NHL 10 Demo Available, Post Impressions Here (360 & PS3)

[born_bad]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it usually the case that the people working on the gameplay are different than the people working on the presentation?

I believe that's the case. So, assuming (for now) that that's true - what is the reason they couldn't have made some improvements and changes to things like the cut scenes? What reason could there be that in the months of development, the team that works on improving graphics and presentations just decided, "Nah, we're good. We'll keep using the same cut scenes we've used the last few years. 09 looks good so our job is done."

For those saying the game already looks great and gameplay is the focus. I agree the game already looked great. However, if it is a separate team handling that, aren't there some improvements they could have made, so it at least looks like a different game from 08/09 on the surface. Is every cut scene the best they can possible be already, so there's no reason to ever change them? Of course not. So, why weren't they changed?

I feel like sports games on the Xbox/PS2 did a better job of making it seem like you were getting a new game each year. I look forward to the gameplay improvements, but I also look forward to seeing the action in a new way from the previous game (like different camera angles for replays, new cut scenes, different ways of displaying in-game stats, etc.).

So, I know they made improvements, but I played a *ton* of 08 and 09, so for the game to be presented the exact same way feels a little stale to me, depsite the gameplay improvements.

[sanders]

Overall I think the gameplay is really good and dynamic because of the puck physics. I tried on Normal and Hardcore and Normal was definitely better. On Hardcore the passes were soooo sloooow. I assume you will be able to use sliders to change it though. I like how shots feel this year compared to last year. This year when you work the cycle and take shots from different spots it actually makes sense to do.

There was one thing which is my biggest pet-peeve of this years and last years game. When playing on defense I know the guy is going to cut to the slot so I take it away holding the left bumper. The player cuts to the middle like expected and stick and arms move right through my defensmans entire body as he skates to the slot. If I take away the cut to the middle he should have to go wide not just be able to move right through me. Maybe instead from now on I'll just lay the body but I'm trying to take away the cut to the slot without risking whiffing on a check.

[TDKing]

Do we know if the "Battle for the cup" mode is going to be available as an online mode?

[allstar3970]

Quote: Originally Posted by born_bad

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it usually the case that the people working on the gameplay are different than the people working on the presentation? I believe that's the case. So, assuming (for now) that that's true - what is the reason they couldn't have made some improvements and changes to things like the cut scenes? What reason could there be that in the months of development, the team that works on improving graphics and presentations just decided, "Nah, we're good. We'll keep using the same cut scenes we've used the last few years. 09 looks good so our job is done." For those saying the game already looks great and gameplay is the focus. I agree the game already looked great. However, if it is a separate team handling that, aren't there some improvements they could have made, so it at least looks like a different game from 08/09 on the surface. Is every cut scene the best they can possible be already, so there's no reason to ever change them? Of course not. So, why weren't they changed? I feel like sports games on the Xbox/PS2 did a better job of making it seem like you were getting a new game each year. I look forward to the gameplay improvements, but I also look forward to seeing the action in a new way from the previous game (like different camera angles for replays, new cut scenes, different ways of displaying in-game stats, etc.). So, I know they made improvements, but I played a *ton* of 08 and 09, so for the game to be presented the exact same way feels a little stale to me, depsite the gameplay improvements.

i think you're oversimplifying it. Do you think that the presentation team was sitting around just said "ehhh F it" this year?

I would imagine its a matter of resources available, and where to allocate them...(esp in this economy) gameplay or presentation? I'd take gameplay. I'm sure if it was the other way around people would say "all i care about is if it plays realistically"

[born_bad]

Quote: Originally Posted by allstar3970

i think you're oversimplifying it. Do you think that the presentation team was sitting around just said "ehhh F it" this year? I would imagine its a matter of resources available, and where to allocate them...(esp in this economy) gameplay or presentation? I'd take gameplay. I'm sure if it was the other way around people would say "all i care about is if it plays realistically"

So, that's my question, though - if the team that does presentation wasn't sitting around saying "F it." What were they doing? The changes are minimal at best.

