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This is Microsoft's first attempt at an ice hockey game this year following on from the success of its other sports franchises. For a first game, it is certainly no slouch but it does have a lot of competition from ESPN NHL 2k4 and EA's NHL 2004. Naturally, the game owes a lot to these other franchises, which have been around for a few years.

For a game that relies on speed, Rivals lacks a bit of it. The game isn't trying to be 'arcadey', nor is it trying to be a full-on simulation but more like a mix of both. Unfortunately, it doesn't work as well as it should. Using the speed burst is about the only time the game plays at a decent speed; the rest of the time the game can seem a little "under powered?and can become quite frustrating. The face-offs in the game are like a console version of "Rock, Paper and Scissors? The player has one of three buttons to press in the hope of winning and gaining the puck; however, it may as well be called "Random Button Pressing? It is a nice idea that just needs to be fine-tuned in future.

If you have ever played an ice hockey game before, then you should feel right at home with the controls. The shoulder buttons are used for the pivot and speed bursts while the shoot, pass, deke and dump buttons are all on the face of the pad. The right analogue stick can be used for pinpoint passing by tapping in the direction of the player you wish to pass to. When not in possession of the puck, the face buttons change to dive, switch player, stick check and body check. The controls are quite responsive except for deking, which needs precision timing to be executed perfectly. Other than that, no gripes here.

Graphically, the game looks the part and even competes with the other NHL games on the market, but it's the animation that lets it down. At certain points in the game an animation will speed up and then slow down to suit the action. When in the heat of the moment trying to steal the puck of another player, it can look like they are pulling off random moves and can look a bit messy. The reflections on the ice and in the glass around the rink are well-executed touches as well as the 3D crowds looking up to the part, but these are all at a level we expect now. Close-ups of the players during the replays look impressive and the fights can be quite fun, especially when playing against a friend or online.

peaking of online, Microsoft has pulled off a world first in sports gaming: the ability to have up to six Xboxes hooked up through Xbox Live to make either two teams of three, or a couple of machines with guests as well to make it two full teams of five. This thankfully saves the game and makes for an enjoyable experience. Teamwork can be rewarded with goals, while puck hogs or "Hollywood Players?will have minimal chance of success when against other humans. Another feature that is exclusive to online is Pick-up Hockey. This is set away from the glitz and glamour of conventional hockey and is played out on open ice. Each player is limited to controlling one particular person. This mode is a blast online and supports up to two teams of three only. The game also supports system link as well and of course a Microsoft sports game wouldn't be complete without XSN Sports added into the mix.

If it weren't for the commentators' mediocre commentary, the sound would be one of the best features in the game. Well, mediocre might be a little harsh - it's just that, more often that not, the commentary can be a little behind the action. The crowds sound authentic - some of the best crowd audio in a sports game to date, alway roudy and reacting to all the action on the ice - even the big hits or puck steals. Face-offs are accompanied by some well-chosen snippets of music, such as Eye of the Tiger, Hit Me with Your Best Shot as well as a few other memorable tunes. The sound of skating and stick clashes are what we have come to expect, while the big hits also come across well.

For a first ice hockey game, NHL Rivals isn't bad, it's just not ground-breaking - which it needs to be with the choices available at the moment. If you want a game for online play then this is one of the more enjoyable games due to the amount of players it supports, but as a single-player experience Rivals doesn't offer anything new. There is definitely room for improvement and hopefully Microsoft makes the most of this next year.