NHL 15 Review (XB1/PS4)

[Inflict]

EA Sports UFC got a 7.5 from the same reviewer when it has even fewer modes and is even more devoid of content then NHL. The reviewer also admits solid gameplay form both games, so how is it that NHL gets a lower score? Either EA Sports UFC was rated too highly or reviewer is scoring the game purely based on the negative hype surrounding NHL 15.

I myself give it a 7 as the gameplay is the only saving grace for this game (presentation to a lesser extent too). Lack of online co-op really hurts deep as do other missing modes, but the game has a solid foundation on which to build upon. I will also re-iterate that the game should be 10-20 bucks cheaper too.

[Inflict]

Quote: Originally Posted by Peter10

I got a question. Several guys in here are saying the gameplay itself is fine and that would be a good reason for me to buy it. However, a lot of reviews i have seen mention that defense and goaltending in particular are aweful and beyond. From the video footage that i have seen so far (youtube, twitch), the AI seems to be only slight improved and goalies look like sieves, so that would be a big no-go for me. So is there really any significant improvement? I could somehow do without all the missing modes if the game itself would be somewhat realistic but considering that i would have to buy a PS4 first, I just can not justify this.

The good:

Defensive AI is actually head and shoulders better then NHL 14. They will actually get sticks in the lane if they are in position and a hard pass through a maze of players rarely works anymore.

The AI is also more aggressive I've found. They will attack you from the wing when you enter the blue line, and will more likely then not, go for the man instead of taking away the pass. This leads to AI teammates being open more, but more AI puck-on-stick deflections mitigate this most of the time.

AI breakouts are extremely well done too. More options to change this through strategies exist and the horrible offside AI problem has been mitigated as well.

The Bad:

Goalies ARE a lot easier to beat and it does take away somewhat from the improved defense. Hopefully the goalies are improved through a tuner set.

The game has become more of a puck possession game now, and players tend to hold onto the puck way too much. The cycle game is reduced due to the AI intercepting passes easier but your teammates are usually in good positions (another big improvement from NHL 14) if you can get the pass through.

Overall, I would wait until you can get it cheaper as it's hard to justify paying $60 or $71 bucks for this.

[IG 88]

Quote: Originally Posted by Inflict

EA Sports UFC got a 7.5 from the same reviewer when it has even fewer modes and is even more devoid of content then NHL. The reviewer also admits solid gameplay form both games, so how is it that NHL gets a lower score? Either EA Sports UFC was rated too highly or reviewer is scoring the game purely based on the negative hype surrounding NHL 15. I myself give it a 7 as the gameplay is the only saving grace for this game (presentation to a lesser extent too). Lack of online co-op really hurts deep as do other missing modes, but the game has a solid foundation on which to build upon. I will also re-iterate that the game should be 10-20 bucks cheaper too.

UFC was def low on modes, but personally, I wouldn't expect as much from a new UFC game (modes beyond Ultimate Fighter and online ranked require a while to come up with and are much less meaningful in a non team sport).

Compared to team sports competitors like FIFA, MLB the Show, Madden and NBA 2K...NHL 15 falls miles short. I like NHL's 15's gameplay...but not enough to overcome all that. I played my 6 hours of early access and felt like I got most of what I wanted. Might be a little different after a few patches...but who knows.

[TheFlamingWeazel]

Quote: Originally Posted by Simaofan-20

Its quite sad that gameplay isn't the most important thing when reviewing a game. After all, that's the core of a game and the reason why we play them in the first place. No way this game is a 5.5/10, I wouldn't give it a 9 but a 5.5? That's way to low, thats close to the game being broken or it has a ton of glitches. If the main reason why the score is low is because of not enough features, thats incredibly disappointing . I skimmed through most of it, I don't recall anything about the confirmed patch that implements some of the missing features already

What is sad is people like you defending this nonsense...Other games have impeccable gameplay and maintain all the modern feature set we are used to in 2014 (MLB the show had 9 months , it's all there)...great gameplay can only go so far if the game itself is watered down and barebones to be devoid of much replay value. Maybe a facebook hockey game is more suited for you.

[Wiggy]

Quote: Originally Posted by Inflict

EA Sports UFC got a 7.5 from the same reviewer when it has even fewer modes and is even more devoid of content then NHL. The reviewer also admits solid gameplay form both games, so how is it that NHL gets a lower score? Either EA Sports UFC was rated too highly or reviewer is scoring the game purely based on the negative hype surrounding NHL 15. I myself give it a 7 as the gameplay is the only saving grace for this game (presentation to a lesser extent too). Lack of online co-op really hurts deep as do other missing modes, but the game has a solid foundation on which to build upon. I will also re-iterate that the game should be 10-20 bucks cheaper too.

I figured somebody would ask, so I'll explain.

For starters, a score is a score. The text of the review ultimately speaks to its quality, but we have to assign scores to help give some kind of shorthand.

Comparing EA Sports UFC to NHL 15 is apples to oranges in a lot of ways. They are completely different genres, and they come loaded with way different expectations in terms of what you'll find within. EA Sports UFC was also a first effort for the franchise, whereas NHL 15 was the continuation of a brand. I understand that NHL had limited time to make the transition, but that's on EA. It's not acceptable to remove so many ways to play the game in NHL (and basic features) and just say that it's a reset for the franchise. They should've contracted a team to work on the last gen version and given more resources for NHL 15 on new hardware.

EA Sports UFC to me is a good game. Is it light on content? To an extent, yes, it is. However, the expectation for that genre (as well as a first effort) is much different. They've also created gameplay for UFC that I love, as I've logged about 500 online matches. Could the career mode be better? Yes. Could it have more modes (PRIDE, etc.)? Yeah, it could.

