NHL 17

 Xbox One
User Score
4.5

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 66 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 66
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 66
  3. Negative: 34 out of 66
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  1. Buf789456123
    Oct 12, 2016
    0
    I love how no matter what EA sports game I see they're always rated an 8 by the critics. I didn't even buy this game (I've played it), but I have NHL 16 (which is "OK"), and I can see they just keep going downhill. After their blatant money grab in NHL 15 to 16 to decide to not put co-op online couch play in, I almost sold it and never bought another one. The kings of taking out featuresI love how no matter what EA sports game I see they're always rated an 8 by the critics. I didn't even buy this game (I've played it), but I have NHL 16 (which is "OK"), and I can see they just keep going downhill. After their blatant money grab in NHL 15 to 16 to decide to not put co-op online couch play in, I almost sold it and never bought another one. The kings of taking out features and then re adding them hoping no one notices are DONE now. NO ONE IS GOING TO KEEP BUYING YOUR BROKEN GAMES FOR A ROSTER UPDATE. Especially when the players look nothing like the actual players for about 65% of them. These are glorified arcade games, and by glorified I mean glorified with **** Just to give you an idea of how awful this game is, Kane and John Scott have the same stick handling ability, and you would probably be at the advantage playing as John because he's a bigger body and harder to knock off the puck. AND THE DAB OH GOD WHY!!!!!!! WHO **** DABS IN HOCKEY?????????… Expand
  2. Doomhammer
    Oct 29, 2016
    4
    I wanted so much this to be good this time...

    Do yourself a favor and get yourself a copy of Blades Of Steel and a NES until this hot mess of a franchise gets sorted out.
  3. Mlabelle
    Sep 20, 2017
    4
    I absolutely cannot stand the game mechanics and AI in this game. Passes get picked off pretty much every time you try to make a play. The game is so slow and the puck rarely goes where you want it to go. Be prepared to throw your controller at the television.
  4. ileGTi
    Oct 10, 2016
    4
    1-100 gameplay sliders, modifying the prices of hot dogs, relocating your teams, you have actual music in the menus... i mean... WOW! It's just that the sliders don't actually change the critical problematic parts of the gameplay. You cannot choose the player you want, it's picked randomly, the accidential passes because of it, the penalty system, tying an opponent in a faceoff is a cheat1-100 gameplay sliders, modifying the prices of hot dogs, relocating your teams, you have actual music in the menus... i mean... WOW! It's just that the sliders don't actually change the critical problematic parts of the gameplay. You cannot choose the player you want, it's picked randomly, the accidential passes because of it, the penalty system, tying an opponent in a faceoff is a cheat code because you can't change players during the tie-up, you cannot tune goalie interference penalties and video reviews (which is really amazing), and still after buggy goals that happen very often, (winning a faceoff, puck goes to goalie, goalie opens the five-hole for example), you cannot rewind the game to the last faceoff. If you're game is in a beta stage for all eternity, at least players should have the commodity to decide to reset a silly play and start over. Also the freedom and the simulation is now almost completely gone. You simply cannot get through ai players OR you get through them easily, depends on the settings (that still have no middle ground, even after i've tried a lot of combinations). Ai players can almost never be fooled. Or they can always be fooled... no middle ground no matter the settings.

    Also basic stuff, players with a good stable position don't fall over or lose grip of the puck etc. They are just good at that. This game doesnt understand that. EA doesn't understand hockey completely. That is a big BIG issue. They do things right, but then they leave Hiring Coaches from the Franchise mode and instead bring toilet cleaning duties level 5. Amazing, just amazing!

    As a first game from the EA Sports team this would be like a 7 or even an 8, but after many many tries and many weird moral systems and coffee price modifications and clunky menus, adding to that the unrealistic penalty systems, and the lack of possibilities to customize your gaming styles (also tournaments while playing on the same console), uncontrollable silly deking that doesn't require skills from the player anymore, this is not worth it. This is not worth gaming anymore. It is the only thing on the market and it seems to be losing it's to begin with weak grip.    … Expand
  5. WaffleBoard
    Sep 25, 2016
    3
    What game were critics playing? This is a rehash of the same old engine, awful colour commentary and lifeless gameplay and crowds. I grew up playing hockey and some of the game mechanics are so unbelievably frustrating. If I could return my digital copy I would 100%. DO NOT BUY.

    Here are a few of my biggest issues: -Gameplay is incredibly slow! For a sport that bills itself as the    What game were critics playing? This is a rehash of the same old engine, awful colour commentary and lifeless gameplay and crowds. I grew up playing hockey and some of the game mechanics are so unbelievably frustrating. If I could return my digital copy I would 100%. DO NOT BUY.

