You can expect even deeper changes off the ice. You’ll have to use your size and strength to push the other player in front of the net to protect it while the AI counters accordingly.
You decide how to handle the opposing player’s stick and whether to be in front or behind the player. It’s about tying up an opposing player near the net. It’s part of a larger effort to make the area around the goal more involving, particularly with net battles. And while no goalie would like to get a single puck past them, NHL 17 will also have a new set of post-goal reaction animations from the goalies. Moreover, EA Canada added a whole suite of new saves, drawing the distinction between big blocking saves and quick reactionary ones. Accurate player facial capture is highly valued, so why not unique goalie stances? Whether it’s Garret Sparks or Jonathan Quick, no two goalies stand similarly in front of their respective goals. Layering on top of an already superb and vast collection of motion capture animation from last year, the studio has honed in on the overdue improvements of goalie detail. It takes a keen eye to spot the little details in the hockey series’ latest, but the touches are there. That’s because EA Canada’s already excelled in the previous game’s production values. The gameplay is strong but increasingly dated the feature set feels haphazard, and there are lots of niggling quality-of-life issues.Īppreciating the new details of NHL 17 is a challenge. NHL 17 has some real strengths, but it still feels like it hasn’t quite made it out of the previous generation. Those who bought NHL 16 shouldn’t expect a huge improvement.įor some, such as US Gamer’s Kat Bailey, that’s a little frustrating: It might be the sort of situation where NHL 17 isn’t going to convert people who don’t like the EA style of hockey, but should be solid for addicts. Thumbing through reviews (Metacritic provides Rotten Tomatoes-like listings of reviews if you want to survey them), reactions seem positive though not necessarily emphatic. That should be a fine gauge for whether or not you want to continue selling hot dogs and maybe get around to playing hockey.) Yes, you’d be out a Netflix-style monthly fee, but their setup would allow you to play around with the game for 10 hours. (Pro tip: if you have an Xbox One and you’re really sweating the decision, trying it out on EA Access could be a good option. NHL 17, available for play now on EA Access ahead of next week’s release, is definitely the latter. Sometimes the annual installment of a sports game feels like a brand new experience, sometimes it feels like same thing, different year. It’s interesting to see that comparison, as Kotaku’s Mike Fahey seems to indicate that this is a year about baby steps as well: There’s a good hockey game at the core, and a lot of options on the periphery. There are some new features and improvements, but nothing mind-blowingly innovative. When compared to NHL 15, NHL 17 is miles ahead when compared to NHL 16, it’s incrementally better. At least, that’s what reviews seem to indicate so far.ĭestructoid captured much of that spirit: In short? Expect what you normally would from an annual sports release: refinement rather than a revolution.