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

[MachoMyers]

I went from being totally dismissive of this game to being almost certain I will preorder it. I enjoyed the 4 demo games I played with the computer as I aggressively went for penalties slowing the clock down to add to the game but the user vs user games I played were fantastic and were the most fun I had playing a hockey game since 2k10.

I'm hoping the variety in franchise mode with presentation features matches that of Madden and keeps you engrossed this year. If it does this and NBA could be my go to games for the season.

[jwilphl]

Having played the demo, this is a no go for me. The gameplay feels extremely similar to NHL '12. I'm not sure I buy that they built this from the ground up, unless they recycled a ton of code. I don't see a ton of evolution here. Granted the changes may be more subtle than which I can flesh out in 2 minute periods. The animations are certainly much better, and I'm sure there are some things I'm missing in the demo, but I don't see enough to convince me to buy it. Although my larger concerns are a bare-bones GM mode, which is basically the only mode I even play.

The presentation is looking much better, but the in-game commentary is simply drab for some reason. It doesn't "sound" like a TV-game at all. When I win, the crowd just sits there and looks bored. They don't sound very lively. Using real footage was something I brought up probably five years ago so they didn't have to spend time rendering everything. It is nice to finally see it in a sports game.

There are also some odd cut-scenes where players on the bench are all in the same pose, have the same blank stare, or move like robots, etc. I haven't seen an EA sports game with polish in a long time; it seems they always have trouble with the details. Perhaps I sound overly critical of the game to some, but with less time to devote to gaming in general, I'd rather spend that more limited time on a truly quality experience. I'd also rather support games when I can embrace their vision.

That said, I've seen some encouraging signs that both NHL and Madden may have some sort of vision for the future now; it just comes down to implementation. My confidence in EA as a brand is at an all-time low, so I'm much more hesitant to buy their products nowadays as compared to the past.

[jyoung]

The more I play this demo, the more I just shake my head at the AI's decision making:



The AI just steps up way too often now when you're rushing at them.

Because of that new tendency, I've been getting more breakways and odd man chances in this demo than any NHL game I have ever played.

Maybe Superstar difficulty will be better in the retail game? All-Star Hardcore is just way too easy to score on.

[QuidProQuoBro]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1TqHI63tok[/youtube]

Easy goal

[ThreeKing]

I hate stuff like that and the people who do it or expose it.

Having said that, I hope the devs see it and fix it.

[jonapaloma]

Quote: Originally Posted by QuidProQuoBro

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1TqHI63tok[/youtube] Easy goal

Maybe in 5 years or so we'll see better and improved goalies. They seem to be behind what you can do as a player.

[jyoung]

Quote: Originally Posted by ThreeKing

I hate stuff like that and the people who do it or expose it. Having said that, I hope the devs see it and fix it.

It's good to expose these AI flaws so that the developers can see them and hopefully fix them.

The more video examples that get out there, the better.

[meep316]

I finally downloaded the demo yesterday, played like 10 or so games last night and dicked around in practice. Here are my thoughts. Keep in mind, I didn't play NHL 14 so I don't know what aspects of that are being carried over.

The Good:

-New superstar skill stick. The unnatural swiping side to side is pretty much gone. Now, if you want to make those 45 degree cuts, and those REAL pull to the backhand/forehand moves, there is really a trick to it. It even took me a while to get down. It's actually fairly complicated, and it doesn't surprise me to see that most people don't know how to utilize it at all. Hopefully this actually gives the advantage to the more skilled players who can pull those moves off.

-I like the one touch dekes. I can see idiots spamming them, but they're probably only really effective if you can do them in combination with some of the quick pullback moves I mentioned up there^, which is good.

-Some improvement with breakout positioning. Not perfect, but better.

-AI didn't feel like it was cheating, which is actually a HUGE deal. I've always felt that the AI in NHL and Madden were the laziest, cheapest AI in videogames. In the sense that EA would just make them unnaturally fast/can whip pucks around through any defender/make weird spinoffs/check you from behind when you have all momentum going forward and lay you out/etc. I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about. Maybe on Superstar it probably gets like that, but All Star it didn't.

