PlayStation 2
Released in 2006 by EA Sports
Grade: A-
Once you learn its unusual control scheme, NHL 07 is a blast, hitting a near-perfect middle ground between sim and arcade. It requires strategy and finesse but still moves fast and wild.
Where it falls in the series
It’s the seventh of nine editions on PS2. The series jumped to Xbox 360 the same year, so you might think EA didn’t give this game much attention, but it’s completely redone with new graphics, AI, and controls.
Praises and gripes
You pass with the right analog stick, shoot with the right triggers, and speed burst with L1. You switch players with X, body check with triangle, and poke check with the right thumbstick. If you’re having trouble imagining how that would feel, I can tell you that it definitely takes some getting used to, and it’s unlike the controls in NHL games that came before or after.
EA was wise to make the medium difficulty setting pretty easy though, and it didn’t take too long for me to compete with the CPU on the hard setting, where the challenge feels just right.
Games have a speed and frantic feel similar to previous PS2-era NHL games, but there’s a newfound smoothness as well. It feels more organic, with players that look and behave more like humans. I like how contests are usually fairly high-scoring — you’re properly rewarded for crafty one-timers, finessed one-on-ones, and crashing the net aggressively for rebounds — but every now and then I end up in a real nailbiter, where goals are precious.
Body checks are still overpowered, with players hitting from any angle, but that too is more natural, allowing for a less rigid flow of play.
The fun of hockey shines through. Playing this game requires skill without being tricky or frustrating. It’s at an odd place in the PS2 cycle, right as the next-gen was coming on, so it probably never got the attention it deserved. I’ll take this over any previous PS2 NHL game though.
Annoying Postscript!
Can I tell you something? Before I played this game, I checked out other reviews of it, and the stupid reviews on so-called reputable websites claimed that it was nothing but a shameless remake of NHL 06. They must have just been looking at the menus or something, because the gameplay is completely redone. What a crock!