Sports games are a really fickle beast to review sometimes. Some years there’s little to no change to the game aside from a few new modes, little graphic tweaks here and there, and maybe some new lines of commentary. Some years, there’s a noticeable difference and this year would be one of them…for Madden 15 at least. For NHL 16 however, there’s a bit of a different story to be told here. I’ve been awaiting the first NHL entry on the current-gen platforms for over a year now since NHL 15 wasn’t released on the next generation consoles, alongside other EA Sports titles like FIFA 14 and Madden 25. I was pretty hyped up about it and now that I’ve got my hands on it and I’m reviewing it, my feelings about the game are all over the place.
It's a slick feature that really does immerse the player and I caught myself more than once thinking I was watching video rather than a game. The players look more realistic than ever, right down to new "dynamic cloth technology" to make their jerseys wave just so, while new collision and puck physics make the game play smooth and natural - after a lot of button mashing and stick waving figuring out the plethora of controls. The crowds are more authentic than ever, reacting as they would (and importantly not all in unison) to the action on the ice, but this is where some major omissions on EA's part become noticeable.
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That said, the reason I feel like my Destiny comparison fits so perfectly is because the core game-play of both NHL 16 and Destiny is very solid, but the lack of expected content is very noticeable. In the case of NHL 16 I actually feel like the core game-play is relatively better than the previous year. I would not say that the game-play is drastically different when compared to NHL 15, but the game-play somehow feels much more lifelike. One example is the new puck physics that was programmed, according to the NHL development team, by a software engineer who also worked on the Large Hadron Collider made by CERN. What I found so impressive is that for the first time in all the years I’ve played the NHL games, the puck actually rolled on its side. The collision physics were touched up as well and this has resulted in interactions between players that appear to be more organic.
My hockey style is to just be the Leafs, start a season and have a fantasy draft. Through all the NHL’s, I’ve never really varied. I just play a season and try to make my stacked Leaf teams win the Cup. This year, my team picked third and took Steven Stamkos. I also ended up with OEL, Druoin, Barkov and Seguin. After the season began, I immediately traded for Phaneuf and Kessel - the AI GM is not very good, it must be noted - and I even signed Tomas Kaberle for old-times sake. Now my team is stacked, but I can’t win! On the ice the game plays really well. No major changes to the control scheme or how the game actually plays, but all the player models are much more detailed than before.
Player collision physics now affect all 12 players which results in the goalies getting a fair bashing. Front of net play will now be key. The fight system has been completely revamped. No longer showing the first person fight view of the old games you now see the fight instigated and have full control over the players. You can throw a few swings before getting into a proper grapple to push and pull your opponent about, trying to land that sweet punch that will drop him to the ice. Not only do all 12 players have physics, but the puck now has “True Puck Physics.” You can see it take realistic deflections off players and posts and drop dead to the ice if it happens to hit the glass flat on.
Clearly the game was shipped in an unfinished state in terms of features and EA is working to address at least some of those deficiencies in a series of post-launch patches. Once done, the game should be in a better state for sure but it’ll still be a long way from the wealth of options available in NHL 15. What if you’re a huge hockey fan, you sold your older console(s) and you only have a PS4, what then? Well it really depends on what modes are your favorites in NHL. If you enjoy the single player and online one-on-one games then you won’t be disappointed. The promised patches won’t add back in everything that’s missing so even with them, if you’re looking for an experience closer to NHL 15… then it’s going to be a long, cold winter.
