NHL 2003

NHL 2003 is an ice hockey video game developed by EA Canada and published by EA Sports. It was released in 2002 as the successor to NHL 2002. Jarome Iginla appears as the cover athlete and spokesperson of the game. Iginla appears in the Behind The Scenes video to show the player how the game was made. It was the first installment of the NHL series to be released on GameCube.

NHL 2003
North American PS2 box art with Jarome Iginla
Developer(s)	EA Canada
Publisher(s)	EA Sports
Series	NHL series
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Windows
Release	October 3, 2002 GameCube, Windows NA: October 3, 2002[1] AU: October 4, 2002 (PC)[2] AU: October 21, 2002 (GC)[3] EU: October 25, 2002[4] PlayStation 2 NA: October 3, 2002[1] AU: October 14, 2002[5] EU: October 18, 2002[6] Xbox NA: October 8, 2002[1] EU: October 25, 2002[4] AU: November 1, 2002[7]
Genre(s)	Sports
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Gameplay

NHL 2003 introduced a new feature: the GameBreaker. It is activated once a player performs enough "dekes" and it is used to help change the momentum of the game, such as scoring a big goal, delivering a big hit or winning a big fight.

The commentary in NHL 2003 is voiced by Jim Hughson and Don Taylor. Hughson has been the NHL series announcer since NHL '97, while Taylor first appeared in the previous year's version.

Reception

Aggregate score

Aggregator	Score
	GC	PC	PS2	Xbox
Metacritic	79/100[8]	75/100[9]	79/100[10]	80/100[11]

Review scores

Publication	Score
	GC	PC	PS2	Xbox
Electronic Gaming Monthly	N/A	N/A	7.5/10[12]	N/A
Eurogamer	N/A	N/A	8/10[13]	N/A
Game Informer	N/A	N/A	7.75/10[14]	7.75/10[15]
GamePro	[16]	N/A	[16]	[16]
GameSpot	8.2/10[17]	8.4/10[18]	8.3/10[19]	8.3/10[20]
GameSpy	[21]	[22]	[23]	N/A
GameZone	8.5/10[24]	9.1/10[25]	9/10[26]	9/10[27]
IGN	8.7/10[28]	8.8/10[29]	8.6/10[30]	8.7/10[31]
Nintendo Power	3.5/5[32]	N/A	N/A	N/A
Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine	N/A	N/A	[33]	N/A
Official Xbox Magazine (US)	N/A	N/A	N/A	7.9/10[34]
PC Gamer (US)	N/A	72%[35]	N/A	N/A
BBC Sport	N/A	N/A	90%[36]	N/A

Reception

The game received "generally favorable reviews" on all platforms according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.^{[8][9][10][11]}

References

1. Varanini, Giancarlo. "EA ships NHL 2003". GameSpot. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
2. "NHL 2003". Gameplanet. Archived from the original on July 13, 2003. Retrieved July 26, 2024.
3. "NHL 2003". Gameplanet. Archived from the original on May 29, 2003. Retrieved July 26, 2024.
4. Bramwell, Tom (October 25, 2002). "What's New?". Eurogamer. Retrieved July 26, 2024.
5. "NHL 2003". Gameplanet. Archived from the original on May 29, 2003. Retrieved July 26, 2024.
6. "Upcoming Releases". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on October 17, 2002. Retrieved July 26, 2024.
7. "NHL 2003". Gameplanet. Archived from the original on May 29, 2003. Retrieved July 26, 2024.
8. "NHL 2003 for GameCube Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
9. "NHL 2003 for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
10. "NHL 2003 for PlayStation 2 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
11. "NHL 2003 for Xbox Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
12. EGM staff (December 2002). "NHL 2003 (PS2)". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 161. p. 212. Archived from the original on May 14, 2004. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
13. Bramwell, Tom (October 31, 2002). "NHL Hitz 20-03 versus NHL 2003 (PS2)". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on November 23, 2002. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
14. Reiner, Andrew (November 2002). "NHL 2003 (PS2)". Game Informer. No. 115. p. 120. Archived from the original on November 14, 2004. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
15. Kato, Matthew (November 2002). "NHL 2003 (Xbox)". Game Informer. No. 115. p. 142. Archived from the original on November 13, 2004. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
16. Air Hendrix (October 1, 2002). "NHL 2003 (GC, PS2, Xbox)". GamePro. Archived from the original on October 29, 2004. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
17. Beers, Craig (October 14, 2002). "NHL 2003 Review (GC)". GameSpot. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
18. Goble, Gord (October 9, 2002). "NHL 2003 Review (PC)". GameSpot. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
19. Beers, Craig (October 14, 2002). "NHL 2003 Review (PS2)". GameSpot. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
20. Beers, Craig (November 6, 2002). "NHL 2003 Review (Xbox)". GameSpot. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
21. Satterfield, Shane (November 11, 2002). "GameSpy: NHL 2003 (GCN)". GameSpy. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
22. Abner, William (October 8, 2002). "GameSpy: NHL 2003 (PC)". GameSpy. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
23. Satterfield, Shane (October 19, 2002). "GameSpy: NHL 2003 (PS2)". GameSpy. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
24. Krause, Kevin (October 19, 2002). "NHL 2003 - GC - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on June 4, 2009. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
25. Lafferty, Michael (October 17, 2002). "NHL 2003 - PC - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on December 22, 2008. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
26. Krause, Kevin (October 21, 2002). "NHL 2003 - PS2 - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on December 31, 2008. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
27. Zacarias, Eduardo (October 26, 2002). "NHL 2003 - XB - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on December 28, 2008. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
28. Carle, Chris (October 3, 2002). "NHL 2003 (GCN)". IGN. Archived from the original on January 20, 2008. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
29. Butts, Steve (October 3, 2002). "NHL 2003 Review (PC)". IGN. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
30. Carle, Chris (October 3, 2002). "NHL 2003 (PS2)". IGN. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
31. Goldstein, Hilary (October 3, 2002). "NHL 2003 Review (Xbox)". IGN. Archived from the original on August 21, 2006. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
32. "NHL 2003". Nintendo Power. Vol. 163. December 2002. p. 216.
33. Zuniga, Todd (December 2002). "NHL 2003". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. p. 164. Archived from the original on March 29, 2004. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
34. "NHL 2003". Official Xbox Magazine. December 2002. p. 133.
35. Morris, Dan (December 2002). "NHL 2003". PC Gamer: 114. Archived from the original on March 15, 2006. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
36. Gibbon, David (October 23, 2002). "Let's play: NHL 2003 (PS2)". BBC Sport. Retrieved June 23, 2015.

External links

• NHL 2003 at MobyGames