WAYNE GRETZKY HOCKEY 2 
  
 When I first saw the box for Bethesda Softworks' WAYNE GRETZKY
HOCKEY 2, I was very hopeful. After all, it did win the Software
Publishers Association's "Best Sports Simulation" Award. And the
screen shots on the back of the box looked fairly impressive, 
especially for a game that only requires 384K of memory. But what I
saw after installing WGH2 was a completely different story. (This
review is based on the IBM-PC version.) 
  
 The WGH2 packaging claims that the game supports VGA graphics. 
(Technically, it only says "VGA," with no indication that it
actually _supports_ it, although you usually expect to find
high-resolution or 256-color graphics when VGA is mentioned.) What
Bethesda Softworks should have said was that if you have a VGA
card, you can run the game...in EGA mode. So I suppose that WGH2
also "supports" XGA and SVGA by those standards. My copy of the game
came on 5-1/4" diskettes; there's no mention in the documentation of
an exchange policy for players who require the 3-1/2" format. 
  
 WGH2 also supports AdLib and Sound Blaster cards, in addition to
the standard PC speaker. All you hear from a sound card in this game
is background music when you are in one of the game's many menus, or
an occasional weak sound effect when the game is in progress. Sound
Blaster users should note that WGH2 expects to find your card using
IRQ2, although the default setting is IRQ7. In order to change your
interrupt setting, you will have to pull out the card and change the
jumpers. I just decided that it would be easier to run the game in
AdLib mode, where there should be no problems. 
  
 According to a note in the back of the manual, copy-protection has
been lessened since the original release of WGH. If this is true, 
I'd hate to see the original. Not only is there an annoying manual
check (where you have to match pictures, based on both shape and
color details), but the program also checks for "viruses." If WGH2
finds that it has been modified, it will stop and return control to
DOS. I find it hard to believe that anyone ever intended for this
slow "virus check" to be anything of the sort. Instead, I suspect
that the program is checking for intentional modifications (to
remove copy protection or otherwise custom-configure the program). 
It would have been better if Bethesda had just said what their real
intentions were. 
  
 Until I started my first game, I was impressed by WGH2. The game
appeared to have plenty of features and options that'd keep it new
for a long time. But as soon as I started that first game, I was
quickly disappointed. The arcade mode of WGH2, in which you control
one player at a time, looked like it hadn't been changed since the
original WGH: Only seven or eight colors were used at one time, and
the graphics were blocky, even for EGA. Also, both teams' uniforms
were the same colors; the only difference was where the colors were
placed. The entire game was played from an overhead view, with about
half of the rink fitting on the screen at one time. Unlike the
screen shots on the box, you never see close-ups of players, except
on a small post-game graphic. That wonderful picture of a player
going for a shot (which is shown on the back of the box) could only
be found in the opening sequence. Should we have expected anything
more from a game that claims, but does not have, VGA graphics? 
  
 Of course, as I love reminding myself, there's more to games than
just graphics and sound. Or, at least, there's supposed to be. I
found the player-mode of the game to be about as bad the graphics
were, if not worse. The game runs slowly, even with speed set to the
maximum. Since you can only control one player at a time, you'll
often find yourself waiting for something to do. But even once you
have control of the of the puck, the game doesn't get very
exciting. I found it hard to warm up to this game, with a distant
overhead view and poor graphics; it wasn't real enough for me. Maybe
someone else might have better luck, although I doubt it. 
  
 I decided to give WGH2 one more chance by testing out its coaching
mode. You can edit your team's roster, making players as good or bad
as you'd like in each of eleven different categories. Without any
limit to how many points you can assign, it is possible to create
either an overwhelming advantage or handicap for yourself. The team
editor also features options to edit up to twenty offensive and
defensive plays, as well as to create eighteen different lines. 
Unfortunately, you can't assign any sort of names to your plays, so
you will have to take good notes if you want to remember what each
play is. To set up lines for any imaginable combination of penalty
situation for either team is quite a large task. You will need a
printout of your current lines, since the computer does not display
what you are editing until you choose a particular position in one
of the lines. Also, a printout of your roster is almost a
requirement, since there is no other way to get player statistics
from the line editor. Personally, I would rather let the computer
make changes for me. 
  
 If you are adventuresome enough to sit back and watch the computer
control your players while you coach a game, go ahead. (You can also
play and coach at the same time, if you want.) Coaching must be
controlled by keyboard. You must select from the three different
coaching modes (line change, play calling, and switch player
control) with the SHIFT key. Play selections are made using four
number keys to scroll through the list. As I mentioned before, there
is no way of finding out what a play is, except to call the play and
see what happens. And you can only scroll in increments of one and
five plays. I just preferred to let the computer coach; human
control is simply too awkward. 
  
 I felt cheated by WGH2. There seemed to have been little change
over the original version (at least according to the box), except
for the addition of sound card support and the play editor. After
being misled about graphics support, and being asked to reconfigure
my Sound Blaster to a non-standard setting, it would have taken a
great game to get me excited. Needless to say, WGH2 is far from a
great game. Several years ago, it make have been acceptable, but
today, you can do far better. If you are a tremendous hockey fan to
whom money and hard drive space is no object, I might recommend this
game to you. Otherwise, run, don't walk, away from WAYNE GRETZKY
HOCKEY 2. 

 WAYNE GRETZKY HOCKEY 2 is published and distributed by Bethesda
Softworks.