NHL 14 News and Notes (Cover Vote, Gameplay Details, etc.) - Wiggy's Blog

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NHL 14 News and Notes (Cover Vote, Gameplay Details, etc.) Stuck

Posted on June 28, 2013 at 06:37 PM.

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That's a lot of people (two million, apparently).

Chicago gets to party with the cup once again, and you can't really deny that they deserve it. I've always felt that the recent era of the Chicago Blackhawks are the ultimate buzzsaw, as once they get going, they just cut through people. Having such an explosive offense as they do, it's hard to really vote against them in a playoff series. Their goaltending is good enough, which is the correct philosophy for today's NHL. You don't need to overpay; you just need to have somebody back there who is capable of greatness at times, but who just generally holds it together. Their third-line role players have always been carefully chosen, and they support the massive capability of their top players perfectly.

With that, another NHL season is done. But the virtual hockey season continues, and here are some news and notes for NHL 14.

NHL 14 Cover Vote

Not shockingly, Martin Brodeur was revealed to be cover athlete for NHL 14. We all knew it had to be a goalie, but once it was down to these two, it seemed pretty obvious that the more universally popular Brodeur would win the day. It's hard not to be a bit suspicious of the vote, seeing as Brodeur won't be around much longer, but hey, it's different to have a goalie on the cover, so that's cool.

EA revealed the Brodeur cover on SportsCentre (in Canada), and they did so with some new footage from the game.

New Details

In case you missed this excellent article from Gameinformer, check out this exhaustive breakdown of 50 elements of NHL 14 that have been revised, updated, tweaked, etc. There is some great information in here, and also some welcome changes to the game.

Some of the gameplay tweaks were outlined in my time with the game at E3, but it's nice to see gameplay features, like the revised poke check, addressed in this piece. It's going to be nice to have big players actually play that way, and this means that smaller players will have to rely on speed and poke-checking to take on tougher checkers.

It's also good to hear about improved puck support in the neutral zone, and it will be great to have defensive players (especially AI) react accordingly with the revised skating. I think the fears over hitting and deking will be put to rest once people actually get their hands on the game, and the new fighting is a blast, both in its presentation and gameplay.

This article talks about a host of improvements to the logic and options within the Be-A-GM mode, and it's also awesome to see confirmation of improvements to the menus, interface and structure of the GM Connected mode.

Be sure to read all about the rest of the changes.

Mandatory EASHL Camera?

There's an interesting thread on the EA Sports NHL forums that talks about making the Be-A-Pro camera mandatory for all players. It's a unique idea, to be sure, but would it really be feasible? It would certainly increase the immersion of the mode, and everyone would have to consider their passes and transitions more than with a zoomed out view. That said, it would also remove choice for no real reason, and certain players would be turned off by the move.

What do you think, OS? Good idea? Bad idea? Worth discussion?

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Comments

# 1 Qb @ Jul 1

Thanks for keeping us in the know on NHL14, Wiggy. I used to use the BAP camera -- and my teammates all yelled at me for it -- but gave it up once customized views were available. I can't see the NHL team removing user preference in such a way... the backlash would be immense.

# 2 milesizdead @ Jul 2

BaP camera works ok for wingers who have less defensive responsibilities. It's pretty good for sniping and finding that passing lane through the skates and sticks of Dmen. Otherwise it's a mess. You need to be able to turn your virtual head for it to work. No thank you.