EA Sports NHL 15

[philou21]

LOL ok I see.

[OmegaTheory]

The demo is up and after playing one game I think it's a promising upgrade. I hope they add in the missing features as the season goes on and one of the demo screens hints that they will add more game modes. I wasn't impressed with the play-by-play, but at least it is different than previous years. It's very sparse, but maybe this is a good thing since it does get repetitive after playing hundreds of games. The graphics look great, the dynamic camera is fun, and the physics are superb. I need to get some more play time to judge further.

[archibalduk]

Ignoring the graphics, does it feel much different to NHL 13 or 14?

[OmegaTheory]

Ignoring the graphics, does it feel much different to NHL 13 or 14?

I've played 8 games now and I can say it does feel different and better than NHL 13 and 14. It reminds me of when NHL2k was better than NHL with respect to puck handling and puck play.

The puck physics are amazing and the physical contact with player-on-player is much better although not as good as the puck physics improvement. The puck is a bit smaller and it moves faster like in real life. I think EA scaled the players and rinks so that it feels much better plus the acceleration is more realistic. Many aspects are almost identical to NHL 13/14, but the stand out differences for me are these:

1. Crease play is great. AI reacts fast, but more realistic and not as perfect as before. Plus I always found the opponent AI to be much smarter/effective than my own team, but this has equalized in a good way.

2. Goalie rebounds are more often and more realistic. This might be in part due to the shot accuracy. Previously NHL shooting has been almost perfect to where you aim the stick, but I've noticed a nice amount of randomness for shots, particularly slap shots. Slap shots often rise up a bit and are more inaccurate than wrist shots, which is great IMO.

3. Defensive AI actions for both teams feels better. Previously I always felt most of the AI decisions and actions were canned or felt predetermined. In NHL 15 it feels more organic and in part this is due to the puck physics as it bounces around on everything. I think the AI is much smarter at anticipating where the puck is going and there is not much time when no one controls the puck because the AI or myself will get on it.

4. The skating is improved and while it can look very similar it does feel better with more realistic scale and acceleration.

Overall, I'm really enjoying the game. Since it's only NYR vs LAK with 2 minute periods and unable to change game settings it's hard to really test it, but I'm really liking the new scale, speed, and physics. The AI is mostly the same, but it seems more realistic and responsive for both my team and the opponent.

[philou21]

Nice little review of the demo. Going to try it when it comes out probably, at least rent it.

[Jeep91]

BREAKING NEWS!
EASHL and OTTP Lobby online play is being removed from the game on launch!

[archibalduk]

There's a nice review here: http://www.operationsports.com/features ... oundtable/

[archibalduk]

There's a very interesting list of things missing from NHL 15 (as compared with NHL 14) here: http://www.operationsports.com/news/760 ... ed-xb1ps4/

The list is pretty big and there's some elementary things, such as season mode and being able to edit players, that are missing from the game. I guess the time it took to work on the graphics and physics has come at the expense of some of the key parts of the game. Almost all of the list has been compiled following the EA Access early preview on the XBox - very few of the omissions had been mentioned by the devs during the build up to release. Another good reason why it's best not to pre-order annual franchise games any more...

[philou21]

Wow. No three stars. I mean, there's nothing hard in putting that into the game!

Be A PRo MAJOR LETDOWNS for me. No simming shift anymore (What the Dickens?) Can't start in the AHL or the minors (double What the Dickens)

I was about to mention that because I was about to buy my PS4, I might buy NHL just for the sake of it but now.....Be A Pro is ruined IMO and it's the mod I'm always playing in NHL. I'm gonna take a guess and say that the goddamn multi-platforms thing is probably why there is so missing features on the new gen consoles. The old gen is probably holding them back since they can't fit everything in the older ones. My guess, NHL 16 will have all this back in-game IF they don't do a cross gen again.

Well, time to buy back NHL 14 on the PS3. Was looking so bad playing for the Avs in Be a Pro with the current roster.

[archibalduk]

I can't see why the old gen will be holding them back. I think it's more a case that they've spent all of their time on graphics and physics that there has been no time to work on anything else.

Incidentally, according to Operation Sports, NHL 15 on the old gen is identical to NHL 14 (right down to the menus, UI graphics/assets, etc) with the exception of three things:

After playing several hundred games of NHL 14, only three gameplay differences stand out so far in NHL 15:

1) The puck no longer bounces like a basketball whenever it's dumped into the corner. In all situations, the puck tends to behave more believably.

2) Player collisions are slightly more realistic, though they still look silly at times.

3) Goaltender interference penalties are called more accurately.

[philou21]

Well my guess was that maybe a whole new system of physics for the puck, players could take alot of place/or power on the disc/console for the old gen, maybe even game graphics, the new crowd etc... and knowing EA....they don't want to spend more making the new gen version better. (It already is but let's be honest, not THAT much)

[archibalduk]

Yeah, I'm sure that's the reason for the old gen being the way it is. But $60 for what is virtually just a roster update is rip-off.

[philou21]

Yup. I'll wait for 16 instead and see if they will make it new gen only and brings back more features but seeing what they did with The Sims 4 and now NHL 15 I'm not really sure about that.

[dave1927p]

The fans in the game take selfies. EA can't figure out why this isn't selling itself!