    Here are a few of my biggest issues:
    -Gameplay is incredibly slow! For a sport that bills itself as the fastest game on earth the agility and acceleration of the players in this game is embarrassing.
    -Weird phantom penalties: Hit guy with puck = Interference, hit player hard = elbowing (you can't control your arms when hitting), goalie goes out to play puck in corner (euro team(, you nudge him = "and that's goaltender interference for contact with the goalie in the crease" !?!?!??? etc. etc. etc.
    -Dumbest AI to date. If you try to hit a winger breaking down the side and wire pass towards him but another player is in the way, your own team will break up a scoring chance. When you want to make a short pass with a softer pass, the same player who interfered with the stretch pass will let it go by to a winger chilling on the far blue line...because he totally wants the other team to intercept the pass...
    -Win a faceoff, pointman let's the puck go through his legs
    -Goalie dives and missed pucks repeatedly allowing a tap in for other team
    -Hitting so soft you could call it love making

    Are there positives? None that are a result of the game. It's fine to play with friends but the single player is lifeless, frustrating and more of the same from EpAy    … Expand
  6. mattbigbang
    Mar 28, 2017
    1
    Well this game is unbalanced and laggy. I dont even bother playing it anymore even if I win often. it is not fun at all. I rather play nhl 12 seriously. Ea keep making horrible unfinished games im done with them
  7. BigWhite97
    Jul 17, 2017
    1
    Still Garbage, AI on both sides are still awful and interact terribly. A majority of goals scored in any given game are still usually pretty ugly and the same AI interaction problems that occurred in past games still exist. Even in front battles can't prevent your AI defenseman from leaving the slot man open every single possession. Wingers for some reason still can't cover the point evenStill Garbage, AI on both sides are still awful and interact terribly. A majority of goals scored in any given game are still usually pretty ugly and the same AI interaction problems that occurred in past games still exist. Even in front battles can't prevent your AI defenseman from leaving the slot man open every single possession. Wingers for some reason still can't cover the point even when your strategies are set to place wingers tight on point, etc. All around complete garbage game and if it were any other franchise making this game with the amount of let downs and bogus small in game addictions to cover for their pathetic game this series would have been stopped way earlier. But hey, why stop making garbage when people pay $60 for it every year.… Expand
  8. RN07
    Oct 24, 2016
    2
    This game does everything it can to make you frustrated and annoyed. EA has tried to impress us by adding the standard game modes that they removed, but have continuously failed us in gameplay. Here are a few facets that make the game unbearable

    1. Passing. For one, if there is a player remotely close to the pass then it's getting broken up. It doesn't matter if the player has their    This game does everything it can to make you frustrated and annoyed. EA has tried to impress us by adding the standard game modes that they removed, but have continuously failed us in gameplay. Here are a few facets that make the game unbearable

    1. Passing. For one, if there is a player remotely close to the pass then it's getting broken up. It doesn't matter if the player has their back to the puck, is skating the other way and not looking, he will be able to blindly poke the puck away. If you do manage to have a wide open man, passes will either go to the wrong player (player wide open up ice, yet it goes to the player on the right side, etc) or go about 15 feet away from the designated player. One-timers on two on ones just go passed the intended recipient on a whiffed pass.

    2. Faceoffs. If you win an o-zone faceoff, you have about .1 seconds to make a decision before the puck is stripped from you and sent elsewhere. Seriously, I sometimes intentionally lose O-Zone faceoffs because I have a better chance of getting the puck from the defense than I do from my player.

    3. Offsides. Nothing like completely blowing past a player with no intention of passing, only to have your computer step offsides for no reason. No reason, the player will just think you're moving faster and ruin your whole rush. Then, if you happen to figure out the passing long enough to create some offensive zone pressure, your passes back to the point will surely be offside. The player has no knowledge of where the blue line is, intended passes that could be received in front of the line are intentionally received behind the line and all your pressure is lost. I wish there were a "hold RB" to hold the line option because some times I field the puck 2 inches before the blue line OR skate the wrong way with the puck is infuriatingly high.

    4. I swear the game picks who wins beforehand. When starting a game, it is clear in the first period that you will either be able to poke check every puck away or their team will be invincible and every poke check will lead to a tripping penalty. They also still haven't figured out how to make the sticks stop going through the boards. GTA 5 had an entire city of AI people going about their days with thousands of interactions; EA can't figure out how to make a stick stop on the boards.

