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EA’s NHL series has been busy this year. Aside from making the expected appearance on current-generation consoles, the franchise debuted on the PSP and has now debuted on the Xbox 360. NHL 07 is easily the best looking NHL game money can buy and the gameplay, thanks to the right analog stick, it’s also the smoothest playing game. Unfortunately, the game lacks several gameplay modes found in the current-generation games and even its next-gen competition.
Not that it is very surprising but NHL 07, like other next-generation debuts before it, is missing a lot of the features found in the current-generation version of NHL 07. The game includes quick play, franchise, world tournament, shoot-out, and online modes. The franchise mode has some neat features like a more believable salary cap system aside from the general coaching and management options that are standard. The trade system in the franchise mode has a few issues since you can sometimes sign players, go over the budget without notice, and have them in your minor league team instead of your actual team. Unfortunately, that’s it for game modes.
NHL 07 makes great use of the right analog stick to fundamentally change the way hockey games are played and for the better. You’ll use the stick to pull off all your shots and fakes, everything from wristers to slapshots and dekes. Aside from the more simple stuff, you’ll use the stick for more complicated actions as well. Passing is done via the right trigger and shoulder button. Like with EA’s other right analog stick heavy games, there is a bit of a learning curve but once you get used to it, man, it’s hard to go back to playing with the face buttons. If you don’t like change, don’t worry, the game includes the classic control scheme with passing and shooting on the face buttons. The classic control scheme also includes the right analog stick stuff so you can practice with it if you want.
NHL 07 makes full use of Xbox Live on the Xbox 360. The game includes the typical EA Sports online features including lobbies, downloadable rosters, stats, leaderboards, tournaments and of course, head-to-head gameplay. Again, NHL 07 is behind in the features department compared to its competition, which has online seasons and tournaments. Technically, online matches are smooth with minimal lag.
NHL 07 is easily the best looking hockey game available right now. Although NHL 2K7 really stepped up its presentation this year, it cannot compare to NHL 07. The character models are insanely detailed with amazing faces that probably rank as some of the best character models in a sports game. Even the jerseys on the players look splendid with realistic motion on them. The animation is amazing as the game can almost convince you that you’re watching a live NHL game on television. The frame-rate is smooth but noticeably slower than both previous EA NHL games and the NHL 2K series. As always, the game looks better on HDTV, but even SDTV gamers will notice the difference.
The game’s audio is also very impressive. The commentary is provided by Gary Thorne and Bill Clement who replace Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson from last year. As you may know, Thorne and Clement were former ESPN announcers. There is real chemistry between these two guys and it comes across in the game. The sound effects are awesome, really bringing to life the on-ice action. The soundtrack includes typical rock artists commonly found in EA Trax games.
NHL 07 is easily the best playing, best looking, and best sounding hockey game currently available. If EA had not stripped away the additional gameplay modes, this would have easily been the game to beat. As it stands, it’s still the forerunner. -- Jose Liz, PGNx Media
---- Oct 15, 2006
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