NHL 27 was released exactly one week ago. I bought it almost instantly as I noticed it was offered for 50 euros. The discount for such a new game was a good one and I ended up buying this game. The normal price would have been something like 73 euros. I got it for Xbox Series X. I did have to wait some days for the delivery. I got to play my NHL 27 just maybe three days ago.
How is this newest NHL and ice hockey game? I have spent already a bit over five hours playing this game. The graphics look really nice. The gameplay feels somewhat comfortable. I did set the game controller settings so that I have a slap shot mapped to B button and wrist shot mapped to X button. This is for me a more comfortable way to play. You also have the option to shoot with analog stick. I really don’t like playing with this controller setting but the setting is there for the player to choose.
Defending in this game takes some time to adjust to. You have to be careful not to take a penalty. I found it to be a good strategy to try to not slash with your stick in any way and rather just try to see where the opponent is trying to pass the puck and where are its players trying to move and in this way try to defend and maybe try to intercept a pass and get the puck to your own team.
Attacking takes some adjusting also. You have to remember that the latest NHL game I have played was NHL 21. I remember also the huge disappointment that I had with NHL 20. In NHL 27 you can try to pass the puck to your teammates while also trying to get a good chance to shoot and trying to make a goal. Sometimes you pass badly and you loose the puck. Your players get at some point also tired and you need to make sure to give your players a chance to substitute with a teammate.
After five hours of playing NHL 27 I feel like it is a decent hockey game. It isn’t a great game. It is a decent one. I don’t know how much I am going to play it in the future. I did like that I could choose Carolina Hurricanes as it has some Finnish players. It has Sebastian Aho and Jesperi Kotkaniemi. Ice hockey is very popular here in Finland and almost everyone is talking about ice hockey when the world championships are going on. This happens every year. We also have the national hockey league that some of the people I am in contact with are enjoying to watch from television or being actually at the stadium.
I got this game for this discount. I think it is a good game to buy. I can recommend it if you are really into ice hockey. There are many game forms and NHL 27 might be a fun game to play with a friend on the same screen or maybe even through an internet connection. I am not so much of a multiplayer person. I am usually only playing the single player campaigns be it a shooting game or a sports game that is in question.
NHL 27 does feature the latest players and teams. I don’t think it brings many changes to how then last NHL game was. I think this was NHL 26. I would like to see something that would make this game an addictive to play. It is now a game that is a bit frustrating to play. Maybe I haven’t found some of the ways that the game offers a challenge for a video game player. I just hope it isn’t such of a disappointment for me as NHL 20 was. I played NHL 20 for tens of hours only to find out that it was a plain disappointment as a sports game.