The presentation in NHL 16 bolsters the on ice experience

A lot of focus went into the style and physics of last year's NHL title, and in some ways it paid off. A hockey video game had never looked or played better than NHL 15, but in order to stay on its yearly schedule, EA Canada had to make sacrifices and cut features-a lot of features. To the chagrin of its long-time fans, many aspects only came back in patches well after the game's launch, and some modes never returned at all. With another year to work, however, NHL 16 brings the series back up to the standards set in previous years-and with an extra coat of polish for good measure. The biggest returning feature is the beloved EA Sports Hockey League online mode and the 6-on-6 gameplay EASHL is known for touts two key additions. The first of these improvements is online couch co-op. Now, you and a friend can play on the same console and drop into a match whenever you both want making communication and practicing together easier than ever.

NHL 16's AI has undergone a few major enhancements. On the higher difficulties levels in particular, opposition AI is ruthless, spreading the puck around the ice and picking off any lapses in concentration. What impressed me the most, however, was the clever thinking of my teammates. Players will regularly open up plays for each other, setting up some excellent sequences. I rarely ever felt that my teammates were out of place, especially in Be A Pro mode, in which the AI would regularly pick off my moves into space perfectly. Unfortunately, some of the series' trademark AI issues persist, including defenders getting stuck behind their own goal, and players failing to clear the puck.

The presentation in NHL 16 bolsters the on ice experience, with solid commentary from Doc Emrick, Eddie Olczyk, and Ray Ferraro. The game attempts to mimic the NBC Sports broadcasts, even with real footage of the announcers. It toes the line between awkward and authentic, but for the most part NHL 16 nails the broadcast recreation. The visual package also compliments the presentation-no doubt about it, NHL 16 is a great-looking hockey game. There are technical hitches here and there, though, including one moment when one of my players jumped a good 10-15 feet into the air. I know hockey players are athletic, but that might be pushing it.

One of the biggest features to get slimmed down last year was NHL "Be a Player" mode. As it is in many sports games, you create a player, wind up on a pro team, and play your career out, earning skills, signing new contracts, etc. Brought back this year, you can play as a CHL rookie for a season before getting to the draft. Your play during that season will determine at what position you are selected, if at all. This is a great concept, but playing every game in the season, or just a majority of them, is a time-consuming process. The reason for this is you can no longer set the amount of time in each period when beginning a “Be a Player” career. In previous games, you could adjust the settings to where each period would only last a certain amount of minutes, but in NHL 16, each “Be a Player” game must have 20-minute periods.

Aside from Be a Pro or GM modes is my favorite, NHL Moments Live. Choose from a variety of real situations that occurred before in real NHL games and recreate or change history. Each scenario typically has you playing as the underdog, assigning you to a specific player or team to achieve near impossible tasks with limited time. I can really appreciate these mini games as they are quick, hone your offensive and defensive skills, and teach game awareness and how to deal with pressure when history is on the line! Lastly, need a break from all the fancy online modes? Fear not, as the regular Versus and Shootout modes have returned, which do include ranking systems, but only for bragging rights.

In the end I can appreciate all the levels of online play, however I am fearful that some will get left behind. I would much rather see one solid online mode than five. Only time will tell as to which mode reigns supreme; my vote is for HUT. Who doesn't like to grind out currency to purchase virtual cards and play a game with them? In conclusion NHL 16 is better than it's predecessors in every way, and we've thoroughly enjoyed it thus far. The visuals are great, and small details like every team's individual mascots have been included. On top of that the arenas look better than ever, and the alterations to the different modes all resonate well with the gameplay improvements. Simply put, this is quite possibly the best hockey game ever made.