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

[actionhank]

Quote: Originally Posted by nddurst

Is anyone else not happy with how 3-on-3 overtime plays out in this game? It seems like there is no real urgency by your offensive teammates to find open space in the zone for a good shot opportunity. I've run into many situations where I'll have a single forward playing near the front of the net, and the other two are just hanging back by the blue line. Is that how it plays out in real life?

The few 3-on-3 OT's I've seen in the preseason, players have been cautious, but they were still moving around and trying to get open, and more importantly, when they got any sort of pressure, they capitalized. I think the 3 I saw, only 1 went to a "shootout" while the other 2 ended within the first two minutes if I'm remembering right.

That's been one of my biggest gripes with the AI in the NHL series for the past few years. There's no sense of urgency...ever. Your players, or the computer team's players...no one has any idea what to do. Ignoring even just the general inability of the AI to play defense well, or setup offensive scoring chances that look like more than just random passing, the AI don't know what the hell to do in certain scenarios.

I can remember playing NHL14, and in a lot of situations where the game was 2-1, the AI wouldn't really pressure to score a tying goal. I don't really remember them using timeouts, and most of the time, whatever line happened to be out during the last minute was the line they rolled with. 4th line out there? Screw it, let the big guys give it a shot. They also wouldn't pull their goalie until the last possible moment.

Again when down by a goal, or on the powerplay, there's no urgency to get to the puck. Guys move at the same speed, no matter what they're doing. Guys don't rush to the line trying to keep the puck in, and they don't really play defense any differently, even with a wide open net down at the other end of the ice. They would still lazily skate around the neutral zone, but there was no hustling and rushing. Just like the Blues/Brewers, I'm really hopeful that the next season brings some real changes. The AI in this game has been stagnant, and while I haven't gotten to play any hands on time in NHL16 yet (still hoping to rent it or find it used...game rental isn't fun to do anymore) I also haven't seen anything from the videos online that indicate anything has really changed.

It would be great if the AI 'knew' what the situation was. Down by 1 goal in the 3rd with the playoffs riding on this win? That bench is going to get short, and you're going to be throwing out your top lines until those guys physically can't stand. Your defense is going to pinch more and take risks, and when the goalie gets pulled (which the AI will hopefully do before the 30 second mark, despite sitting in the zone for the past minute) you're going to throw your best scorer out there, and use a timeout when you can, to rest them and give them a chance.

On the opposite side of things, when you're trying to guard that lead, your guys are going to backcheck harder and your defense will spend more time worrying about not getting beat.

This and players that play different would go a long way to making the games themselves feel more unique and alive, and the player separation would help to make the teams play more uniquely. You have to pay a lot more attention in the game when someone like Karlsson or Shattenkirk are out there to help tie a game, instead of the AI sending out someone like Steve Ott to help tie the game.

[nddurst]

Quote: Originally Posted by actionhank

The few 3-on-3 OT's I've seen in the preseason, players have been cautious, but they were still moving around and trying to get open, and more importantly, when they got any sort of pressure, they capitalized. I think the 3 I saw, only 1 went to a "shootout" while the other 2 ended within the first two minutes if I'm remembering right. That's been one of my biggest gripes with the AI in the NHL series for the past few years. There's no sense of urgency...ever. Your players, or the computer team's players...no one has any idea what to do. Ignoring even just the general inability of the AI to play defense well, or setup offensive scoring chances that look like more than just random passing, the AI don't know what the hell to do in certain scenarios. I can remember playing NHL14, and in a lot of situations where the game was 2-1, the AI wouldn't really pressure to score a tying goal. I don't really remember them using timeouts, and most of the time, whatever line happened to be out during the last minute was the line they rolled with. 4th line out there? Screw it, let the big guys give it a shot. They also wouldn't pull their goalie until the last possible moment. Again when down by a goal, or on the powerplay, there's no urgency to get to the puck. Guys move at the same speed, no matter what they're doing. Guys don't rush to the line trying to keep the puck in, and they don't really play defense any differently, even with a wide open net down at the other end of the ice. They would still lazily skate around the neutral zone, but there was no hustling and rushing. Just like the Blues/Brewers, I'm really hopeful that the next season brings some real changes. The AI in this game has been stagnant, and while I haven't gotten to play any hands on time in NHL16 yet (still hoping to rent it or find it used...game rental isn't fun to do anymore) I also haven't seen anything from the videos online that indicate anything has really changed. It would be great if the AI 'knew' what the situation was. Down by 1 goal in the 3rd with the playoffs riding on this win? That bench is going to get short, and you're going to be throwing out your top lines until those guys physically can't stand. Your defense is going to pinch more and take risks, and when the goalie gets pulled (which the AI will hopefully do before the 30 second mark, despite sitting in the zone for the past minute) you're going to throw your best scorer out there, and use a timeout when you can, to rest them and give them a chance. On the opposite side of things, when you're trying to guard that lead, your guys are going to backcheck harder and your defense will spend more time worrying about not getting beat. This and players that play different would go a long way to making the games themselves feel more unique and alive, and the player separation would help to make the teams play more uniquely. You have to pay a lot more attention in the game when someone like Karlsson or Shattenkirk are out there to help tie a game, instead of the AI sending out someone like Steve Ott to help tie the game.

