Well, summer is fading into memory, days are getting a bit shorter, and my little nephews are being dragged, kicking and screaming, back to school. Looking at their sad, dejected faces, tears streaming down their cheeks, makes me think of one thing: hockey season! Woohoo! Yes folks, NHL 16 is coming, as surely as an arctic cold front in winter, and we got a chance to go hands-on with the new game before its release. While we won’t have a full review of the game until it comes out on September 15th, we can definitely give you a preview of some key aspects, and tell you that the forecast indeed looks good for the finished release.
It’s no secret that the reaction to last year’s game, NHL 15, was not what EA was hoping for. Due to the crazy-tight time constraints of moving to the new-gen consoles, EA streamlined its features, removing some modes – including Season Mode, a fan favorite. While their choices were somewhat unavoidable, they alienated a lot of the game’s community, and its hardcore players, in the process.
This year, it’s clear that Sean “Rammer” Ramjagsingh and the team behind NHL 16 are looking to get this storied franchise back on track. And one of the biggest themes this year seems to be involving the fans in the game-making process. In fact, the first thing they showed me was the new group of “Game Changers” they have assembled as consultants during the development process. The Game Changers are a bunch of elite players, chosen by the game’s own online community, to come into EA’s offices and play, test, and analyze the game at every stage of the build. The Game Changers aren’t just looking for bugs, they are giving constant, real-time feedback to the devs as the game is being made.
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“The Game Changers are a bunch of elite players, chosen by the game’s own online community, to come into EA’s offices and play, test, and analyze the game at every stage of the build giving constant, real-time feedback to the devs as the game is being made.”
And that constant feedback has resulted in a lot of changes to this year’s edition. For one thing, I was happy to see lots of features are back in the game after being absent last year. Season Mode is back (yes!), so you can once again play as your favorite team right off the bat. All the usual customization is there again, including the ability to edit your rosters as you please. Like a kid on Christmas morning, I proceeded right away to take the pruning shears to my favorite team, making all the trades that they should have made in real-life (no-trade clause my ass…). I think the return of Season mode alone will please a lot of fans, and it was a no-brainer to bring it back this year.
If you like the Be a Pro mode, as I do, you were probably pretty disappointed with last year’s game, in which many of the options were cut-back. You couldn’t work your way up to the majors through the minor leagues – you had to be drafted right into the NHL. This took a lot of the sim-based fun out of the process, as you were denied the satisfaction of “earning” your spot on a pro team. NHL 16 appears to have restored those cuts and it is a big relief. After creating your player (seeing your actual chosen name on the back of the jersey is neat), you start off Be a Pro with a choice: playing one Minor League game to “showcase” yourself to potential NHL scouts, or going through the entire CHL season, right up to the Memorial Cup, and get drafted afterwards. In games, you can once again sim to your next shift, which was a feature absent in NHL 15.
I liked the idea of making Coach Feedback after shifts more substantial this year. While previous years’ feedback was a brief “what you did well” vs. “what you didn’t do well”, you now get an actual suggestion to improve your play. For example, instead of just “Offensive Turnovers” as a negative, the coach told me to “try to move the puck to your teammates faster.” It is still on the superficial side, for sure, but at least it’s a step in the right direction. Plus, how you play on the ice is linked to your Pro’s skill progress, so it seems this year there is more control over your career than there was before.
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“I got the sense generally that the dev team were trying to build in more features to teach you how to play better, making NHL 16 feel a bit more accessible than previous iterations.”
Speaking of the deeper feedback feature, I got the sense generally that the dev team were trying to build in more features to teach you how to play better, making NHL 16 feel a bit more accessible than previous iterations. Another big way that they do this is with the new Visual On-Ice Training idea. Possibly the most obvious visual change you will notice with this year’s game, it is a series of cues on the ice that teach you how to be a better player; for example, you might be given a suggestion for a good pass with arrows, or an ideal target when shooting at the net.
Of the Visual On-Ice Training suite of features, the Contextual Control Hints really stood out for me. When you play, you will notice a message box above your player, which gives you feedback on what you should do, and not do. For example, as you enter the offensive zone carrying the puck, you will be encouraged to Side Deke – and you will be shown how to do it, by flicking the L and R sticks to the right simultaneously. Other prompts show you what shot it recommends you take, and how to make that shot. If you are off-side, the box will be red and tell you to avoid doing that. Goalies even have Contextual Control Hints of their own. I really liked this feature; it was never intrusive, and it actually made me a better player pretty quickly. And if this doesn’t sound appealing to you, don’t worry – you can turn it off if you wish.
One other way that NHL 16 is a bit more friendly to those trying to build their skills is in the new off-line Hockey Ultimate Team mode. While previously, playing HUT was a bit daunting because you had to always go up against super-skilled online players, you can now play in Single Player mode, and get your skill-level up before you take it online. Overall, I was pleased to see that NHL 16 is open to you playing the game however you want to play it – and has a lot of features that enable players who want to get better, like me, practice and learn skills.
For those harder-core players out there, you’ll be happy to hear that the EA Sports Hockey League is back. And you know what? I actually think this is looking like it might be the most fun feature in the game. You play on a team with your friends against other human teams, online, but what makes it really cool is you play a position, and choose a particular class. For example, if you are a Defenseman, you choose whether to be a “Stay At Home Defenseman” or a “Two-Way Defenseman.” As a player, your goal is to play your position well, and help your team. I played this feature with The Game Changers, and it was loads of fun, because everyone has a role to play, and a way to help the team. Different skill-sets and preferences all work together, just like a real team. The EASHL is possibly the closest thing to actually playing hockey as you can get in a video game.
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“For those harder-core players out there, you’ll be happy to hear that the EA Sports Hockey League is back. And you know what? I actually think this is looking like it might be the most fun feature in the game.”
Lastly, the visual polish and atmosphere in NHL 16 is looking amazing, with all of the love and attention to detail that we have come to expect from this franchise. Player textures, models and animations looked incredible. And there are even more little details this year that impressed me – from the Tesla Coil in the Tampa Bay Lightning arena, to the accurate crowds for each city (I’m not sure if people will like seeing the Green Men at Canucks games or not), NHL 16 exudes a passion for the sport that shows this game was made for, and by, real hockey fans. Case in point: your Pro can now sport a Playoff Beard that grows dynamically as you progress (I asked when we might see Playoff Mullets, but that is still apparently being discussed).
We have yet to play the full version of NHL 16, but from my hands-on preview, I can say that I was impressed by what I saw. The EA development team has made a point of soliciting a lot of fan feedback every step of the way, and it shows. Great pains have been taken to make this year’s NHL game deeper and more robust than any previous versions. Plus, perhaps most important of all, I like how it appeals to different skill-levels and styles. Let’s hope that the game lives up to the promise as I get more time with it leading up to release day.
NHL 16 drops the puck September 15th for Xbox One and PS4. We’ll have a full Review on release day, so until then, keep your stick on the ice!
