There's No Way 2K7 Scores Higher Than '07! Read This for an Un-biased Review.
I play hockey frequently; I know how it feels to play. I also know how it feels to play goalie--I've played that frequently, as well. The goalie in this game is, for the first time in ANY hockey game, CLOSE to realistic. Sure, there are annoying, crappy goals that end up getting scored, and maybe they happen more often than normal, but typically in real hockey, the goals that are scored are varied. In 2K7, you're pretty much limited to scoring a one-timer goal, which is not difficult to do. Slapshots from the point NEVER score in 2K7, although they're frequent in real life. In real life, getting the opportunity to score a one-timer goal on a 2-on-0 is not all that frequent, and the frequency that it's messed up is much more often than not. In '07, excepting the soft goals scored, the goals you score are VERY realistic. You have much more of a chance of scoring a wrist shot from the slot, or deking the goalie out, than an impossible one-timer. It makes you use REAL hockey mentality, that being "put the puck on net and hope for something great."
Graphics:
For anyone who said the player models look anything less than amazing, don't believe them. The number of players I've looked at the FACES of and recognized is pretty vast. Obviously, not every face is a complete match, but for anybody whose name is known--from Joe Thornton to Rod Brind'Amour to, well, whoever, it's dead-on. The goalies look incredible, and so does the ice. The crowd is decent--not incredible, but it certainly doesn't detract from the experience.
To give credit where it's due, I like the Cinemotion concept that 2K7 implemented. If '07 used it, the game would go up a huge notch. I like how with the Cinemotion camera you can really get an idea of everything that's going on, especially on the Power Play. You can pass it back to your D at the point, and whatnot. I'm not in love with the music they play for the Cinemotion, but I'm not against it, either. I think that, if polished, it could be an incredible concept; I just don't think the music is implemented correctly. The default camera for '07 is the same as previous years, and although it works, often you're passing it blindly back to the point. The graphics certainly aren't bad for 2K7--in fact they're really good--but the fact that Gamespot gave '07 a 9 in graphics and 2K7 an 8 bugs me. If you put the two side by side, there's a much more noticeable difference between the two. If you give 2K7 an 8 (which it rightly deserves), then '07 is definitely a 10, maybe even an 11.
As far as the skating animations, 2K7 wins. I really don't notice the difference in framerate, but 2K7 looks more realistic when someone is skating. In '07, some of the movement animations don't gel, such as when someone gets tripped by the goalie, they typically always spin as they go down, and it just doesn't look right. So give 2K7 credit there.
Gameplay:
I keep hearing that 2K7 has the best gameplay, bar none, and that really bothers me. Again, I play hockey. I don't see 2K7 as being incredibly realistic. I don't like how you can just hold the turbo button and blow by everybody. EA '07 doesn't have a turbo button, and although at first that seems like a terribly foreign concept, it works. In real hockey, if you turn on the jets, your teammates will skate fast with you, trying to help out. It's called a rush. The defense will also either try to stand you up, or more frequently, back off more to negate your speed and push you to the outside. In 2K7, when you turn on the jets, nobody on your team keeps up, and nobody on the defense counters it. With the turbo button being gone in '07, it makes it so you can't simply blow by people--rather you have to cut, move laterally, etc. Or, you could pass the puck. There's a concept. I like the checking in '07; I think it's more realistic. In real hockey, it's very difficult (and more often than not you have to get lucky) to land a huge hit. The checking is handled by the right analog stick, and it's very easy to work, but more often than not you're going to simply get in someone's way, instead of knocking them down--it's more realistic. Hitting isn't always pretty in real life. I dont like the poke-check in '07; I think 2K7 does a better job with it. It wouldn't be so bad in '07, but you lose control of your player while you're attempting a poke check, which makes it hard to be positioned correctly. I DO like how the players dive/block shots in '07. It's very easy to position your player correctly, and they slide along with their momentum as they go down. When you dive at someone from behind to poke the puck away, often you'll trip the player before hitting the puck, which is also realistic (you get called for that frequently). In real life it's not easy to catch someone from behind and break up the play; if a guy beats you it usually requires breaking the rules to stop him.
