NHL Hitz Pro

NHL Hitz Pro
PAL region cover art
Developer(s)	Next Level Games
Publisher(s)	Midway Games
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox
Release date(s)	^NA September 25, 2003 ^EU November 7, 2003 (PS2) ^EU November 14, 2003 (Xbox)
Genre(s)	Sports
Mode(s)	Single-player, Multiplayer

NHL Hitz Pro is an ice hockey video game developed by Next Level Games and published by Midway Games. It's the third and final game of the NHL Hitz series. It was released on September 25, 2003, for the PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, and Xbox. Unlike the previous titles in the series, this game has 5-on-5 gameplay instead of the usual 3-on-3 gameplay with the earlier titles. Despite that fact, however, the game does not include penalty shots, and it is still an arcade-type hockey game like its predecessors. It also has, as the name suggests, a lot of hard hitting, appealing more often to casual hockey fans than hardcore ones. The cover athlete of the game is Nicklas Lidström, and features commentary from Tim Kitzrow^[1] and Harry Teinowitz.

Unlike many other hockey video games of the 21st century, NHL Hitz Pro had the IIHF license, enabling it to use the jerseys of the Olympic hockey teams.

The game also has many game modes, one of the most popular being the "Pick-Up Hockey" game mode, where the game would turn into either a roller, street, or pond hockey match-up between two amateur teams.

Features

NHL Hitz Pro features NHL-style gameplay for the first time, and although arcade-like features pop up from time to time, the game is far more realistic than the previous titles in the series. Among the changes to Hitz Pro are 5-on-5 gameplay, as opposed to the 3-on-3 action seen in NHL Hitz 2002 and 2003, less exaggerated player appearances, and wrap arounds.

Soundtrack

NHL Hitz Pro features a soundtrack of 22 songs. They are listed below.

Artist	Song Name
12 Stones	Back Up
Diffuser	New High
Dry Kill Logic	Hindsight
Exit This Side	Beautiful To Me
Exit This Side	Finding My Way
Exit This Side	Good Enough
Exit This Side	Simple Wonder
Exit This Side	The Silence
Flaw	Get Up Again
Flipswitch	Circumstances
Flipswitch	Circumstances Remix
Flipswitch	Empty Hands
Flipswitch	Empty Hands Remix
Flipswitch	Hear It
Flipswitch	Ride On
Flipswitch	Saturdays
Flipswitch	Seasons
Kazzer	Pedal To The Medal
Logan 7	Boomshakalaka
Powerman 5000	Transform
The D4	Get Loose
Zombie Nation	Kernkraft 400

Reception

Reception

Aggregate scores Aggregator Score GameRankings (Xbox) 84.05%[2] (GC) 81.88%[3] (PS2) 78.48%[4] Metacritic (Xbox) 81/100[5] (GC) 81/100[6] (PS2) 79/100[7] Review scores Publication Score EGM 8/10[8] Game Informer (PS2) 8.25/10[9] 8/10[10][11] GamePro [12] Game Revolution B[13] GameSpot (PS2) 8.2/10[14] 8.1/10[15] GameSpy [16][17] (Xbox) [18] GameZone 9.2/10[19][20] (GC) 8.5/10[21] IGN 8.6/10[22] Nintendo Power 3/5[23] OPM (US) [24] OXM 8/10[25]

NHL Hitz Pro was met with positive reception upon release. GameRankings and Metacritic gave it a score of 84.05% and 81 out of 100 for the Xbox version;^[2][5] 81.88% and 81 out of 100 for the GameCube version;^[3][6] and 78.48% and 79 out of 100 for the PlayStation 2 version.^[4][7]

References

1. Semsey, Rob (September 15, 2003). "NHL Hitz Pro: Tim Kitzrow Interview". TeamXbox. Archived from the original on January 6, 2014. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
2. "NHL Hitz Pro for Xbox". GameRankings. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
3. "NHL Hitz Pro for GameCube". GameRankings. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
4. "NHL Hitz Pro for PlayStation 2". GameRankings. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
5. "NHL Hitz Pro for Xbox Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
6. "NHL Hitz Pro for GameCube Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
7. "NHL Hitz Pro for PlayStation 2 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
8. EGM staff (October 2003). "NHL Hitz Pro". Electronic Gaming Monthly: 136.
9. Reiner, Andrew (October 2003). "NHL Hitz: Pro (PS2)". Game Informer (126): 83. Archived from the original on November 18, 2005. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
10. "NHL Hitz: Pro (GC)". Game Informer (126): 131. October 2003.
11. Kato, Matthew (October 2003). "NHL Hitz: Pro (Xbox)". Game Informer (126): 138. Archived from the original on November 18, 2007. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
12. Air Hendrix (September 26, 2003). "NHL Hitz Pro". GamePro. Archived from the original on February 12, 2005. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
13. Dr. Moo (October 2003). "NHL Hitz Pro Review". Game Revolution. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
14. Navarro, Alex (September 29, 2003). "NHL Hitz Pro Review (PS2)". GameSpot. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
15. Navarro, Alex (September 24, 2003). "NHL Hitz Pro Review (GC, Xbox)". GameSpot. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
16. Fischer, Russ (October 4, 2003). "GameSpy: NHL Hitz Pro (GCN)". GameSpy. Archived from the original on December 8, 2005. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
17. Fischer, Russ (October 4, 2003). "GameSpy: NHL Hitz Pro (PS2)". GameSpy. Archived from the original on October 31, 2005. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
18. Fischer, Russ (October 4, 2003). "GameSpy: NHL Hitz Pro (Xbox)". GameSpy. Archived from the original on December 27, 2005. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
19. Lafferty, Michael (September 23, 2003). "NHL Hitz: Pro Review - Xbox". GameZone. Archived from the original on November 6, 2007. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
20. Romano, Natalie (October 10, 2003). "NHL Hitz: Pro - PS2 - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on November 6, 2007. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
21. Bedigian, Louis (October 5, 2003). "NHL Hitz: Pro - GC - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on November 24, 2007. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
22. Carle, Chris (September 24, 2003). "NHL Hitz Pro". IGN. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
23. "NHL Hitz Pro". Nintendo Power 173: 151. November 2003.
24. "NHL Hitz Pro". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine: 121. October 2003.
25. "NHL Hitz Pro". Official Xbox Magazine: 126. November 2003.

External links

• NHL Hitz Pro at MobyGames