NHL 15 News Post

NHL 15 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions (Xbox One, PS4)

08:44 PM - August 25, 2014 by Steve_OS

The NHL 15 demo is available now on Xbox Live for Xbox One users. PlayStation 4 users can expect the demo tomorrow afternoon when the PSN Store updates with new titles.

UPDATE: The NHL 15 demo is now available for PlayStation 4 users. If you can't find it, click this link.

Some have had luck going to "New Demos" all the way over to the right. Games>New>Demos>New Demos (all the way over to the right) and grab the NHL 15 demo. Thanks @TheFlopfish)

The demo weighs in at 2.58 GB. Here are the details.

New York Rangers vs. Los Angeles Kings
Full game with three two-minute periods
Play in Madison Square Garden or Staples Center
Gameplay Camera Angles: Dynamic Low, Dynamic Medium, and Dynamic High
Practice Mode: Master the Superstar Skill Stick with a free skate against a goalie
Difficulty Settings: Rookie, Pro, All-Star

If you can't find it, try searching for it with Bing.

Play a few games and let us know what you think of this year's NHL title on Xbox One!

Game: NHL 15Reader Score: 6.5/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS3 / PS4 / Xbox 360 / Xbox OneVotes for game: 16 - View All

NHL 15 Videos

Member Comments

# 281 Vikes1 @ 08/27/14 10:52 PM

The more I've played, the more I'm enjoying the game. And seeing the kinda little details that make a nice difference for me over last gen. I'll be buying on the 9th.

# 282 headzapp @ 08/27/14 10:55 PM

Here some pics, they look nice. I don't see blurriness or bad cut scene animation. The game seems fresh to me. I'm having fun with the demo so the retail will be that much better. Maybe it's because I skipped 14. I like the menu screen. To me they made it faster with holding buttons to opens menus inside menus. I looooove the quick rotate in the edit line screen in game. That was annoying before hitting a name and then scrolling down a long list, especially in online verses. Losing a game and wanting to change up lines while trying not to make the other player wait too long. Also the noise of the menu reminds me of what was it? I want to say nhl 98 with the bloop bloop bloop noise I like it.
I wish there was board play. Like fighting for the puck, and have a ref yelling "move the puck"

# 283 MizzouRah @ 08/27/14 11:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vikes1


	The more I've played, the more I'm enjoying the game. And seeing the kinda little details that make a nice difference for me over last gen. I'll be buying on the 9th.

I'm completely with you. I'm ready to see my Blues in action!

# 284 Hockeynut99 @ 08/27/14 11:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MizzouRah


	I'm completely with you. I'm ready to see my Blues in action!

Too bad no miller

# 285 Smirkin Dirk @ 08/27/14 11:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keirik


	Cpu passing is still far too accurate and pin point perfect. Cpu one times happen at will with power regardless of how off balance, out of position, or whatever with too high of a success. Pinball EA hockey.

Let's see how it plays when we can lower the sliders right down

# 286 bwiggy33 @ 08/28/14 12:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThaLiveKing


	You can do it to CPU controlled teams?

In the demo I cannot tell if it changes or not. What I've tried doing is pausing the game at the beginning and switching sides then editing and then switching back to the team I wanted to use. With 2 minute periods it's extremely hard to tell if the strategies stick with that method. At any rate though, in the full game you should (if it's exactly like how it was in 13 and 14) be able to edit each and every teams strategies and line strategies.

In the demo try this. If you have two controllers move one to each side. Then adjust the strategies from there for both teams. Start the game when you're done. When you finally get into the game press the start button and move the controller of the team you don't want to use to the middle of the controller select so it's not on either team. It's possible the strategies will remain how you set them before starting the game. Personally I have not tried this though. I haven't got around to it. I'm just assuming you could assign a controller to both teams as if you were going to play 1 v 1. Whether the strategies stick is another question.

EDIT: I just attempted this and it works.

# 287 bwiggy33 @ 08/28/14 12:40 AM

Sorry for the double post gentlemen but I think I am on to something in regards to easy zone entry. I'm messing around with the strategies as I described in the post above. I no joke just had three instances where a dman stepped up at the blue line and crushed me to get me off the puck. I was in such shock that I couldn't even see it coming or anything. I'm not sure what setting or slider is doing it but I'm trying to nail down which one or what ones they are. As of now I'm thinking the settings affecting this area are Neutral Zone, D Pressure, and D Strategy. I'm just thinking something in those three settings is making the D be aggressive at their own blue line. I'm trying to really narrow it down. I'm still a bit unsure of what the NZ slider does.

