Ok, I'll admit it, hockey fans make up about 1% of the television viewing market and I'm not going to pretend that hockey games sell millions upon millions of copies. I'm not going to argue the why or how hockey is largely ignored compared to the other major sports, I'm here to thank the gaming gods at Sega that someone still actually gives a shit about us hockey fans and are willing to constantly improve their hockey series.

The end result is by far the most realistic and, in my opinion, playable game of video hockey on the market. Sega has certainly had the right idea as far as hockey goes for a long time now. Back on the Saturn, they contracted Team Radical to take over their All Star Hockey series in 1998 since their previous hockey game, Powerplay 96 by Virgin Interactive, was so far beyond anything else even tried on the 32-bit platforms. Team Radical became Black Box who did the original Dreamcast NHL2k, a fine playing effort but it didn't have the polish of their Visual Concepts developed 2k series. The swan song for the Dreamcast was non other that NHL2k2 and it couldn't have been more fitting. NHL2k2 was an incredible game that barely anyone played since it was on the best system that no one played.

That brings us to NHL2k3, developed by Treyarch for the Sony PS2. Treyarch further builds upon an already incredible foundation and succeeds in creating the best game of hockey seen yet. It's not without it faults, but it's safe to say that the faults in the game don't effect the gameplay at all. My main complaint this time around is still a leftover from last year's effort. The commentary is still on the weak side of spectrum. Hell, you will hear a ton of repeated lines in a single game. It's even more annoying after enjoying the exceptional commentary pulled off in NFL2k3. Most of the other sounds are well done and it seems that they took the approach of making it sound like you are in the stands watching the game. Hits are delivered with muffled thumps and pucks that ring off the post echo throughout the stadium as a reminder of a goal that almost was. The decent sound effects are definitely marred by the uninspired commentary though.

The good stuff outweighs the bad in a huge way this time around. Even though most of the rough edges were smoothed over in the 2k2 version of the game, 2k3 is the complete package. Treyarch loaded up on options and improved on everything from last year's game. Nearly every option in the game can be modified with a sliding scale from how often fights occur to the amount of injuries you may face during a season. The amount of customization is staggering and ensures that anyone, from the novice to the hockey pro will be able to tailor the experience to their own liking. Hell, you can even set the ref's collision level from nothing to being able to be hit with the puck, player, or both.

The graphics in NHL2k3 are cleaner than ever. The players just look phenomenal on the ice with fluid animation and plenty of it. There are tons of animations for hits, bumps, blocking shots and even tying up players against the boards which fighting over the puck. The game engine is really comprehensive when it comes to the realism of the player's moves. You will be hard pressed to find a game where the action was depicted better than in NHL2k3. You will often find yourself playing with the replay feature in this game since it's actually worthwhile instead of the usual crap that most gamers seem happy to deal with.

The absolute best part of NHL2k3, however, the way players react to situations. The game AI is just amazing. Instead of your team floundering around while they wait for you to take control, you will actually see them make good plays. Your team will aggressively go after loose pucks or play decent D while you are trying to work the puck out of the zone. You won't see AI issues like constant offsides when you try to press up offensively with a speedy defenseman with a scoring touch. It's just refreshing to actually have to play defense.

NHL2k3 gives you complete control over line changes and even coaching strategies on the fly. It's easy to switch up your defence while you are rushing down the ice on an offensive push and vice versa. Need to get your tired 1st line out? Pass back to an able bodied D and buy them some time while they switch. Maybe you'd like set your strategy to aggressive as the other team scores a goal, or maybe you want to just hunker down on defense as you nab a two goal lead. It's in there, and you can do it all on the fly without even pausing the game.

The goalies in the 2k series are just amazing. First of all, as I've harped on before, there is no force field protecting the goalie. Goals don't just go in based off some mathematical predetermined algorithm. (Alright, they do but you know what I mean.) You have to generally work harder for goals in 2k3 then you do in other games, especially on the higher skill levels. Some of the goals you make are just insane. You will take a blast from the point and actually have one of your teammates who is parked in front of the net deflect it for the score. I scored one time with Gagne with a shot that was deflected off of Niinamaa's legs that dribbled in without the goalie even knowing it was coming. Since goalies actually have a line of sight in the game, you can actually work a real screen or chip in garbage goals like the one I banked through Niinamaa's legs.

Bottom line, NHL2k3 is the best hockey game available. The graphics are top notch and the gameplay is damn near perfection. YOU WILL NOT FIND A BETTER HOCKEY GAME THIS YEAR! It has the gameplay, the action and the depth with an excellent franchise mode. This is the game for hockey fans.