Even though I was born in the UK, I've always been a massive hockey fan over the years, and it all stems from playing EA Sports' NHL 98 all the way back in the big box PC days - I've played pretty much every entry in the series since.
It's been a little hard to get overly excited about NHL in recent times though, mainly due to the relatively few improvements that are made from year-to-year. The series evidently operates on a much smaller budget compared to the likes of EA Sports FC and Madden, and therefore the development team hones in on one or two key features for each new release, and everything else remains mostly the same.
With NHL 27, the two key features are Connected Franchise and an overhauled presentation suite. I haven't been able to try the former yet (NHL 27 isn't even out until September 4th in early access and September 11th for everyone else), but I'm pleased to say that I'm loving the presentation upgrades in this year's game.
Basically, what they've done here is added new intros, new replays, new close-up crowd reactions, a refreshing new commentary team (long overdue!) and most importantly new specific elements to each NHL arena, making it feel much more like you're playing in unique locations.
They've even gone one step further and licensed official goal songs and other hype songs that add a ton of immersion from a presentation perspective. We're talking songs like Kernkraft 400 by Zombie Nation, Rock And Roll All Nite by Kiss, Chelsea Dagger by The Fratellis, Song 2 by Blur, and so many other legendary hockey tunes. You'll hear all of these in the menus and during team-specific goal songs, but some of them also crop up during mid-game cutscenes where the jumbotron flashes to "Make Some Noise!" and you see the crowd getting into it. EA also says that they'll be adding official jumbotron graphics for various NHL teams over time.
Just have a look at this soundtrack! It's easily my favourite NHL soundtrack of all time:
And yes, this reminds me of a classic Xbox 360 feature - the ability to rip CDs and add custom music back in the day. I still play the likes of NHL 14 and NHL 2K11 simply because they support this feature natively, and used to spend hours generating 30-second music clips with just the right amount of reverb to make everything feel authentic for goal songs, break-in-play music, penalty music and everything else. It's a massive shame we don't get this anymore, but NHL 27 is easily the next best thing for people like me in the modern era.
As for the gameplay itself, it's pretty similar to NHL 26 but with a few neat improvements, such as the addition of "Contextual Strategy Shifts" where you'll be prompted to switch strategies with a single button press if the coach suggests it, and the AI will do the same as well. When the AI switches strategy and goes on the offensive while shortening their lines to try and get a goal, the added aggression and pressure that comes with it is noticeable.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.purexbox.com/features/hands-on-nhl-27-is-my-favourite-in-years-and-reminds-me-of-a-classic-xbox-360-feature