FIFA 14 and Madden 25 made the transition properly. Were they perfect? No, but they generally did right by the brand. NHL did not. On top of that, they alienated many users and waged a very poor PR campaign to hide a great deal of the details.

I guess what I'm saying is that I enjoyed -- and continue to enjoy -- EA Sports UFC, and my expectations were adjusted for a game that was the first in a series. NHL is not in that situation, and it's judged by different criteria.

I didn't just "join the negative hype train" in order to slag on NHL. I respect the dev team (as said in my review, etc.), and I love the series. I didn't want to give a score like that, but the game is just missing so much that it's impossible to turn a blind eye. UFC got the score it did because the gameplay and presentation stand taller in a one-on-one game. Everything is reviewed in context.

[Tomba]

the demo had me hooked then i saw the same adboards being used throughout stadiums for the demo have no idea if it like that in the full game nba presentation adds so much

[Inflict]

Quote: Originally Posted by Wiggy

I figured somebody would ask, so I'll explain. For starters, a score is a score. The text of the review ultimately speaks to its quality, but we have to assign scores to help give some kind of shorthand. Comparing EA Sports UFC to NHL 15 is apples to oranges in a lot of ways. They are completely different genres, and they come loaded with way different expectations in terms of what you'll find within. EA Sports UFC was also a first effort for the franchise, whereas NHL 15 was the continuation of a brand. I understand that NHL had limited time to make the transition, but that's on EA. It's not acceptable to remove so many ways to play the game in NHL (and basic features) and just say that it's a reset for the franchise. They should've contracted a team to work on the last gen version and given more resources for NHL 15 on new hardware. EA Sports UFC to me is a good game. Is a light on content? To an extent, yes, it is. However, the expectation for that genre (as well as a first effort) is much different. They've also created gameplay for UFC that I love, as I've logged about 500 online matches. Could the career mode be better? Yes. Could it have more modes (PRIDE, etc.)? Yeah, it could. FIFA 14 and Madden 25 made the transition properly. Were they perfect? No, but they generally did right by the brand. NHL did not. On top of that, they alienated many users and waged a very poor PR campaign to hide a great deal of the details. I guess what I'm saying is that I enjoyed -- and continue to enjoy -- EA Sports UFC, and my expectations were adjusted for a game that was the first in a series. NHL is not in that situation, and it's judged by different criteria. I didn't just "join the negative hype train" in order to slag on NHL. I respect the dev team (as said in my review, etc.), and I love the series. I didn't want to give a score like that, but the game is just missing so much that it's impossible to turn a blind eye. UFC got the score it did because the gameplay and presentation stand taller in a one-on-one game. Everything is reviewed in context.

I understand your logic, but the score still reflects expectations rather then the available content. The score would reflect differently otherwise. You will get no argument from me that they had pretty poor PR, but that shouldn't reflect a review score, IMO. Maybe you will feel different on this, but I feel that a review score should be determined by only the game itself not for the game plus/minues your expectations.

As for the EA sports UFC comparison, you could argue that EA's first foray into MMA was EA Sports MMA, which still had more content. UFC and NHL ARE completely different games, but similar in that they were both built from the ground up unlike Madden or FIFA. Those games were upgraded ports IMO. Should they have gone that route with NHL? I don't know, but I like the game they have so far.

[Wiggy]

Quote: Originally Posted by Inflict

I understand your logic, but the score still reflects expectations rather then the available content. The score would reflect differently otherwise. You will get no argument from me that they had pretty poor PR, but that shouldn't reflect a review score, IMO. Maybe you will feel different on this, but I feel that a review score should be determined by only the game itself not for the game plus/minues your expectations. As for the EA sports UFC comparison, you could argue that EA's first foray into MMA was EA Sports MMA, which still had more content. UFC and NHL ARE completely different games, but similar in that they were both built from the ground up unlike Madden or FIFA. Those games were upgraded ports IMO. Should they have gone that route with NHL? I don't know, but I like the game they have so far.

Well, the PR campaign was more of an admission on their part that there was something to hide (negative stuff), which there was. That didn't directly correlate to score.

Every review is in context. To say "expectations" shouldn't factor into it just doesn't hold water with me, as you're basically then talking about reviewing things in a vacuum. All genres of games are compared to their peers in the field. That is an expectation. If someone does something better, then I'm going to call a game out for not doing it as well.

NHL has only itself to be compared to at present, and I'm not going to go into an isolation chamber and review a game and not acknowledge what it had done before. This is an existing brand. They don't just get to reboot and throw out everything that made the game enjoyable to so many. I agree with you that the gameplay is very good, and the presentation (mostly) delivers, but this game is about much more than those things. It only works if there are a suite of modes to enjoy it.

UFC is not in that situation, as its gameplay is more pivotal since it's a one-on-one game. I expect it to have a better career mode, etc. next time out, but they nailed online play and most of the gameplay this time. Again, it is a first effort. EA MMA was five or six years before, which isn't relevant to this current franchise (made by an entirely different dev team).

I agree that FIFA and Madden were more "port-ish" than NHL or UFC, but that doesn't mean that NHL should ship with scores of modes missing and basic features MIA. The whole product was mismanaged, and consumers deserve to be warned against such a cynical release.

Again, I love the NHL series, but this one is missing a lot of what makes the brand great. I'm clearly not the only one to be saying this, and I'm not going to give something a pass when it's incomplete.

Everyone brings some level of expectation and bias into a review, and to want tabula rasa every time is just not realistic, in my view.