NHL 14: Thoughts on New Features - Wiggy's Blog

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NHL 14: Thoughts on New Features Stuck

Posted on April 15, 2013 at 05:41 PM.

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EA has announced some of the new features for NHL 14 on their website, and you can also find a new trailer on that page as well. As usual, the development team has focused on five or six items that they want to improve for the new version, and they provided some context for each change.

Quote:


	NHL� Collision Physics � Developed from the same core technology that powers EA SPORTS FIFA�s critically-acclaimed Player Impact Engine, NHL� Collision Physics introduces bigger, more thrilling hits, and truer-to-life collisions. A new left-stick control scheme makes delivering a game-changing hit simpler and more rewarding than ever.

The first feature they mention is improved collision physics and hitting. Taking a page out of the FIFA book, the developers of NHL 14 are looking to make hitting bigger and easier than before. I'm not sure how I feel about this, honestly. On the one hand, making the hits bigger is a lot of fun, and it makes the game more accessible. But by making it really easy pull off, it has the chance to be spammed and abused. When you add in physics and unpredictability, there can be some unintended consequences. Above all, I just hope the size of players is truly taken into account for hits and collisions, more so than before.

Quote:


	Enforcer Engine � There is a code in hockey, when it's broken you have to respond. A first for the NHL franchise, Fight Night technology delivers a new 3rd person experience, physics-based punch targeting and player size differentiation to every fight, creating the most authentic and electrifying experience yet.

Funny, I was just talking about this. Whatever you feel about fighting in hockey games or how it's been executed, it was time for a change. I'm really glad they've gone back to third-person, and you can even see other players on the ice during a fight in the trailer (I always thought that was weird in first-person fighting). They claim that player size and physics will have an impact on the fighting here, which is fine, but I just hope everything looks more authentic during a fight.

Quote:


	One-Touch Dekes � Experience what it feels like to be a superstar through a new, more responsive deking system controlled only with the left stick and one-button. From beginner to advanced gamers, the system allows for quicker reactive dekes and intuitive combination dekes, creating more moves than ever before.

Now, accessibility ins't a bad thing, but we already see lots of dekes in the NHL series. I want to believe this simpler deke system will be throttled and regulated by stamina, player skill and the like, but I worry that it may become something we see spammed in games. As long as there is a risk-reward with how it works, it should work as a good solution for casual players who want to try some fancy stuff during a game.

Quote:


	True Performance Skating � Built on the breakthrough innovation that introduced physics-based skating and over 1,000 new skating animations to the EA SPORTS NHL franchise. The second year of the True Performance Skating features improved acceleration, explosive first-strides, quicker pivots and enhanced lateral skating, resulting in greater player responsiveness and unprecedented control.

I'm glad to see that they're taking the improved skating engine and trying to make it better, as it was definitely the most interesting aspect of last year's game. Overall, I hope the transitions between certain player states (stopping, turning around, recovering from a hit on the boards) is improved, and from what they say in the description, this seems to be the case.

Quote:


	Live the Life � The new incarnation of the Be a Pro Career Mode, now you can truly Live the Life of an NHL player. On or off the ice, every decision you make shapes your legacy as an athlete. Interact with teammates outside of the rink. Take part in media interviews. Each choice you make will affect your relationship with fans, teammates and management, influencing your skills and progression.

This is a really promising feature, and it will all come down to execution. It sounds like the developers took to heart the comments of many users who wanted to see the Be-A-Pro mode turned into something similar to what 2K has been offering for basketball in recent years. It's cool that there will be off-ice activities and interactions, and this is something the mode has needed for a while. I hope this is presented more dynamically than what I've seen from Be-A-Pro modes up until now, and it would be great to see these career choices have tangible impact within the mode.

Quote:


	EA SPORTS NHL Online Seasons � NHL 14 adds the best-in-class promotion and relegation system in the sports category to the Hockey Ultimate Team & EA SPORTS Hockey League modes. Win games and advance to the next division to face tougher competition, fall short and see your team bumped down. Teams will be able to track their progress across multiple seasons.

This last one isn't the most meaningful change, as FIFA has been doing this already, but having promotion and relegation within divisions added to HUT and EASHL is a simple and smart change. For both modes, it allows a micro-level of competition that often gets lost when you're just rattling off games in a nightly session. For EASHL, it also better represents the progress deserved for a win versus an OTL, as well.

Outlook

I'm happy to see that the skating is being further tuned, and I like the possibilities of the new career mode and re-imagined fight engine. I'm not so sure about the simpler dekes and bigger hits, but I'm willing to see how they look in practice before getting too cynical about it.

I'm disappointed that there was no talk of defensive upgrades (adjusting poke-checking and stick-sweeping, for instance), and I would hope that the omission of any talk of AI changes just means they're going to address that stuff without making a big stink about it.

I'm also curious if there will be any next-gen versions of NHL 14. Nothing was said in this regard, and maybe the developers are comfortable waiting until next year before refreshing the visuals and such. It would be nice to get a word on the fate of next-gen systems and NHL 14, either way.

Comments

# 1 artemusclyde9 @ Apr 16

It sounds like they have fixed all of my complaints. I thought trying to deke was broken, so I'm glad they're addressing that. The changes to Be a Pro sound interesting, and if it's anything more like the NBA 2K series then it should be great.

Obviously the fixes to checking and fighting were desperately needed, so hopefully they can follow through with what they're promising. If they tweak a few things in the HUT mode too then I'll be a happy camper. Anyway, looking forward to this!

# 2 Cletus @ Apr 16

Two things I keep thinking about is that in NHL 13 they claimed to have worked on the AI, but forgot to tell it to poke check or how to break out of their zone. Imagine how much tougher it would be on offense if the cpu poked it. Fighting needed to be redone as did hitting, but if they're trying to make people seriously play as an enforcer online, it's not going to work. They also need to make enforcers hit better and make strength more important than speed on a hit. You should do more highlight reel hits with higher speed but more effective ones with strength.