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NHL 10 News Post

The NHL 10 demo is available for the Xbox 360. Post your impressions here. The PS3 demo will be available next week.

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Game: NHL 10Reader Score: 7.5/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS3 / Xbox 360Votes for game: 28 - View All
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# 201 StatMan79 @ 08/21/09 03:50 AM
Be A Pro is going to be sick amounts of fun this year... That is provided the AI GM of the team doesn't go thoroughly ******** with jerking you around between the AHL and NHL.

The BAP game I played tonight was very satisfying including scoring a goal off a fat rebound. I enjoyed the added touch to the organist playing for the announcement of the 3 stars of the game. Subtle, noticeable and awesome.

I have a feeling that stirring up trouble after whistles is going to become everyone's favorite pastime.
 
# 202 sroz39 @ 08/21/09 03:50 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by WalkMan99
Yeh, I Can't wait to but it looks like many sports gamers are dissapointed with NHL 10 and are looking to return to NHL 09. Looks like the same game, just new rosters. I'm not sure if I will waste my money on NHL 10 this season....looking to buy NBA 2K10 instead
Not sure what forums this opinion is based off of, but I imagine you couldn't be referring to the overwhelming praise that the demo is getting on OS.
 
# 203 Redshirt_EA @ 08/21/09 04:18 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spanky
Are you freaking kidding me? That is just plain stupid.

You expect everybody to have the same skill level?

You expect everybody to like the same kind of game play?

Sliders allow us to customize the game to our liking. Some like wide-open, high-scoring games. Some like low-scoring, tight-checking games. Some like fast passes, some like slow passes. Some like quick, accurate one-timers, some don't.

Don't give these companies any ideas. The next you know, like Madden 09, they'll remove CPU sliders.
My thoughts exactly... well, almost. I have some sympathy with the original post because when I joined NHL I thought it had too many sliders too. I didn't mind them for playing against the CPU, but when playing against another person you kind of want to know you are playing the sanctified, official version. I was also concerned that the sliders sometimes get used as an excuse for developers not to put enough effort into tuning the game because they feel they've got their bases covered (when in reality only a small percentage of players will ever touch them). If that is the concern I can assure that we spent a lot of time tuning the defaults to what we think plays the best and what the majority of people will like.
 
# 204 NoSkillz50 @ 08/21/09 05:05 AM
they seemed to have taken out those terrible lofty dump ins which is good.

the board play is good, but u can pin people to the board from bad angles though without getting holding calls. not that i want to see a holding call everytime somebody tries to pin somebody they have no leverage on, but you shouldn't be able to stop people dead in their tracks without proper position.

love the passing. the rebounds feel right.

what's the deal with the preset sliders? will the eashl use default?

i'm kind of angry that hardcore sliders have the speed set lower. i think it is realistic, but it's almost like the developers are confirming that the game plays too fast out of the box, so i hope that the eashly uses the "realistic"/hardcore slider set. i want a complete sim experience online or off, i think most people that realy care do, it's kind of annoying when games consciously cater to casual gamers at the cost of realism.
 
# 205 Lubey @ 08/21/09 05:22 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by NoSkillz50
they seemed to have taken out those terrible lofty dump ins which is good.

the board play is good, but u can pin people to the board from bad angles though without getting holding calls. not that i want to see a holding call everytime somebody tries to pin somebody they have no leverage on, but you shouldn't be able to stop people dead in their tracks without proper position.

love the passing. the rebounds feel right.

what's the deal with the preset sliders? will the eashl use default?

i'm kind of angry that hardcore sliders have the speed set lower. i think it is realistic, but it's almost like the developers are confirming that the game plays too fast out of the box, so i hope that the eashly uses the "realistic"/hardcore slider set. i want a complete sim experience online or off, i think most people that realy care do, it's kind of annoying when games consciously cater to casual gamers at the cost of realism.
Online will use the 'Normal' gamestyle.

At least they offer the hardcore style this year. If they made a game strictly for realist junkies, it wouldn't sell as well. This is the first game that's ever offered a style this realistic. I know I'm grateful for it.

Redshirt said it well in another thread. To sum it up, Redshirt said they tried the hardcore settings in EASHL and it was a gongshow. No one could do anything because it was too hard.
 
# 206 Ridgeberg @ 08/21/09 08:44 AM
So here is something pretty neat, that we've read about...I was playing a Battle for the Cup, with Pitt on Normal/All-Star. As Malkin, I was slashed (for a penalty) by Maltby. After the whistle, as Malkin, I went over to Maltby and gave him a knock. He started to come after me, but then Orpik comes skating in and grabs Maltby from behind and gives him a face wash.

