NHL 16

 Xbox One
User Score
6.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 86 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 41 out of 86
  2. Mixed: 19 out of 86
  3. Negative: 26 out of 86
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  1. greene_8
    Sep 21, 2015
    3
    The problems with this franchise usually center around the unpolished game modes but I can never get over how unbalanced the actual gameplay is. When I play on Pro my players seem competent and the A.I. Is defendable, when I switch to All-Star the A.I. has the puck glued to its sticks and my players stop using basic common sense, such as skating into the offensive zone when your teammatesThe problems with this franchise usually center around the unpolished game modes but I can never get over how unbalanced the actual gameplay is. When I play on Pro my players seem competent and the A.I. Is defendable, when I switch to All-Star the A.I. has the puck glued to its sticks and my players stop using basic common sense, such as skating into the offensive zone when your teammates are attacking or picking up the puck when it's sitting at your feet. I played 10 games in season mode and my goalie (Varlamov) has an .854 save percentage, despite the fact that I've beat my opponents in shots and attack time in every game. If you don't know about hockey, an .854 save percentage simply doesn't happen in reality, it's ridiculously bad. I hit and knock down opponents, and they get up and get the puck back before my player makes any kind of move to get the puck. 9 out of 10 of my poke checks result in the puck going straight to the opponent's teammate, and the exact opposite happens when the A.I. Is poke checking my players. There are certain points where I can stand right in front of a guy poke-checking him and lifting his stick and the puck will float right back to him 3-4 times in a row. I can have 15-20 point blank snap shots per game with quality players and end up getting shutout. How can people possibly enjoyable a game that is so unbalanced?… Expand
  2. PierreDu
    Sep 21, 2015
    4
    It's basically NHL 2015 + the features that should've been there last year. Oh yeah, they added mascots and growing beards...

    I play mainly versus AI, and the advantage the other team has is simply ridiculous: defence is useless in your own zone; lifting the opponent stick is useless 90% of the time; Checking would be useful, but the opponent gets up SO FAST that most of the times, you    It's basically NHL 2015 + the features that should've been there last year. Oh yeah, they added mascots and growing beards...

    I play mainly versus AI, and the advantage the other team has is simply ridiculous: defence is useless in your own zone; lifting the opponent stick is useless 90% of the time; Checking would be useful, but the opponent gets up SO FAST that most of the times, you end up with the puck (even with huge hits)... and you don't get up as fast when you get hit. I could go on with examples all day. Instead of adjusting the defence/offense system of the team when you raise the difficulty level, EA decided to weaken your players... and your goalie.

    So I'm stuck: if I play at a lower level, I'm crushing the other team, but I feel cheated playing All-star... And what about all those players stumbling when they cross a player on the ice. It's stupid!!!

    EA were lazy once again. They know people are gonna buy the game because there is nothing else available. They even kept the images of the cities in the game presentation.

    I'm pretty sure they're gonna do the same next year.    … Expand
  3. FootCreem9
    Oct 13, 2015
    0
    I am offically changing my score from a 1 to a 0, the ice tilt is unbearable, had 40 shots and 4 goals, he had 12 shots and 5 goals, this game is completely unplayable and EA refuses to listen to their customers (huge suprise I know) even though they claimed to have listened to them to make this game, I call **** the #1 thing always asked for is to get rid of the ice tilt, or theI am offically changing my score from a 1 to a 0, the ice tilt is unbearable, had 40 shots and 4 goals, he had 12 shots and 5 goals, this game is completely unplayable and EA refuses to listen to their customers (huge suprise I know) even though they claimed to have listened to them to make this game, I call **** the #1 thing always asked for is to get rid of the ice tilt, or the scriptedness, but nope that would make it acctually fun and fair and EA only likes making steaming piles of scripted ****, and this game take the crown for most scriped EA game available, I would say you have the best chance of winning a game in NHL16 when you are down by 2 goals, because then it forces the other guys team (whos been playing better the whole game most likely) to play like complete retards, they refuse to pick up the puck, every single pass is just awful, and your shots will miss, no matter what, no mattter how close you get, it just forces your guy to miss. If by some miracle EA actualy takes 5 hours to fix one of their games instead of just touching themselves over their big piles of money, I may change my score again, but I don't expect that will ever happen. I sincerely hope every person who had a part in this game dies slowly.… Expand
  4. worstgameever
    Oct 31, 2015
    0
    I just finished up my 2 year tenure playing NHL 15 for the Xbox 360. It was one of the most enjoyable experiences I have ever had playing with friends and in online. I absolutely loved the HUT and EASHL features. You were able to customize so much about each player from their face off skills, to hitting, to stick curve!

