''NHL FaceOff 98'' is a video game developed by Killer Game and published by

Sony Computer Entertainment of America Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), formerly known as Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), is a multinational video game and digital entertainment company wholly owned by multinational conglomerate Sony. The SIE Group is made up of two legal co ...

for the

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...

. It's part of the NHL FaceOff series, and was the first installment to use polygonal 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'' (often abbreviated to ''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 m ...

'' 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 and ''

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

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game 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 distri ...

''s early review both said they lack excitement and atmosphere. Though ''

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'' 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 Electronic Arts Canada. It was released in 1997 and was the successor to ''NHL 97''. It was the last installment of the NHL series to be released on the SNES, Sega Genesis, or Sega Saturn. Feat ...

''. ''

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''s

Tommy Tallarico Tommy Tallarico (born Thomas Andrew Tallarico; February 18, 1968) is an American video game music composer, musician, sound designer, television personality, live show creative director and producer. He and his company, Tommy Tallarico Studios ...

(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 NHL FaceOff PlayStation (console) games PlayStation (console)-only games Sony Interactive Entertainment games Video games developed in the United States Video games set in 1998