NHL 15: First Gameplay Video Emerges

[canucksss]

Quote: Originally Posted by actionhank

That said, there's still time. But, it's a daunting task. People want AI that plays hockey. Personally, i got bored with NHL14 because entering the zone was stupidly easy. I dumped the puck just to do it. Not because i had to. The attacking AI was more of the same. Skate down the wings, get smashed into the boards, stand still, start back skating when i get next to them, repeat. Same for AI players on the rush who would just stop skating at the blue line or the circles instead of crashing the net on a 3-on-1. EA has a lot to prove with 15. They've got the hardware to make amazing AI. They haven't had anywhere close to this level of memory to allocate to the computer running plays, noticing open ice, or creating breakouts. Hopefully they do something with it. I can get past players that look goofy to me, i can deal with another year of a pretty stale Be A GM experience, but i can't take another year of brain-dead AI who just skate from one place to another, or stand still or run into each other in the zone because there's nothing else they know to do. :edit: Also, sliders that really work would be a huge change. If they gave us more slider control, and it made a noticeable difference, that would alleviate a ton of problems. EA would be better off if they had more creation/sharing. Rosters, slider settings, created players. If we had a vault type system similar to what the show has, people could easily download released roster improvements, players, teams, and sliders, freeing up EA's time to address gameplay issues a slider fix won't deal with.

I totally AGREE with one exception...your statement regarding BaGM....if one of the goals is to be in good relationship with other GM's by trading players 5 years from current year....that is BS adn should not be in the game.

Would really like to see a much improved BaGM....EA neglected the offline gamers for so long!

[bad_philanthropy]

I like the visual upgrades—although the kerning on the numbers is horrible and needs fixing.

I saw some nice things with the puck.

The gameplay is hard to judge, as this is probably on rookie with all the arcade settings on. Nothing really wows me about the video, but I can't wait to give it a try in September and see how the series is shaping up going forward.

[The Amaizen Blue]

If only we could get the guys from MLB The Show to make an NHL game...

That series has nailed gameplay AND graphics.

[bwiggy33]

Quote: Originally Posted by canucksss

I totally AGREE with one exception...your statement regarding BaGM....if one of the goals is to be in good relationship with other GM's by trading players 5 years from current year....that is BS adn should not be in the game. Would really like to see a much improved BaGM....EA neglected the offline gamers for so long!

I think what he's saying though is he'd much rather take improved AI and have one more year of the same Be A GM and what not. I don't think the EA team can handle improving both things in one year. I'm in the same exact boat as him. Yes Be A GM needs a massive overhaul but honestly I have not had true fun with this game for two years, so as long as all those issues he stated are corrected or at least better than years past it will help make up for the lack of Be A GM. Hell I hardly remember what Be A GM is like because with NHL 12 and 13 I stopped playing after three weeks.

In my situation I would be completely satisfied if I could just play this game again and feel like I'm being challenged. I shouldn't have to create house rules just to play the game (dumping the puck in on purpose, not shooting off the rush every time, not flinging the puck to the far blue line as a breakout, etc). I've been at that point the past few years. That throws fun right out of the window and completely ruins the experience. I still haven't figured out how people can actually have fun by forcing themselves to do things to make up for the inadequate AI, especially because some of these mentioned areas have been the exact same since 07. Some of these issues are just so easy to see and it's almost like EA just doesn't want to fix them because it will turn people away. That's why I just don't get why they can't put in more sliders or make the CPU neutral zone more aggressive on higher difficulties. It honestly makes 0 sense to me.

[SpectralThundr]

Quote: Originally Posted by actionhank

Can you honestly blame people for being a bit pessimistic? The AI will definitely play a big part in making or breaking this game for a lot of people, but it's still a bit of a let down to see something that looks like it's playing like a well polished NHL14 instead of a truly next-gen game. I went into this video hoping to be proven wrong on the things i had thought might happen, but so far my expectations weren't far off. The skating and AI look largely unchanged. The goalies still look like they play the same nonsense game they did before. Is it fair to judge it based off of this tiny clip? Not entirely, but you do take something away from that. If you watched this video on low-res you would be hard-pressed to tell it apart from NHL14 by just watching the way the players move. That said, there's still time. But, it's a daunting task. People want AI that plays hockey. Personally, i got bored with NHL14 because entering the zone was stupidly easy. I dumped the puck just to do it. Not because i had to. The attacking AI was more of the same. Skate down the wings, get smashed into the boards, stand still, start back skating when i get next to them, repeat. Same for AI players on the rush who would just stop skating at the blue line or the circles instead of crashing the net on a 3-on-1. EA has a lot to prove with 15. They've got the hardware to make amazing AI. They haven't had anywhere close to this level of memory to allocate to the computer running plays, noticing open ice, or creating breakouts. Hopefully they do something with it. I can get past players that look goofy to me, i can deal with another year of a pretty stale Be A GM experience, but i can't take another year of brain-dead AI who just skate from one place to another, or stand still or run into each other in the zone because there's nothing else they know to do. I'm still waiting for an actual EA provided video showing the game itself off, instead of 2 guys who are god-awful at hockey playing it, but that doesn't mean i'm not a bit letdown with what i saw beyond their control in this. :edit: Also, sliders that really work would be a huge change. If they gave us more slider control, and it made a noticeable difference, that would alleviate a ton of problems. EA would be better off if they had more creation/sharing. Rosters, slider settings, created players. If we had a vault type system similar to what the show has, people could easily download released roster improvements, players, teams, and sliders, freeing up EA's time to address gameplay issues a slider fix won't deal with.

Now that we know the game's difficulty @E3 is locked at Pro and simulation on likely default sliders all of this is moot. Wait til the demo and people can hopefully adjust things before passing a final judgement.

[@legendm0de]

no bueno looks like i'll still have to be tinkering the hell out of this game still. I can bring the new gen qualities out from what they have here presumably but they still allow to much BC into this game.

I can't stand directional passing either, how can you claim real puck physics when passes are made tape to tape at 20 degree angles just by tapping R2 or whatever pass button is. The puck should be free and loose to control like in real life, and easing the level should not make this change. Thats like if rookie level of Madden allowed any QB to throw darts 70 yards down the field every time. Easing the level should effect the creativity, intelligence and skill level of CPU AI but now make the puck move this unrealistic. In fact the skill level doesn't even exactly have anything to do with this type of pass accuracy, that's a slider setting that has to be minimized.

Still much more remains to be seen\

And those refs look god awful, I would stay away from this version if they are going to look like that in the final build.

[buddaking]

look like a cartoon game with ps2 graphics. EA sports need to stop making sport game.

[Shaffer26]

I honestly went from buying this game to probably renting since I watched this video. I haven't played an NHL game in a little over a year and besides the graphics and presentation package, it looks the same as NHL 13 to me.