In hockey, success is a total team effort, the result of everyone understanding that you never do it alone. You have to play as a team and win as a team. This is something we took to heart when we started development on NHL 16. First we looked to our biggest fans and asked them to be a part of our team. We spent more time listening and working with them this year than ever before. Their most requested features and modes are in NHL 16 and include new experiences that make NHL bigger and better. In Hockey Ultimate Team you’ll now be able to play through single player offline seasons. In Be a GM, not only will you navigate the motions of draft day and manage your AHL affiliate team, but now you can also manage the morale of individual players on your NHL roster throughout the season. Finally, Be a Pro brings back features like Sim to the Next Shift and the ability to start your career in the minors and also introduces a brand new progression system where how you play on the ice, shapes who you become in the NHL.
Be a GM mode now allows for managing the morale of individual players on the roster, and Be a Pro sees the return of sim to the next shift, first introduced in NHL 12. It also sees the ability to start a career in the minors and a new progression system where "how you play on the ice shapes who you become in the NHL." It's apparent that EA is working toward undoing some of the negativity from long-time series fans that came with the current generation versions of NHL 15. Many key features fans had grown accustomed to were missing from NHL 15, including EASHL. As mentioned over on the official EA Sports website, the EASHL returning allows players to take on the role of specialized player classes that can be leveled up and upgraded throughout play. The ability to take on the role of a GM and managing things from behind the scenes with the Hockey Ultimate Team feature is also making a return. Although, perhaps this time maybe EA can avoid all the controversy associated with the HUT this time around, since in NHL 12 and NHL 13 there was the running controversy over players paying for packs and a bug preventing players from accessing the content they paid for.
The most played mode in the NHL series gets even better. Improved player management and the introduction of HUT Single Player Seasons gives you another way to hone your skills before jumping online with HUT Online Seasons or challenging your friends with the Play a Friend feature. Being a GM is about more than just getting the best players, it’s about getting the right players to play well together. Each player on your NHL and AHL team has a different personality that you will have to manage. Deal with trade demands, teammate relationships, and much more by calling team meetings or adjusting your roster to directly affect your team’s on-ice performance. EA Canada is also working on elements of the game that it got right in NHL 15, such as the terrific NBC Sports presentation package featuring NHL on NBC commentators Mike "Doc" Emrick and Eddie Olczyk. Their commentary will be more "story-driven" this year, said EA. And as you can see in the screenshot above, every NHL team with a mascot will have that mascot in NHL 16. Hockey Ultimate Team will offer single-player seasons. And skaters will have new tools to improve their game on the ice as well.
As the exact official release date for the NHL 16 has not yet announced, but confirmed sometime in September 2015. It is expected that the NHL 16 probably will release somewhere in the middle of September. All fans of Ice hockey game are eagerly waiting for the official announcement of its release date. It is estimated that soon developers of NHL 16 will announce the release date as they recently declared the features of the game and they are constantly there in the stream of media and everyday fans are receiving something new about the NHL 16. Different platforms are also affirmed by the NHL officials the same day when they stated the features. It is also announced that the NHL 16 will release only on two platforms PS4 and Xbox One. Hope NHL fans will hear the official announcement of its release date very soon.
After the disappointing NHL 15, EA has a lot of work to do in NHL 16 in order to win back the favor of the series' longtime fans. It's encouraging that the company seems to know it. Electronic Arts is holding its E3 2015 briefing on Monday at 1PM Pacific Time. For anyone who likes both football and hockey, the fall is starting to look pretty busy. Madden 16, the biggest of all of EA Sport’s gaming franchises, launches on August 25th in North America.
