EA dishes out a real "feeling" hockey game but misses on some of it's hits.
NHL has seem to be around for as long as consoles has been in the hands of gamers, it's a title that comes out every year and tries to get the consumer to buy because it has the lastest rosters and the lastest features. NHL's gameplay to me was getting a little try, this year they bring in the "Skill Stick", now, this feature alone will make you play over and over again. It makes the game feel real, I mean skating down the ice and decking out the defence and then fake to the left and bring it back to go top self. Now that's a play and before this game I haven't put together plays like this. I played the game on classic but using the "Skill stick" for shooting I couldn't get used to the pass on the shoulder button too used to "A". This game lacks in the hitting deparment that's not to say that you can't just pound someone because you can, but other times just feel weird, player still makes the pass even though I checked him, while it is frustrating it just makes u pick another way. I wish EA would look to 2K Games for their checking system, 2K has a system where you can either give a normal check or an aggressive one but in doing so you also had a chance of being sent to the penalty box(while 07 has slash but i always get caught and the puck is never turned over). I find it hard to get the puck away with a check and instead you should use poke checks. Minor problems becuse the game can still be played to death.
Graphics are amazing in full HD. You can pick out your favorites as their getting on the ice or celebrating the win after the match is over. Zoom in on replay and see the logo on the puck, the names on the sticks and jerseys in full motion.
Sound is good, checks with slap shots and the commentary. While there is a good commentary, it doesn't take long until you hear them saying the same words. There's a feature where you can turn off commentary and just listen to the ice. Hearing the players yell for the puck and for a shot is nice but I like commentary better.
Online is good but needs a lot of work. I mean in the last generation we had a online season,tournaments galore and rosters and here we are with only, "Ranked" and "Unranked" are we traveling back in time? While these are easy to go into, finding a person to play is another thing. The process goes like this: Click ranked matches, click quick match, before going into the room you have to download the roster(every single time you play a game online), and by the time I get in the room, user has left room and I have to start it all over again. This doesn't work and it has stoped me from playing multiple games online.
Achievements in this game are more offline than on. That's a surprise but i guess their not betting on online now. 07 rewards you for beating A.I on all levels and also performing different goals, example "Score 2 goals on the Powerplay with the same player in Pro Mode". These will take time and are prett hard to get.
As the fist time on a next gen console this game rocks. I find myself with friends just playing hours of this game. If you are a hockey fan then you shouldn't look any further and if you're not you should give this a try it might change you mind.