NHL 14 Available Now - Post Your Impressions Here

[Splitter77]

ame last nite.
played about 3 games in season mode.

positives

the td garden is in
soft passes actually work now
cpu defense in net front battles is better.
cpu passing accuracy at lowest level does seem to create missed passes now.
more icings than last year
better post sound
sim speed on ps3 is better
love the fighting with the zoom turned off- hoping for a cpu / cpu fight while my fight is going on. is that possible??

negatives

still too easy to gain offensive zone
hitting is still too effective- this with assistance on 0 and power at 0
still not enough offsides/loose pucks/whistles
stupid behind the back receiving pass animation is still in there.
still human defense controls lacking
faceoffs still the same
still no whistles as soon as goalie saves- the game makes the goalie pass the puck out all the time. hate this. another online cater.
presentation still stinks
no boxscores from previous games played.

not a bad game. still the best hockey game ever made, but its not great. this game needs stick on stick collison asap. and better cpu defensive ai and better defensive controls.

havent even checked out other parts of the game (like create team), but its probably just like nhl 13- awful.

[Steven547]

Quote: Originally Posted by Steven547

My quick impressions: Well, I picked up NHL 13...err..I mean NHL 14. I had to do a double take when I walked out of Gamestop because even the cover, minus the 75 year old goalie, looked the same as last year. Presentation: What? Where? It's identical to last year. EA said they listened to the community? Who was the community, bunch of blind people? Nothing has changed. There is not group celebration after a goal....score in OT and get the same cutscene you had the past 3-4 years. Commentary? Oh where to start. Let's just say that I was playing against Washington as Chicago, and the commentators said, "That's why Nashville picked him up....." Wait...what? I'm playing as Chicago against Washington.... So I'm playing as Chicago again and the commentators mention winning the Cup in 2010 not 2013....also saying that the Chicago fans are like New York fans (or something like that). I heard that line I think in NHL 12! Update much EA? And the amount of mispronounced names in this game.......ugh! Well, at least we get 5 new songs to listen to...after all the BIP music doesn't work. Presentation is VERY stale and needs a drastic change. To me, this is a sign of lazy developers. Fire away if you want, but when the presentation hasn't changed in years, you have to ask why. Gameplay? Not bad, but not where it should be and definitely don't know what EA meant when they said they listened to the community. This game is NHL 13 1/4....not even 1/2. What they've addressed gameplay wise, could have been done with a patch last year. It's still "fun" but should never have been $60 for what was basically an "update". NHL 94 anniversary mode? IMO, waste of effort. It's basically a different rink with all rules turned off (something we can do ourselves.) If they wanted to bring in a cool new "Game mode", they should have included Mutant League Hockey (for those that remember) as an added bonus instead of NHL 94 Anniversary mode (when did we even start having an anniversary for NHL 94??) Overall, it's good but not worth the $60. If you can, hold off until it's used or drops in price. I still haven't seen anything in this game that has made me say "WOW!" Again, just my opinion.

Let me add onto my post because the more I play, the more impressions I have:

- No Roster sharing...again (thought EA said they listened to the community)
- No Slider Sharing or ability to save multiple slider settings (thought EA said they listened to the community)
- There were more penalties in one period of play during the DEMO than I or a lot of others have had in multiple offline games.
- In 5 games, have only had 2 fights....and trust me, I was trying to pound guys with checks.

This game is very disappointing to say the least. With all the marketing and push to make us think they really revved up the game for this years version, epic fail. I went out and bought it at launch, so I'm out $60. If I trade it in, i'll be out $35. So I will try and have fun with what it is, but probably won't buy next years version. Fool me once.....

[goh]

"Oh hey that NHL 94 mode looks cool. I guess I'll rent it."

AI scores on 2 of 3 first shots. Including one of the old "we're going to score and there's absolutely nothing you can do it about it." crap that's been there's the last 2 years.
Turn it off.
Start up next game.
AI scores on first shot.
Keep playing.
Get up 2-1.
Suddenly and inexplicably down 3-2 in about a span of 2 minutes even after having raised my goalie awareness to max after the first shot and playing as the Kings.
Turn it off.

This is almost the exact same complete and utter 100% pile of ****. Except now your goalies are entirely useless and there's 3 fights per period. (That's with 10 minute periods so I guess 6 if you're playing with 20.) Not even optional anymore. "Here's a fight. Good luck." Fight slider? Default. Only other option? Even more or none. This is like Madden 2005 where they introduced the hitstick and it resulted in 5+ fumbles per game.

Same pile of **** comeback AI.
Same pile of **** "you can't do anything about us scoring".
Same pile of **** goalies.
Same pile of **** up and down no stoppages/offsides/penalties except for the 3 fights per period. (On "hardcore simulation" no less.)
Same pile of ****.
BUT HEY EVERYONE...WE HAVE A MODE WITH BLUE ICE NOW!
Hang on a sec...big news...you can now also tuck in your socks in create-a-pro. Holy crap! What an innovation.

How these people keep their jobs I have no clue.
How the testers that play this and say "this is fine" keep their jobs I don't know.
How this scores more than a 0 in any review...well I do know ($) but they should be fired too.
Every single copy of this game should be burned in a giant microwave.

12 was -30
13 was a -29.5
I have no choice but to entirely break my scale for this one and give it -60/30. Not a single issue was fixed and even more were introduced. I mean got damn. It's the only hockey game so they're going to keep getting away with this and people are still going to buy it. I don't care if you have to bring back Fox Sports NHL or Konami's game but for the love of Gretzky someone do something.

[thedudedominick]

I'm personally loving this game.

It's not perfect by any means, but playing EASHL I am actually enjoying the smoother skating, calling penalties on guys for hits that should always have been penalties even if they didn't get called in 13. Also the new fighting system really adds to immersion in the EASHL.

