NHL 17 – PS4 Review (or should have been a DLC update?)
I am a big fan of NHL series. It’s a great title, and NHL 17 is also a good version in the franchise. Does it worth another $60 a year after NHL 16? The simple answer is yes and no.
Yes if you never bought the previous release. And no, if you bought the ’15 and ’16. Why? There is nothing new in the mechanism of the game. It’s the same graphics experience, same commentators, no improvement whatsoever. What do we do? I think EA is at a point where they will have copy Killer Instinct model and start selling “Seasons”; kind of “à la carte”. Example, you will be paying $60 once for NHL 16 (the full game), than the next year, if you want to update(new players line up and new gameplay) and you will end up paying for the DLC ’17 around $29 and this model will make sense. As for now, it’s a rip off to pay for an update the price of a full game. It’s not a new game for existing owners. It’s just a little update from the previous year. When you buy a house and you want new windows, you pay for the upgrade, not the full house again. Come on EA…
What’s new? It’s fully packed with new modes like the Draft Champions. Do we care? For some, but not the majority.
What should have been improved? Goalies. It’s the same tricks as NHL 15 and NHL 16. No matter what you do to stop someone that knows and learned the patterns, they will score. Meaning, you have to be good at defense(pick a defense team). The graphics : can you find the difference between NHL16 and NHL17 graphics in a side-by-side video? I can’t. We will make this comparison video and see if you can find the difference I guess. Maybe a 4K update for the PS4 Pro?
What do we like the most? For first-time owners, the game is complete and it’s a must have. It’s something we should have had in the beginning in the past titles (’15 and ’16) in my opinion.
Again this year, the online servers are slow. Always the same year after year from the day the game is released to a month or two you can expect about 3 games out of 5 that would be unplayable(lag lag lag). It’s 2016 and EA can do better networking, specially at the price we pay every year for an update.
NHL 17 verdict : It has the WINGS to fly
- Reviewed on PS4
- Released by Electronic Arts
- Release date: September 13th, 2016