Three Keys: NHL 16

[BaylorBearBryant]

Bring back EASHL and fix the physics for online team play.

[ericromain]

I don't think NHL15 has been a disaster. Gameplay is solid and the rinks look great. I think the content of the between minute 0 and minute 60 are what matter most.

I think NHL16 needs to have all content added back. Manual control goalies in shootouts, action tracker with full replay integration are what i miss outside of game modes. Custom music.
Then all missing modes need to be added back to last gen quality.
Even HUT is kinda of a thin mode.

What's new is needed?
Goalies need updating. True performance skating a couple of years ago drastically improved the form of the players, their form looks like a real hockey player now, but the goalies need the equivalent. Their form, the way they flop and push off, they way they skate and handle the puck are looking particularly old.

I want more customization: Roster sharing. An improved team creator that lets you recreate real uniforms and share them. Custom board ads. Custom faces.

[Inflict]

Number 1 and 2 are a given, but Number 3 isn't really an issue for me. Presentation is great with authentic arenas and goal horns and a new commentary team. However, Doc E. doesn't really give a good performance and hopefully some of his lines can be re-recorded.

What needs to be improved is board play. Its horrendous. It's been the same since they implemented it last gen (albeit with less suction) and it's just too predictable. Once you are pinned, you can't protect the puck at all and you are forced to pass it immediately as you will get no help from your AI teammates (they stay 10 feet away from you at all times) and the opposing team will always poke it away and gain possession. Also, protecting the puck (X on PS4) is way too powerful along the boards. Your checks almost always bounce off the player and pinning them to the boards requires extremely precise precision. They need to increase the radius again and provide more animations to board play. There should be situations where you almost pin them, but the player escapes but is slowed down or draws a penalty. Chipping the puck along the boards should also have a shorter/faster animation.

One more major feature they need to implement is to allow stick on stick or stick on player collisions. No more canned stick lift animations (it should not be predetermined), no more of the stick clipping through players and other player's sticks (though I am not apposed to the clipping that happens through your own goalies net. AI and player positioning is not yet good enough to compensate for a realistic approach).

When all is said and done, I do still love the gameplay. Puck physics, stick handling and skating (for the most part) are perfect. Passing could be better (can't control pass speed, make short passes in front or beside you or control which player receives the pass if there are 2 or more players in the same passing lane) but it's better than the previous gen. Defense is good, but the pokecheck is slightly too effective. A pokecheck during a shot animation should not result in a whiffed shot. It should be a deflection.

I could write a ton of things that need to be fixed, but I definitely think they have a great foundation to build upon. Can't wait for NHL 16.

PS. I agree with a previous poster that Action Tracker needs to come back. A very underrated feature and one of the best replay systems in all of sports.

[Smirkin Dirk]

The more player and team differentation, the better.

Custom rosters are a must.

[headzapp]

EASHL wasn't left out because they didn't want it in. I thought the team got butchered to help with ufc. So yes it will be in next year. Better goalies would be nice. I love the presentation and for a year one attempt it's great, and will get better.
My only gripes are in bagm some games the goalie stats are all zeros. I'd like to have total goals for the player who scored. like a player scores in game have it say goal Tarasenko 1 (12) assist Jackman (5) Schwartz (8). Little things like that. Different stadium announcers for teams, and since we have legit stadiums mostly have legit stadium sounds. Like the cartman thing for L.A., and the ONE TWO THREE chant for how many goals there are when the Blues score and so on. Have reverse hits, board play, defensive sticks where you can chop down on players with the pucks to make it harder for them to get away. Physics where the sticks don't go through everything. Goalie mask customization. Give us colors and team stickers and designs to make masks close to the real things. and have a vault to download others masks , and roster vaults for the nhl, and ahl teams.

[canucksss]

Quote: Originally Posted by Sycecg

dont you see, they removed modes because they didnt have the man power to fix them and make them better, they basically put all their manpower into presentation. Why do you think they had to add modes later after release? because they didnt have the manpower to implement them for the release of the game. besides im not defending EA at all, they took out the only true mode i enjoyed GMC.

Did EA admit that they have less man power or you just arrived in that conclusion? They have 2 years before they release the game in PS4/X1 and you expect me to believe in their reason that they have less people in their area so all they can do is improve presentation and a little bit in gameplay? Oh but they did work on HUT, wherein they could squeeze more money from the people who bought their games? Oh...also, being not upfront to the consumers that this game will be stripped off and yea...billing you with the same price?

With all the issues that is in NHL 15, why did they release a half-baked or even less product and not being upfront to the consumers about it? I dont know about you, but if EA will continue their trend in their effort and people will keep giving them excuses, EA will never produce a product that is true to the game it represents. EA is capable in producing the best hockey game, but they refused to do so because they want more money with less investment. Sure, that is very good tactic in all business, but at least produce a game that is respectable in all aspect and not lacking in so much area.

Zamboni race? 3 on 3 big heads? You can at least see the priorities of EA in producing a game with less human resources. PLEASE!

[NC12]

New devs.....

[13whitebread]

I would like a single player experience offline is how I play. I recently purchased the game because I got it used for 25.00. I have only played for 2 days only in playoff mode so it will take some time for crtiqueing. One thing that stands out is DOC really sounding robotic. Eddy actually is very good and Ray ferraro is exceptional. At least that is my take. Hopefully fat cats at EA listen but it remains skeptical at least untill we see NHL16