The NHL 15 demo arrived today for PS4 users, and yesterday for Xbox One users. With so much controversey surrounding this year's NHL's release, thanks in part to several key missing modes in the new-gen debut, the game will have to rely upon its presentation and gameplay to deliver an experience worth gamer's hard earned $60.

So with that, here are some extended thoughts from our staff on whether the game is shaping up to do just that.

Glenn Wigmore: Since the developers are making a big bet on the gameplay and presentation of NHL 15 compensating for the removal of key modes (and the stagnation of existing ones), I was very interested to see where the final feel of the game would land. I enjoyed my time with the game at E3 a great deal, but it was very rough around the edges.

What's here in the demo is a game that's much more polished than that E3 build, and it has some tremendous variety in the way little things can happen on the ice. I'm loving the pace of the action, as everything has just been slowed down a tad to allow for a slightly more methodical feel. On the harder settings and sliders, the AI does actually step up at the blue line once in a while (not enough, though) and intercept a good deal of passes in front of the net, which is great to see. I found that they would get really motivated on the penalty kill or if I put myself out of position in my own zone, taking risks like hits along the boards or poke checks. Nice to see my own passes missing or being bobbled by teammates, too, which adds realism.

I'm enjoying the feel of the shooting, as the release and speed of the shots is a lot quicker, which contrasts nicely with pass speed and new puck physics in other situations. The deking also feels changed, as there is much more weight and momentum and a bit of extra animation on the right-stick moves. This might throw off some, but I felt it made me slow down and focus on what I was doing rather than spam the stick at warp speed for silly dekes towards the net (that the player never seemed to lose in the past, unless they were a 4th liner). Shots from the slot and rebounds seem to be the goals du jour, but one-timers were still doable, albeit with with a lot less frequency.

I think the game looks tremendous, and there are many small details that you only notice after playing multiple games. I love the cuts to the crowd and the emotion that brings, and the player reactions are a lot better, too. I've even somewhat come around on the commentary, which benefits a great deal from Ray Ferraro chipping in some thoughts here and there. It just creates more of a broadcast feel to the whole package. There are still some audio stitching issues, and they do fall behind, but it works for what it is.

Is the buffed visual/audio presentation and the revamped gameplay enough to compensate for the missing and stagnant modes? I don't know. I think a mode or two missing would've been understandable, to a degree, but removing any semblance of career mode and completely gutting the online package is a serious blow. I honestly feel kind of melancholy playing the game, as it's just begging for more ways to be played, and I know the final game won't have them.

Phil Varckette: After playing a few games the biggest thing that jumps out at me is by far the presentation. I didn't think I would like the live-action video of the announcers, but I feel like its fits with NHL. And speaking of the announcers, the commentary is very well done this year. I feel like they are on point with the action, and just give me enough fluff to make me feel like I'm watching a game. I don't feel like I want to mute the commentary. That's something that doesn't happen that often for me with today's sports games.

I absolutely love the NBC-style presentation. It gives the game such an authentic look and feel. As far as gameplay goes, I feel that its not a huge departure from NHL 14, but that isn't a bad thing as I felt last years version was sold in that department.

With that said, and when you add the fantastic graphics to the mix, it looks like EA has a winner with NHL 15. That's of course if you can get past the missing features we found out about last week.

Caley Roark: As a casual hockey fan, but a huge fan of hockey games, I was pleasantly surprised by the NHL 15 demo.

The player models look great in action, and handle very fluidly. You can feel weight, without everything feeling stiff. That also translates to much more realistic hits. Not everything is an NHL Hitz style collision with players crunching in a heap. Instead, I saw a great variety of engagements, from puck handlers shrugging off hits to legs getting tangled, causing both players to roll onto the ice.

But to echo Phil, the broadcast package is the big winner here. The live action video commentators are a huge contrast to the CGI guys in Madden, and, generally, I think they work. Add in the NBC licensed wipes and score bug, realistic lighting, and broadcast style camera angles (even in fights), and you have a truly authentic looking game.

Jayson Young: The NHL 15 demo is a perfect illustration of why Online Team Play was the most crucial aspect to this franchise's fun factor, and why its absence at launch is going to make NHL 15 an afterthought this September.

While the series' much-improved skating, stick-handling and puck physics are the most realistic I've played in a hockey videogame, those improvements ultimately don't matter when the AI remains so flawed in so many different areas of the game.

While bringing the puck through the neutral zone, the CPU offense still prefers to skate around aimlessly and pass the puck east to west instead of keeping their attack moving north and south. When the CPU finally gathers up enough courage to cross the blue line, they usually do so with their head down, creating easy opportunities to steal the puck from them or slam their bodies into the boards. On the rare occasions where the CPU is able to set up in the offensive zone, they suddenly morph into a ping-pong passing machine, delivering tape-to-tape missiles and firing laser-guided wrist shots.

On defense, the AI now likes to step up and try to halt your rushes with charging body checks, but this new tendency only makes it easier to dangle or skate by CPU defenders, causing way too many breakaways and odd-man chances. Like in past EA NHL titles, you can still use any player on the ice -- even bruising heavyweights like Robyn Regehr and Dwight King -- to skate circles around the entire CPU defense, any time you want.

Your AI teammates aren't any smarter, as they struggle to find the open spaces on the ice, and they are often content to stand completely still, even while being blanketed by a defender.

Though this demo features the two highest-rated goaltenders in NHL 15 (Henrik Lundqvist and Jonathan Quick), most of the goals I've seen these elite netminders allow are the same weak-angle, short-side, top-shelf wrist shots that have dominated the scoring in recent EA NHL games. In less than 24 hours since this demo's release, I've already seen not one, but two cheap moves that will score almost every time.

What disappoints me most is how every single flaw mentioned above disappears the instant that 12 human players take the ice. Unfortunately, hockey fans won't be able to experience that magic until Online Team Play is patched into NHL 15.