Very well said. I agree with everything. AI really needs to be a major focus for NHL 17 to finally get this series where it needs to be. And not just tweaks--it needs to be re-built for every situation. I bought NHL 16 after not buying '13, '14 or '15 and already I'm getting both bored and frustrated by the same old AI that just gets re-used year after year.

[actionhank]

Quote: Originally Posted by nddurst

Very well said. I agree with everything. AI really needs to be a major focus for NHL 17 to finally get this series where it needs to be. And not just tweaks--it needs to be re-built for every situation. I bought NHL 16 after not buying '13, '14 or '15 and already I'm getting both bored and frustrated by the same old AI that just gets re-used year after year.

That's why I've been so hesitant to buy the game. It looks great, and the GM Mode finally returning to what it should have been last year looks good...but the AI was and is my biggest frustration. All of the penalties in the world won't mean a thing to me if the AI is still braindead on every difficult setting.

[norml]

The biggest problem that needs to be addressed is the skating engine. In it's current state it is broken.

[Splitter77]

Quote: Originally Posted by nddurst

Is anyone else not happy with how 3-on-3 overtime plays out in this game? It seems like there is no real urgency by your offensive teammates to find open space in the zone for a good shot opportunity. I've run into many situations where I'll have a single forward playing near the front of the net, and the other two are just hanging back by the blue line. Is that how it plays out in real life?

the whole game is like that.
have you seen how the cpu plays when they pull their goalie??
its like they are trying to play 5 on 5 still. its laughable

[AdamJones113]

Very well said, actionhank. While 16's AI is improved in terms of physical skill and parity, the AI is still very, very poor in terms of mental decision making and mental awareness.

This is something that I really hope for down the line. For NHL 14, goalies finally knew what the score was. No joke. It took that long on gen-3 to get there, but they did get there. "With the power of the next-gen consoles" I hope that all AI players will finally get that kind of awareness.

[jake19ny]

Quote: Originally Posted by AdamJones113

Very well said, actionhank. While 16's AI is improved in terms of physical skill and parity, the AI is still very, very poor in terms of mental decision making and mental awareness. This is something that I really hope for down the line. For NHL 14, goalies finally knew what the score was. No joke. It took that long on gen-3 to get there, but they did get there. "With the power of the next-gen consoles" I hope that all AI players will finally get that kind of awareness.

I'm not sure why the NHL crew doesn't look at FIFA more for their AI. The sports while very different some ways is also very similar in other ways. When you play FIFA and control one your backs fielders and move up field a CPU teammate drops back to cover that position. It's like that all over the field. The minute you switch to a particular position player the previous player you were controlling immediately moves to a sensible strategic location, be it on offense or defense. In the NHL series that rarely happens and guys are almost never where they should be. This is really evident in your own end of the ice where CPU teammates seemingly have no clue. I believe it's possible for this to be corrected. When I play on the power play and go deep with a defender an offensive player drops to the point position like he should. They need to go back and take a long look at this because if they can do it with special teams play and in FIFA they should be able to do it in the rest if the game.

[AdamJones113]

The more I play this game offline, the more disappointed I am. After initial impressions of this game being a serious gameplay upgrade, the defenders still play like crap, the goalies play incredibly unrealistically, the passing is outrageous at times, and there is just not enough lateral control over your skater. The worst part this year for me is the puck and stick physics. The first seems completely arbitrary, while the later more than seems completely arbitrary. The collision detection system needs a ton of work. The puck pickup system needs a lot of work.

/rant.