NHL 14 Demo Impressions - Wiggy's Blog

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NHL 14 Demo Impressions Stuck

Posted on August 22, 2013 at 12:01 AM.

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The demo for NHL 14 has been released, and now everyone is getting a chance to say what they think about the new hitting and fighting as well as the changes to skating, deking and defense. The demo more or less reinforces what I felt about the game from my E3 impressions, as I like the changes to gameplay, generally speaking, but I'm still not too enthused about the aged presentation and weak new modes (Live the Life, NHL 94 Anniversary).

The most apparent aspect of the demo, in my view, is the change in game speed on the default settings. There is a decidedly quicker pace to the overall action, with skaters pivoting, transitioning and accelerating much faster than before. The shots also appear to have more velocity, especially on the slappers. The "stick whip" that one of the developer blog videos talked about is also quite obvious, and the whole release on a shot feels much better.

This increase in pace also translates into more deflections, ricochets and caroms as the puck moves around the ice. The amount of deflection goals is increased because of this, and shots will redirect off goalies into the corners a bit more often than before. I'm fairly comfortable with the new pace, but users interested in a more simulation experience would probably get more out of the "hardcore simulation" setting that is in the menus. If you pair that feature with all-star or superstar difficulty, the pace is much more measured, with a decrease in speed, shot accuracy and hit frequency.

Speaking of the new hitting, it's still a lot fun, as it was back at E3. Nothing quite reaches the comical depths of the "big hit" button of NHL games of the past, but some of the collisions are pretty substantial. It certainly makes for a more satisfying hit game, as you can now better direct your momentum into an opponent, and the player will correctly follow through on the hit.

I can certainly appreciate the criticism of some users that this hitting system takes away from the realism, but when I really thought about it, the EA NHL series has always been about 75 percent simulation and 25 percent arcade. The reality is that videogame hockey plays a lot different than real hockey. It's an almost-impossible task to expect a developer to be able to simulate real game flow for hitting and such when it's so easy for a user to initiate a hit in a hockey videogame. Real defensemen use gap control, stick checking and pressure to dispossess opponents; hits aren't the go-to like they are in videogame hockey. The very nature of virtual hockey encourages hitting, so it's hard to really balance this aspect in an all-encompassing way. I think this new hitting system, while a bit silly, embraces the realities of videogame hockey and adds some impact to the action.

Similar to that idea, I like the new fighting system for the same reason. I have no doubt that the fight frequency has been pumped up for the demo, and EA should work on who fights at what times, but I've honestly only had a few CPU-initiated fights in about 10 "games" of the demo, and I've had a few others that I've initiated myself. I've found that the unrealistic match-ups and clean-hit fights that some users have mentioned only really seem to occur on large wind-up hits and big contact along the boards. Again, this is the nature of videogame hockey. A giant hit would get a giant reaction, and that's probably what EA is trying to go for here. Either way, the instigator penalties need to be enforced, and the fighting frequency should probably be reduced.

As for the fighting itself, I'm still enjoying it a lot. I've had plenty of entertaining scraps, and I love the variety of ways in which some of the fights end (players falling on top, big knockouts, awkward glancing shots, etc). The strategy of pushing and pulling your opponent and dodging the incoming shots is a lot more fun than the silly first-person nonsense and magical block-a-thousand-punches-and-then-counter-punch fights of previous years.

The user-controlled defense is now much better, as the poke check has been toned down and requires some thought before being spammed. You'll have success from the front of a skater, and it definitely seems to work better if you're gliding and not skating at top speed. It's much easier to track as a defender as well, thanks to the new "vision cone," and this makes hitting and staying with the play a lot easier. I found that skaters in general seemed to face the play much better than last year. The puck chop has also been tweaked, as you now queue up the move as you're approaching the puck. Apparently it can actually be used to put the puck in the net for a goal, and I can believe it, as the move seems a lot less spastic and unpredictable than last year (even though I loved the addition, generally speaking).

The defense of the AI isn't so hot, as they'll still be pretty passive in terms of gap control and hits. The only hits they seem to deliver are behind the net and along the half boards, and they still rely on last-minute poke checks and just being in the way in order to stop you. If you're patient, you can still cut through a lot of the neutral zone and blue line to get a shot, so that's definitely a bit disappointing. It still feels like the CPU relies on a mediocre forecheck, great goaltending and unforced errors in order to succeed. That said, the higher difficulties and "hardcore" settings do provide more challenging face-offs and slightly more pressure from the CPU.

The goalies have been improved quite a bit, and it's nice to see them sprawl on certain cross-body shots and kick the puck to the corner on angled shots. I was able to score on some one-timers, which is a welcome change from last year's spiderman stuff, and the animations, particularly on the glove saves, just look much better this year. However, goalies do still throw pucks out the odd time when they shouldn't, and there are some weird rebounds that result in added pressure when it's not warranted.

