true in the NHL. A "secret" song ("

Shatterday "Shatterday" is the first segment of the premiere episode of the first season of the television series ''The Twilight Zone''. The story follows a man who finds that a double of himself has moved into his apartment and is taking over his life. ...

" by

Vendetta Red Vendetta Red is an American alternative rock band from Seattle, Washington, that was formed in 1998. They released an EP, ''6 Kisses, A Blatant Reminder of Why We Are Alive'', in 1999 and two albums, '' Blackout Analysis'' in 2000 and '' White ...

) plays while the animation shows the stats of the players in the picture, ending with the captain. Because of these additions, it was praised as one of the best games in the series to date.

Reception

The game received "favorable" reviews on all platforms according to the

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website

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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nhl 2004 2003 video games EA Black Box games EA Sports games Electronic Arts games GameCube games Multiplayer and single-player video games NHL (video game series) PlayStation 2 games Video games developed in Canada Video games set in 2003 Video games set in 2004 Video games set in Canada Video games set in the United States Windows games Xbox games