''NHL FaceOff 98'' 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 ...

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

developed by Killer Game and published by

Sony Computer Entertainment Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (SIE) is an American video game and digital entertainment company that is a major subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sony, Sony Group Corporation. It primarily operates the PlayStation brand of video game co ...

for the

PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...

. It is part of the NHL FaceOff series, and was the first installment to use

polygonal In geometry, a polygon () is a plane (mathematics), plane Shape, figure made up of line segments connected to form a closed polygonal chain. The segments of a closed polygonal chain are called its ''edge (geometry), edges'' or ''sides''. The p ...

players.

Reception

Reviews for ''NHL FaceOff 98'' were wildly divergent, with critics expressing contradicting opinions on numerous aspects of the game. Kraig Kujawa and John Ricciardi of ''

Electronic Gaming Monthly ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (''EGM'') is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews. History The magazine was fou ...

'' found the A.I. too easy even on the hardest setting, but their co-reviewer Kelly Rickards complained that it is frustratingly difficult. While ''

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady, and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

''s

Jeff Gerstmann Jeff Gerstmann (born August 1, 1975) is an American video game journalist. Former editorial director of the gaming website ''GameSpot'' and the co-founder of the gaming website '' Giant Bomb'', Gerstmann began working at ''GameSpot'' in the fal ...

and ''

GamePro ''GamePro'' was an American multiplatform video game magazine media company that published online and print content covering the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software. The magazine featured content on various video ...

'' said the on-ice sound effects were well done, Kujawa and ''

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

''s early review both said they lack excitement and atmosphere. Though '' Next Generation'' said the game "doesn't control very well", and ''GameSpot'' and ''IGN'' found the control configuration overcomplicated and confusing even when icon passing is enabled, Kujawa and ''IGN'' actually praised the control as tight, responsive, and realistic. And though most reviews praised the lifelike animation of the players, ''GameSpot'' and ''GamePro'' complained at the stiff animation when the players are skating around (as opposed to shooting or checking). The one point most critics agreed upon was that ''NHL FaceOff 98'' came in second to ''

NHL 98 ''NHL 98'' is an ice hockey video game developed by EA Canada. It was released in 1997 and was the successor to ''NHL 97''. It was the last installment of the NHL (video game series), NHL series to be released on the SNES, Sega Genesis, or Sega Sa ...

''. '' The Electric Playground''s Tommy Tallarico (whose studio had done the sound for the game) was an exception, calling it the best hockey game of the season and giving it a 9.7, while co-host Victor Lucas gave it a 9 and also said ''NHL 98'' was better. Event occurs at 16:27-19:45. ''GamePro'' summarized, "A roster of strong improvements nicely tunes up this year's outing, but ''NHL '98'' still outclasses it in almost every category." ''Next Generation'' stated that "The gameplay features and stats are nearly identical to all of the other hockey games coming out, but ''NHL Face Off'' is a game that doesn't have enough life or personality of its own to separate itself from the pack, meaning once again that it's the second-best hockey game on PlayStation." Kujawa likewise concluded that "''NHL Face Off 98'' is a great hockey game, but only good enough to rank second best to EA's ''NHL 98''." Gerstmann gave a more dismal assessment, calling the game "simply average".

Notes

References

External links

* {{NHL FaceOff 1997 video games Killer Game games Multiplayer and single-player video games NHL FaceOff PlayStation (console) games PlayStation (console)-only games Sony Interactive Entertainment games Video games developed in the United States