[OmegaTheory]

At least there is good evidence they are adding in some missing features within the first two months. Truly disheartening to see them leave out important aspects of the game and I hope they won't be charging any microtransactions for such "DLC" on the next-gen consoles.

http://nilsenreport.ca/2014/09/07/nhl-1 ... ent-plans/

[philou21]

I'm even more dissapointed now. They even pulled coaches advices in Be A Pro in-game?! I know this will come with a patch but dammit...just like the three stars. Was it that hard to add that to the game in time for release? That's pathetic.

[philou21]

Gamespot gave NHL 15 a score of 5/10.

Just about everything that has been left in the game has been diminished in one way or another.

THE GOOD
Marginally upgraded AI and physics
New crowd visuals and player expressions look fantastic
Dynamic crowd reactions to in-game action and brilliant broadcast commentary

THE BAD
Missing a tremendous number of core features and options
New AI and physics still hampered by unrealistic plays, mainly on offense
Be a Pro so cut back and hampered that it’s all but unplayable

Like I thought, Be a Pro seems to be a mess now. I hope the game gets multiple bad reviews so they could 1. Make some patch to improve it or 2. Do a better game next year.

[OmegaTheory]

I have the Xbox One version and it is truly a mess. I enjoy playing it will be friends in local co-op, but other than that it's not very good for me. I will probably try HUT, but I don't like the new UI for it. Most of the new UI I do like though. I have seen a few bugs like the UI completely disappearing so you have to restart the game. In Be A Pro I had a fighting major (only 5 PIMs so it shouldn't have been a misconduct) and I never got another shift again. Probably the coach benched me, but I wouldn't know because there's NO coach advice. This was early in the first period so I had to sit there and wait, and wait... and wait. If I were to quit the game it doesn't say it will sim to the end like in previous versions so I let it go.

They will be patching it quickly, but I don't know if they will be able to add sim-to-next-shift for Be A Pro. The silver lining is that with them starting from scratch I hope to see improvements in the old features they add in the future.

[Primis]

Taken from my Twitter feed:

"The new #NHL15 is so authentic Olczyk just accused Jimmy Howard of embellishment on the very first call against Chicago."

EA botching a beloved game franchise you say? NEVER!

There's a reason I've hung on to my copy of NHL 11, and STILL play it and just update the rosters myself (as in I'm in the midst of a BAP season currently on it).

[CJ]

There's a reason I've hung on to my copy of NHL 11, and STILL play it and just update the rosters myself (as in I'm in the midst of a BAP season currently on it).

That's what I did with NHL 2000 on playstation for many years.

[philou21]

EA botching a beloved game franchise you say? NEVER!

They surpassed themselves now. TWO franchises in 1 week.

[OmegaTheory]

I was having some fun with HUT last night although the UI for setting lines is clunky and slow. You have to wait for unnecessary animations like two cards swapping places. Ugh. You can accumulate coins for buying pucks faster than previous versions which I think is good. The marketplace is hopping with activity. The big problem I had is my online games would always timeout after the first period and say I lost connection to my opponent. I suspect people only play 1 period and then quit because it will sometimes give you a win, but always seems to give you points working toward a move up in your division. That's something I always hated about HUT and EASHL; people abusing game loopholes for optimal gain. Maybe EA will fix this... sometime.

[Primis]

I was having some fun with HUT last night although the UI for setting lines is clunky and slow. You have to wait for unnecessary animations like two cards swapping places. Ugh. You can accumulate coins for buying pucks faster than previous versions which I think is good. The marketplace is hopping with activity. The big problem I had is my online games would always timeout after the first period and say I lost connection to my opponent. I suspect people only play 1 period and then quit because it will sometimes give you a win, but always seems to give you points working toward a move up in your division. That's something I always hated about HUT and EASHL; people abusing game loopholes for optimal gain. Maybe EA will fix this... sometime.

Never, ever play online. When I played HUT I only did the "offline" games. Playing online is always asking for trouble.

[CJ]

I was at a friends place today. He has NHL 15. I looked at the teams rosters just for fun.

As I am a Finn, I looked at the Maple Leafs and find Petri Kontiola there with a maybe 68 overall?! Worst player there is in the team... okay... it said "bottom 6 AHL player"... Well I guess they don't know him YET!

So I go and look at the Finnish SM-League rosters and I find out there are a lot of 70+ players there in the league. This means Kontiola (which is one of the best if not the best Finnish player outside US) is far worse than many other Finnish regular players.

[Primis]

I was at a friends place today. He has NHL 15. I looked at the teams rosters just for fun.

As I am a Finn, I looked at the Maple Leafs and find Petri Kontiola there with a maybe 68 overall?! Worst player there is in the team... okay... it said "bottom 6 AHL player"... Well I guess they don't know him YET!

So I go and look at the Finnish SM-League rosters and I find out there are a lot of 70+ players there in the league. This means Kontiola (which is one of the best if not the best Finnish player outside US) is far worse than many other Finnish regular players.

EA never, ever rates players in NA relative to Europe or vice-versa. For years they "overrated" SEL players so that you could go poach guys from SEL teams via Transactions to great;y improve your roster. I think they adressed it since about NHL 10 or 11 or so, so it's not as bad. For a better description: it used to be you could create a new NHL team, draft only guys outside the NHL and AHL, and have a powerful roster because the Europeans weren't calibrated in comparison ot the North Americans, or vice-versa.

But no, they have never really given players on an NHL roster a rating relative to anyone in Europe. The ratings are done separate from one another.