Sports games never used to get me excited - I had that "if I wanted to play sports, I'd play them in real life" attitude. But after being more than pleasantly surprised by EA Sport's Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005, I was really looking forward to hitting the ice. Thanks to our friend Tiger I'm now a changed man and I can't get enough of sports games. However, after the high climax from the PGA Tour could NHL 2005 safely carry me onwards or would it drop me like a stone?

The first thing I noticed about the presentation is the similarity between the in-game interfaces of NHL and Tiger Woods 2005. I presume this is an EA Sports feature and it's a real bonus, because I knew where most things were straight away!

Let me start on that often under-praised topic, the sound, because as soon as you get into the menu, a little track info box appears at the bottom of the screen and plays a well known track. This instantly brought a smile on my face and there are plenty of tracks in the game, some that you may know and others that you may not - but I think this is down to the limited airplay these USA artists receive in old Blighty. As far as ice hockey noises go, the sound effects are spot on but the commentary seems a little on the scrappy side and because I've just experienced some of the best commentary ever in Tiger Woods, NHL's commentary left me somewhat unmoved. Fortunately, the in-game commentary can be turned off or replaced with music.

The gameplay itself has some great modes that I couldn't wait to dive into. The main mode of the game is Dynasty mode, which isn't new to 2005, but apparently it's significantly improved. It's quite a deep mode for a game of this genre, which I was impressed to see. Pick a name and then it's time to get into the actual mode, which is feature rich with a whole host of things to do. Dynasty mode is all about making a name for yourself, managing your team, buying and selling players, making money, fighting your way through ten seasons and even checking your e-mail! E-mail? This is a new feature to NHL 2005; you'll receive anything from tips to brags and boasts in your inbox - but I am yet to come across x-rated spam mail, which is of course a plus. The actual matches feel like they always have and if you liked the system before, then you'll obviously like it again. The only new addition to the system is the ability to switch between players on the fly, regardless of whether they have the puck or not and you'll even be able to call for on-ice support for easy passes and seamless set-ups. This is a very welcome addition indeed. However, it's still quite hard to actually tell what's going on and sometimes the fast-paced nature of the game gets ahead of you; the player with the puck isn't marked clearly enough for my liking, although that's the only nit pick for now.

Other modes include: an Exhibition mode, where you can practice one-timers and strategies - perfect for perfecting your on-ice support techniques, which you can then apply to the real matches! Another familiar mode is the Season mode, which is pretty self explanatory really. You can set up a lengthy season consisting of 29, 58 or 82 games and make a run for the Stanley Cup. For this mode you can use your own team that you've created, or an existing one. Yet another mode that you may be familiar with if you've played the previous NHL games is the Elite Leagues mode. Here you can take on the best teams from around Europe - Sweden, Finland and Germany - but sadly no mention of England in sight. Typical.

There are some new modes too, that may warrant a purchase for NHL 2004 owners. The World Cup of hockey is quite similar to the Dynasty mode but with some more laid back options and more customisations in different areas. For example, you can set the Robin Round tiebreaker and you can set the number of rounds. You'll be able to play under the NHL rule set against plenty of teams from around the world.

Another new mode is primarily for multiplayer and is by far the best in my eyes! It's very simple and very effective - it's the Free For All mode. Four of you can pick a character and you will get placed in half of the rink, one goalie and four human players. Your job is to score more than the other players. Tackle them and shoot, it's fast, it's fun, it's a free for all and it's fabulous! When you're winning your helmet turns gold, which is a nice little touch and it's bound to bring parties of four players together with laughter and rivalry. This is without doubt a very enjoyable mode and a great addition.

There's a much needed tutorial hidden under the EA Sports extra menu and it took some finding but once I'd played it I was a lot more aware and a damn sight better as a player. It's definitely worth a look if you're a rusty pro that needs a refresher course, or a NHL newbie. The new features are also covered here too, along with 'Strategies with Marc Crawford' where Marc talks about NHL strategies that can be applied to the game, with 12 real video footage tips consisting of around 2 minutes each. These are really worthy of your attention, although making these strategies work in the game is another matter altogether!

Graphically NHL 2005 hasn't really changed, keeping that same overhead view, which is logically the only way this game can be done. The match intros are a nice touch because they are done in 3D, but somehow the 3D close-ups don't look that nice and I'm sure you'd say that about me if I had 2D lips. But with 2D lips aside, the ice rinks look whiter than Santa Clause's hair. Everything is coloured correctly with a nice balance of gleaming white and loud colours for team logos tattooed on the rink. The characters are well detailed and you can tell two teams apart with the rich clothing they wear; something that some sports games can be quite bad at when it comes to fast paced action and telling a team member from a rival. Or is that just me? Ice rinks vary from time to time but for the most part they look very similar. Saying that, you couldn't play ice hockey on the grass could you? [Maybe on a very cold day… Ed] The crowd is quite amusing to watch when they are cheering you on by waving mini flags and doing little Mexican waves! The crowd moves just as you expect them to, they're excited, yet clumsy in a nice way.

NHL 2005 has some great modes with some good music to boot. There are a few things to unlock and you can make your own teams and even manage them. You will have to weigh up the pros and cons if you already own the 2004 edition - are the extra modes worth a purchase? All the modes in this game can be played with a friend, either as a co-operative team or as rivals, which really adds to the replay value. People who are looking for a fast sports game can't go wrong with this, but those wanting to upgrade might want to rent it first to see if it's worth their hard earned pennies.

Reviewed by Dexter Pearson for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).