    Skating - Pick a path that a player would never actually take, that's the path they will take in NHL 17. Left handed shot on the right circle? Why not circle on your backhand instead of hitting the one timer or wrister on the forehand. The AI is so flat-footed that they are still while a player blows past. This is, however, the first year I've seen Dylan Larkin be able to outskate Roman Polak, congrats EA. It feels like skating in mud, edgework in none existant in this game.

    The AI. Sometimes you'll look at the screen, and there will be 4 AI players in a bunch at the blue line. I'm just not sure what hockey games they've watched when developing the AI, but it is beyond stupid, it also takes penalties if you're not taking enough yourself.

    There is just so much about hockey that they're missing, so many intricacies that could make the game into a amazing experience. Boards plays, O-zone setups (there's not time to do anything), big transitions after turnovers, that are reduced to nothing. You could spend 30 seconds in their zone firing away just for them to launch one from the blue line that the goalie spasm-blocks upward, hits off his back, and then goes in. Sure, happens in real life, not in every game, though...

    EA, please just sit down with Hockey fans and take notes as they play the game. It is so frustrating that this is the only game created for Xbox One, if there was a competator like 2k maybe we could get defensement that know what offsides is. Unbelievably bad, great cover though!    … Expand
  9. pmr122
    Oct 8, 2016
    1
    I decided to buy this only because EA is the only company that makes hockey games unfortunately. They are able to put out a crap product because there is no competition.

    Now the gameplay is just so bad players don't pick up the puck, make bad passes, miss wide open nets & the AI on defence is like watching someone play hockey for the first time The stick lift doesn't even work so all    I decided to buy this only because EA is the only company that makes hockey games unfortunately. They are able to put out a crap product because there is no competition.

    Now the gameplay is just so bad players don't pick up the puck, make bad passes, miss wide open nets & the AI on defence is like watching someone play hockey for the first time The stick lift doesn't even work so all people do is just spam the poke check.

    In EASHL they went with the player classes yet again even though no one like this new system, I miss where you could build your guy the way that you wanted not the way the games decides. You aren't even able to change your guys height & weight which is ridiculous but knowing EA i'm not surprised. I will say all the customization that you can do in EASHL is nice but once you actually get into the gameplay you will notice how little that matters since the game is unplayable.

    I can't comment on HUT because I refuse to play a pay to win game mode.

    It looks like EA won't make a good hockey game ever again, I loved the older games on the last gen console (PS3 & Xbox 360) but unfortunately those days are gone. This game will be getting sold while I can still get something for it.    … Expand
  10. pfeifferj2
    Oct 12, 2016
    1
    This game is horrendous, save your $60. Absolutely awful passing controls and puck detection. As is to be expected, EA configures major game modes so your are almost forced to pay additional money to make the game playable. You can't actually choose your skater so you are forced to constantly shuffle through the players on the ice. The stick lift is absolutely broken and almost alwaysThis game is horrendous, save your $60. Absolutely awful passing controls and puck detection. As is to be expected, EA configures major game modes so your are almost forced to pay additional money to make the game playable. You can't actually choose your skater so you are forced to constantly shuffle through the players on the ice. The stick lift is absolutely broken and almost always results in a minor penalty. Please do not give EA your hard earned money. They have shown repeatedly that they have little interest in the quality of the game. Instead of improving the major flaws we saw last year, EA decided to make 5,753 new game modes, most of which are completely unnecessary. One of the worst made games I have ever played, I am astonished by how bad this game is.… Expand
  11. bockastyre
    Dec 6, 2016
    2
    I've played EA NHL since the mid 90's. Loved them to death. BHut something has happend since the induction of HUT. It's becommning a money milking machine and gameplay is made to make discontent of your team. Why? Well, since you can use real money to buy even better players having discontent players makes money.

    All joyfull elements are gone. Shady game mechanics that results in    I've played EA NHL since the mid 90's. Loved them to death. BHut something has happend since the induction of HUT. It's becommning a money milking machine and gameplay is made to make discontent of your team. Why? Well, since you can use real money to buy even better players having discontent players makes money.

    All joyfull elements are gone. Shady game mechanics that results in unlogical game scores has taken over. Stay away!    … Expand
  12. Fooberz
    Sep 28, 2016
    2
    New year, same old crap! I am unsure which game all of these 9 and 10 reviews were playing. This is nothing more than the same old tired junk, in a new shiny package.

