NHL 16 Available Today For Xbox One & PlayStation 4, Post Your Impressions

[buganation7]

Quote: Originally Posted by tjung0831

McDavid won't be on the NHL rosters until he plays an NHL game. You can however move him from his OHL junior team "Erie Otters" over to the Oilers. He's already an 83 or so, so he's pretty much good to go.

Really appreciate the quick response. Excited to play this game.

[Steven547]

Here are my thoughts on this game.

It's an improvement in some areas and the same old poor AI in others. That about sums up my feeling so far.

Gameplay wise, it's okay, but again I've experienced the "slow" skater out skating my speedster. Every time the CPU had a break away, there was no catching them.

The cross crease pass goal is back. In the past 3 games, I have seen this happen about 5-6 times. First two goals Tampa had against me were those type of shots. Watching a Chicago vs NYR (CPU vs CPU) game...first goal by the Rangers....pass across the crease. Maybe the goalies are extremely slow this year. But most goals come from the side of the goal with no problem.

Now, I'm a position lock player. So I figured playing that, I would see this "new AI". I felt like my players skills dropped. Was Chicago playing Edmonton. Edmonton scored 3 goals on me in the first period. Again, cross crease goals and one "typical EA" goal that I couldn't even believe went in. And somehow, their goalie (rated 86), played like a superstar.

Penalties? Just like years past, hardly any penalties. In 3 games, one penalty.

Now, of course I'm hoping (and praying!) the sliders fix all the issues I'm experiencing. Is this an improvement over NHL 15? Sort of. It's basically NHL 14.5 with enhanced graphics.

But, I'm going to stay positive and hope things get better.

[headzapp]

I loved this hit. I also like how you can turn the player icon off. After playing all these years you already know what player will be controlled when you switch players. It's so much better without that red bubble over your players head!

[ericromain]

I'm enjoying online versus. I'm finding myself breaking up passes with sticks/bodies in the passing lane much better than last year. Turning auto back skate off is giving me the control i want in front to break up passes too

Defense just feels better, good pursuit angles, playing the body, and applying pressure, even when not going for the hit, is creating turnovers. The game is actually keeping me honest where I've been burned going for "sure hits" from last year only have them spin off.
Going for big hits will leave you in the dust, but they're extra rewarding when you connect.

Passing is heading in the right direction. Goals feel fine.

I love having action tracker back so i can actually see game highlights post game.

The one thing that really made me sad is that Online Versus still has auto goalies for penalty shots (and i assume shootouts?). Manual goalies make it a lot easier to score and put more liability on the people who trip opponents on breakaways.

[BlueNGold]

When you're in instant replay, can you turn off the icons to take pictures?

[bad_philanthropy]

Here are some updated impressions/observations from a mix of All-Star and Superstar Hardcore with a mix of sliders testing different things.

-Game speed slider bug needs fixing or default game speed needs lowering. The default pace is frenetic and goofy. It does not resemble hockey. Too many players skating forward have too much lateral acceleration/movement precision.

-CPU passing is all quite silly (will post some videos later). The passing sliders don't seem to affect the cpu ability one bit.

-From my observations the cpu is able to pass the puck from positions/postures and checking scenarios they should not be able to. If you look carefully you will often see the puck move according to the body and stick position upon reception and then a 90 degree change of direction by the puck so it may be rifled over to a teammate. Similarly, the cpu may make all sorts of amazing behind the back/backhanded passes from the corner to the point without accuracy or reduced pass power on the backhand appearing to play any factor

-Part of a function of the wacky cpu, physics and angle defying passing is that the cpu is able to counter-attack extremely quickly, but also from way deep in their d-zone.

Resulting from what I just described, the defensemen simply doesn't have to gather the puck and try to make a good pass while being checked or with traffic clogging lanes in the d-zone. There is no such thing as a hard or impossible pass for the cpu. As soon as he gets the puck he can zip a pass behind his back or on a perfect diagonal to a streaking forward. Defending with body position is pointless (unlike last gen).

Not only does this make the AI behavior have no differentiation between say Drew Doughty and Luke Schenn getting the puck out of their zone, but it simply isn't how getting the puck out of the d-zone works at all. All of the cpu's passes are in straight lines or diagonals, and since the puck is able to be passed off their stick at impossible angles with immense power, they are able to pass in clean lines (only to be foiled by the occasional interception). If they couldn't get the puck off their stick in all scenarios they would have to use the boards in some instances and have to work the walls for a few phases to get the puck out at times.

-There are some other bizarre features of the cpu passing and skating in general that don't make sense. There is far too little fluidness in the skating engine, and too often you have players turned around at the wrong time. I feel like NHL 15 on 360 was better in this department. Almost feels like it was in NHL 12 before the new skating engine.

Additionally to that point, when I am set up in the defensive zone my forwards will often (almost always) be completely turned towards the goalie watching/tracking the puck in the corner. My players needs to be able to head track, but also position himself at 90 degrees when covering the point man and not 180 towards his own goalie.

-Player differentiation is a big problem. I have video that I will post later of Shawn Thornton backing up NHL defensemen with his dangles, and rifling amazing no look passes from the corner to the point.

-I like the way the cpu plays defense.

[bad_philanthropy]

Quote: Originally Posted by BlueNGold

When you're in instant replay, can you turn off the icons to take pictures?

Yeah, press triangle or XB1 equivalent twice and it gets rid of the replay control HUD and the second press gets rid of player indicator and the yellow circle.

[GravesFan9]

Anyone can answer some Be a Gm questions?

- I didn't play 15...is the trade/free agency/player movement logic any better than the garbage it was in years past?

- Is the name generator for the draft any better, or will there still be Russian guys named Russell Collins or some nonsense like that?

- Are the new contracts given out realistic at all? In previous games, the salaries were absurdly low most of the time.

Thanks