Your comment about resources available I don't really get because your implying they had to make a choice - either work on gameplay or presentation. We're establishing that's not the case because the team that works on gameplay doesn't work on presentation. That choice doesn't really exist and they could have (and, IMO, should have) improved both... like every other sports game usually does each year.

[Jgainsey]

Just got a couple of games in and... Wow! I played them on hardcore All Star and the realism makes last years game look like a complete arcade title. The puck is free and loose, and the passing is a huge step up from last year. I love how you can control the power and it seems like the direction too. Add in the board play and I'm in hockey heaven. This game plays so more like real hockey than any other game I've ever played. I'm sold NHL 10 and I can't wait to pick it up first day.

[sanders]

I love that you can actually do saucer passes now. Big step up there.

[Kid_Roll]

Quote: Originally Posted by born_bad

So, that's my question, though - if the team that does presentation wasn't sitting around saying "F it." What were they doing? The changes are minimal at best. .

It's pretty obvious to me. Camo. Helmets.


As for the demo, I loved a lot of things about it.

Pros:

-Leg kick animation is sweet (assuming you don't click it every second)
-Small animations like your guy bending over and reaching out to snag a stray puck, freaking awesome.
-More goalie animations, hurray! Osgood did a nice standing kick save last night that wasn't in 09, in homage to Bill Ranford I assume, and it was very slick.
-The puck being slower and the shots being slower, yes yes yes!
-the puck does indeed feel far more loose. When you shoot the puck on the goalie it doesn't feel like it gets sucked into the goalie like it did last year
-I scored a goal under the goalies arm, this made me happy
-Shots from the point are far more lethal now, due to the screening of the goalies, and the fact rebounds can be shot at. Half of my goals so far have been rebound goals. I actually found myself playing defense in order to clear loose pucks! That is pretty awesome. I also found myself not wanting to shoot the puck on the net unless there was traffic in front. A good sign the dev's did a good job on that aspect.


Cons:

-The board play button being mapped to the "facewash/take a penalty" button. Awful awful awful decision. At times I would leave board play too early or try and get board play initiated, and I guess this angered Zetterberg as he would just snap and scream at me and start pummeling on Malkin or rubbing his dirty gloves in Malkins face, thus giving me penalties. You would think they would learn to never to put a potential penalty button on any game mechanic that you would be using often...like last years body checking fiasco on loose pucks.....

-The leg kick re-positions your guy to have a better angle when shooting on net. So if you're coming in on the goalie at a bad angle you can leg kick and your guy resets himself after that into a better shooting position, IMO. Not a huge thing, but I don't want to see people leg kicking all over the place when in the slot or beside the net.

-The worst worst worst thing? The freaking, I can't believe they did this, auto pass on hardcore settings. You can only hold down the pass button for like a second and a half before your guy just prematurely passes all over his face and sends that puck flying. So you see a guy skating down the wing and you want to send the puck ahead of him, but you want to wait for him to put a bit more distance between the d-man and the OH SORRY YOU WAITED TOO LONG YOU LOSE, YOU PASSED THE PUCK. Ugh. I found myself using the saucer pass (RB pass) the entire time instead. I don't know if there is a way to change this setting, but having it auto pass the puck like that after 1.3453453 seconds was really really frustrating and didn't feel very intuitive

-The CPU still passes that puck around a mile a minute, cycling like crazy. On this one I assume sliders can fix it, but still, it was really annoying to watch the computer cycle the puck at 100mph around the ice, leaving me chasing the puck everywhere





Anyways, the positives outweight the negatives, it's just better to write about the negatives as something can be done about them next year, hence the tone of my post. The game feels like 09, but you can see a bunch of small things adding up to make it a far better game. It's like Winning Eleven used to be like, the game wouldn't change much year to year at a first glance, but the more you play it, the more subtle changes you notice. I hope it is that way with NHL 10.