NHL 14 Available Now - Post Your Impressions Here

[peter21]

Finally got the game last night and got to play some EASHL with my team.

My initial impressions are tempered by my frustration at playing against team that already had players rated 82 when our team is about 55-58. That's a bit of a joke and didn't make for a fun series of games.

It's the same up-and-down, cherrypick cheese-fest it's always been. If you want to make it more arcade than sim, I could live with it if the game was fun, but like last year, teams just do the same things game in and game out.

I'm going to give it some time before I completely write the game off though. One area I have to say is almost embarrassing for EA is the presentation and lack of substantial changes from 13. I'd be ashamed if I was a developer and I say that with all due respect for how tough it must be to program in a short cycle. This is a $10 upgrade at best. The FIFA 14 demo already looks head and shoulders above the full NHL 14 game.

I haven't explored the offline modes yet, but from everything I've read, they've gotten neglible attention, or an undercooked (Live the Life) overhaul. All so they can hype how improved it is next year? It's always next year with EA.

So far, I'm pretty disappointed. I enjoy the laughs chatting with my friends in EASHL and that's the only reason I'm sticking it out for a week or two.

[pmurray20]

ESHL we my team is 2-8-2 haha BUT we are having so much fun just playing as players on the same team but you will never guess what happend last night that made us all just flat out turn our games off for the night. Since last night was the first playoffs we actually won every game and somehow made it to the FINALS. We were so excited and pumped and wanted to win so bad and then the game started and we went up 1-0 in the first 6 minutes then after that goal they decided to cheat and IP booted us one player at a time which gave us a DNF so we lost WTH. why would people just cheat like that

[DJ]

Was finally able to purchase the game this morning. Will play a few games tonight after I'm done watching college football, and will report back with impressions.

[DJ]

Played my first game and overall I enjoyed the experience. For those expecting a big leap forward from NHL 13, you're not going to find that here. I do think the refinements made to the game make for a more-polished prodcut, but is that worth $60? I can't answer that question, it is up to you to decide. For me, this is one of the handful of games I buy every year, so I am happy with the purchase and how much money I spent.

The skating is better than last year. Not as herky-jerky and players seem to have more weight to them when moving along the ice.

There's a lot more contact in this game, and that's for the better. I like being able to ride Selanne into the boards with Erik Johnson to slow down the opposition's offensive rush.

The new L-stick hitting is cool (you can still use the R-stick like I did several times out of old habit) and the game does a good job of recognizing when you are pulling up to avoid a hit, so you don't feel suctioned into contact.

There was one fight in my game, which was played on All-Star/Hardcore Simulation, 9-minute periods with no slider adjustments. CPU tried to engage me a handful of times, but I ignored the request to drop gloves.

CPU took 3 penalties (charging, interference, tripping) in addition to the fighting penalty, so that was good to see.

Goalies are going to have to be monitored, and may need a bump down (or two) in reaction time. Saw a few too many highlight-reel saves, but it was only one game so I won't overreact just yet.

Teammate AI seems about the same, but did notice a bit more off-puck movement from wingers trying to get in position for a one-timer or shot attempt. CPU offense is very similar, too. They'll make some efforts to cycle the puck, but still mostly it is pass-shoot or pass-pass-shoot.

Noticed that the Pepsi Center rights are gone, it is now Colorado Stadium. Boo! I know that's not EA's fault, though.

Commentary and presentation are near-identical to last year. I really hope these two areas are addressed with the move to the new consoles because they are a sore spot currently.

Off to play some more ... enjoy!

[topside]

Let's face it guys this game is horrible. Worst 60 bucks I've spent since umm last year on NHL 13. They never fix any of the issues from the past. Penalties are still an ongoing problem. The easy entry into the zone is just laughable.. I mean in what world do defenseman just skate straight back into their own goalie?? Hardcore simulation sliders lol were they serious with this? Hardcore sim sliders should be high impact sliders. EA has offended me with this crap. I've tried everything to make this game more realistic and enjoyable to no avail.

Oh yeah the rosters and player ratings are just ridiculous. How is it possible everyone and their mother has a 85 wrist shot power, 80+ pass accuracy? Drew miller is just as good a skater as Datsyuk for heavens sake.

Sorry fellas I'm just so irritated with EA.

[Money99]

Maybe many of you have already figured this out, but it seems to me that if I stick to L-stick hitting only, there are hardly any 'big' hits or fights that follow.
I've noticed that whenever I use the right-stick, that's when most fights start to break out.
I'll have to experiment with a game and try to force myself to use L-stick only (habits are hard to break).

[Money99]

Just had two very enjoyable games with San Jose (me) vs Vancouver (CPU).
Both games ended 3-2 with each team splitting victories.

All the goals were great and the action was back and forth.

My only real gripe at this point, and has been for several years now, is that your CPU teammates aren't as aggressive as the CPU is against me.
But I've learned to deal with that.

In the 2nd game, Vancouver was all over me in the 1st period firing 16 shots on Niemi> If it weren't for him, I should have been down by 3 goals, not 1-0.
So I committed to playing better defense and held them to 18 shots over the next 2 periods combined.

This game is very close to 2K3 in many aspects. When I first played 2K2 I hated it. I was so used to EA's up-and-down, odd man rushes and breakways, that I got mad that I couldn't do the same with 2K2.
But then I realized I was complaining about playing a realistic hockey game.
So I started playing like a real hockey game; cycling, dumping the puck, shots from the point, etc.
That's what I have to do in NHL14 as well. As soon as I started doing that, my offense started to work and so did my defense.

I was even able to break through the D a couple of times with guys like Couture and Burns.

Speaking of which, I noticed a massive difference when my first two lines were out there, compared to my 3rd and 4th.
The top 2 have guys like Marleau, Couture, Thornton, Burns and Torres. Large, strong players.
The bottom two lines have guys like Sheppard, Pavelski, Kennedy.. Not exactly figures of intimidation.

This game still has it's problems, but I'm really enjoying it thus far.

[DJ]

Quote: Originally Posted by Money99

Maybe many of you have already figured this out, but it seems to me that if I stick to L-stick hitting only, there are hardly any 'big' hits or fights that follow. I've noticed that whenever I use the right-stick, that's when most fights start to break out. I'll have to experiment with a game and try to force myself to use L-stick only (habits are hard to break).

L-stick is all about speed and momentum when delivering a hit. I've laid out a couple of guys (took a boarding penalty with McLeod on one) with L-stick hits. It is definitely an adjustment and I'm still learning, but I like this system. If I can't line a guy up, I'll lay off the stick and allow my player to glide towards the CPU and then look to either ride that player into the boards or utilize a poke check.

Played another game last night and was drilled 4-1 by the Predators. I took 2 early penalties and the CPU scored on both power plays, including one shot that deflected in off my defenseman.

Down 4-0, I lost all semblance of disciplined hockey and was playing like a frustrated team; too much one-on-one, not enough cycling and too many rushed shots. Hence, why I scored just one goal, which came when I finally got my head out of my butt, played smart hockey and scored off a one-timer.