NHL 07 (Xbox 360, 2006)

As a die-hard hockey fan, I've played a majority of the entries in EA's NHL series. After getting my 360, I got that familiar craving again. I bought '07 without giving it a second thought. Hopefully, I can keep many of you from making that same mistake.

There are positive things about the game. The graphics are fantastic (except for the creepy, possessed eyes of the players) and the animations are top-notch.

Unfortunately, there are soooo many things that make this a hard game to play.

First of all, I hope you have a big TV. The odd angle of the menus make things on the right side of the screen hard to read. The menus are also hard to navigate, particularly in the Dynasty mode.

Second, and probably one of the biggest flaws, is the lack of a regular season option. The game only has international tournament and Dynasty modes. As much as I love hockey, I really don't care to do all of the things involved in Dynasty mode. Who really cares about your team's concession mark-up? Some of us would rather simply adjust our rosters and play the games. Sadly, 360 owners don't have this option (which is strange, because the PS2 version has regular season mode).

Now we get to the on-ice action. The biggest flaw this game has is the broken passing system. It literally makes no sense. Your passes will reach they're intended targets about fifty percent of the time. Usually, your players will simply fling the puck down ice, resulting in an icing. The goalies don't actually pass the puck, they just give it a light tap in the players' general direction. Not only do your passes go off in odd directions, but your players will sometimes let them slide right past, which brings me to the second gripe.

The A.I. is severly crippled. Don't bother passing the puck back to your point men in the offensive zone. They will rarely take your passes, preferring instead to stand completely still and watch the puck slide into the neutral zone. Don't expect your teammates to go after loose pucks either, they skate right past them. To top it off, no one can seem to hit a wide-open net with a shot. You hit the post so many times you'd think they were aiming for it. Most of the goals result in pucks sliding under a standing netminder after he makes the initial save. It may be because the players are tired, since it takes them half the period to execute a line change.

That brings us to the controls. You have to take your thumb off of the skating control stick to make a change, so your player just stands there while you fiddle with the d-pad. It's hard to determine what line you're putting out, because theres no map of the d-pad in the game, or the three-page instruction manual. There is no speed burst and you'd better like either the skill-stick or classic controls, because (unlike the PS2 version) you can't customize them.

Don't even get me started on the glitch-filled multiplayer.

I hate to bash a game so much, but I really feel like EA didn't really put an effort into this one. I hope they make some serious changes for '08.

Hockey feels like it's been stuck in a rut for years now. Every year same old game, new rosters. All that changed this year with NHL 07. EA has taken the traditional video game hockey handbook and thrown it right out the window.

Gameplay:First there's the new skillstick. This adds a new dimension to the world of video game hockey. Using the right analog stick you can now deke left or right and fire your passes off. You simply press forward for a wrist shot or back and forward for a slap shot. You use the left stick for player movement and shot direction. You can pass by pulling the right trigger and the left stick for aiming your pass. Now these controls may seem simple but it may take you a couple games to get used to it. After all, your not using the face buttons any more. Even though you can still switch back to "classic" controls. But why would you?

On defense, you can check by using the right analog stick. Now there's no speed boost button, so to deliver a big hit you pretty much have line them up and hit them just right. It's a little tough but rewarding when done. You use the left bumper for poke checking defenders as they go by.

Let's hope next year we get a little more defensive ingenuity from EA and they'll own the rink for years to come. This was a great first step.....9/10.

Graphics:The graphics in this game are quite good. Outside of the players faces, the models look spectacular. Also seeing reflections off the ice and glass are a marvel to look at. There are some quirky glitches and skipped frames in a few of the animations and cut screens, but they are hardly noticeable without actually pointing them out......8.5/10.

Audio:This is another one of the games high points. The crowd is absolutely phenomenal in this game. The groans after the opposing teams score and the wild cheers of admiration after coming from three down to tie the game. There's nothing like it. Also the commentary is great. It always keeps up with the game and never usually spouts out an awkward phrase at weird moments. Overall I give this a 9.5/10.

Play Modes:This is one area that they should have made a little better. NHL probably has the best franchise mode of the two games. It also has a create a player mode, which is fun but could've used some more options. In addition to the usual play now, they have also added a tournament mode incorporating the world teams into an elimination type playoff system. You wanna Play as the US and take on Canada. Great, well good luck, you're gonna need it.I thought this was very well done.

Now the bad. The online portion of the game are as skimpy as the rest of EA's next-gen efforts so far. For online, you get the traditional ranked and unranked matches. That's it. No online tournaments or stat keeping. Just the same old online options. Oh well, guess we'll keep hoping until next year. Overall Modes....7.5/10.

Overall: With the incorporation of the skill stick alone, this games ensures hours and hours of fantastic single player action. The visuals are getting better and better and the audio can't be beat. Unfortunately the lack of online options keep 07 from realizing it's full potential.

For one of the more recent installments of this great series of sports games by EA, the graphics and sound are superb using the awesome capabilities of the 360. The controls are a little funky at first, somewhat frustrating when you first begin, but I caught on rather quickly, being a fan of the NHL series from EA Sports. Gameplay, rules settings, simple Dynasty Mode, which is very similar to the NHL '05 and '06 titles, with salary cap and 1-way and 2-way contracts coming into play as well.
Achievements for the XBOX 360 are fair, and some are rather easy to achieve, which makes you want to play a lot from the outset. In addition, 100% of the achievements seem easily attainable, compared to other titles for the 360, which is a bonus, yet several of them will take numerous replays to get. After only 10 games played through, I had 325 achievement points out of 1000.
The play by play by Gary Thorne and color commentary by Bill Clement brings me back to the glory days of the NHL broadcasts from ESPN. Very little or no repetition in comments during game play, unlike some earlier titles in the series. Very fluid dialogue, with in-game stats shared by both commentators - quite impressive!

There's really not much that I don't enjoy about this game, save for the quirkiness of the controls from the start. I also wish there was a speed boost like there were on all of the earlier NHL titles, but they make up for it with the Skill Stick.

Not a bad pickup for the price if you're a fan of the NHL series from EA. Quick, easy achievements and a decent Dynasty Mode.

This game was absolutely nothing special. I was a big fan of NHL 2004 and every game since then has been a huge dissapointment. The integration of the analog stick for shooting seems unnecessary and difficult to integrate, there are so mnay options when you are the team president that it's easy to become overwhelmed and forget to play the game. Not very fun, not a whole lot of replay value, dissapointed in my purchase.

2K sports ownes ea sports in ever sports title except hockey. EA has had the best in hockey ever year and it just keeps getting better. The anolog stick control system is genius, you can go directly from a deke to a shot with little effort and it makes the game a whole lot more fun to play. The way the players move and react is as close to lifelike as possible. At times when they shoot the puck it looks a little funny and the fighting system leaves a lot to be desired but other than that the game is great. I cant wait for next years version cuz I'm sure it will be even better. BUY THIS GAME, not 2K's hockey title. Ive played both and 2K can't compare.