NHL 15: First Gameplay Video Emerges

[actionhank]

Quote: Originally Posted by jaateloauto

I'm pretty sure NHL goalies don't behave like robots yet. Or only let in glitch goals. Not sure what league you're watching but in the NHL most goalies tend to make mistakes and let in doozies and not save every scoring opportunity unless it's a glitch wrister.

I think people would be less inclined to hate on the goalies if they didn't stone amazing chances, then let in a 10mph wrist shot from the blue line. I know i lost it when that happened, or when the AI would do that awful skate around the back of the net, then do a spinning backhand over the goaltender's glove...every time. God i hated that. Granted, that's more of an AI and inability to play defense issue than a goalie issue.

[hawley088]

Quote: Originally Posted by jayman504

Wish they made NHL for PC so Modders could go to town with it!!

this was great back in the early 2000s

every arena had all the correct ads on the board and ice, you could modify the clothing of the crowd, so for playoff time you could have real world shirts, goalie masks, hockey sticks, even the puck

i remember one mod added real life referee faces haha

it was great

[SpectralThundr]

Quote: Originally Posted by jaateloauto

I'm pretty sure NHL goalies don't behave like robots yet. Or only let in glitch goals. Not sure what league you're watching but in the NHL most goalies tend to make mistakes and let in doozies and not save every scoring opportunity unless it's a glitch wrister.

That's why you create some plays to get your guys moving in front. There's so many options available to be able to score on clean shots rather than glitch goals, people would just rather complain however than put any effort in.

9 out of 10 times if a goalie can see it in the NHL, it's a save.

[AdamJones113]

SpectralThundr, I'm going to take your side here for a post. I popped in NHL 13, and it was pretty bad. I mean, here's a list of great improvements for NHL 14. We shouldn't bash 15 just yet.

One-Touch Dekes: You know, as I play FIFA 14 now I realize what a seriously underrated addition one-touch dekes are. In FIFA I rarely use skill moves, but in NHL I use them a lot: mostly because I can simply tap a button (LB) for a simple one, or a button+skill stick for a nice move. This means, of course, that there's a good chance NHL 15 won't have them.

Be A Pro: While I am, and always will be, a franchise guy, I do like to play MyCareer/Be A Pro once in a while and NHL added that this past year. Sure, it was text-based and barely different, but the important thing is that it was a step in the right direction.

Hitting: Hadn't thought about this until I played 13. That hitting was terrible. So unrealistic, every nudge was Chara, NHL 14 was a HUGE improvement.

[SpectralThundr]

Quote: Originally Posted by AdamJones113

SpectralThundr, I'm going to take your side here for a post. I popped in NHL 13, and it was pretty bad. I mean, here's a list of great improvements for NHL 14. We shouldn't bash 15 just yet. One-Touch Dekes: You know, as I play FIFA 14 now I realize what a seriously underrated addition one-touch dekes are. In FIFA I rarely use skill moves, but in NHL I use them a lot: mostly because I can simply tap a button (LB) for a simple one, or a button+skill stick for a nice move. This means, of course, that there's a good chance NHL 15 won't have them. Be A Pro: While I am, and always will be, a franchise guy, I do like to play MyCareer/Be A Pro once in a while and NHL added that this past year. Sure, it was text-based and barely different, but the important thing is that it was a step in the right direction. Hitting: Hadn't thought about this until I played 13. That hitting was terrible. So unrealistic, every nudge was Chara, NHL 14 was a HUGE improvement.

15 has One Touch Dekes, even new ones supposedly. It really is night and day in regards to gameplay between 13 and 14. The skating engine alone opens up so many opportunities on offense. Hitting was majorly improved, perfect? Nope, but far better than 13.

Thing is, people would rather complain about non existent comeback logic and robogoalies simply because they don't animate smoothly. Would having NHL2kesk goalie animations be nice? Sure, as long as the AI attached to them isn't dumber than a brick like it is in 2k9 and 2k10. Like seriously, for all the passes the 2k series gets, the AI is **** all around and it ruins any good the game does in animations or arenas when the offline game is complete garbage, regardless of where your sliders are on the 1-100 scale.