    STILL the absolute worst teammate AI in history. -- Seethe in frustration as your own teammates stand in your way, break up offensive chances, and refuse to react to the opposing squad. -- Watch helplessly as your    New year, same old crap! I am unsure which game all of these 9 and 10 reviews were playing. This is nothing more than the same old tired junk, in a new shiny package.

    STILL the absolute worst teammate AI in history.
    -- Seethe in frustration as your own teammates stand in your way, break up offensive chances, and refuse to react to the opposing squad.
    -- Watch helplessly as your all-world goalie gives up 3 goals on 10 shots, all of them weak, soft shots, while it takes you 65 shots to score 4 times against the computer.
    -- Throw your controller as your forwards repeatedly stop moving up the ice, causing you to run into them or turn the puck over. All. The. Time.
    -- Be amazed as your AI-controlled opposing team plays near flawless hockey, never miss a pass, is seemingly immune to your poke checks and body checks, and scores goals at will.....while your AI-controlled teammates play a confused, tepid, weak game, allowing cheap goals and not doing anything to stop your opponents. Yep, seems totally fair to me!
    -- Watch in wonder as your shutout victory is broken up with 30 seconds remaining by a single AI-controlled player who waltzes through 3 of your defenders and puts the puck into the net as your goalie stands stock-still.

    All in all, this is still the absolute worst excuse for a single-player sports experience I have ever seen. These AI issues have plagued the NHL series since the beginning. Sorry EA, I don't play online, but that doesn't mean I deserve this garbage. Another $60 wasted, I suppose. The graphics are good, but the gameplay is still horrendously unfair and has nothing to do with skill.    … Expand
  13. DarrkHawk
    Sep 29, 2016
    1
    There is literally nothing positive that can be said about this new installation. The puck detection is awful making a simple task such as passing a nightmare and near impossible most of the time, hit collision is worse than it was in 15, gameplay feels extremely sluggish and referee calls are extremely premature and mostly confusing (icing, offsides, penalties etc). Body checks might asThere is literally nothing positive that can be said about this new installation. The puck detection is awful making a simple task such as passing a nightmare and near impossible most of the time, hit collision is worse than it was in 15, gameplay feels extremely sluggish and referee calls are extremely premature and mostly confusing (icing, offsides, penalties etc). Body checks might as well not even exist as the player being hit can get back up and retrieve the puck before the attacking player can even work his way around the floored player, and that's in the 1 out of 10 times that the body check actually connects.

    Goaltenders seems to work on the two major ends of the scale with no in between. Either they are literally brick walls that allows nothing past them or they will stand there and let a 1mph shot go between their legs. It's ridiculous.

    Going back on my opening statement, the addition of draft champions and adding a single player, offline variation is a nice touch.

    You would have thought that after so many installations of the NHL series, EA would be able to put out a half decent game. I think it's about time to either abandon the NHL franchise or revert back to a time when the game was actually good (NHL 11 being the last installation I can think of).

    Really it comes down to a simple saying. Another year, same old s**t.    … Expand
  14. KhalilMack52
    Aug 14, 2017
    0
    This game is truly awful. The AI does not know how to play hockey and it is extremely frustrating to play. Be a Pro is boring as hell and it is not worth getting excited over. The same could be said about Franchise mode. This game leaves much to the imagination. The only game mode worth playing is EASHL.
  15. Kamikaze211
    Sep 15, 2016
    2
    This game is awesome .... garbage. I don't understand why they are not concentrating on real issues in this game, instead of this adding useless mode's like building your own custom area which nobody cares about. There are many glitches even from NHL 12 to be honest, like goal to the left top corner from blue line, cross crease goals and more. Puck is now behave even more like tennis ball,This game is awesome .... garbage. I don't understand why they are not concentrating on real issues in this game, instead of this adding useless mode's like building your own custom area which nobody cares about. There are many glitches even from NHL 12 to be honest, like goal to the left top corner from blue line, cross crease goals and more. Puck is now behave even more like tennis ball, worse than in 16. Soundtrack has about 3 songs which are good, other's are terrible. They are asking 60$ for now rosters and soundtrack, really? Too bad fifa gets frostbite, nhl not. It desperatively need it, otherwise it's just NHL 16 as should be, for 60$, terrible. I'm really missing 2K at this point who can take leadership as they did with basketball.… Expand
  16. HotLawyer
    Sep 30, 2016
    0
    This game is trash, they probably paid the developers 10% of the amount they paid the Madden developers, if that.

    No auto lineup optimizer, like in Madden. No adding items to sets from item binder, like in Madden. Terrible, repetitive menu system, unlike Madden. But I hate football, so I'm forced to play this instead and suffer. This game is literally doo doo, and they don't even    This game is trash, they probably paid the developers 10% of the amount they paid the Madden developers, if that.

