NHL 17 Beta Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here!

[bestout51683]

For those that say the game is exactly the same must not notice the little differences. The AI plays 10 times better than any other NHL game. They actually mark open players and I haven't seen a the opportunity to get off the glitches one-time shots unless you make a smart play. It also appears the game penalizes you for trying to skate back on your side of the and then just skate by the gpu defender back up the ice. It seems as if the AI sticks to the offensive player a lot better and will steal the puck. There may not be a dramatic change to appearance but I am definitely seeing a big improvement with the AI , physical physics, and the overall game play as a whole. Definitely feeling more simulation hockey.

[clou14]

Skating feels great, much smoother than 16. The goalies look amazing. 41(!!) new stances. Almost every Canuck have face scans, I'm not sure about the other teams. The create a team/arena is beautiful! I just wish we could import music like The Show. I went and pre ordered the game after about 2 hours of playtime

[jyoung]

I've got a club up for USA East Coast players on the Xbox One if anyone wants to join it just search for OS East

It's set to private but I'll accept anyone who posts in this thread.

[bestout51683]

Im going to join My gt will be bestout51683

[RockTheRed7]

If anyone has an extra PS4 BETA Code, would be much appreciated. Thanks! Can email me at [email protected]

[Simple Mathematics]

I'm pretty sure the thread title says "post your impressions here", not "post your requests for codes here".

[TheNinjaGuyDon]

Special thanks to Ezio for gifting me a code, here are my first impressions:

1. You can run NHL trax for menu music, but the other option is, get this, the same exact menu music from NHL 15 and 16 (nightmares still from 15).

2. Played about 4 or 5 EASHL Drop-Ins on PS4. About 600 people online for drop-ins. Played as goalie for the first 3 games. Button mapping seems to be goofed. L2 does not seem to be precision movement but rather R1? I double-checked the mapping and R1 shouldn't even be an option unless I"m missing something. Gameplay seems a lot smoother and better paced than last year. Switched the balloon icons to smallest but still HUGE, don't think the settings are saving.

3. The menu, customization, etc is basically a cookie cutter from last year. Same color wheel, and similar UI overall across the board. Songs, sounds, and other customization is pretty cool, but tedious. The selecting different zones for customization is the same as last year as well. Not the best experience for customization, L2 and R2 to navigate, etc. Overall still generic but I can look past that.

4. Goalie movement needs tweaking. Goalie likes to face a 90% angle and while he input lag seems to be better and more responsive, the animation hesitates I feel like before sliding over for those cross-creases. Again, all first impressions. I'd need like 30 games to really get the hang. The L2/R1 button mapping issue will take some getting used to, assuming it's bugged though.

5. Did have one disconnect, but no stutter or lag to speak of. After a match, got tossed back to the lobby but had to back out to get into a new match. Overall, gameplay improvements from last year, some added customization which is cool. AI defensemen still loses the puck on the net btw. More passes seem to get through, and goals that I could stop last year are getting by. I'm sure they'll do some tweaking, but like I said, need more games under my belt to truly have solid opinions.

[berad88]

A couple other things I noticed.

It does seem that penalties get called more often but not excessively.

The tie ups are not just a gimmick, they help cut down on one timers.

Guys that get checked no longer get up and maintain control of the puck. This is huge and this alone makes the game a lot better.

The more I play the more I really like the audio changes.

It does play a lot like 16 but the changes give the game a much better feel. 16 seemed like a solid foundation and this improves some of the weaker points of that game. Anybody looking for a major overhaul will be disappointed but those that enjoyed 16 will probably love 17.

Can't wait till the full game launches and I can start GM mode or whatever they call it now. I am really enjoying the beta. Just wish I could play offline with normal teams instead of a HUT roster. Weird that it's a beta and we can't even test the major offline mode.