[goh]

So I says dangit Imma get my rental money out of this crap and play be a pro/live the life. This has gone downhill too.

I have still yet to get through a game without at least 2 fights. There was 3:04 left when a fight happend in the last game and I thought it was the only one but there was another earlier when I wasn't on the ice.

I've had numerous 4-10 second shifts on the rare time there's actually one of those stoppage things I get booted off the ice almost instantly. Also watched the AI player I was suppoed to be replacing bang against the boards like an idiot until someone scored. Have flatout missed shifts. I hit sim to shift and no one comes off. This even happend DURING shift where my controls didn't work anymore and my stamina bar turned clear. The following one it wouldn't let me on.

My player was NOT in the Memorial Cup celebration. At all. Didn't hold it up. Wasn't in the photo.

Made sure I wasn't going to be drafted #1 because I hate Colorado but then my number was taken with the Panthers. I can't change my number anymore for some reason and it stuck me with 21. Before the pre-season I had to answer another exactly the same interview question for their farm team.

TWO 10-7 games.

They still call females by the male descriptors even though this is the 3rd year they've been in the game.

It asks me to connect online so I can buy their microtransactions every time I go to update player boosts that I unlocked. I eventually get to it but have to cancel out of 3 screens first. Disgusting.

Why is everything Tim Hortons? I don't think a lot of these places even have Tim Hortons.

Finally the ENTIRE right side and much of the middle of the defensive zone is UNPLAYABLE in be a pro. I estimate it at 5 frames per second.

At this point an update to PowerPlay Hockey is acceptable.

[onlybygrace]

Well, hello.

Have spent about 10 hours with the game in 3 days since release and so far I'm pretty happy with the game.

I was afraid of it being a goal fest but really scoring (with the right sliders, duh) is so very gratifying...couldn't imagine how awesome this game would be with some kicka** presentation, but I digress.

I'm playing a season playing every game as the Blues and the Pens and both teams play a lot differently. The Pens aren't very gritty and rely a lot of Sid and Geno whereas with the Blues I am really able to lean on teams with their heavy hitters and depth. I believe I'm 2-1-1 with both teams.

That said, the sim engine I feel has taken a step backward this season. They really should have just left that alone. In NHL 13 Sid would put up huge seasons and barring injury was found right where he should be, number one in league scoring. Not this year...seems like the low scoring sim engine of NHL 11 and 12 is back.

Which is why I'm playing Season Mode so I can just be Sid and put up some points like he should. Although I've only accumulated 1 goal and 2 assists with him in 4 games. Oh well...I'm sure the points will come.

The fighting is cool even if it is overdone...it seems flicking the right stick will eliminate some fights so I try to use it when the players and timing aren't appropriate. But if the game makes me, I'm throwing down!!! lol

...but then I usually lose.

The penalties seem to be geared for how you play the game plus the right slider combos. Longer periods also help. In 8 total games with the two teams I'm probably seeing 5 PP's per game but have had several 5 on 3's (maybe 4) and even some 3 on 3 action!!!

The comeback AI is probably more of a user issue, not knowing how to protect leads...its not there, IMO.

It's funny, so many people I watched streaming video of the demo on Youtube complain when something happens to them, but say nothing when they are the beneficiary of the same circumstances moments later.

Typical humans.

But yeah...tonight I had some moments where I was in awe of the gameplay. Lots of turnovers and neutral zone action too...good stuff.

Overall, I'd say its the best of the generation and will keep playing this until they finally decide to blow out the presentation like 23 years from now.

[Money99]

Had another very enjoyable evening with NHL14 last night.
First, two games against the kiddies. My younger son is basically Dan Carcillo on ice - completely devoid of any worth except to hit and fight, haha.
My older son is having an absolute blast with the game. He scored the GWG in OT and I thought he was going to wake the neighbours up.

When they went to bed, I got in another "Play Now" as the Hawks vs the Wings.
I lost 4-3 but didn't feel cheated. Franzen had a beauty where he made a little move around my charging dman, and sniped it topshelf.
Dats and Zetts were a nightmare to contain as well, both setting up multiple goals.

I had a nice one with Kane, after he came out of a scrum to put one past Howard, and Sharp sniped one for the top of the circles.
Shaw managed to get us within one after banging home a rebound, but I couldn't get the equalizer.

I'm looking forward to more time with it tonight - after the Tigers game.

[speels]

Had a great game last night as the PRed's against the Ducks. Getzlaf and Perry lit me up for 2 goals a piece, but I was able to squeak 3 past Hiller and had a chance in the dying seconds of the game, but he made a key save on a one timer across the crease. It was a thing of beauty!! I made the pass and instead of shooting it hign glove side, I aimed at the middle of the net and hit him in the crest of the jersey.

I play SS, hardcore sim with no slider changes. The game was intense, and if I didn't have Weber on thei ice with Perry and Getz then I was in trouble. There was 5 fights, all of which were after I had big hits, which is kind of annoying, that being said 2 were charging amd boarding penalties as well so I was not that updat with those, and 1 was when Weber caught Selanne coming across the middle with his head down and absolutely mashed it.

Moreso this year than any of the last couple, I find myself on the edge of my seat while playing. I have only had 1 time where the CPU goes into crazy berserker mode, but my goalie, I think it was Luongo, made about 11 saves in a minute and kept me in the game. I won that game 4-2 allowing 2 late goals by losing faceoffs in my end being down 2 players.

I am having a blast this year so far and look forward to the revamped rosters to make the separation between teams even bigger. As well, I will tweak sliders when I get a little more comfortable, but am finding SS, hardcore sim to be pretty fun.