NHL 17 Beta Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here!

[Ruffy]

Quote: Originally Posted by LAfan1624

Its lame that you cant play offline in this beta. Why did they make it online only? This isnt a game that was meant for online, theres too much lag. Btw will the online stats carry over into the real game when it comes out?

Single player HUT is versus CPU.

[MBizzle13]

Ps4 code anyone??

[Pappy Knuckles]

I've only played online so far and I'm enjoying it. I'm not a fan of the sport, but I enjoyed 16. NHL 17 feels pretty good and I think I'm going to grab it at launch. Here's a goal I scored online earlier. I'm a pretty awful player, so this one felt good.

[Södy]

I wish I could change the game style to hardcore in HUT Solo Play.

[iaxy]

So people observe that it plays a lot like NHL 16. Whilst I have a different opinion, I see exactly why they would feel that.

Whilst a much tightened game, NHL 17 looks almost identical to NHL 16. And that’s not exactly a compliment. For several years now EA have been recycling the same animations, camera angles, light conditions, reflections, etc. That doesn’t mean NHL 17 is a bad looking game. For someone who is picking this up for the first time, the presentation may look fresh, but for people who have played it since 2013 (I’ve played it since 2003), the game looks stale, tired and is in need of a major overhaul – graphically.

So let’s get the criticism out of the way first.
The animations (or lack of new ones) let this game down badly. I am tired of seeing the same robotic animations associated with shooting, passing, pass reception, pucks pickups from boards, etc.. It feels and looks jerky. It lacks fluidity. EA have done amazing strides forward with FIFA, why can’t they do it with NHL?!? You can’t have a stick fully extended in front of your body and generate a snap shot – this is against the law of physics and it also looks arcadish. How many years has this ridiculous animation been in the series – 5? 6? The chop puck is another horrendous looking animation recycled from last year. When reaching the puck near the boards, the animation looks silly to say the least. Regarding player models - the separation of limbs and upper / lower body is still robotic and jerky.
I only play on True Broadcast camera, but I honestly can’t begin to think how people who play up / down must feel like. It looks exactly the same as any NHL from the last 4,5 years. It’s just monotonous and stale for anyone who has played the series before.

So the question is – does it justify the purchase?

The graphics / animation topic aside, the game actually plays very well. EA have tightened the controls, the skating feels more realistic due to the addition of more weight and also different players feel different to maneuver. Heavy guys feel heavy and stocky, smaller guys and danglers feel lighter and agile. Puck physics have improved. There a lot more loose pucks and that’s a good thing. Hockey is a loose game. Defencemen feel better (easier) to control as they do not shift out of positions as easily as last year. Players hold the blue line better and go offside less often – a huge source of frustration with previous games. Momentum (inertia) has a bigger effect, which is a welcome addition. The variety of goals scored is much greater. Goalies feel and look better. Hitting feels more rewarding and actually serves a tactical purpose.
So gameplay wise, this game plays a decent game of hockey.
But to me the lack of new animations is a gamebreaker and I will not be purchasing this game.

My positives:

+ Much better skating
+ Shots have a zip to them. The speed feel realistic
+ Passes are quicker
+ Breakaways are more frequent and feel / look better.
+ Players hold the blue line better
+ It’s easier to play D as D-men do not glide wildly as they did last year
+ Much better puck physics
+ Camera shakes when there is a goal - at least on True Broadcast (although this may get old quickly)
+ Different players feel different to control
+ Greater variety of goals
+ There’s more penalties
+ The goalies have received some love and if there are any new animations – that’s where they are.
+ If I am not imagining this, I think I saw the crowd progressively rising from their chairs as I built up one particular attack. The crowd and goalies are probably the only new things I’ve seen in the graphics / animation department.

Negatives:

-Stale animations for passing, shooting, and general stick handling make this game look old and tired (big issue for me)
-Jerky movements
-Whilst the skating feels better, it still looks robotic and tired – it just lacks fluidity when changing direction
-Maneuvering when close to the boards looks horrendous. And so does the chop animation
-Stale presentation (EA need to introduce some new camera angles, new ice reflections, new light)
-Stale player models - same old as the last 2-3 years. Little separation between upper and lower body, limbs, etc.
-Online it's just the same cheese. You can still get disposessed by players trailing behind you without any contact actually occurring
-Player clustering is still an issue – with no real physics present in the pile ups

[shogunofharlem3]

Played 5 or 6 games last night. I thought it played very well. Similar to 16 but I felt like if you were in position to break up a play you could actually do it. Which was nice. I also found it much easier when playing defense to keep the puck carrier to the outside, which was also nice.

That being said, my absolute favorite thing so far. The 3rd game I played was a 6v6 and we had great chemistry. I mentioned that 17 allows drop in teams to stick together for the next game. We did, for 3 more games. We went 4-0. Had some great laughs and we really were starting to play hockey.

Love that feature. Great addition.

[bonannogiovanni]

my PS4 codes:

FDN6EQN2JQ63

F3CPE8NRJQMQ

Happy gaming!

[seasprite]

Quote: Originally Posted by Pappy Knuckles

I've only played online so far and I'm enjoying it. I'm not a fan of the sport, but I enjoyed 16. NHL 17 feels pretty good and I think I'm going to grab it at launch. Here's a goal I scored online earlier. I'm a pretty awful player, so this one felt good.

Great goal.................that defense was horrible lol