NHL 15: First Gameplay Video Emerges

[Pezell04x]

Quote: Originally Posted by jayenomics

So one is an issue with the console hardware, and the other two were easily fixed through sliders. I wouldn't exactly call them major game issues. There will always be goals that are easier to score than others, and the vast majority will abuse them. That being said, you find a good league online and you don't have to deal with any of that OVP trash.

I would call the AI dumping the puck into the corner and having it go above Zdeno Chara's head a major issue - especially when you have to stop, have your player wait there and lose all momentum in the corner.

Puck physics were easily a major problem and that dump I'm talking about wasn't something you could control w/ sliders.

There were more issues. Players played the same. Teams played the same. It wasn't as good as some people make it out to be and it wasn't as bad as a lot of people make it out to be. On a scale of 1-10, it is a solid 5. It is an average NHL game.

[actionhank]

Quote: Originally Posted by Pezell04x

I would call the AI dumping the puck into the corner and having it go above Zdeno Chara's head a major issue - especially when you have to stop, have your player wait there and lose all momentum in the corner. Puck physics were easily a major problem and that dump I'm talking about wasn't something you could control w/ sliders. There were more issues. Players played the same. Teams played the same. It wasn't as good as some people make it out to be and it wasn't as bad as a lot of people make it out to be. On a scale of 1-10, it is a solid 5. It is an average NHL game.

My frustration with that was that it was something that wasn't there before. It got patched in, but never out. And there's no counter for it. I can get there 5 minutes before anyone else, but i can't grab the puck or try to get it. I have to hope when it lands, there's no AI around to snatch it up while i sit there with no defense against it.

[gabbers895]

Quote: Originally Posted by AdamJones113

Here's similar quality footage from E3 2014. Looks very similar to NHL 14. Any ideas when EA will give us a professional video? That's what I'm looking forward to.

That looked even worst than the other one. You cant really make out the nice graphics in this one and without them it does seem a lot like 14...

luckily this is just an alpha version. The release is always much different I find.

[nddurst]

Quote: Originally Posted by AdamJones113

Here's similar quality footage from E3 2014. Looks very similar to NHL 14. Any ideas when EA will give us a professional video? That's what I'm looking forward to.

You realize that is NHL 14, right?

[gabbers895]

Quote: Originally Posted by nddurst

You realize that is NHL 14, right?

Damnit I fell for a trick

I feel like such an idiot....no wonder that looked so much worst than the first one...

*facepalm*

[Moose24x]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ovie832

It seems you guys are hitting the nail on the head in terms of gameplay.To me, the game still looks far too arcade-y and fast. Super unrealistic. But here are some thoughts I have about another part of the game.. that has been lacking for years and years. first.. this has nothing to do with gameplay.. or online..etc. Please do not give the 'i rather them work on gameplay' stuff.. EA has long had issues with player equipment and its authenticity. There has been a bit of discussion about the gear brands saying what is allowed and not allowed in the game... but i sometimes have trouble believing it.. as NHL 2k had many different customization options that EA has NEVER had. EA has major equipment issues... I know some things may be licensing issues but others are just plain old mistakes. Gear could really help player variety. How sick are you of seeing everyone look the same when skating? Or look the same when they shoot? In the first nhl 15 trailer.. Ovechkin looked nothing like himself (other than his face).. literally almost every single piece of gear on him was wrong. Where is this UNPRECEDENTED PLAYER LIKENESS? I really wish EA would insert the customize glove color from create a team.. in to the edit player screen. They ALWAYS have glove issues with every team. I would really like to see them set up customization the way 2k did with equipment. it was SO in depth. you could choose how to tape your blade and butt end... how to tape your socks (including color of sock tape.. clear vs color)... also could individually choose color patterns for gloves and sticks. that started in 2k8. 7 years ago that game was made.. and still has better customization options. (granted i never loved the gameplay but still. EA very much needs to up their game on player variety in terms of gear) ' Basically.. I think EA really needs to make a more customized approach to edit a player.. (which i hope expands in next gen anyway).. Granted some of the equipment issues are due to the fact that EA scans RETAIL gear.. as opposed to PRO STOCK equipment that the players use. (if you are familiar with hockey gear.. the stuff players use quite often has a much different appearance and functionality than the gear you can buy in stores..) give me some of your guys' opinions and what you think EA can do to help this.. I can't be the only person who is tired of seeing the wrong glove colors on players.. or the same taping style for EVERY stick in the game.. etc

This is definitely one of my biggest gripes, even though it's more aesthetic/presentation than gameplay. How much does it matter if the ice, arena, crowd and broadcast team look like real hockey if the players themselves all look like clones? For starters, we need to see different skating strides. There's the more hunched over skaters and the more upright skaters. There's guys who skate like silk and guys with choppy, inefficient strides. In the NBA game, if you try to ball handle or shoot from deep with a big man, it feels clunky and wrong immediately. Why can't we have guys in the NHL series who handle the puck like a grenade and have an awkward skating stride that feels less fluid? Ditto puck handling tendencies and shooting mechanics. Some guys stick handle with the puck in tight or their hands up high, close together. Other guys carry the puck way out in front. Not everyone can curl back and control the puck effortlessly like Patrick Kane. A guy like Brian Boyle should handle the puck like a rock. This would create player differentiation, not just from the aesthetic perspective of how everything looks, but also in how it feels to carry the puck with a smooth skating, silky handed Datsyuk versus a sluggish, poor puck handling Boyle.

