NHL 14 News Post

OS Roundtable: NHL 14 Demo Impressions

04:59 PM - August 26, 2013 by RaychelSnr

The NHL 14 demo dropped last week, giving fans their first chance to play the new edition of EA Sports' newest hockey game. Here are some of our thoughts on this year's demo, be sure to comment with some of your own!

Read More - OS Roundtable: NHL 14 Demo Impressions

Game: NHL 14Reader Score: 7/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS3 / Xbox 360Votes for game: 6 - View All

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Member Comments

# 1 TreyIM2 @ 08/26/13 05:27 PM

This will be my first and only current gen hockey game as a last hurrah purchase. Haven't bought one in forever.

# 2 NUH_UHHHHHHHHHHH @ 08/26/13 05:27 PM

i was unimpressed. I only noticed small changes, its basically a patch update, but selling for $60 bucks... no thanks. ill pass

# 3 Dolphins88 @ 08/26/13 05:34 PM

I love hockey and football but unfortunately these are the 2 games that r becoming less realistic. The fighting and checking seems to be improving and skating smoother but the organic gameplay is lacking. If they get more puck physics and player differences in a variety of skills I'm there.

# 4 Moose Factory @ 08/26/13 06:18 PM

I played NHL 2k10 the other day and the crowd and stadium atmosphere was more immersive, believable and amping than NHL 13/14... and it's 4 YEARS OLD!!! This just bums me out. All I can say is that EA better step it up with NHL 15 or else I'm organizing a boycott petition.

# 5 TommyWizard @ 08/26/13 06:26 PM

Call me a fanboy, or whatever you want. But I think EA is putting out a strong title this year.

Yes, people can list 450 things wrong with it. But the way I see it, it plays how I want it to. Big Hits and stand up for your team mates. The skating feels great this year it all seems to have come together nicely in that term. The presentation isn't up to scratch, fine with me. Get me something to tide me over with for a year (or at least until im bored of GTA5...) and then give me an all singing all dancing NHL15 next gen title.

I love the offline modes since I don't have internet access on a long term basis and I expect that to always be a strong presence year to year in this titles. The "Kings of Copy and Paste" may do just that but don't break it if it ain't broke in the world of gaming and what we get I'm more than happy with.

I had my copy pre-ordered long ago, I don't even get the extras for living in UK but it's my fix of hockey between local games. Cant wait

# 6 Dazraz @ 08/26/13 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moose Factory


	I played NHL 2k10 the other day and the crowd and stadium atmosphere was more immersive, believable and amping than NHL 13/14... and it's 4 YEARS OLD!!! This just bums me out. All I can say is that EA better step it up with NHL 15 or else I'm organizing a boycott petition.

Every year I find myself wishing that 2K still did Hockey games.

# 7 actionhank @ 08/26/13 08:25 PM

I would like it if instead of being forced into the fight, you had to press triangle or Y to accept it still.
It's frustrating to have a star defenseman who wouldn't fight, get stuck having to fight just because you laid a nice hit on someone.
Or if certain players would come and intervene. For example, if i had Pietrangelo on the ice, and he drops someone, i shouldn't have to fight with him, especially not if Ryan Reaves is out there.

# 8 Garism @ 08/26/13 08:38 PM

Horizontal hockey by CPU still annoys me.

# 9 voodoo_magic @ 08/27/13 01:01 AM

I don't understand how it can be so hard for EA to program the defense to stand up more and attack the puck carrier before they enter the offensive zone.
It's not like the d would have to rush the puck carrier and if they miss it's a breakaway, just close the gap.
I remember last year Rammer talking at length about how they improved the ai and showing vids of how the ai defence would pressure you.
But hey it's a demo so maybe it will be in the retail version.

# 10 JezFranco @ 08/27/13 05:08 AM

I don't know if I've been playing the same demo as Jayson.
I've played "Play Now", on Hardcore Simulation, and mostly on Pro, but I have seen loads of checkings from behind, boarding and even charging calls, all called properly.
And yesterday I also got into a fight and whopped one of the Boston players, and then took the game to overtime. And when OT started I heard Thorne announce that the Boston player wasn't coming back on ice due to the injuries he sustained earlier.

# 11 geisterhome @ 08/27/13 05:56 AM

ill wait for next gen, i bought nhl 13 which was the first nhl title i played since 2002 or 03 and it didnt really feel like a triple A sports title to me (im not sure if its supposed to be..). If they keep improving the gameplay and add some presentational elements i might purchase nhl 15 for my then new PS4.

