Customer Reviews

NHL 07

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have been a fan of the EA Sports NHL series since 1994, when I bought NHL Hockey 95 on CD-ROM. Due to my being a research nomad at the moment I do not play PC games anymore, but I do own a PSP for which I bought NHL 07 the first day it came out in England. After having played several matches, my first impression is /very/ positive. The first thing you will notice is that the music is superb, going in the direction of rock, indie, and metal. Secondly, you will be pleased by the in-game commentary by Jim Houston and Craig Simpson who add stories about famous rivalries between the teams currently playing, or about the player who just shot a goal. This really makes the game as real as seeing hockey live on TV. In addition to the NHL teams, there are now also the teams from the Czech, Finnish, German, and Swedish leagues (with licence for player names and team outfits), as well as several national sides (without licence). This just adds to the fascination. Most importantly, the gameplay is excellent and just feels like real hockey. I am very impressed by this game and glad I bought it. A great experience for any hockey fan!

This game is fantastic! I have had it for a couple weeks and still cannot quit playing it. It is challenging to score a goal, but a game wouldn't be fun if it were too easy. It has an incredible amount of options available to choose from. You can send your players to the minor leagues, sign players from the free agents, or trade with other teams. NHL 07 also has great graphics, and it's always fun to fight the opposing team's players. Announcers add a nice touch to the game. Overall, until I can get NHL 08 for psp... this is the best game I have ever played. I usually don't post reviews for things if that lets you know how great it is!

Our 9 year old can't stop playing this game. Once it went in teh PSP on his birthday, he hasn't taken it out.

This game is a very good simulator for hockey. Gives you lots of control over players without making the game so complex that it turns you off (baseball game designers: pay attention). So, it's a real good game to play from game-play and graphics perspective.

Where the game falls apart is with the goalie performance and in-game adjustments & stats. I'll start with the goalies. They guy who gave it a one-star rating is on the right path, though he's overblown the situation. It's not that hard to pitch a shut-out, so to speak, and, conversely, it's not impossible to score 10 goals. The problem is on how to do both. To shut out the opposing team, you need to limit them to no more than ~10 shots on goal for the game. To get 10 goals, you need to approach 50 shots.

At the end of the day, regardless of comparative goalie rankings, expect your team to shoot an aggregate of 16-20% and the opposing team to about than double that. Having played an entire season, I could discern no difference among goalies. Ratings meant nothing. So, yes, this aspect is frustrating. My average game was 7-2, and I would approach 40 shots on goal against around 6 for the computer.

Still, the most frustrating part to me was in-game adjustments. The computer could do things like change goalies and lines during the game. I never figured out how to do this -- only between games. No end-of-game stats. The only posted stats are for the 3 stars of the game. This was the biggest irritation for me. I love checking stats during games and after the game ended. Can't do that here.

A minor flaw was in the game's ability to choose awards. My forward led the league in +/-, hits, SH goals, and takeaways, but he did NOT get the award for the best defensive forward. It was not uncommon for an opposing player with 0 points, 1 shot on goal to get 2nd star in a game where I had multiple 3+ point players. My goalie led the league with close to 20 shutouts, but not once earned a star for his effort. Several times, players from a team that was shut out would earn a star over my goalie who shut them out ... or a player on my team with 2 goals + 2 assists.

Finally, everything in the game is from the 2006 season, which is getting pretty dated now.

EA should have spent more time refining the goalie system and in-game features and less time populating all of the weird global hockey leagues that most people wouldn't miss. Frankly, EA could dump 50% of the features in this game, add better in-game support, and add more variability in the goalies, and the game would be 100% better.

I bought this game for my son who loves hockey, it was his favorite gift that he received over the Holidays! Money well spent.

This game is fun and fast paced. Unfortunately there is not a newer version, but I have a website that maintains a current roster for free at [...] Check it out, it definitely makes the game more playable.

Sadly NHL 07 is the only game in town for NHL hockey on any handheld system. There has never been a non-backyard hockey game for the DS and the only other options for the PSP are the even longer in the tooth Gretzky series.

So while NHL 07 is getting pretty old, it is still the best way to play a game of hockey on a plane.

The game is pretty simple if you've played older versions of the NHL series. Pass, shoot, hit, poke check and speed burst are pretty much all you need to know for the entire game. The game moves briskly, if at a more arcade than simulation speed. The graphics are nice enough and feature nice touches such as "popping the water bottle" on some goals.

Some of the complaints in other reviews are valid. I've gotten maybe 3 shutouts in 30 games, even when limiting opposing teams to 4 and 5 shots. On the other side, goals seems to be easily scored, but almost random. 2-0 breakaway one timer is met by a diving save. Seconds later a wrist shot from the blue line lights the lamp. Hmmmmm.

But all problems aside, it is hockey and it plays well. It isn't the best game you will ever play, but it is the best portable hockey game out there, and for fanatics like me, that is good enough.

this is so fun you can do fighting penaly shots icings and offsides its like your a hockey player but you have to control th only thing thats weird is that the fans are like paper and when the away team scores the home fans cheer and theirs not any away fns theirs a stadley cup

My son was very excited to get this, we had been looking for it for too long-- prefect!

I bought this game for my grandson and he plays it all the time. He plays little league hockey so he "knows it all". Thank you for finding this game for him.