After a delayed and protracted PR schedule, people are finally getting to play NHL 15 on Xbox One and PS4. To say that there has been a lot made of the missing EASHL and other features would be an understatement. Fans have made their feelings known that the absent features and modes are going to impact purchasing decisions, while EA has remained steadfast in their belief that the game will stand on its own merits and make people believers (well, only for so long, as EA plans to patch in certain elements).

After playing the game for some time, three things remain clear in my mind: this is the best-looking version of the game to date, it plays very well, and it’s not worth the full asking price.

Those three things may create a dissonance for some, but the fact is that the game feels like a situation where the priorities were completely skewed towards presentation, with some emphasis on gameplay improvements as well. What this means is that game modes and functionality (read: reasons to play) have been put on the chopping block, creating an experience that’s really hard to reconcile. It’s one thing to create “a foundation” for the future; it’s another to strip out 70 percent of the modes in order to ship a product on time.

This creates a really difficult scenario for someone reviewing the game, as there are possibly other factors at play over at EA HQ. One might reasonably ask: “Why wasn’t the dev team given more time? Why were they asked to do so much with not enough resources (money, people, tech)?” These questions, and others, may never truly have answers, but we’re left with a game that, at first glance, does a lot right in some key areas, but then it just omits any reason to play it (online or offline). On top of this, it’s got some baffling omissions of basic functionality that we’ve come to, reasonably, expect as automatic in a game like this.
 

What it comes down to is that this game seems like something that would only be enjoyed by those who just want a barebones hockey experience, with one-on-one versus play or a simplified season mode. If that’s all you’re after, then maybe NHL 15 is up your alley. The problem is that this is 2014, and users have come to expect a certain amount of functionality for both their offline and online experience, and NHL 15, from what I can see so far, just doesn’t have anything resembling that experience.

Fans of the series would likely have understood if a small handful of features went on hiatus for a year (GM Connected and Live the Life, for instance), but when those things are absent as well as about 20 other modes and features, it just dispels any notion of NHL 15 possessing long-term value.

The sad thing is that my experience with NHL 15 on the ice has been quite good so far. I enjoy the pace of the game this year, and there is a lot more weight to the players and the shots. Turning the settings up to all-star or superstar and moving the gameplay slider to “hardcore” manages to create an experience where the CPU will act aggressively in certain scenarios (still not enough in the neutral zone) and force the odd turnover. They are even able to score on cycle plays in the offensive zone, which makes hit timing and poke-checking a must.

The revamped puck physics seems to have reduced the absurdly high and wonky bounces of the past and replaced them with more moderate puck bobbling and bouncing that’s closer to the ice. This means that passes will actually need to have some measure of control before they are made, and setting up one-timers can be quite difficult if under duress. The new physics have made certain passing situations a bit frustrating, but I’d rather have some possibility for error as compared to auto passes all day.
 

The types of goals being scored are a bit more familiar, with lots of sniped short-side wristers, some one-timers and some deflections. It’s a little disappointing seeing the short-side stuff still go in with such velocity and regularity, but there is still some variety thanks to the new puck physics. There is now a separation with upper and lower body for deking, and this changes the timing slightly when approaching the net and moving side to side. You’ll still be able to rifle shots, but there is a bit more pace on the dekes now, meaning things feel more deliberate.

Goalies animate somewhat better this year, but that doesn’t mean they don’t still have some odd behaviours. The puck-covering reach still happens, resulting in the odd goal, and they also still wander from the net to go after pucks they shouldn’t. Then again, hybrid icing being present this year helps with some of that, and the 12-man collision physics creates for some hilarious pile-ups in front of the net.

Defense, generally speaking, seems relatively similar to before, with strafing and hitting feeling slightly more heavy and deliberate. The poke-check has a deeper lunge now, and it seems tuned about right. It is frustrating that you can no longer seem to bump the puck away from offensive players, as jostling into them rarely seems to clash with the puck, creating scenarios where players are able to sort of roll off you and still have the puck.
 

From what I’ve seen of the presentation, it certainly looks like a good deal of effort went into that, creating a dramatically better game day experience (video of arena flyovers, voiceovers, graphics). The NBC branding and commentary team give that piece of the game a good shot in the arm, but the commentary does seem like a first-year effort, thanks to some docile line reads and less-than-ideal audio stitching. Mike Emrick actually falls behind the play quite a bit, which can be bothersome. I do like the three-man team, though, as Ray Ferraro adds some solid insights from down at ice level. The arenas themselves look tremendous, as does the revamped crowd tech. There is fantastic detail in each of the arenas, as the stairways, banners, jumbotrons, boards, ice and sightlines all feel unique from one another. This detail is amplified by the new crowd, which gets copious screen time on goals and period breaks, showing unique character models who add a great deal of frenzy to the game. Kudos on that crowd. Of course, the player models also look dramatically better, often presenting a strikingly similar facsimile to their real-life counterpart.

But then we’re left with reality of the situation: there just isn’t much to do in NHL 15. Be-A-Pro has basically been untouched — you know, except for the fact that you can’t sim shifts anymore, making the mode effectively useless. There is no Live the Life or meaningful career equivalent, and Be-A-GM is basically season mode with trades (no drafting). Add on to this the slew of smaller modes and features that are missing, such as Shootout, Winter Classic, Battle for the Cup, custom music or player creation, and things just start to seem really off.

Everything feels similarly wrong online, with just one-on-one play available (and even that has had a few lag hiccups). But don’t worry about any of the previous stuff, because Hockey Ultimate Team (HUT) is prominently displayed for all to see. Of course it is. The fact that this mode has been included (and many other things haven’t) speaks volumes about EA’s priorities right now. I feel sad for the dev team having to prop up EA's ridiculous moneymaker in the face of such a (seemingly) incomplete product.

Final Thoughts

Our review of NHL 15 will be posted during the week, but these impressions obviously don’t paint a very good picture for the new generation of hockey. It’s frustrating, disappointing and sad, because I know so many people who were hopeful for this game. Well, the game seems to be there, but the reasons to play it are apparently not.