Fact of the matter is it's popular to hate on Electronic Arts, it has been for years. They could put out the most simtastic game ever and people would still complain because it says EASports on the front of the box. When in reality NHL 14 is a damn solid game of hockey with the right sliders.

Does it have it's issues? Oh hell yes it does, neutral zone pressure from the AI especially, but over all? Nowhere near as bad as some love to claim over and over and over, year in, year out.

[AdamJones113]

Quote: Originally Posted by SpectralThundr

15 has One Touch Dekes, even new ones supposedly. It really is night and day in regards to gameplay between 13 and 14. The skating engine alone opens up so many opportunities on offense. Hitting was majorly improved, perfect? Nope, but far better than 13. Thing is, people would rather complain about non existent comeback logic and robogoalies simply because they don't animate smoothly. Would having NHL2kesk goalie animations be nice? Sure, as long as the AI attached to them isn't dumber than a brick like it is in 2k9 and 2k10. Like seriously, for all the passes the 2k series gets, the AI is **** all around and it ruins any good the game does in animations or arenas when the offline game is complete garbage, regardless of where your sliders are on the 1-100 scale. Fact of the matter is it's popular to hate on Electronic Arts, it has been for years. They could put out the most simtastic game ever and people would still complain because it says EASports on the front of the box. When in reality NHL 14 is a damn solid game of hockey with the right sliders. Does it have it's issues? Oh hell yes it does, neutral zone pressure from the AI especially, but over all? Nowhere near as bad as some love to claim over and over and over, year in, year out.

I remember 2k10. Most obvious way to score: wrister from the high slot. Easiest way to score (95% of the time): Wrap around.

I think 14 is great. I've played 175+ games in Be A GM with my sliders. I was just pointing out some obvious improvements it had over NHL 13 for the people who expect the exact same thing. I expect there to be a lack of unpredictability, as there is in most sports games; I don't expect a carbon copy of 14.

[SpectralThundr]

Quote: Originally Posted by AdamJones113

I remember 2k10. Most obvious way to score: wrister from the high slot. Easiest way to score (95% of the time): Wrap around. I think 14 is great. I've played 175+ games in Be A GM with my sliders. I was just pointing out some obvious improvements it had over NHL 13 for the people who expect the exact same thing. I expect there to be a lack of unpredictability, as there is in most sports games; I don't expect a carbon copy of 14.

I hope so. I hope that besides the obvious changes with presentation, that the AI at least got some polishing. The whole "AI Vision" dealy sounds an awful lot like Hockey IQ.

I get that AI in a hockey game is difficult to not be predictable, it's a video game after all. I would however at least like the option to have the AI be able to clog up the neutral zone on higher difficulty levels and not do it in a way where they just skate faster or hit harder but by solid positioning and having the attribute effect slider actually work how it's supposed to.

I get that EA likely is forced to keep attributes 50-100 to keep the NHLPA from pulling the license, but I still believe there are ways to make the CPU offline play a tighter game without it being cheap. All sports games seem to struggle with this however, even the much loved NBA2k where the AI will hit shots from where ever it wants even with a hand in it's face on higher difficulty levels to try and keep it "competitive".

At the very least in NHL the AI will just change it's strategy to high pressure and have the Dmen pinch more rather than out right cheating like some claim. It doesn't, if it did every game would be close, and that's certainly not the case.

[Diehardfan]

I generally am in agreement with you on most of your points, SpectralThundr but I must take exception to your believing the crap EA spews about not having "comeback" logic in their games. Funny thing is, I think it's a great idea that they simply just implemented poorly. After all, comebacks happen pretty frequently in the NHL but they almost never happen because a goalie suddenly goes blind or can't move or knocks a puck in his own net. The way it usually happens is a lot of forechecking, pressure and risk taking by the team that's trailing. Now if that's how they put it in the game, I'd be a happy camper but the way it's played in NHL14 where the human player's goalie suddenly turns invisible is lame at best.