U.S. Olympic Team Ice Hockey

U.S. Olympic Team Ice Hockey from I-Play is a hockey title that takes the 12 qualifying teams from last winter’s Olympics in Torino and pits them together. The gameplay is easy to get into, as the controls are easy to grasp, and each of the teams have their own unique traits and strengths that give them a different feel. However, the actual gameplay moves along at a fairly sluggish pace, interrupting the flow and making it feel a little too slow to be a fast-paced hockey game. U.S. Olympic Team Ice Hockey is a fun enough game to pick up and play for short bursts, but the slow pacing detracts from the experience.

U.S. Olympic Team Ice Hockey puts you in control of one of the 12 qualifying teams from the Torino Olympics: Canada, Sweden, Slovak Republic, Czech Republic, Finland, USA, Russia, Germany, Switzerland, Latvia, Kazakhstan and Italy. Each team is ranked in terms of speed, aggressiveness and accuracy, with an overall rating determining how each team rates against the others.

There are two different gameplay modes, Exhibition and Olympic matches. While Exhibition games are simple team-on-team matches, Olympic is a tournament mode where each you will play against each team through an elimination mode in order to determine who will walk (or skate?) away with the gold.

The controls, as stated, are pretty easy to pick up and not too complex for the casual gamer. You’ll be able to pass and shoot with ease. Both passing and shooting accuracy depend on your team’s attributes, as you’ll need to be a lot closer to your target in order to hit the mark if your accuracy rating is too low.

The main area where the game unfortunately falls below the mark is the game’s speed. The game moves very slowly, and moving your players on the ice feels extremely sluggish. The movement controls aren’t very responsive, and navigating your team feels like a chore.

Another thing that I wasn’t fond of (even though is appears to be a conscious omission by the developers to maintain the professionalism of Olympic Hockey) is that there is no fighting. Something that I personally enjoyed in my youth while playing classics like Blades of Steel on the NES is sadly absent (and I fully expect to incur the wrath of at least one hardcore hockey fan for that statement).

Graphically the game certainly won’t dazzle you when compared to existing mobile titles. The players all look the same, with different team colors being the only real differences. The animation is nearly non-existent, and the jerkiness of the motion makes the game pretty frustrating to play in parts. Musically, the game is low-key, with a main rock theme song (well, as “rock” as you can get with low-end MIDI tech) and slapping sounds on the ice when you knock the puck around.

U.S. Olympic Team Ice Hockey is a simple-enough hockey game that the casual gamer with only a passing appreciation for the sport of ice hockey can pick up and get into. Unfortunately, the slow and, at times, frustrating pace will have some putting it down before too long.

Gameplay: 6.5
The game’s control scheme is easy enough for just about anyone to pick up, but the game’s pacing is just too slow.

Graphics: 5.0
U.S. Olympic Team Ice Hockey won’t turn many heads with simplistic player models and jerky animation.

Sound: 5.0
MIDI-fied music and slapping sounds, and not much else.

Difficultly: Medium

Concept: 6.0
The game doesn’t offer much in terms of gameplay options, going the barebones/casual game route instead.

Overall: 6.0
While it is geared towards casual gamers, U.S. Olympic Team Ice Hockey moves far too slowly to make it hold anyone’s interest for very long.