Most realistic / sim based hockey game? your opinion

[MuzzUK]

As many are aware on here my mod team are focusing on an NHL 2K10 modding project at the moment. Should this fail and we cannot deliver what we want we'll defo be looking at other games and options.

In terms of sim and realism which NHL game do people feel last gen is the best representation of ice hockey. I'm going to boot up NHL 10, NHL 14 and 2K8 today and have a play around with sliders, as a lot of top 10 lists have these offerings.

Love to here what you guys think!

[nikethebike]

Quote: Originally Posted by MuzzUK

As many are aware on here my mod team are focusing on an NHL 2K10 modding project at the moment. Should this fail and we cannot deliver what we want we'll defo be looking at other games and options. In terms of sim and realism which NHL game do people feel last gen is the best representation of ice hockey. I'm going to boot up NHL 10, NHL 14 and 2K8 today and have a play around with sliders, as a lot of top 10 lists have these offerings. Love to here what you guys think!

I thought NHL Legacy was an updated NHL14? In other words it is probably the best EA NHL you have last gen. I guess why it is rarely mentioned in lists is that people already moved on to the new consoles by then.

[MuzzUK]

I always found the penalty calls to be non existent and game breaking.

[nikethebike]

Quote: Originally Posted by MuzzUK

I always found the penalty calls to be non existent and game breaking.

Is that better on 14?

[MuzzUK]

Honesty I've been playing NHL 11 to NHL Legacy on an emulator I've found only 11 and 12 have good penalty numbers. Legacy wasn't too bad but 13 and 14 I played two games AI drew one pen lol.

I've applied a few patches so will give that a go at some point. That's another thing I like about 2K10 the sliders actually seem to have good effects on penalties and injuries.

[nikethebike]

Yeah the sliders on 2K games actually make a difference.

[Spragga]

With the correct settings / sliders, NHL 21 is by far the best SIM game. Im sorry guys but 2k just doesn't cut it anymore. It's been way too long for it to be considered good anymore. At this point NHL 21 bascially does everything better than NHL2K.

[The EVHL]

Quote: Originally Posted by Spragga

With the correct settings / sliders, NHL 21 is by far the best SIM game. Im sorry guys but 2k just doesn't cut it anymore. It's been way too long for it to be considered good anymore. At this point NHL 21 bascially does everything better than NHL2K.

I mostly agree with this. I think my offline 21 sliders are pretty awesome (and to each their own here) but there's some scenarios where the AI are just ridiculously stupid compared to 2k8 that I hate seeing. Also, The way 2k's players would actually like drop to one knee before the shot was made was incredible as faking a shot actually did something and was incredibly read and effective. While I think 2k8's goalie animations are bit outdated, the way they played the game (took ground when they should, got screened, actually had weight when recovering to rebounds) is still better than EA's imo (coming from an IRL goalie).

I definitely like the final product of 21 better and more intuitive, but I still like 2k's direction and the "little things" about their games better. That true understanding of the sport is something EA doesn't have and honestly doesn't really seem to care about having. I'm someone who loves those "little things" being represented well. perfect combination of 2k's knowledge of the sport/presentation, EA's smooth animations/visuals, and the sense of chaos in scrambles in-front of the net from NHL Hitz Pro due to diving blocking AND shooting animations would be my dream/perfect game.

Overall playtime in terms of my "favorite games" are:
1. NHL Hitz Pro
2. NHL 2k10
3. NHL 21
4. NHL 2k8

21 is behind simply due to longevity though. NHL Hitz Pro is from 2003 and 2k10 from 2009 which both saw HEAVY offline use up until 19 when I truly thought EA gave us enough sliders and an actually enjoyable skating engine to make offline play worth while again. 21 is a great step in the right direction. Will play my season out for however long that takes, then transition to 22 when it hits EA Play.