NHL 2004 (0)

First release date

2003-09-22

Platform

PlayStation 2 GameCube Xbox PC

Developer

EA Black Box

Publisher

EA Sports

Theme

National Hockey League EA Sports NHL

Franchise

National Hockey League EA Sports NHL

Dynasty Mode

NHL 2004 was the first sport game to feature a Dynasty Mode. Dynasty mode puts you in the shoes of an NHL general manager which gives you the responsibilities of everything from assigning practice times to setting ticket prices and managing player contracts. Different things that you do as a general manager such as signing and trading players, drafting players, maintaining high attendance and squiring profit will earn you experience points. Once enough experience points are gained you earn an upgrade point these upgrade points can then be used to improve various facilities or management staff. Things that upgrade points can be spent on include scouting, medical, coaching, marketing, legal, equipment room, team travel, team gym, practice rink and locker room.

As you progress through Dynasty mode you are given rewards with which you can decorate your office with, these rewards have no impact on game play other then aesthetic qualities they offer. If you manage to progress through all twenty years of Dynasty mode your management staff rewards you with your own Caribbean island.

Another major responsibility of a GM is keeping player morale high. Player morale is affected by ice-time and team facilities which can be improved by spending upgrade points. If a player morale is high his stats will show a slight increase, on the other hand low player morale will have a significant negative impact on a players attributes.

Cover Athletes

Dany Heatley (Atlanta Thrashers)

Joe Sakic (Colorado Avalanche) - After Dany Heatley's car crash that killed teammate Dan Snyder, EA stopped production on NHL 04 with Heatley on the cover and changed to Joe Sakic.