NHL 15 was a great step in the right direction for the long running hockey franchise. The previous generation versions on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 were excellent, filled with plenty of game modes to entertain those who purchased it, and seemingly had it all down pat. The jump to the next generation held a lot of promise for this franchise, promise that NHL fans wanted to see realized. Unfortunately, that isn't the case. We found out a few weeks ago that NHL 16 was going to be a little stripped down, according to EA Sports. That statement, however, was a gross understatement. The gameplay is here, but NHL 16 has left a lot to be desired. Gameplay and Presentation are, for the most part, enjoyable.

 

After playing the full version for a week, it’s clear that the gameplay is really the best yet in the series. Everything is smoother and more realistic. For example, the goalies challenge shooters and are generally beaten by the same moves that beat real goalies, so getting the goalie to move is a good way to set up a scoring chance. The puck also acts realistically which is a big improvement. It doesn’t bounce wildly like in NHL 15, where it would jump 10 feet in the air when hitting the ice after a lob which is what you’d expect from a ball but not a disk. It feels heavier in that way and will sometimes start rolling around a bit erratically because of its shape. A tumbling puck is much harder to control and it shows in the game play.

 

Hits are harder to land effectively and poke-checking has been re-balanced, making one of hockey’s most important defensive moves more effective than it’s been in past titles, but also not overpowered. Even on the visual side of things the hardware jump to the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 has allowed EA Vancouver to create a better looking game. Jerseys move around naturally, animations seem more life-like (although there are occasional weird glitches), crowds are detailed/realistic and in general, the game just looks much better. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to ignore the extensive list of features EA has dropped from the NHL franchise with the series finally making the jump to next-gen consoles.

 

Thanks to the next-gen consoles, EA Sports was able to make stunning improvements with the games’ graphics. We’ve seen the gameplay trailers, the screenshots of the authentic looking arenas and the ridiculous jersey movements that make it seem like all games are being played in the middle of a wind tunnel. But all of that was before the real gamers had the chance to get their hands on the new game. Now that NHL 16 has hit stores, people have had the opportunity to take the shrink-wrap off and give it a test drive. Hockey always feels like the outlier in the EA Sports stable. It is rarely a bad game, but there always seem to be years where it gets left in the cold when it comes to features. NHL 16 is one of those years. Being the first iteration on the new consoles, it comes packed with so few features that it feels like it was rushed to market in six months. Thankfully, the on-ice action is still superlative, but the lack of features included upon release is troubling to say the least.

 

NHL 16 is powered by EA’s Ignite engine, which is used in all of the publisher’s other sports titles, and makes this year’s version look ridiculously realistic. All of the player’s models are highly detailed, so much so a quick glance of them on-screen will trick you into thinking they’re the real thing. The only thing that breaks the illusion is, aside from your holding a controller, is the stiff, sometimes buggy animations that momentarily overrun a player. Still, with the addition of NBC’s sports broadcast graphics clogging up the screen, and commentary provided by real-world folks, Mike Emrick and Ed Olczyk, I often felt like I was watching a telecast of an actual NHL game rather than playing one in a video game; Though Emrick and Olczyk’s commentary began to wear thin after I heard the same sound bites a little too often.