Introduction:Microsoft has a welcomed expansion to the Xbox Sports Network with NHL Rivals 2004. Rivals gives us some new features to ponder over and begins its days of building its own rivalries with other hockey game developers.

The Game:NHL Rivals gets its name from the long history of hockey teams that have built up rivalries against one and another over the years. While the teams might forget or let the rivalries pass away the fans wont. We ‘the fans’ remember when your team beat my team for the final game seven to win the Stanley cup! Damn you Montreal! We all have our teams we like and dislike. Microsoft made it easy with their Rivals mode where it instantly throws two rival teams together for a game.

One thing you will notice about NHL Rivals is the pace, its set a little slower than most hockey games that have come out in the last decade. This is refreshing to some players, but for most will come off being less exciting. At first I didn’t get into the pace of the game, but after a few games it will grow on you. Just keep that in mind, if you find yourself wondering why it’s a little slower. Microsoft Game Studios went towards simulation more than action, but it ends up falling somewhere between them both.

The controls in NHL Rivals are pretty strait forward, and if you have played either NHL 2004 or ESPN you will learn them quick. Since the game is slowed down you won’t have as fast response like in those games, again its something you will hate or love.

The major complaint about NHL Rivals is the lack of a franchise mode. For gamers like me who like to play a whole season though, it’s important to have the little extras to keep you motivated in the long season. Rivals leaves out allot of the main features in their season mode, which comes off as a bunch of exhibition matches in a row. Since Rivals is online the game balances it self towards more of a multiplayer hockey game, with less epiphysis on single player gaming.

Graphics & Sound:The graphics in NHL Rivals are great, as we have come to expect in our extensive XSN collection of games. The animations since they are slowed down, are allot more precise and the physics of the hits and penalties are impressive. When you trip a player, you will see it all. Of course the arenas are perfect and the crowd seems to have enough life in them. The few problems I had with the graphics end of NHL Rivals are the design of the interface. All the menu’s and game options look very similar to EA Sports NHL 2004. They could be brothers, all the way down to the interface of creating a player. It’s a good design, but I think they would had a more strong showing if they could of came with a more interesting interface design.

The sound is great all around, but I wish it was a little more hard hitting. When you body check or shoot on the net the sound is dampened, or so it seems. This causes the game to seem a less impact, which isn’t good. The commentary is good, and doesn’t get dry and of course it’s a treat to play any XSN game through 5.1

Innovation:A new idea introduced in NHL Rivals is the assignment of roles for each player on the ice. The four different roles are: enforcer, sniper, balanced and agitator. Each player who has a role will have bonus ability according to their role. Pretty cool stuff and should be expanded on in the next version of the game.

Another interesting feature in the game is the choices you get when you are at a face off to win clean, body block, or tie up sticks with the other player. You also get the option to back away from a fight or to lock gloves. The fighting system is helps you out with the button layout posted on the screen. The fighting animation seemed stiff, but at least you can use a variety of defensive and offence moves. Fighting isn’t important part of the game, but ever since Blades of Steel it’s always been included in the games.

Finally the turn around! I’m so glad they added the pivot control to the game. When you hit the left trigger in NHL Rivals the player will do a 180. This gives a whole slew of new techniques to use in the game and improves the ability of the players to move around the ice, like they do in real life.

Mojo:Rivals does some good, then some bad. I enjoy the games little innovations that go a long way, the 180! The 180! Since this is Microsoft’s first hockey game the've done a great job Bravo! XSN rocks, and if you thing is hockey it can give you years of enjoyment with your friends. This game is cool to play to test your hockey skills under a more simulated experience. Rivals has the mojo.

Lowdown:With any sports games you want to try them all before you decide. This game has one bonus over the others, and that is the Xbox Live online ability with XSN. The season mode is lacking, but aside from that you might find the game refreshing from other hockey games. Rent it, go live and then decide.

Gameplay: 7, Graphics/Sound: 8, Innovation: 7, Mojo: 7. Final: 7