    I just recently made the switch to Xbox One and I feel like I    I just finished up my 2 year tenure playing NHL 15 for the Xbox 360. It was one of the most enjoyable experiences I have ever had playing with friends and in online. I absolutely loved the HUT and EASHL features. You were able to customize so much about each player from their face off skills, to hitting, to stick curve!

    I just recently made the switch to Xbox One and I feel like I just stepped in dog feces. It is the feeling when you know your day is ruined. I have been playing this game for two days and I want to break my console into 1000 pieces. This is by far one of the worst games I have ever played. The only customization you get is what colour skin your player is and how long his beard is. With that feature, every single player I have seen has the same ugly beard. You get no rewards in playing anymore and there are no attributes to look forward to. You get to select one of five lousy playing abilities in the pre-game lobby.

    I feel like I am looking at a beginner power skating class. These guys have no skating ability. However, they have the best hand eye coordination on planet earth. Every single player can stick check from 20 feet away and the RB button on every controller will wear out faster than I can eat a bag of popcorn.
    The AI in this game is incredible. I think Crosby and Stamkos would get crushed playing against these computer wizards.

    On top of this disgusting piece of trash they call NHL 16, you cant even watch the debacle because the camera angles are either in the rafters, or a worm cam that looks like it is attached to your stick. You will find yourself watching the wrong player since your camera angle does not know where on earth your bearded dragon player is.

    I would rate this game a -1030392039 but the scale only goes to 0. If EA Sports paid me 1000 dollars a week to play this game for 40 hours, I would take the disc and tie it to a bag of bricks and sink it to the ocean before I played even another 13 seconds.

    I think I am going to find a N64 console and find Gretzky 98 and enjoy a real hockey experience. Hopefully on the next edition of NHL for XB1, the creator doesn't design the game in 90 seconds after he drinks 37 beers on a Wednesday night. My 19 year old cat could have put in a better effort than this disgusting piece of trash game.

    I am going to now play checkers with my grandma and have a way better time.    … Expand
  5. Critic_001
    Oct 15, 2015
    0
    First off, I have been playing EA NHL series games since the Super Nintendo. Once EASHL was introduced, I played with a group of friends every year. We skipped NHL 15 for obvious reasons (no EASHL) and we were pumped for NHL 16. I also played HUT, when not playing EASHL. After buying NHL 16 over Xbox Live, I wish I had a physical disk to send to EA in pieces or at least use as aFirst off, I have been playing EA NHL series games since the Super Nintendo. Once EASHL was introduced, I played with a group of friends every year. We skipped NHL 15 for obvious reasons (no EASHL) and we were pumped for NHL 16. I also played HUT, when not playing EASHL. After buying NHL 16 over Xbox Live, I wish I had a physical disk to send to EA in pieces or at least use as a coaster for my beverage. I feel so strongly about this, I created an account on Metacritic just to review this game.

    NHL 16 is horrible. The higher the difficulty level the more stupid the AI gets. I cannot count how many times my own player bumps into me and makes me lose the puck. The players are constantly spinning in an awkward fashion that you end up taking a weak backhand shot because you lack the time to wait for your player to spin to his forehand. Sometimes the passing is so horrible, you are almost better off hanging onto the puck and trying to deke around people. The AI has the puck glued to their stick, yet it can be knocked off a player stick with little or no effort. I also love how a full power slapshot can hit a skate and stop dead at the opponent's feet, which gives him a great chance to skate by for a breakaway. Even if I am directly between the shooter and the goal, I am lucky to block a shot. If I do block the shot, it usually bounces back to the opponent and they get a quality scoring chance on their next shot. The puck physics are horrible. I cannot be the only one that has the dreaded bouncing puck in the corner that you just cannot seem to pick up. Speaking of picking up the puck, it's like a coin flip if you actually gain control of it. I have skated over pucks laying flat on the ice so many times, even though I am not checking. Even gliding it is far from a guarantee you will pick up the puck successfully. Yet, the AI will reach a stick 10 feet behind them and grab a loose puck with ease. Okay, enough with the AI. So much for the next-gen console capability. Puck physics are laughable, the AI is horrible, and the skating feels sluggish. I feel like I am fighting the controller to get my player to do what I want them to. I spend more time in instant replay trying to figure out what / how that just happened than actually playing the game.

