NHL 15: Early Impressions from 360/PS3 Version

[jyoung]

Quote: Originally Posted by CanuckJ

My question for NHL 15 on Xbox 360 is have you gone into hockey ultimate team?

EA won't let us play Ultimate Team in the Season Ticket version. I'll have Ultimate Team impressions once I get the retail version on Tuesday.

Quote:

I really got into that on NHL 14 I was wondering if perhaps all my cards carried over into the next game?

You don't get to keep your old cards, but you will get a returning user bonus (free gold packs) based on your card collection size, puck balance, and games played in NHL 14 HUT.

Quote:

Also I know custom music is in the game which is good but can you confirm break in play works right off the bat, last year it was bugged and didn't work until a patch was released which sucked.

I'll check this out later today and get back to you.

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is the Stanley Cup celebration exactly the same as 14?

I'm in the playoffs right now with the Senators, so once I win the Cup with them I will record it and upload it.

[jyoung]

Good news:

Eddie Läck's custom pads are in the game.

Bad news:

You can't change the colors, despite the fact that there's an editing screen for it, and the logos won't switch when you put them on a goalie playing for another team.

So maybe more goalie-specific gear will be added over time in this series, but it's not a feature yet in NHL 15.

[dammit100]

The commentary is truly horrid. Everything Doc says (which is about 95% of all commentary) feels like a separate event; there's no flow to it.

[jb1]

Got through 7 games in playoff mode on All Star/Hardcore and whilst the gameplay feels a bit tighter there isn't much difference to NHL 14 here. Dumping the puck feels much better but I only do it because I want to, there is rarely anytime during the game where I feel I can't just walk into the offensive zone at will. Hitting feels a bit better, nice to see you can run into your own player or have two opposing players go flying at the same time, it could look better but still. Other than that it's pretty much as you were.

Penalties are called at the same rate as they were in NHL 14, I have played on 8 min periods and I have had games average 2-3 penalties a game. Not had a game without a penalty called yet and have had as high as 7 in one game, the lowest was 1 call. Not much variation though, mostly checking from behind, a few high sticks, interference and goalie interference calls and very rarely a tripping call. No charging, cross checking or hooking calls. I still think a lot of work needs to be done here but at this point it looks like we are beating a dead horse.

The commentary on one hand is refreshing just to hear different voices but this is miles away from what we had in NHL 14. Personally I liked the old commentary but was still pleased when they announced a change but I see or rather hear a number of problems. Firstly Doc doesn't have any kind of natural flow, it just sounds like a series of individual statements some of which are already getting very repetitive. Eddie barely speaks and when he does it's very short and mostly just saying what a great hit or you have to keep your head up. Ray is easily the best sounding of the trio, he has a great flow and actually sounds like he is watching the game and does a great job.

One big issue I have with commentary though is through playing playoff mode there is barely a reference to the game being a playoff game. No mention pre game or during and just a passing reference at the end of the game, that's very disappointing and takes a lot of the immersion factor away.

Overall, it's still a fun game to play (for me at least) and with the True Broadcast camera I do have some really good games but if I was staying with this generation of consoles I would not pick this game up. Might as well just stick with 14 unless the dumping of the puck issues really bother you. $60 or £40 seems a lot of money to pay just for that fix though.

[CanuckJ]

Thanks for the answers really appreciate it

Quote: Originally Posted by jyoung

EA won't let us play Ultimate Team in the Season Ticket version. I'll have Ultimate Team impressions once I get the retail version on Tuesday. You don't get to keep your old cards, but you will get a returning user bonus (free gold packs) based on your card collection size, puck balance, and games played in NHL 14 HUT. I'll check this out later today and get back to you. I'm in the playoffs right now with the Senators, so once I win the Cup with them I will record it and upload it.

[V419R]

I see no indication of Season Mode being in the last generation version (PS3/360) of the game (season mode and be a gm are NOT the same).

http://www.easports.com/nhl/news/201...s-xbox-360-ps3

[jyoung]

Quote: Originally Posted by V419R

I see no indication of Season Mode being in the last generation version (PS3/360) of the game (season mode and be a gm are NOT the same). http://www.easports.com/nhl/news/201...s-xbox-360-ps3

Season mode is still in the PS3/360 version.

The only missing mode on PS3/360 is the EA Sports Arena.

[V419R]

Thank you! Finally some visible proof.