Don't even get me started on the notion that guys who are notoriously vigorous fore checkers should hound you with pressure (like in NBA when the AI puts on the full court press) or that guys like Ovechkin should be exiting the zone, looking for the home run pass as soon as possession changes. Getting individual player tendencies is a pipe dream. We can't even get the vague differentiation of EA just having three unique skating strides with one assigned to each player. Individual behavior is for PS5 or PS6 it seems. Hell, how about simply having the ability to go into an all out sprint, continue skating WHILE also stick handling, or handle the puck with one hand while fighting off a check or skating through open ice? I guess this generation of console isn't powerful enough for any of that either.

Next is the more in depth equipment options you talked about. Sure, this is very minor compared to the myriad gameplay problems, but since it seems like the gameplay problems aren't being addressed anyways, you would figure that the next gen consoles at least have the power to bring player likeness to a new level by allowing things like Ovechkin to have the tongue of his skates flopped or the white tape over the toe of the blade. Maybe let him tuck his jersey into his elbow pads (even though the NHL outlawed that; they outlawed regular jersey tucks as well, but guaranteed EA will have players who don't even tuck their jersey wearing them tucked in the game). Like I said above, what does it matter if the Verizon Center looks 99% authentic, the crowd looks live and animated, the NBC broadcast team is green screened in and the NBC overlays make it look like a real broadcast but... Ovechkin looks just like Brouwer who looks just like Alzner who looks just like Fehr and Holtby plays exactly the same style as Jonathan Quick on the other end of the ice? They all tape their sticks and socks the same way, wear their jerseys the same way, skate the same way, handle the puck the same way, shoot the same way and despite a difference in ratings, all move at roughly the same speed and do everything pretty equally. With no player differentiation, both aesthetically and in terms of how it feels to handle Jason Chimera versus Nik Backstrom, all of the NBC overlays, Doc and Eddie green screen, arena detail and authentic audience is just fluff that's meant to detract from the fact that the on ice product is the same as it has been for years now.

The presentation overhaul should have began with the players and the way they move and handle the puck, and how their gear makes them look unique from one another, not with creating fans that wear face-paint, which shouldn't be there in the first place. When I watch hockey on TV, I can tell Kopitar from Brown from Gaborik, without looking at their numbers, because of how they wear their gear and have different skating strides. If you took the names/numbers off the jerseys in the NHL series I wouldn't have a clue who is who. They all do everything the same and look identical. So once more, I ask, what good is having authentic arenas and audiences - essentially the accessories for the main event, which is what's ON the ice - if the actual product on the ice doesn't look authentic at all? The audience and arenas will be welcome additions, but they should have been done AFTER the players were perfected. Instead, they're improving the bells and whistles while ignoring the core of the presentation, which is the players. We got jerseys that move when the players are standing still, as if there was a strong breeze blowing, and 9,000 unique fans, many of whom wear face paint (can't get over this, what possesses them to make 1/10 of the fans in every arena wear face paint? Hockey fans don't do that) when we should have gotten different skating strides and more aesthetic differentiation between players. I don't care how realistic the stage looks if the action on the stage looks like an arcade game. When Nash, Boyle, Hagelin and Kreider all look the same on the ice, it looks like an arcade game. The presentation is still terrible when the player are all clones of one another. All the other stuff is just window dressing around a main event that is lacking.

[yolo1212]

Alright its hard to critic this game based on this 2min (poor quality) clip however, there is one blatant thing i noticed that should be tweaked for the final build.

The "living crowd" looks robotic. They do not seem smarter than the nhl 14 crowd at all. its 2min into the second period and most of the crowd is standing flailing there arms in unison. "Living crowds" should be reactive to situations. When there is a minute left in the game and your down at home the crowd should stand. When there is a big hit or an injury the crowd closest to the hit/injury should stand and react. Goal...crowd should erupt. In between everything else the majority of the crowd should be seated chanting, booing, cheering or leaving there seats.

[Moose24x]

Quote: Originally Posted by actionhank

My frustration with that was that it was something that wasn't there before. It got patched in, but never out. And there's no counter for it. I can get there 5 minutes before anyone else, but i can't grab the puck or try to get it. I have to hope when it lands, there's no AI around to snatch it up while i sit there with no defense against it.

Exactly. And if they weren't going to fix the bouncing, an easy solution is just having your dman who gets their first immediate glove it down and play it, like ANY player who is NHL caliber (or AHL/CHL/NCAA/etc.) would do. But instead you just wait, helpless.