Burried underneath ground-breaking innovations lies a game stripped of almost any variety
As a completely avid hockey fan, which may have something to do with being Canadian, this game was quite a bit disappointing. I've bought every single NHL title since the original for the Sega Genesis, and as such i've seen the complete transformation EA has made from "innovation" and "fun" to "how much money can we get in a short period of time, as my yacht won't pay off itself". Back in the late 90's, EA made the switch from 2D "sprite" hockey to 3D character models. Create-a-player, create-a-team, and tons of little features became a mainstay in the series, and the games improved dramatically year after year. It was only a few years ago that the production value completely plummeted, and the series stripped nearly all of it's features. No more challenging plays, no more cool replays, no more create-a-team, no more Elite Leagues, no more fantasy drafts, no more extensive create-a-player, no more saving replays, no more set-dekes, no more head-to-head mode, no third-jerseys, no classic jerseys, no in-game adjustable player and goalie handicaps, no more Jim Hughson, practically no more "anything" that they managed to come up with in the last fifteen years. What did EA add? Well, the skill-stick and puck physics, which are certainly long overdue but they don't seem to overshadow the glaring absence of every single game type that made the series what it is. Now, if you want these awesome features, you could simply buy NHL 2K7, but the graphics and gameplay are so terribly unbearable you'll probably end up switching back to 2007 anyways. The actual game of hockey is brilliant, and it's never really been better. Although some of the "out-game" features were completely removed, the on-ice action is still quite thrilling. Unfortunately, the game is so ridiculously easy on even the hardest difficulty you'll find yourself simulating games just to lose. The graphics are also better than ever, as nearly every player looks like their in-game picture counter-part. Although aesthetics clearly don't make the game, it seems EA's on-ice product is the only thing that saved this game from being a complete disaster. As for the sound, I must say I was a little disappointed with the absence of Jim Hughson, who has become the EA mainstay. Perhaps Jim began to realize that the games were becoming worse and got out of the deal, but more likely EA brought in Gary Thorne in an attempt to appeal to the American masses, and add a little flair. In reality, Gary Thorne's commentary was disastrous to the point that it actually makes you turn it off. "A great offensive opportunity" seems to be heard almost every other minute, and his bland robotic repetition will make you want to gouge your ears out. The one thing that he did do flawlessly was the flow between words; something that was a major problem earlier in the game series. The in-game sound was bone-crunching and exciting, and made up for Thorne's terrible attempts at commentary. EA managed to put together another decent bit of Indy rock music, however short the track-lists seem to get each year.
The online is somewhat decent, if you ever manage to find a game that isn't littered with terrible lag, and the ability to download rosters became a moot point when EA only released one download back in October.
Overall, NHL 07 is still a satisfying product, despite it's glaring omissions. Those who are fans of the series don't really have much of a choice when it comes to buying it, since the 2K series seems to be a decade behind in graphics and gameplay. The skill-stick is a brilliant innovation that takes the game a lot further than the simple "B pass - A shoot" scheme, (which for some reason was changed to B shoot, A pass about three games back). After personally playing tens of different dynasties, I still find much enjoyment in the on-ice product. It's just terribly disappointing that they couldn't put in a bit more effort and add a few features.