# 12 milesizdead @ 08/27/13 09:22 AM

Everything is better in 14, there are tons of minor improvements from 13, and a couple of big ones like improved TPS and the new Enforcer Engine.

Really looking forward to the season ticket release

GMC and EASHL will be responsible for hundreds of hours spent online, once again.

# 13 hf199 @ 08/27/13 09:52 AM

No way. I'm waiting for the next gen game! Same for Madden on PS4. Same bull**** presentation and boring cut scnes along with the flyover neutral zone and again single referee!

# 14 savoie2006 @ 08/27/13 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hf199


	No way. I'm waiting for the next gen game! Same for Madden on PS4. Same bull*** presentation and boring cut scnes along with the flyover neutral zone and again single referee!*

Like next gen is gonna be all that different. It will be just like this gen, within five years people will calling EA lazy and each game a patch with a roster update. Like I said before, people are fooling themselves thinking there is gonna be major changes each year with sports titles. The only reason it felt like the game had evolved this gen is because they had stripped it down. EA has already said that won't happen on the new consoles, so expect the stale factor to kick in much quicker.

# 15 ianlast @ 08/27/13 12:39 PM

Goalie animations are looking as ugly and dated as they did towards the end of the PS2/Xbox days of the series. Whatever upgrades they made to the goalies, I'm having a hard time seeing them.

# 16 peter21 @ 08/27/13 03:15 PM

I have to take issue with Jayson's statement that NHL13 had no online glitch goals. That's ALL 13 is now online.

Nine out of 10 teams we play do the same short side goal every chance they get. It'd be laughable if it weren't so frustrating.

I'd be ok with it if there were actually other ways to score consistently, but in 13, you don't get rewarded for creativity and setting up plays, you get rewarded for doing the same shot or breakway move over and over and over and over...

If 14 evens out the playing field a bit, i might pick it up.

# 17 Cletus @ 08/27/13 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peter21


	If 14 evens out the playing field a bit, i might pick it up.

It will until everyone gets their legend 3 cards. Of course the top teams will do it, but you can spot them pretty easily. If you're in the top 100 and only have 2 players on a club, it's probably glitchers. I wish they would wait until everyone has a chance to get their legend 3's before putting tuners in. Most people didn't get to enjoy 13 in it's first stages because of the choppiness and when they finally fixed that it was a different game.

# 18 Fiddy @ 08/27/13 06:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cletus


	It will until everyone gets their legend 3 cards. Of course the top teams will do it, but you can spot them pretty easily. If you're in the top 100 and only have 2 players on a club, it's probably glitchers. I wish they would wait until everyone has a chance to get their legend 3's before putting tuners in. Most people didn't get to enjoy 13 in it's first stages because of the choppiness and when they finally fixed that it was a different game.

for the record, my buddy and i a few weeks back defaulted our player builds. took all plus 3 5 etc out. used NO attribute points.

guess what? still scored the SAME goals we did with all the points etc. the ONLY thing that was different was our skating. that was it. passed the same and shot the shame.

terrible..

# 19 Cletus @ 08/27/13 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fiddy


	for the record, my buddy and i a few weeks back defaulted our player builds. took all plus 3 5 etc out. used NO attribute points. guess what? still scored the SAME goals we did with all the points etc. the ONLY thing that was different was our skating. that was it. passed the same and shot the shame. terrible..

Shooting attributes don't mean a lot unless you're outside of the faceoffs circles/at the point. They nerfed those shots in 13 after a tuner anyway. In 12 I played without any shooting attributes and my guy did just fine. Got into the MHL (6 vs. 6 league) playoffs with no shooting attributes as the 3rd leading scorer on my team. That's why I don't understand people clamoring about builds, they're pointless, except for speed, agility, and arguably balance.

# 20 peter21 @ 08/27/13 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cletus


	It will until everyone gets their legend 3 cards. Of course the top teams will do it, but you can spot them pretty easily. If you're in the top 100 and only have 2 players on a club, it's probably glitchers. I wish they would wait until everyone has a chance to get their legend 3's before putting tuners in. Most people didn't get to enjoy 13 in it's first stages because of the choppiness and when they finally fixed that it was a different game.

One potential saving grace is that they're supposed to implement the FIFA system where you need to play into a higher division. While I do like the challenge of playing a truly elite team, my team is mostly on there for fun and we're not putting hundreds of hours into the game to get to that level.

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