    So... EASHL is good right? WRONG. The lag / input delay totally breaks any online mode. Having a second or more delay in hitting a button and actually seeing your skater perform this action on the ice is a game-breaker. The EA forums are flooded with posts about input delay and lag. This never happened in a any of the previous EA NHL games for me or my friends. Even if you do 6 vs 6 club games, you still have to deal with the horrible skating, puck physics, and your player spinning for no good reason or not listening to the actual inputs on your xbox controller.

    In conclusion, if you wanna tear out all your hair, raise your blood pressure, and scream profanities at your TV, by all means buy NHL 16. Hopefully, EA will read these poor reviews, NHL 16 will have weak sales, and the EA NHL Team will focus on creating a more polished product next year.    … Expand
  6. pmr122
    Mar 24, 2016
    1
    Let me start off by saying I have been a big fan of EA's NHL series but NHL 16 changed that.
    I have bought the last 10 NHL titles from EA (NHL 07-NHL 16) and NHL 16 is by far the worst one. They focus on presentation over gameplay by adding team mascots instead of focusing on things that need fixing like the AI, passing, puck pick ups, etc.
    In GM mode and Be a pro the game has frozen    Let me start off by saying I have been a big fan of EA's NHL series but NHL 16 changed that.
    I have bought the last 10 NHL titles from EA (NHL 07-NHL 16) and NHL 16 is by far the worst one. They focus on presentation over gameplay by adding team mascots instead of focusing on things that need fixing like the AI, passing, puck pick ups, etc.
    In GM mode and Be a pro the game has frozen numerous time on me where i have lost my progress on my saved file.
    EA does not care about how bad their product is because people will just buy HUT packs constantly making EA money on something that takes little to no effort on their part    … Expand
  7. did
    Nov 24, 2015
    0
    Let me start by saying I WAS a huge fan of the franchise. NHL 16 is a huge step behind. Does not feel like hockey whatsoever. I have no fun playing. Coming from a huge hockey fan and player. If by any chance you haven't put your hands on it yet, DON'T. Please save your self the pain and frustration of "trying" to play hockey. As it feels in NO way like hockey plays. It shouldn't be callLet me start by saying I WAS a huge fan of the franchise. NHL 16 is a huge step behind. Does not feel like hockey whatsoever. I have no fun playing. Coming from a huge hockey fan and player. If by any chance you haven't put your hands on it yet, DON'T. Please save your self the pain and frustration of "trying" to play hockey. As it feels in NO way like hockey plays. It shouldn't be call NHL and NHL should withdraw all association with this game. Give me back my money. Shame on EA.… Expand
  8. Zacho666
    Mar 29, 2016
    0
    JUST LET THIS KILL ITSELF
    I love hockey, I'm british and a Leafs fan so you can imagine I live for this sport. so I wanted to be a goalie and save my beloved Leafs all the way to the playoffs. On ROOKIE difficulty...THAT'S ROOKIE DIFFICULTY.
    I thought it wouldn't be that bad. MAN WAS I IN FOR A BAD TIME. every single shot is a rebound from the opposing team and my defence is useless,    JUST LET THIS KILL ITSELF
    I love hockey, I'm british and a Leafs fan so you can imagine I live for this sport. so I wanted to be a goalie and save my beloved Leafs all the way to the playoffs. On ROOKIE difficulty...THAT'S ROOKIE DIFFICULTY.
    I thought it wouldn't be that bad. MAN WAS I IN FOR A BAD TIME. every single shot is a rebound from the opposing team and my defence is useless, offence is worse and then the opposing goalie is some kinda magician who just stops everything why it looked like I have pads the are 50 times to small for me, I make great save but then it just rolls on in, it bounces off my glove to a opposing player and he just slots it in because my movement is too slow and then I get benched and its just the worst ting imaginable. average scores are as follows:
    My team:3
    opposing team:8
    not because I'm not trying its because every single one is a rebound.
    Do not buy this game if you enjoy hockey in anyway.
    They should give this to prisoners at guantanamo bay its that torturing, you hug the post the AI score on your outside, you leave a slither between you and the post the AI finds a way,
    AI shoots for five hole, I butterfly and its always scored with "high blocker"
    I genuinely think its easier to just get drafted into the NHL instead of play this.    … Expand
  9. workingman12
    Sep 24, 2015
    1
