NHL 14 Demo Available Now For 360, Later Today For PS3 - Post Your Impressions Here

[peter21]

Well, as much as I love my hockey, I think this might be the year NHL gets a 'pass' from me. Time to wait until the next generation.

I've played the demo and I like quite a bit about it: the hitting, the d-men strafing, some different types of goals, the fighting engine. All good stuff.

But essentially, this seems like what amounts to a large patch to NHL 13. Is it worth a $60 purchase? To me, that's not proper value based on what I'm seeing from the demo.

I play mostly EASHL now, and our team has gotten monumentally frustrated since there are mainly just glitching teams on there now. I might be persuaded if we can get a full team of guys that like to play for fun, but at this point my money is going to go to FIFA only for EA sports products.

[Moose24x]

Actually, whoever said that there should be a studio that creates an online only EASHL title that requires no NHL licensing and just allows you to create and manage your players, create a team uniform, gear your player and play online against others is a GENIUS.

If that happened, the attributes and ratings and the way they effect EASHL, and the tuning of the game could all be catered to EASHL players to balance and perfect that game mode.

Meaning us offline gamers could finally have attributes that actually WORK and tuners that make changes that make sense for people other than those whining about their EASHL experience.

Two separate titles would be huge. And might actually lead to increased sales.

[Money99]

Quote: Originally Posted by peter21

Well, as much as I love my hockey, I think this might be the year NHL gets a 'pass' from me. Time to wait until the next generation. I've played the demo and I like quite a bit about it: the hitting, the d-men strafing, some different types of goals, the fighting engine. All good stuff. But essentially, this seems like what amounts to a large patch to NHL 13. Is it worth a $60 purchase? To me, that's not proper value based on what I'm seeing from the demo. I play mostly EASHL now, and our team has gotten monumentally frustrated since there are mainly just glitching teams on there now. I might be persuaded if we can get a full team of guys that like to play for fun, but at this point my money is going to go to FIFA only for EA sports products.

This is why I hope that one day sports games move to a 24-month release period.
I owned NHL13 for 2 days so I basically skipped the game entirely.
Now playing NHL14, after basically not playing any EA hockey for 2 years, feels a lot more fresh.

A 24-month period would also give the developers a lot more time (time off as well), so that they stay fresh and don't feel as much stress and pressure in such a short turnaround period.

This will never happen because the current system still generates a tonne of money.
But I can dream, can't I?

[Splitter77]

Quote: Originally Posted by Redshirt_EA

Wait what? No, didn't say that and I don't think that.

Ha.sorry about that. It was an old post.
I just remember you didn't like they fact it was an issue.
Hopefully its better in the full version of the game.

[bwiggy33]

Well I finally got a chance to play the demo and honestly it doesn't do anything for me but reassure myself I won't be purchasing. There are some positives, but it just feels like the same exact thing over and over and over.

One thing I like is the hitting. I love the no button (even though you can use the RS) because it actually uses impact, speed, timing, angle, etc. into the hit. That's how it should be. It also hits at the proper times which was a fear that many people had when the change was announced.

With the skating I don't feel too much change but that could just be because I haven't played 13 since the first round of the playoffs. It seems a little smoother. Honestly the skating couldn't get anything but better.

Another thing I liked was the after whistle tugging and what not. It looks pretty cool. I dislike the fighting though. I just think it's stupid. More realistic, yes. However, to have this as a huge feature just ticks me off because the fights last 20 seconds. Just dumb.

The feeling I get is the same with every other past NHL game. It is just way too wide open and takes 0 skill. The NHL is all about creating your own space to shoot and get scoring chances. That is non existent in this game. I've said it before but this game is all about flinging long passes and entering the zone by yourself to shoot or deke. How people don't get bored with this is beyond me. The defensive pressure is just severely lacking. I've had numerous times where my players are going on a line change and I'm entering the zone 1 on 3 or 4. In that circumstance the CPU should step up and take the puck away to transition. They don't though and I can skate right into the slot and shoot or deke. It just kills the game.

For me I just don't understand this series. What is the point of having options like All Star, Superstar, and Hardcore Simulation if there is no difference in the way the CPU plays? The defensive pressure is the most notable. It's so frustrating that this game has so many different game styles and options yet every one of them are still catered to people who are casuals. I should be forced to dump the puck in, pass to my teammates to create chances, etc. I feel none of that.

May I also add that in my 5 games I nor the CPU have gone offsides 1 time. That is not a joke, that is the honest truth. That's inexcusable IMO. I hate talking trash about this game but it just sucks that it's the same issues (or lack of changes) every single year. We should be at a point where each game style plays differently so that everyone can enjoy the game how they want. Sadly that isn't the case. I'm hoping and praying Next Gen can get it right.