    No auto lineup optimizer, like in Madden.
    No adding items to sets from item binder, like in Madden.
    Terrible, repetitive menu system, unlike Madden.

    But I hate football, so I'm forced to play this instead and suffer. This game is literally doo doo, and they don't even try to hide the lack of developer funding. The gaming industry is clearly dying, and I'm a sad panda.    … Expand
  17. wolfram16
    Apr 17, 2017
    1
    This game is infuriating. I'm Canadian, I've played hockey games since I was a kid. I've probably played every ea nhl game since 98. 2017 though is terrible. You can't pass, when you hit people they get back up and take the puck before you do, you loose the puck all the time. I hate this game. The AI score garbage goals all the time. You get penalties for everything! It's sad, but I wentThis game is infuriating. I'm Canadian, I've played hockey games since I was a kid. I've probably played every ea nhl game since 98. 2017 though is terrible. You can't pass, when you hit people they get back up and take the puck before you do, you loose the puck all the time. I hate this game. The AI score garbage goals all the time. You get penalties for everything! It's sad, but I went back and played some of my nhl games on gamecube and had more fun. How is that possible!?!? EA sucks.… Expand
  18. DirtDog13
    May 2, 2018
    0
    EA might as well scrap this series based on the amount of effort they put into it, which is zero.

    Persistent problems from 10 years ago are still present. The AI is still utterly atrocious at everything, the player models look fine from afar but any sort of close up shows how outdated the models are. Passing and skating are still broken and frustrating. The commentary is outdated,    EA might as well scrap this series based on the amount of effort they put into it, which is zero.

    Persistent problems from 10 years ago are still present. The AI is still utterly atrocious at everything, the player models look fine from afar but any sort of close up shows how outdated the models are. Passing and skating are still broken and frustrating. The commentary is outdated, stale, and not very good in general.

    EA has done nothing to innovate this series since 2012 when Sean Ramjagsingh took over. They have constantly removed features and modes, only to bring them back as "new."

    It is evident the only mode EA cares about is HUT. Every other mode lags dangerously behind in innovation, modernization, and features. Franchise mode is dull. The addition of budgets a year or two back is only there to slow players down, rather than create a meaningful feature. The player morale feature is improved, but still inefficient.

    Star players don't feel like star players. Everyone plays and feels the same. They also look the same 70% of the time. While stars have their actual faces, it seems EA gave everyone else one of four different generic ones.

    For a game that so often points out when the players have done something wrong and tries to show players how to be better, EA doesn't take its own advice. The skating and puck mechanics are some of the worst I've ever seen in gaming. Players routinely get "stuck in the mud" while skating, blown past on defense as they attempt a 3-point turn to engage the puck carrier, or randomly lose the puck because reasons.

    Goaltending is still a coin flip. On higher difficulties, the CPU goalie will stop everything in a three-block radius. On lower difficulties, however, the CPU goalie is useless. Shots with no business going in routinely find their way home.

    The higher difficulties swing the advantage to the CPU in artificial difficulty. They play more aggressively while your players sulk, miss shots, and your goalie becomes swiss cheese.

    Players still bounce off one another while checking at times. As in, the players don't even recognize the check but just skate into one another. It's problems like this that show how little EA cares.

    There isn't a sports series out there that is trying as hard to disappoint their player base as EA is with its NHL series.

    It's time for a change in leadership. EA needs to step back and seriously revisit its commitment to the series. NHL 17 is wholly unacceptable as a modern AAA sports title.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

72
#72 Best Xbox One Game of 2016
36
#36 Most Discussed Xbox One Game of 2016
44
#44 Most Shared Xbox One Game of 2016

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 23 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 23
  3. Negative: 0 out of 23
  1. Pelit (Finland)
    Nov 9, 2016
    82
    Small step for man, giant leap for hockey games. NHL 17 is only incrementally better than last year, but it is moving in the right direction. [Oct 2016]
  2. New York Daily News
    Oct 19, 2016
    60
    EA Sports does just enough to add value to this game and make it a step above its predecessor.
    Read full review
  3. DarkStation
    Oct 7, 2016
    80
    In the end NHL 17 is a really great game of hockey. It’s got a full suite of features and modes that are complimented with excellent on-ice action. I found myself more engrossed in NHL 17 then I’ve been with a hockey game in quite some time. It’s a well-rounded and extremely polished game of hockey that fans of the franchise will be mighty happy with.
    Read full review
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