NHL 07 Hands-On
We deke and juke our way to the back of the net in our look at the next-gen debut for EA Sports' hockey franchise.
At E3 2005, it wasn't hard to see what EA Sports was trying to accomplish with its next-gen sports titles on the Xbox 360. Games like Madden NFL 06 and NBA Live 06, while not necessarily in playable form, still had enough graphical flair to show the rest of the industry that, ready or not, next-generation sports gaming was on its way. Though, one notable omission from the EA Sports next-gen lineup was NHL 06. Considering the National Hockey League was just getting back up to speed in the real world, however, it was probably a sensible omission. Still, Xbox 360 owners looking to get their puck on will be pleased to note that EA's NHL series is set to make its next-gen debut this fall with the release of NHL 07. We traveled up to EA Canada to get an early peek at the game, and were surprised to find just how things will be changing for the next gen.
Call us superficial, but we have to talk about the game's look first and foremost. Saying the player models and hockey arenas are an upgrade from previous versions of the game is akin to saying Scarlett Johansson is an "attractive" actress. Consider the player model of San Jose Sharks right-winger Jonathan Cheechoo we saw in action, for example. Not only was the model's face a dead ringer for the Maurice Richard Trophy winner, but the team has even gone so far as to model Cheech's shin pads tucked into his boots. It's small details like that that add up to make a game that really brings the NHL to life. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the textures on the ice, the lighting in the arenas, the reflections off the rink and the player helmets are amazing, especially when viewed in 720 HD. When it comes to animations, producers told us that a player's arms and legs will move independently of the main body animation, which means the virtual goalie will have more ability to get his body--be it a foot, glove, or stick--in front of your shot.
The look of the game goes beyond upgraded environments and player models, however. The entire presentation of NHL 07 for the Xbox 360 has a stripped-down, clean appearance, as if the development team took a page out of the Apple design handbook when it came up with the game menus. Information is always readily available, and the menus seem easy to navigate, but you might be surprised at how understated everything is. That same approach seems to have spilled over to the action on the ice as well. Gone are the icons underneath a player that identify his role on the team (a sniper, power forward, and so on). Instead, a small icon (not unlike the one used in the Sims series of PC games) indicates the player you are controlling.
This design choice ends up creating a remarkably clean-looking game--one that looks more like an NHL broadcast than a video game--but it does have some more subtle repercussions on gameplay. For one thing, the game doesn't have icon passing. Instead, you'll use the right trigger to pass the puck. To send a through-pass into the open ice so that a teammate can catch up with it and make a play happen, you will simply aim with the analog stick and press the right bumper.
Another side effect of the icon-less gameplay is that you have to know each player on your team. You won't have the icons to refer to in order to find out if that defenseman you're controlling is a defensive defenseman, capable of wiping out forwards with a single hit, or a cannon-shot offensive defenseman who can rocket shots at the goalie from the blue line. That said, each player will have on-ice behaviors that will tip you off to their strengths and weaknesses. A grinder will be in the corners, scooping up pucks and introducing opposing teams to the glass, while a sniper will be looking for any opportunity to get a clean shot at the back of the net. Furthermore, you can actually assign any of the eight available roles in the game to any player on your team--however, his skill and attributes will determine how well he fits into that role. Assigning Matthew Barnaby to play as a delicate sniper, for example, might not be your best strategy.
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- GameSpot Score8.2great
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