As I've written before, the NHL 94 Anniversary Mode seemed like a cool idea that is half-baked and that hasn't been properly resourced. Now getting the chance to try the mode in question, I can say that what I was worried about is unfortunately true. The visual and audio presentation only scratches the surface of what could have been done to pay tribute to a memorable game, and the gameplay is basically the main game with simplified button controls and rocket-fast slapshots. I scored tons of goals and whizzed around the ice, but nothing felt truly unique or fun about the experience. There is a certain value in having a high-speed retro mode, but the way it's been imagined here isn't really going to please anyone -- the nostalgia fans or the newcomers.

Hockey Ultimate Team seems generally about the same, but supposedly it will have a few improvements. EA has said: "More HUT details are coming soon, but you can expect a new Auction Assistant, refinements to auction search, an improved contract system and expanded HUT collections, plus much more." The promotion and relegation system of the EASHL will be included for HUT as well, so that should provide more of a sense of progression. As for what's in the demo, it seems to provide the same basic chemistry view and player swapping abilities as before. Generally speaking, the mode seems to just keep chugging along based on the success of the DLC model, so there's no real reason for EA to go too crazy rethinking it, I guess.

From the demo, I'm liking the changes to gameplay quite a bit, even though there are some bothersome AI issues that remain. The new hitting, fighitng and game speed are all for the best, I feel, and the "hardcore simulation" setting allows users to slow things down and reduce some of the aggression if that isn't to their liking. I'm disappointed in the NHL 94 mode (and I'm equally wary of the Live the Life feature), but the on-ice action seems to be leaving this generation on a respectable note.

Comments

# 1 metovics8 @ Aug 22

i agree with what you say and will be gettng the game first simply bcuz brodeur lol and secondly i skipped 13 so to me this game is even better than to those who had 13

# 2 Dazraz @ Aug 22

Solid, accurate write up. NHL 14 will be a good hockey game albeit one in a bad need of a repaint.

# 3 Syce @ Aug 22

well, maybe everything people want the game to be might be a bit more possible when they finally move to the next gen consoles. I think a lot of their problem is that they are limited within the consoles limitations of what they can and cannot do.

# 4 Eski33 @ Aug 22

The hitting looked and felt much better. I also liked the new fighting engine.

I might be in the minority but I loved the 94 mode. It was fun, fast and had a throwback moment when playing.

# 5 Semipro91 @ Aug 22

Lots of little bugs like guys wearing shields during fights and then getting black eyes? Also guys wearing shields who dont in real life (Andrew Shaw). The goaltending has gotten a little better but I can still score on breakaways 100% of the time using the same forehand short side move as last year. Cutting to the slot from right to left and going blocker side still gives lots of goals. I did notice the ability of skating defensemen has cut down on the number of breakaways I get which is nice. I was at E3 last year and played NHL13. I was alot more excited for that than I am for this. Hopefully there are some tweaks to Be a GM connected.

# 6 tabulaRasa @ Aug 22

NHL 13 might be the worst pos hockey game ever made if you know hockey. Not only did the ruin the amazing NHL 12 pillars of positioning organic scoring and role player importance. NHL 13 have us crap ai defense, pokespamming and insane breakaways and absolute bs goalies. The were aces on lateral moves the help losers that cant play hockey to not have to play D. Goalies robbed u and let in bs shortside moneygoals. This bs team NHL 13 team also made the moneygoal bs NHL 11. Now NHL 14 is out and it seems the bs goalies are back and no importance of zonetime, pivoting skating and chking is better. But it seems NHL 13 team is back with their bs like tilted ice , Hut handicapbs and idiotic goalies . Make a friggin organic game

# 7 tabulaRasa @ Aug 22

A great way to design a hockeygame is this.
Passning and possesion is key. Positioning is D. If your D screws up you should score more and not have bs goalies make save of the year all the time. EA are backwards. NHL 12 awarded plays cycling passing and positioning. Morons whined because u got schooled if they couldnt get hockey 101. Nhl13 was a pos game. Goalies are still bs in NHL 14

# 8 FBeaule04 @ Aug 24

I would like to say I've seen positive in this demo, but I can't. I'm sorry, but this is NHL 13.B. Same old cutscene, same old presentation, same old AI not playing the way it should be, same old no hugging after a goal, same old new goodies like a new fighting engine while an AI D keep getting back, and back, and back into goalies face.

Not to speak about the horrible graphics I've seen in this game, making me think we're back into Genesis days. I mean, it's one thing to implement a net cam, but what's the worth of having images that looks like we're in 1992?

I'm sorry, but my money will go somewhere else than on NHL this year. If the game is like the Demo, it won't make it for me.