NHL 15 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions (Xbox One, PS4)

[Blzer]

Downloaded it on my Vita and immediately started playing it via Remote Play downstairs.

I obviously didn't get the full effect of the visuals when I was playing, but I liked them. Then I got to my PS4 later, and honestly I wasn't super wowed but I am just happy that they have a nice 60 FPS lock with everything. Presentation was definitely nice.

Controls were good and the puck movement is just awesome. Passed feel "delayed," but it's just the authenticity of the animations kicking in as they're supposed to, so it's forgiven. I can't get a good beat of anything after just two minutes of play, but to be honest the game hasn't had super drastic gameplay changes even since NHL 08. It's roughly the same idea, and personally I'm okay with that.

I'll be picking this up when it comes out, but I need to rely on the community for sliders and settings.

EDIT: By the way, did this game always have an L3 sprint feature?

[hawley088]

Anyone notice the graphics while actually playing like on the played jersey aren't that good? The letters and numbers are like real soft and blurry

Game looks great during cutscenes tho

[Stormyhog]

Quote: Originally Posted by hawley088

Anyone notice the graphics while actually playing like on the played jersey aren't that good? The letters and numbers are like real soft and blurry Game looks great during cutscenes tho

Yeah I noticed it as well.

[Kabuki]

Quote: Originally Posted by hawley088

Anyone notice the graphics while actually playing like on the played jersey aren't that good? The letters and numbers are like real soft and blurry Game looks great during cutscenes tho

i think its due to the resolution. UFC had the same problem with IQ. sucks because it really does detract from the look alot.

[meep316]

There is no way for me to articulate this, and maybe it's just that everyone I'm watching play sucks, but it's been like this for a while:

Is it just me or do the players just not move around like hockey players? There is something very robotic and unnatural about just the way they move, the way they stand/turn, shoot, everything. It just looks so weird.

[bwiggy33]

I've finally got around to playing the demo so here are my thoughts. I've played 5 games so far. The two minute periods are really pissing me off though. It's just not enough to get a true feeling on the game and whether or not I enjoy it.

PROS


PRESENTATION- The presentation is really really good. The commentary is better than in the videos but still lacks and is really simplistic at times with what they say. The arenas also look really solid. The game needed close to authentic arenas for quite a while.

STICK HANDLING- I've been saying it for a long time, stick handling needed major retooling. Well they must have listened or something because now it is near perfect. Gone are the days of skating up the ice doing full extension back and forth stick handling BS. I see a ton of people have commented that they hate the stick handling. That's probably because it's more realistic and the players actually stick handle within themselves which is what you see in real life. I'm not necessarily a huge fan of those moves being tied to the skill stick but that I can adjust to. EA do not change this no matter how many people complain. You are on the right path to how players actually stick handle in real life.

D PRESSURE- Through these first 5 games I have felt like the D pressures more. It seems as though I have less time and space to make decisions. It has definitely help detract my hate of "easy zone entry." The game just seems a tad more challenging.

AI SETTINGS- The AI settings remain in the game. I would not have been shocked at all if they would have been removed. I think with the combination of the AI settings and what I've seen so far with the D pressure the game could be playable for me.

PENALTIES- Yes penalties. I have seen a bunch so far. Boarding, tripping, interference, goalie interference, fighting, and roughing. I have had at least 2 penalties in all of my games and that's obviously on 2 minute periods. I know some are still saying they aren't seeing them. I just have seen them so I'm adding it as a positive at the moment.



CONS


MENUS- Absolutely horrible. Why oh why does EA have to make all of these clunky, laggy, and detailed menus? Every menu takes forever and the screens are so damn busy. I would much rather prefer a more simplistic lag free menu than some of the stuff they have going on. I don't want to wait 3 seconds so an entire player model can load to choose the jerseys I want to wear. Why not just be able to scroll through the jersey like it previously had been? I just hate EA's concept the past few years with their menus in all of their games. It's been really aggravating.

