EA is promising more finite control in the net for user-controlled goalies. For the second year Doc Emrick and Eddie Olczyk are behind the mics, EA is emphasizing Doc's signature enthusiasm. Doc recorded several new lines to get his voice to rise and fall with the action. That said, the white jersey looks crisp and the baby blue and orange combination is one that works well. While EA Sports did show one of the Gulls’ jerseys, mystery still remains over what the dark sweater will look like. San Diego has not released an official date for their jersey announcement. NHL 16 is scheduled for release in North America on Sept. 15 for Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
EA SPORTS, Battlefield, The Sims, Dragon Age, and Plants vs. Zombies are trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. and its subsidiaries. John Madden, NFL, NHL, NBA, and FIFA are the property of their respective owners and used with permission. “PlayStation” is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. I think it was NHL 13 where EA tried to introduce collisions for the first time and it failed miserably. You would spend more time getting penalties for one of your CPU running the goalie down because they have no mere instinct to turn or make any sudden move after you completing a pass. Why they reintroduced this idea back into NHL 16 is way beyond me.
The NHL 16 game play is similar to previous online game play from earlier games in the series, either you play by trying to score or you play by knowing how to score. By this I mean there is nothing worse then spending days building a stacked team only to be defeated 12-1 by a guy who had 16 shots and scored 12 goals on your Price off of wrist shots from the blue line using a minor league player, while your top line of Crosby, Malkin and Ovechkin musters 1 goal after amounting 52 shots. Maybe I’m just bad, but there is that “glitch goal” mentality to how player seem to know the fluky ways to score and go for it every time. However, looking the other way on this issue since it is our of our control, the game play is pretty decent, some odd collisions, a bit of falling down, but the major advantages and disadvantages go for both players, which evens the playing field a little.
NHL 16 brings the game to life with distinct arena atmospheres, the most realistic players yet, and a story-driven commentary package to pull you into the energy of the game like never before. Best in class arena authenticity gets even better with the inclusion of authentic arena effects and props including team specific celebrations, mascots, chants, and even signature props like the Lighthouse at the Xcel Energy Center in Minnesota. But even in its most easily noticeable new feature, NHL 16 is lacking. While a new play-by-play duo was a long needed change, the end result is underwhelming. The commentators lack the energy of the previous duo, and don’t compare to their real TV commentary. Some of the passion seems to be missing, and there are already a lot of repeated lines.
The option to import custom music into NHL 16 is also unavailable. Fans seem less involved in the game now, as they seldom cheer – and even keep sitting as the home team lifts the cup. This may also sound like a weird complaint, but I’m not a big fan of the new dynamic cloth technology that EA Canada has been talking about since E3. The idea is that every player’s jersey is supposed to flow naturally as the player moves around the ice, but I feel like the cloth has too much freedom. Every jersey on the ice flaps around like the nation’s flag raised high on a windy day, and it can be distracting.
While just nitpicks, there were simple mistakes I found in the game that could have easily been fixed, but instead make the game itself look bad. The first came in the form of messages in GM mode with the same error more than once. A message was sent a few different times that said “I am done that trip to the SHL you asked me to do.” This is completely missing the word “with” more than likely and should have been been caught by some sort of editor in the process.
Since this is a new team, they don’t seem to have gotten their line reads down yet. Either that or EA Canada didn’t do such a great job at stitching them together. Emrick is an excitable guy, it’s what makes him a great broadcaster for hockey, but at times he’ll have an up tempo line stuck together with a low tempo one and the cadence and rhythm sounds off and artificial. Ray Ferraro has also been added this year for ice level comments and he does a pretty good job but I’ve had him cut off mid-sentence as the game gets going again and the main commentary starts up.