    I give ea customer support a 0 and the game a 2. Nhl 16 would be fun if it actually worked more then 50% of the time. Many people are not receiving extras they are paying for. Game play seems lop sided. If you are lucky enough to get your gold packs you pay for only 1 out of every 500,000 packs has anything rated over a 85. Game seems like it was released to early. The graphics areI give ea customer support a 0 and the game a 2. Nhl 16 would be fun if it actually worked more then 50% of the time. Many people are not receiving extras they are paying for. Game play seems lop sided. If you are lucky enough to get your gold packs you pay for only 1 out of every 500,000 packs has anything rated over a 85. Game seems like it was released to early. The graphics are extremely good but mean nothing because half the time the game dose not work properly.online team play is a little better then 2015.just over all wish I did not buy the game yet and most of all wish I did not buy the delux rip off. Thank you for reading good luck… Expand
  10. Deejaymn
    Apr 16, 2016
    2
    I've been playing nhl in some form since the Sega genesis and this version is the least fun version I've ever played, it's so infuriating and frustrating it's hard to put into words especially when I've loved older versions so much. There's no flow, the AI sticks to you like glue, you lose most puck scrums, passing is so over sensitive, deking has lost its fluidity, my thumb hurts fromI've been playing nhl in some form since the Sega genesis and this version is the least fun version I've ever played, it's so infuriating and frustrating it's hard to put into words especially when I've loved older versions so much. There's no flow, the AI sticks to you like glue, you lose most puck scrums, passing is so over sensitive, deking has lost its fluidity, my thumb hurts from pushing down the left stick to get any speed cuz otherwise your guy is too slow, online vs. games usually have a very slight almost invisible lag that effects quick plays, moves, shots etc. I could go on but you get the point. Where is the evolution, this should be the best, powerful console, HD TVs, C'mon EA. Put some actual hockey players on staff and figure out THE FEEL OF HOCKEY, it needs a smooth poetic flow to create, where what you envision for a play can happen. It's depressing cuz my winter months are meant for playing this with my buddies gaming dudes online, instead we leave angry and frustrated even when we win games it feels like we lose.… Expand
  11. dwayner
    Aug 22, 2016
    0
    NHL 16 is by far the **** game ever made! I have never played a video game in my life and I have played video games since the sega genisis in which I wanna smash my controllers as much as this game! Its not even fun when you win. it amazes me that these paid off critics rate these games 8-10 everytime, but its quite ovbious that these critics never played a real game of hockey in theirNHL 16 is by far the **** game ever made! I have never played a video game in my life and I have played video games since the sega genisis in which I wanna smash my controllers as much as this game! Its not even fun when you win. it amazes me that these paid off critics rate these games 8-10 everytime, but its quite ovbious that these critics never played a real game of hockey in their life to noticed the flaws anyways! These DUMMIES cant even make simple breakout passes! if the GAMEPLAY sucks, then the GAME sucks...plain and simple...
    * - PASSING - Makes you wanna punch walls! WTF was EA thinking in this game, players cant even pass 5 feet! %40 of the passes go into completely wrong directions that you know you bloody well never aimed at! just awful and makes you wanna smash controllers because without half-decent passing the game will suck! I have NEVER in my life seen passing so BAD in any level of hockey! not even in kids hockey!
    * - SKATING - god awful, these dummies skate as if the ice is 500 by 250ft! it isnt smooth and they take 25ft to make a simple quick stop. Skating in this game isnt FREELY, you can only skate into certain area's or the computer will fling you back like an elastic, on EASHL the skating forces all the skaters to skate into the cluster zone infront of the net! (example - ill be playing D and ill be watching the play in the offensive zone corner but then all of a sudden ill look at my skater and he's stuck in the middle of the pile infront of the net laying on the ice - brutal!) Most of these defencman skate as if they are 355lbs...
    * - HITTING - hitting is useless in this game, dont even bother to use the hit button.... even if you are lucky enough to give off a nice hit, the computer will always manage to skate away with the puck....
    * - PHYSICS - god awful physics in this game. Since when do you take a 90-100+mph slapshot and gets blocked and stopped dead on the players stick %90 of the time? They players can amazingly take perfect back hander passes and shot without setting up! wtf is that about? skating 5-10ft ahead of players but get somehow taking into the boards, players on pure breakaways by atleast 10ft hit the blue line and slow down everytime while defencemen catch them at mega speed.... this game is garbage... Not to mention that players in NHL ( or ANY level of hockey) do AVOID collisions, I know they happen but not at this retarded rate! I dont see too many teammate collisions in the beer leagues either...but in NHL 16 this just skate into each other with ease and take 5 days to get up!
