Being the first hockey game ever produced by Sega sports for the dreamcast system, NHL 2k is a game that won't be perfect and of course it won't have the gameplay a long running series like NHL by EA does. But after NBA 2k and NFL 2k I'm sure NHL 2k will set a new high standard for graphics and realistic themes.

This game has many good qualities along with the bad. First off the graphics are some of the best I've seen on a video game. The graphics are so realistic you can see the ice fly off when the players stop and all of the stadiums are fully rendered. The players also have all of their real faces which is quite a bit of players faces. Plus of course all the licenses from the NHL and NHLPA.

The games gameplay is alright but it's still their first year and they haven't fine tuned everything yet. The play is a little slow for the NHL and the goalies are just like shooting at walls. No matter what move you do on them they'll stop it. Then you have shots from half ice that go right in! Next years game will definitely be improved.

Next is the sound which is lacking a good announcer. The announcer says some different phrases but mostly he is repition of the same ones. Other than that the rest of the sound is high quality. Everything from the national anthem being played at the start to sound of the boards moving as someone is hit into them.

I'm not saying this is a bad game. In fact it's a very good game but it just lacks the main ingredient which is gameplay. You'll have fun with it and it's still the only hockey game for the dreamcast system.