First, the graphics and animation engines are “all-new”. Last year’s edition looked pretty good, but 2003 is looking even better with sharper textures – if you're a big NHL fan you don’t have to see their number to know who they are. A “Game Breaker” meter has been added. Once this meter is filled by scoring goals and “performing dynamic dekes” you can go into “Max Payne” mode for a bit more drama. On paper, this sounds a little lame – too much of a “me too” vibe. But my mole at EA tells me it’s actually “really cool” and is implemented well – but of course he’s playing the beta. (He also made mention of SSX Tricky 2 in the planning stages, but that's a whole other story!) He also went on about the new deke control whereby you hold the deke button then press one of 8 directions to perform a different deke. This will address complaints by die-hards that the few default dekes just weren’t good enough.