Also, for Hank: On this setting Normal/All-Star, Lilja had the puck with some space at the point and decided to skate it in a little bit, when I went to challenge him, he did a side-step move. It wasn't as nice as a move that Crosby or Malkin can do, but the CPU did attempt it (and he got around my defender).
 
# 207 Donovan @ 08/21/09 09:07 AM
Great reviews so far guys, I'm looking forward to the PS3 demo. And this from a guy who has NEVER played a demo before, ever. I always found them unsatisfying, but this sounds like its worth a look, especially if you can get a head start on your BAP and carry it over into the full game.

One question for you lucky 360 users, is the catch up AI at the end of the game gone?
 
# 208 Money99 @ 08/21/09 09:11 AM
Thanks Realm for answering my questions.
2K3? Really? That's awesome!

I won't be home until the 26th so all of these impressions will have to do for now.

Thanks again!
 
# 209 Qb @ 08/21/09 09:30 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by DirtyJerz32
Can anyone answer the question about the broadcast camera? Is it the same as last years or did they actually make it a broadcast camera view?
I played on the broadcast camera exclusively offline and in 1v1 in 09. It is not a stationary panning camera in 10, however unless I'm mistaken, it seems that it is zoomed in a tad more in comparison to 09. You still get a good view of the ice, but it highlights the graphics/models a bit more. Maybe I'm losing it...

****

I didn't get to spend a ton of time with the demo yesterday, so I won't offer much right now. I definitely like the feel of the game on hardcore. It really was a great idea to have game styles that have such a noticeable affect on gameplay. I played a bit on normal -- a little too fast for my liking, but it might be a little slower than 09 default and certainly more "organic". You can still pass pretty freely, but you'll have more success because the power is assisted. Maybe the guys who are really stuggling with full manual passing should try this out.

I didn't have as much trouble with manual passing as I thought I would (I'm not very good with it in FIFA), aside from situations where I really had to move the puck quickly. Now that's not necessarily a bad thing. The one situation that gave me trouble was going to end-boards in my own zone on a dump-in. I was looking for the quick reverse pass to my D partner -- thankfully they seem more aware and in position for these -- but by the time my guy gathered the puck, I couldn't move it. I think this is a situation where you'd want to board-protect, but I had a hard time initiating it. I suppose that this will come with practice or maybe I was doing it wrong...

I played a few on Hardcore/Pro and the AI wasn't a total pushover, so I went to HC/AS. Wow, what a difference! Detroit was all over me, which is where the time it takes to power up a pass gets tricky. I think it will require an adjustment by all of us -- more chipping the puck into space and less looking for the perfect pass -- which is quite indicative of real hockey. If a team is pressuring the puck, players have to make quick safe plays, which really wasn't the case with 09. The combination of manual passing and higher difficulty without a doubt makes it much more difficult to move the puck up the ice. We'll see if that's the case after hundreds of hours of play, but at this point the difference between 09 & 10 in this regard is quite great.

The skating felt a bit better on the hardcore settings (SPD 1, ACC 2), but if I had my druthers, I'd like to see the ACC lowered to one for HC. It's at two for normal and I think making positioning and angles more important by reducing the still overly-quick/agile skating would play right into the HC idea. Of course, I couldn't put ACC @ 1, so it might not play out as I envision.

I can't get into player differentiation or goalies in any detail and I'm not going to talk about AI -- although I saw some encouraging things, definitely more movement/support -- due to my small sample size. I can say the goalie movement looks much better, but time will tell how well it holds up. I'm excited that we finally have some goalie sliders to adjust it to our liking. If I had to guess at this point, the goalies may need their reactions lowered just a bit.

Not a fan of the fighting, although I didn't get the hang of it and no one has much fun getting punched in the face. I'd really just like to see the NHL 2004 3rd-person fight engine make a return. One thing about it that really bugs me is how the winner of the fight does the dusting of the hands thing afterwards every time. Maybe it won't be that way in the full version, but I found it to be quite corny. Again, part of this may be that I was laying on the ice being taunted by my opponent...

Well, I said a lot more than I thought I would. Maybe the most definitive thing I can offer is that a bunch of us had a 6v6 league game last night after almost all of us were playing the demo. The overwhelming sentiment was one of disappointment that we were stuck playing 09. And considering how much fun we've had playing 09 over the past year, I guess that's saying something.
 
# 210 tyler289 @ 08/21/09 09:49 AM
The only thing I don't like is how you can start a fight with anyone. I fought Crosby with Datsyuk and beat the crap out of Orpik with Zetterberg. Come on!
 
