Punctual as the hats thrown onto the ice by home fans upon the completion of a hat trick, here arrives on the market the latest chapter of the longest-running and most beloved (as well as unique!) ice hockey series in the world: NHL 16. After the blatant offside committed by EA Sports with NHL 15, will the Burnaby giant manage to redeem itself? Let's find out together with a quick overview of the main new features in the new version.
The transition to next-gen has not been painless for the NHL series either. Last year, in fact, the developers worked very hard behind the scenes to deliver something exciting that fully utilized the potential of the new consoles, but unfortunately, the final product did not live up to the fans' (albeit always rightly high) expectations. Speaking with the developers, however, it seemed to me that all of this was mainly due to the fact that the time available to completely remake a game of this caliber from scratch, with years of experience on past consoles, was absolutely insufficient. This must indeed be acknowledged, and the decision to exclude some features and game modes was a painful but necessary compromise. 
However, this year there are no excuses, as EA Sports has had another year to show everyone the true value of the game. The first welcome new feature is therefore finally seeing the return of some modes that disappeared in NHL 15, namely: the return of the EA Sports Hockey League, the 6-vs-6 online mode, and the timeless local co-op mode. One of the most important additions, however, is called “Visual On-Ice Training.” And this is perhaps the feature that, at least at first glance, has the most impact on gameplay. How does it work? A visual aid will be shown on screen to help the player understand, for example, whether a shot or pass will be successful, or if the aid is present on the goalmouth, it will be useful for trying to understand which portion is not covered by the goalie and thus attempt to surprise him with a targeted shot or a perfectly calculated “one-timer.” For newcomers, it will certainly be an excellent way to start improving their style. If, on the other hand, veterans do not feel the need for these visual aids, there is naturally the option to disable them. The Be-a-Pro, Be-a-GM, Season, Playoff, Shootout (online and local), NHL Moments Live modes, and all the customization options are also still present.
One of the best-executed peripheral aspects is certainly related to the graphics. Exceptional work has been done in recreating every stadium, but not only that, every pre-game show is as if it were actually performed in reality, the goal sirens are authentic, and all of this helps to create a fantastic and absolutely realistic atmosphere. There are many little details and easter eggs present in the crowd (and here we'll let you search for them yourselves... although you'll find the Vancouver Green Men very easily). A very welcome new addition this year was the introduction of all the NHL franchise mascots, masterfully recreated and animated, who will react based on the flow of the game. I've wanted to see more interaction outside of the ice since NHL 94.
Naturally, as the title has always indicated, NHL 16 is mainly inspired by the North American league. However, and this is something I personally love and which adds much more charm and depth to the game, other leagues are available for fans. In addition to the NHL, we find the AHL (North America), Liiga (Finland), SHL (Sweden), Czech Extraliga (Czech Republic), DEL (Germany), National League A (Switzerland), CHL (which includes QMJHL, OHL, and WHL), and, new this year, GET-ligaen (Norway). In the game, we naturally still find the “Legends,” teams that include a decent number of old NHL stars who have now hung up their skates. As written above, the Swiss league will be present again this year. From NHL 10 onwards, the National League A has always been represented in the NHL franchise, and this is certainly an excellent media showcase considering the million copies sold each year. It's just a shame that the nice tradition (which lasted only a few years) has been lost, in which each NLA team had a personalized cover with its own star. But these are just a few details related to our local marketing. The rosters provided with the game will naturally be updated with the current lineups in late October, but in the meantime, the option to edit existing players or create new ones is still present. Swiss arenas? Unfortunately, only North American arenas will be present in NHL 16 (so let's hope for NHL 17), but we will still find the following arenas in NHL Legacy: Resega (Lugano), Hallenstadion (Zurich), Postfinance Arena (Bern), Vaillant Arena (Davos), and Bossard Arena (Zug).
EA Sports also thought about owners of the, now, old generation consoles. The version for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 is not called NHL 16, but rather... NHL Legacy. Why this name? Because in practice, absolutely no changes were made compared to last year, and therefore it is nothing more than NHL 15 with the rosters updated for this season. Period. Finally, it was already somewhat known that being featured on the cover brought bad luck... and this year too the ’curse“ struck again. In fact, Patrick Kane, right winger for the Chicago Blackhawks, was supposed to be on the cover of NHL 16 along with his teammate Jonathan Toews. EA Sports, however, announced that they decided to remove the first athlete from the box art, following the rape charges he was recently involved in, and which are now under investigation. Toews therefore finds himself being the solo cover-man for the second time in his career. In the Swiss version, however, Nino ”El Niño“ Niederreiter, a strong right winger for the Minnesota Wild, is still present.
Did NHL 16 pass the test? Absolutely yes! It's practically everything NHL 15 should have already been... but a year late. There's still room for improvement, of course, but it's a good omen for the future of the series: increasingly realistic and high-quality. Cross your sticks and prepare for the face-off... EA Sports is back! (Guess which team the Joypad staff is a fan of, based on the trailer? Editor's Note)