[actionhank]

Quote: Originally Posted by bwiggy33

Well I finally got a chance to play the demo and honestly it doesn't do anything for me but reassure myself I won't be purchasing. There are some positives, but it just feels like the same exact thing over and over and over. One thing I like is the hitting. I love the no button (even though you can use the RS) because it actually uses impact, speed, timing, angle, etc. into the hit. That's how it should be. It also hits at the proper times which was a fear that many people had when the change was announced. With the skating I don't feel too much change but that could just be because I haven't played 13 since the first round of the playoffs. It seems a little smoother. Honestly the skating couldn't get anything but better. Another thing I liked was the after whistle tugging and what not. It looks pretty cool. I dislike the fighting though. I just think it's stupid. More realistic, yes. However, to have this as a huge feature just ticks me off because the fights last 20 seconds. Just dumb. The feeling I get is the same with every other past NHL game. It is just way too wide open and takes 0 skill. The NHL is all about creating your own space to shoot and get scoring chances. That is non existent in this game. I've said it before but this game is all about flinging long passes and entering the zone by yourself to shoot or deke. How people don't get bored with this is beyond me. The defensive pressure is just severely lacking. I've had numerous times where my players are going on a line change and I'm entering the zone 1 on 3 or 4. In that circumstance the CPU should step up and take the puck away to transition. They don't though and I can skate right into the slot and shoot or deke. It just kills the game. For me I just don't understand this series. What is the point of having options like All Star, Superstar, and Hardcore Simulation if there is no difference in the way the CPU plays? The defensive pressure is the most notable. It's so frustrating that this game has so many different game styles and options yet every one of them are still catered to people who are casuals. I should be forced to dump the puck in, pass to my teammates to create chances, etc. I feel none of that. May I also add that in my 5 games I nor the CPU have gone offsides 1 time. That is not a joke, that is the honest truth. That's inexcusable IMO. I hate talking trash about this game but it just sucks that it's the same issues (or lack of changes) every single year. We should be at a point where each game style plays differently so that everyone can enjoy the game how they want. Sadly that isn't the case. I'm hoping and praying Next Gen can get it right.

You hit most of my points right on the head.
I most likely won't be purchasing this year either. I think the skating has definitely improved (I haven't really had to deal with trying to get a guy going up-ice and having him pivot like he's skating in mud) but then again, the skating was fine in the NHL13 Demo, until Sliders and tuners affected it.
I just don't feel that there's going to be enough to keep me interested.
Be a GM got pretty much ignored this year, and i don't know that sliders will be enough to address the issues i have.
The defense is still so passive. I skated in on Zdeno Chara, and instead of using his reach while skating backwards to force me to do something, he just skated backwards in front of me, screening the goalie as i shot through his legs.
The AI in general seems to not have changed much. I was playing earlier and managed to have 2 AI defenders on me, while the other was still entering the zone. My AI teammate was in the right faceoff circle, as i skated towards the corner. Instead of skating towards the net since he was alone, and would be wide open for an easy shot, he just sad still as the AI followed me, and he eventually got covered as i passed to him for a one-timer that had no chance of going in because of his awful positioning.
I was hoping the demo would alleviate any fears i might have about the gameplay not changing, and it could be fun enough for me to ignore the other problems i have with BeaGM as long as the gameplay itself was fun, but it looks like it won't be able to do that.
Oh well, gives me more money to save up for a Next-Gen purchase.

[liberaluser]

People are being way too generous in their evaluations of the hitting engine and especially the fighting engine.

The hitting contact physics sometimes get you those nice pushing animations, but even on hardcore sim you can plow through anyone for ridiculously big hits like clockwork. The hitting is set really low and only goes down another notch in the sliders so it won't be better at release. Every year they claim to improve hitting with new technology and always fail to make it even decent.

The fighting feels really clunky and not very fun honestly. Your forced into a jersey grab just like with the first person engine, which makes me think this is in many ways the same engine put into third person. I much rather be able to circle my opponent and set my own tempo in a fight. Hockey fights are exciting because of the anticipation of a showdown and not just two idiots wildly grabbing and punching each other.

[Gagnon39]

Quote: Originally Posted by liberaluser

People are being way too generous in their evaluations of the hitting engine and especially the fighting engine. The hitting contact physics sometimes get you those nice pushing animations, but even on hardcore sim you can plow through anyone for ridiculously big hits like clockwork. The hitting is set really low and only goes down another notch in the sliders so it won't be better at release. Every year they claim to improve hitting with new technology and always fail to make it even decent. The fighting feels really clunky and not very fun honestly. Your forced into a jersey grab just like with the first person engine, which makes me think this is in many ways the same engine put into third person. I much rather be able to circle my opponent and set my own tempo in a fight.

I had a fight in which we didn't grab one another for about 10-15 second. We stood there swinging. I would imagine its possible to have a fight in which you never grab your opponent. Either way, the fighting is 10,000 times better. Its definitely not perfect, but its much, much better.