Articles
By Penthrox
Published: Mar. 11, 2007 11:52 AM
So here we are again hockey fans. For those of you who follow the series you may have felt let down with the last couple of NHL series games from EA. It seems all they have done in the past is slightly tweak the graphics, update the rosters and that’s about it. Well get ready for a revolution. EA have really pulled one out of the bag with NHL 2007.
To start things off the offensive control system has had a complete overhaul. Instead of using the buttons you use the right thumbstick or SkillStick. The new SkillStick control system might feel slightly awkward at first but as time goes on you progress through the learning curve and will understand just how much of an improvement it really is. You get complete control over all aspects of your shot by moving the thumbstick in either a different way or different combo of ways to create the perfect shot. The new system is described in detail with a mandatory video during the start up of the game. At first this is really helpful but as you gain control over the system and play the game for any length of time the video becomes a pain. Unfortunately EA didn’t give the defensive side of things the same treatment. Although you still use the right thumbstick to maintain your defence with Poke Checks and Body Checks it seems EA may have just pushed it to one side. The one thing that has a pro/con to it is that the HUUUUUUUUUGE bone shattering hits from last year’s game have been toned down. Though fun to perform and watch the other players go flying, it now has a pro because you can have some phenomenal recoveries from a hit and go on to perform some nice goals or assists.
The game play is really a visual treat from the reflections on the ice to the brand of gear on the players; nothing has been left to chance. The look and feel you get when the players come out onto the ice is incredible. You can see EA has taken some time to tweak the visual side of things for all its fans. The skating animations and jerky animations when a goalie falls over then magically jumps straight back up to save another goal sometimes leave things to the imagination; though I got more of this on Xbox Live (more on this later). The physics of the puck from shooting, deflections and passes are very realistic. A deflection can send the puck straight over the glass and into the crowd forcing a play off. The play is very fluid and flows well. However, I have noticed at certain times the framerate dropping substantially which can be an annoyance. The frames do not run at a high rate rather a constant rate which is the only let down with the graphics. Although it is marketed as a Hi Def game SDTV users don’t be worried it still looks great. You can really appreciate the hard work EA have put a lot into their game and it really does pay off for them
The audience is really well designed and really gets into the game with their reactions. When your team is winning the fans are cheering of which you can both see and hear and when you are loosing they boo and jeer just like their real life counter parts. The stadiums are true to life and with the correct lighting EA has added really makes you feel like you are there. The duo of Gary Thorne and Bill Clement as the commentary team which you may know from the ESPN 2K series really adds another level of audio delight to this game. They really play off one another to form top notch commentary.
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