LOOKS- As some have been saying the game does not look very good at all. I'm on PS4 and it just looks so washed out and blah. None of my other games look like that at all. After just having played Madden it's really stuck out how bad NHL looks at the present time.

WARPING/COLLISION DETECTION- The jerseys and cloth detection is awful in this game. I see the jerseys going through the bodies of players constantly.

I also have just another example of why this game needs some sort of stick on body and stick on stick detection. I was the Kings. The Rangers took a shot on Quick. Quick made the save and did the lay on back animation to freeze it but the guy I was controlling (Matt Greene) somehow managed to move his stick from the feet of Quick all the way up through his head to put the puck in the net while it was laying under Quick. It's just pathetic how that should happen. If EA isn't going to have stick on stick and stick on body detection because the game plays too sloppy, at least do it for the goalies. It's just like how they left out the goalies in the physics engine. Do the same in this situation. There's no way in hell I should ever be put in a situation where I score a goal on myself because my user controlled player magically puts his stick through my goalies body and sweeps the puck in the net.

EASY ZONE ENTRY- No need to say more. It's still in the game.

OFFSIDES-I have yet to go offsides yet due to the back and forth constant pace this game is played at. It continues to sicken me. While the gameplay is much more "sloppy" it still needs something so I go offsides occasionally. I feel like every forecheck I am going into the zone with one or if I'm lucky, two players. That's just not hockey. What happened to entering the zone 3 on 2 or 3 on 3 like in real life? That's where the skill of the best hockey players in the world comes out. The tick tack toe passing and creating space for your teammate. It's just not present in this game and it's sorely needed.

FEELS LIKE NHL 07-14- This game still feels and plays exactly like the rest of last gens NHL games. It's fine if some parts of the game would still play that way, but to me I don't see anything so far gameplay wise that has changed because of the power of the system. I believe any gameplay changes could have been done on 360 and PS3 as well.

SITUATION LOGIC- The game still severely lacks in this area. Just one example of this is in the final minutes of a game when I or the CPU are down a goal. I shouldn't see players backing out of the offensive zone if they turn over the puck. If the team is down a goal and they turn over the puck in the offensive end they should be attacking the opposition to get the puck back. Instead the players see the puck changes possession and back off on pressure and often times just head to the neutral zone. That's just elementary stuff. Maybe it can be fixed with changing strategies but I haven't done that yet. It's been this way for a long time with this game.

That's it for now. It's still way too hard to judge playing two minute periods. It's like the game is over before it starts. The crappy thing for me and really all of the other PS4 owners, is besides the demo and other reviews from Early Access, this is all we have to go off of. Basically I'd be buying it almost blind and I don't know if I want to do that. It will be a hard decision on whether to buy this game or not. It still just feels too much like last gen to me and with the way the game looks it doesn't even feel like much of a graphical upgrade. I will say this though, the demo is much better than I thought it was going to be. The game feels different pressure wise. I'm not sure if that was tuned this year or if it's because I haven't played this series since the Winter when I rented NHL 14.

[headzapp]

I shot the puck around the boards, and a player on the other team tried to block it up the others side, and the puck just popped up chest high. My other player checked him to the ice stole the puck and I went in for a nice shot. It when to the goalies chest, but the puck just flipped and went to the ice, and the goalie froze the puck. It was pretty nice.
It's nice to feel pressure in the offensive zone, and defensive zone. I like checking someone and not destroying them, but have a nice little check to let them know i'm there ha ha. The ice is beautiful, the crowd scenes draw you into the game, and the commentary is just fine. I was afraid as many others about it being bad from the videos. but it works. I haven't noticed anything annoying.
I like how there is day and night fly ins of the cities. I played three games and doc had three different ties on.

[drog1602]

Quote: Originally Posted by Hockeynut99

We must be playing a different game. Because I noticing all the stuff the AI is doing right.

Could you please list what the AI is doing right