The goalies also come WAY out to cut down the angle in '07. Typically, in every hockey game, they stay in their crease and simply react to everything. That's not necessarily realistic. Especially on a breakaway, goalies come far out of their crease to give the shooter little to shoot at, and they build momentum coming back into the net so they can move with the shooter. The goalies actually SLIDE in this game, whereas in other games they're able to bypass the laws of friction.
The Skill Stick has been beaten to death, but I'll say this: it's not perfect, but it's the closest to real that you'll come. It's fun to stickhandle back and forth, pull the puck back, start to spin, pull back, and shoot. It needs more polishing, but it's pretty fun. I wish that players who are terribly unskilled at stickhandling would be much worse with the skill stick, so that when you try crazy moves they'd just lose the puck, but as a whole, it's an excellent concept, and especially when pulling off a wrist shot (move the stick to the side and then shoot), it feels like you're really doing that yourself. Very satisfying.
Offsides is incredibly annoying in '07. I can understand your guys going offsides if you make a move right before going over the line--that happens all the time in real hockey. If you have the puck, it's your job to directly get it over the line. But way too many times, especially when there's a faceoff right outside the offensive zone, your forwards will go over the line right away after winning the draw to the defense, so you have to wait for them to come back. It almost makes you just want to dump it in all the time--which isn't in of itself unrealistic, just dump and chase. If you're patient it's not a problem, but it can really get on your nerves.
Sound:
Gary Thorne and Bill Clement do a fantastic job. It's not WHAT they say; it's how they say it. Typically you don't pay a whole lot of attention to what the play-by-play guy is saying when you're watching a game; they just fill up the void in sound. It's typically just the sound of their voice that you like, and when you pay attention it's usually when the commentator is saying something specific about your favorite player, or whatnot. Let's face it. NO videogame announcing team EVER says a whole lot that's interesting in commentary, and it's doubtful they ever will. Commentators specifically talking about your favorite players are only interesting because they're a real person talking, saying real-life intelligent things from their expertise in knowledge of the game (except for John Madden--he just talks about nothing even relatively intelligent and yet for some galactically stupid reason he's wildly popular). So you're never going to get an interesting videogame commentary. Instead, what you look for in a videogame commentary team is energy and chemistry, and these two really have it. Sure, it's a bit repetitive, but it's FAR better than the duo for 2K7.
The rest of the sound of the game is great, too. The crowd gets into it at APPROPRIATE times. They're loud when they should be loud and, conversely, quiet when they should be. They boo, they shout "SHOOT IT!" when you've got it on the Power Play, etc.
Other Modes:
When I get a sports videogame, there are two things I do. Number one, I play it with my friends when they come over. This game supports up to four players on the same system (as opposed to Madden '07), which works perfectly for my taste. Also, for when my friends are not over the house, I like to create my own team and try to create realistic players (obviously upgraded to play in the NHL) for that team, which makes the team somewhat personal. It's frustrating that you can't create your own team; that's horribly annoying, especially since we have our own team in real life for tournaments and whatnot. I've never really been one to get into the different modes of a game; I've never gotten really in-depth with Franchise, etc. I also don't play a whole lot online gaming, so this review has nothing to do with the alternate modes of play.
Overall Summary:
Over the past few years, I would definitely agree that 2K has had the edge in hockey games, although I liked EA's version of hockey for regular consoles last year (especially since they included '94 in the package). This year, EA has outdone 2K. The graphics are better, the controls are better, the sound is better. The FEEL of the game is more realistic. This is the first time in awhile I've been excited about a sports game coming out, and that anticipation was justified. I'm upset that Gamespot reviewed 2K7 higher than this game. Neither game is perfect, but in my book '07 wins hands down. The fact that average player reviews rates this to be close to a 9, and 2k7 to be below an 8 says something. Both games are certainly good, and each has their own innovations they've included, but overall, NHL '07 is definitely the better game.
--Dee Rye