EA SPORTS - It's In The Game

ONE NET. ONE GOALIE. EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF.

When an NHL hockey practice is finished, most players stay on the ice and either work on specific skills or play fun games against the goalie. It is not uncommon to see four players gathered around the goalie at one end all trying to score. You can even see this before an NHL game, at the end of warm-ups, usually against the back-up goalie for that night. Just add the top 40 players from around the league, some big hits and a golden helmet and you have EA SPORTS Free4All™.

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What is EA SPORTS Free4All?

EA SPORTS Free4All supports 1- 4 players. The "goal" of the game is to score more goals than anyone else. There are no teams. It is every man or woman for him (or her) self. The CPU will control the goalie. There is a border at the blueline, so all of the action takes place at one end of the ice. When the goalie makes a save, there will either be a rebound or he will shoot the puck to an open area of the ice, and after a goal is scored the puck is respawned right away, so the action is non-stop. There are no penalties, so checking players without the puck is encouraged.

How do you play?

The first choice that you get to make when starting up EA SPORTS Free4All is which NHL star you want to use. In total, there are about 40 players to choose from. Offensive players such as Thornton, Iginla, Nash, St. Louis, and Naslund, as well as many others, are all available choices. Since a big part of the mode is about preventing your opponents from scoring and crushing them when possible, we have also included several physical players such as Pronger, Stevens, and Chara. Up to four gamers can each choose a player, and the player of their choice will wear their team uniform. When you score, the player's team logo will flash across the ice. One of five or six goalies will be randomly chosen to play net.

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There are two game types: "Score Drive" and "On The Clock". The objective of "Score Drive" is to be the first player to 5, 10, or 15 goals. For "On The Clock", the winner is the player with the most goals after 2:00, 5:00, or 10:00 minutes. For a little more challenge, you can choose to have defensemen guarding the net [one of 5 or 6 NHL defensemen]. Big heads are defaulted to on [nothing like seeing four big headed players mucking it up on the boards], but can be turned off at the player's choosing. A cool feature is that you can play the game with commentary turned off and have music blasting through the arena sound system during play.

Why is this such a great addition to NHL 2005?

EA SPORTS Free4All is a great mode for everyone. First of all, it is a great multiplayer game. If you have three friends over or you're having a party, it is a quick fun game, where the winner can continue play by taking on all challengers. It is not uncommon around the EA offices to see four people gathered around a TV playing a quick game of Free4All. But for the more serious player, or those who wish to hone their skills, this is a great practice mode. You can go into the mode with just you versus the goalie and practice wrist shots, wrap arounds and manual dekes. Then, bring in a defenseman and practice one-on-one play, checking, and pinning against the boards. All of the gameplay controls work exactly the same way that they do during a regular game. Finally, it is just plain fun to play, with some cool features that differentiate it from many regular hockey games. For example, the player that currently has the most goals will wear the golden helmet [top goal scorers in certain Elite Leagues actually have this].

Whether you want to taunt your friends after pounding them into the ice, or work on your skills before going into Dynasty game, we hope you have as much fun playing EA SPORTS Free4All as we have.