NHL 17 Beta: Online Versus and Gameplay Impressions

[redsox4evur]

They need to fix the glitch where you call for a 3 man change and then you can just saucer pass up the boards for an easy breakaway.

[Madwolf]

I played a little bit of everything and heres my thoughts:

- The movement was better. Felt like you could take advantage of people out of position to blow by for the break away.

- AI played better. They didn't feel like such a liability on defense


- Shots seemed to accurate and fast. The goalies played better positionally but the puck seemed to be a bullet sometimes.

- Pushing people of the puck felt better but the game still feels kind of weird on checks sometimes. Players feel a little too stuck to the ice.

- The battle in front of the net increased the need to get the cycle going and made shots from the point a lot more viable.

- The AI gets in passing lanes to stop the cross crease. Makes the current game feel bad when I go back to it. The scoring feels a lot more 1 demensional and defenders are just not as important on the opponents side of the ice.

The computer was better in the nuetral zone, and dumping and chasing was more viable.

- Loved the addition of connection quality in online.

- Menus were smooth and the music was good stuff. Really sets the tone for hockey and gets you in the mood. 15 and 16 will never have the nostalgia factor down the road because these songs aren't burnt into your brain like prior games. 17 brings it back.

- Customization was neat and improved. The color selection process was tedious though.

- Logos were nice, but they need to let us import our own logos NCAAF style. This would put the game over the top for a lot of fans.

Stadium creation was neat. I wish there were options for NFL like arenas with large windows and more dynamic architecture. I realize the NHL doesn't have this yet, but it would be neat to see.

- HUT was nice. The line changes should be more like Madden though where you could quickly move people up and down the depth chart at WR. It's tedious to have to go into menus to swap between a 1st liner and 2nd liner.

- Overall it felt good. Next year I hope they allow for a 2nd expansion team alongside Las Vegas to even out the league.

[Madwolf]

- Forgot to mention EASHL. I think this is where customization really shined. It felt cool to build your team up into bigger and bigger arenas. Player customization was near for different areas, but I think the equipment needed a little more to it. The celebrations and the like got me excited, but it's hard to get amped up for a hockey stick that looks like the others. What about unlocking old school stuff like the old Louisville Slugger sticks?