    * - MENU's - gotta push buttons 3-4x's just so the game responds! and if you dont videos will pop up to make you wait even longer.
    * - ONLINE VS MODE - ICE-TILT is unbearable. nothing is worse then outplaying opponents consistently by 25-10 shots, 10 minutes attack to their 1-2 minutes and lose regulary because of garbage glitch goals! This is pretty much every game I play online. The passing in this mode also ruins game play %101.
    * - EASHL - I thought this was suppose to be fun? its nothing but a cluster zone pile of ****. Its pure goal sucks, no sence of playing defence because they are usless on this mode at both ends of the ice (since there is no hitting or intercepting passes or even making a half decent pass), Goalies are plug and ruin this mode as well! its choppy hockey and I dont know why but why is the hockey totally DIFFERENT GAMEPLAY on this mode then playing in GM mode or ONLINE VS mode? wtf is that about...
    * - AL SlIDERS - ruin this game completely. SUPERSTAR is just stupid hockey in which you have no defence once so-ever as they cant intercept passes, hit, they dont rush, cant pass...but if you play on ALLSTAR the game is somewhat realistic although computer will score on will. It doesnt matter if you adjust sliders because they dont work anyways. Settings on GM-Mode may seem perfect for the first 5-6 games then the game cheats and becomes stupid hard...
    I DONT KNOW WHY EA WOULD MAKE A GAME WHERE YOUR PLAYERS WILL OVERSKATE PASSES ON PURPOSE, SKATE OFFSIDE ON PURPOSE, GIVE OFF GOD AWFUL PASSES ON PURPOSE, SKATE INTO OWN TEAMMATES ON PURPOSE, CREATE A MILLION ICINGS ON PURPOSE... THIS IS SUPPOSE TO BE TOP NOTCH WITH THIS WHOLE NEW CONSOLE HOCKEY IT SHOULD BE PERFECT BY NOW, ITS BEEN 25 YEARS BUT ITS BEEN 25 YEARS OF MAKING GARBAGE HOCKEY GAMES! SICK OF LOSING CONSTANT GAMES BECAUSE OF GARBAGE GOALS SUCH A WEAK WRISTERS FROM BLUE LINE WHILE I WORK FOR MY GOALS.    … Expand
  12. YantzPantz
    Apr 30, 2016
    2
    For everything that NHL 16 does well it fails miserably in every other aspect. The basic game modes that are here are ones that should have been here last year and more. It adds nothing new and the gameplay is still infuriating. Even in HUT, the games main mode it's completely unbalanced. It is so obvious when the game chooses who it wants to win from the very beginning and there seemsFor everything that NHL 16 does well it fails miserably in every other aspect. The basic game modes that are here are ones that should have been here last year and more. It adds nothing new and the gameplay is still infuriating. Even in HUT, the games main mode it's completely unbalanced. It is so obvious when the game chooses who it wants to win from the very beginning and there seems like there is no reason to play. There are times where your game consists of not being able to handle the puck, taking penalties, and just being completely useless. I understand teams have bad games, but there is no chance to even rectify the situation. You are left to play the long, painful, replay-filled game where you just get dominated with no chance of fighting back. The A.I. is still terrible, and the menus are slow, unresponsive and broken. Always buy an NHL game on sale, NEVER pre order or buy at full price.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

37
#37 Best Xbox One Game of 2015
40
#40 Most Discussed Xbox One Game of 2015
34
#34 Most Shared Xbox One Game of 2015

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 18
  3. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. Sporting News
    Mar 2, 2016
    80
    The most fun way to play NHL 16 is undoubtedly EA Sports Hockey League, an online cooperative mode that pits you and your friends against rival clubs in monthly championship battles. For years, EASHL was a mainstay for the series, but it was missing from last season’s PS4/Xbox One debut. It returns in a big way, thanks to a more user-friendly way to drop in and play anytime as well as a smart new team-building mechanic.
    Read full review
  2. Brash Games
    Dec 15, 2015
    90
    NHL 16 is probably the most inclusive NHL game to date. The on ice trainer will help new comers in a way that NHL has never done before, even someone like me who has been playing the game for a number of years seems to have improved, breaking bad habits like favoring the glove side or poor cycling of the puck in the offensive zone.
    Read full review
  3. Worth Playing
    Dec 4, 2015
    75
    NHL 16 feels like what NHL 15 should have been. The gameplay remains largely the same, but there is at least some effort to get newcomers more familiar with the mechanics.
    Read full review
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