# 211 Vince @ 08/21/09 10:45 AM
Can we stop with the mentioning of 2k in this thread?
 
# 212 RoyalBoyle78 @ 08/21/09 10:54 AM
Honestly, from watching a video of the demo somebody posted in another thread, the game looks nearly unchanged, did they just tighten things up.
 
# 213 sroz39 @ 08/21/09 11:03 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by FootballForever
Honestly, from watching a video of the demo somebody posted in another thread, the game looks nearly unchanged, did they just tighten things up.
You have to feel the change. The look of the game is largely unchanged because it didn't really need change to begin with. I'm glad the devs went in and tweaked and tuned the way the game plays, on top of adding some key gameplay features like board play and the passing. I much prefer this over tweaking the visuals to another level when the game is already the best looking sports game out there.

But don't kid yourself, ALOT has been done to the game. For myself, playing on a surround sound system, the crowd is alive and cheers at the right times (for the most part), banging on the glass. The animations have been tweaked to another level where you can notice a difference between 1st and 4th liners. Board play is awesome, passing is awesome (even on Normal), the little things like grabbing a puck in mid-air or batting a puck away from in front of the net, all awesome.

It's almost impossible to convey these changes in a video but I did go back and play NHL 09 for a bit to see how different it is and believe me, beyond the engine itself, it's like a totally different game. You'll see what we're all talking about when you get a chance to play it.
 
# 214 Qb @ 08/21/09 11:07 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by FootballForever
Honestly, from watching a video of the demo somebody posted in another thread, the game looks nearly unchanged, did they just tighten things up.
Visually, yes the game remains largely unchanged, aside from some new player and crowd animations. Graphics, presentation, and all that are about the same (although they did add some cool pre-game stuff during the loading screen).

But if you play the demo, you will notice a much different feel to the game, particularly if you change to "hardcore" settings. Even "normal" has a more organic feel to it and less assist in passing and checking than 09 (normal will be used for online modes). Add in how boardplay and more AI movement & pressure on the puck change the flow of the game, it plays noticeably different (and better).

In summary, looks different, maybe not, plays different, absolutely...


EDIT: Ha, looks like sroz types faster than I do...
 
# 215 Flyermania @ 08/21/09 11:31 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by tyler289
The only thing I don't like is how you can start a fight with anyone. I fought Crosby with Datsyuk and beat the crap out of Orpik with Zetterberg. Come on!
That was one of my biggest complaints from the Community Event...I thought each player's fight tendency (never, rare, sometimes, etc) should be factored in rather than a free for all. Too bad it wasn't changed.
 
# 216 ucas005 @ 08/21/09 11:41 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by sroz39
You have to feel the change. The look of the game is largely unchanged because it didn't really need change to begin with. I'm glad the devs went in and tweaked and tuned the way the game plays, on top of adding some key gameplay features like board play and the passing. I much prefer this over tweaking the visuals to another level when the game is already the best looking sports game out there.

But don't kid yourself, ALOT has been done to the game. For myself, playing on a surround sound system, the crowd is alive and cheers at the right times (for the most part), banging on the glass. The animations have been tweaked to another level where you can notice a difference between 1st and 4th liners. Board play is awesome, passing is awesome (even on Normal), the little things like grabbing a puck in mid-air or batting a puck away from in front of the net, all awesome.

It's almost impossible to convey these changes in a video but I did go back and play NHL 09 for a bit to see how different it is and believe me, beyond the engine itself, it's like a totally different game. You'll see what we're all talking about when you get a chance to play it.
Agreed! I wish the guys at Madden/NCAA would learn from this instead of adding gimmicky features. Further improve the GAMEPLAY of what was already a great product.
 
# 217 Jgainsey @ 08/21/09 11:44 AM
Holy crap. I've been moving all week and had no idea this was coming. Good thing I haven't sold the 360 yet.
 
# 218 RoyalBoyle78 @ 08/21/09 11:51 AM
thanks guys.
 
# 219 sroz39 @ 08/21/09 11:52 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by ucas005
Agreed! I wish the guys at Madden/NCAA would learn from this instead of adding gimmicky features. Further improve the GAMEPLAY of what was already a great product.
Sadly, both the Madden and NCAA teams are saddled with a game engine nowhere near as organic or flexible as this NHL engine, so despite Ian Cummings' best efforts to turn lemons into lemonade, the engine is holding them back through no fault of their own as their team was not the one that built it.

Again, Litty and the guys working on this game, from 07 till now, have done some amazing things. This engine seems to have no limits as to what can be added and tweaked.
 
# 220 Spanky @ 08/21/09 12:12 PM
I heard several chants, I think:
"Let's Go Red Wings!''
"We want the Cup!''
"MVP, MVP, MVP!''

I heard organ and arena music.

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but were the chants and organ music in 09?
 


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