-Teammate AI on cycling is a lot better.

-Shots look better, although is there a new slapshot animation? Something about the wind up looks off, I don't like it.

-Lively puck

-Pre Game EDIT Lines is better, which is a huge deal for me. But it's still not good enough to not have the ability to save your online lines. They better give us the ability to do that or I'll be annoyed. Just no excuse not to have that.


The Bad:

-Goalies are still idiots

-AI still doesn't challenge at the red or blue line, no matter what strategy you use. Literally the most basic, fundamental aspect of defense in hockey is to challenge the lines. And I don't mean to necessarily step up at the line, but keep your gaps in check. Don't just give up the red line, and when they get to the blue line, keep your stick there so they have to make the extra move at the blue line to gain the zone, to maybe draw them offsides, or at the very least, force them to do something they don't want to do. The fact that no matter what, they just GIVE you the blue line, is almost a game killer. It's why I never have, and never will play against the CPU. HORRIBLE.

-The pre game BS with Doc and Eddie, could not care less. Watched it the first time, skipped it every single time after. Huge waste of time/money for them to put that in the game and hype it as some major big deal. That probably cost a lot of money for them to shoot those, money that could've gone to better legends for HUT. If they come out and say that the money isn't there for more/better legends for HUT, that will be bull****. Especially considering the endless piles of money HUT brings in. Don't let people fool you into thinking these games have small budgets or whatever. Because of HUT, these games make more money than they ever have. They probably make more money from HUT than they do game sales themselves, and I'm not saying that as a slight against the game sales. People drop HUNDREDS of dollars on HUT without even blinking.

-The real footage of the pre-game flyover, also does nothing for me. I know I'm playing a videogame, that just takes me out of it. It adds nothing. Doc and Eddie's actual commentary also sucks, but that's par for the course for sports game commentary, so I don't really care. I hate Doc's voice/calls so much though, I mute it whenever the Bruins play on NBC.

-Only being able to play 2 minute periods is so stupid. You can't get anything going. I had like 2 odd man rushes the entire time, and I played like 10 games. So dumb. Just give one 5 minute period, that'd be better than 3 2 minute periods. How nobody thinks of this, is just beyond me.

-Speaking of odd man rushes, they are still awful. AI teammates have no idea what to do positioning wise. I had both a 2 on 1, and a 3 on 2, that I had to just do myself with dekes, because my idiot AI teammates refused to go to obvious open space that any pee wee would know to go to in order to execute a simple odd man rush. Terrible.

-A/X being one of the buttons to change a strategy during a cutscene is one of the dumbest things I've ever seen.

-No chop puck anymore? I tried it, tapped RB, and it didn't work. Did they take that out or is it a different button? I looked at the controls and didn't see it.

-Stupid wrong side one timers like the Jeff Carter goal in one of the gameplays they released.

-Hardcore is a million times better than simulation. The passing on simulation is terrible. It's like it is even more nerfed down than before. I can't pass to space at all, not even with saucer passes. You better be able to change the passing settings for online play to be able to have more free will with passes. Simulation was almost unplayable because of how bad it is.

-The passing in general is something that needs to be overhauled. I said it when they first introduced RT/R2 passing, and I'll say it again: having to hold it down, to "charge up" a pass, is ridiculously stupid. An NHL player can snap a pass at ridiculous velocity, nobody has to rear back and "charge up" a pass in real life. The velocity of your pass should be determined by how far down you push the trigger, and that's it. You can still be in holding for a pass, as the pass would not be made until the trigger is released, but if I just tap the trigger down, I should be able to fire a strong, hard pass, with just the snap of a wrist. The way it is now, makes it very difficult to complete a true tick tack toe type of play. The AI is the main reason why odd man rushes blow, but this is also a factor.

All in all, better than I thought it would be, and I'll probably get it since I didn't get NHL 14 and it feels newer to me than it probably does to some others. But still not near where they should/could be. Still lots of issues, lots of obvious flaws that I have no idea how someone at EA doesn't stick their hand up and go "ummm what are we doing here?"

Those are my thoughts. I'm sure I have more but I can't think of them right now.