Here are the settings I have for the Rangers, who are the CPU in the game I am playing.

Forecheck: 2-3 (Always leave this setting at 2-3 otherwise you will see one player forecheck and everyone else hang out in the neutral zone)

Neutral Zone: 1-4 (just messing around with this to see how each one reacts)

NZ: I left it on 3 clicks *Changes during the game depending on situation

OFF Pressure: Standard * Changes during the game depending on situation

D Pressure: Normal *Changes during the game depending on situation

D Strategy: Tight Point *Changes during the game depending on situation

PK: Large Box

PP: Shooting

PP Carry: 3

For all of the D pairings I have them as the exact same for now. I'm just playing around with it. Here they are:

Hold line: 3 clicks

Cycle: 7 Clicks

If anyone wants to try and test this stuff out go for it. I think it would be a huge help. The problem is the 2 minute periods is just so short. Plus you have to redo the settings before every single game. I seriously think I may be on to something with this though. For some reason these strategy sliders seem to work way better than last gens. I don't ever remember seeing anything like what I just saw tonight, in last gen. Hopefully I'm not getting over hyped for nothing but I did just see things with this game I've never seen before from a Neutral zone/defensive pressure aspect.

I just noticed something new as well. So obviously some of these strategies change on the fly mid game. This is all tied to the CPU Strategy Adjustment slider. In game I noticed the Rangers had changed up how they played at the very beginning of the game. So after period 2, I switched to the Rangers side and looked at their strategies. Sure enough they had changed since the start of the game. Most of the strategies went towards a less pressure approach so I was gaining easy entry and wasn't being pressured in the O zone.

Since we don't have access to the CPU Strategy slider in the demo it will be very difficult to test this stuff out because of how fast the strategies can change in the demo. Now it's just making me want the game. I want to figure this out because with the couple examples I've seen tonight, some of the stuff that has pissed us off for so long may actually be fixable or at least partly fixable.

# 288 decefay @ 08/28/14 12:55 AM

i have ONE gripe with this....after a goal in the nhl the players hug and congratulate each other all i want is this and this game is complete for me!

# 289 Vikes1 @ 08/28/14 01:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MizzouRah


	I'm completely with you. I'm ready to see my Blues in action!

Glad your digging the game, Mizz! Yep, I�m looking foward to getting a Wild GM mode going.

# 290 Splitter77 @ 08/28/14 07:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigwill33


	Anyway, sorry to be long winded. I just was playing and these things come to my mind. I keep checking my mailbox everyday for that paycheck from EA or the contract offer to work on the game... no luck yet. Hahaha. Peace!

nice write up again.
ha. maybe ill give you some $$ for saving me the $400+ i wouldve spent on a ps4 and this game.

# 291 SeaNNyT @ 08/28/14 07:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keirik


	Cpu passing is still far too accurate and pin point perfect. Cpu one times happen at will with power regardless of how off balance, out of position, or whatever with too high of a success. Pinball EA hockey.

This is a legacy issue they never address. Hockey is sloppy, pucks bounce and feather around.

This game resembles nothing of hockey, just an arcade version. All hardcore does is make your passes take stupidly wider angles to make it appear simulation, but that doesn't address poor puck physics and players that can spin around slap shot and show no weight or imbalance while doing so.

# 292 MizzouRah @ 08/28/14 07:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hockeynut99


	Too bad no miller

Actually.. it's about time Elliott gets a chance to be the #1.

# 293 Keirik @ 08/28/14 09:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeaNNyT


	This is a legacy issue they never address. Hockey is sloppy, pucks bounce and feather around. This game resembles nothing of hockey, just an arcade version. All hardcore does is make your passes take stupidly wider angles to make it appear simulation, but that doesn't address poor puck physics and players that can spin around slap shot and show no weight or imbalance while doing so.

What drives me nuts is that the cpu doesnt have to follow the same player physics or momentum. They react instantaneously to loose pucks without a nano second of hesitation that a human will have. To make matters worse, my cpu teammates have the hesitation that the cpu opposition doesnt, so it seems to be there lol.

# 294 Gagnon39 @ 08/28/14 09:24 AM

I finally played the demo last night for the first time. Here's my thoughts.

Pro's:

The jerseys didn't look nearly as bad as I thought they would. In fact, I thought they looked pretty good.

To me the game feels very different. One game wasn't really enough to put my finger on it but I did feel as though it was different.

The ice looks amazing and overall I was impressed with the graphics and especially the presentation.

Con's:

It didn't really wow me like I was hoping. After the second period I was kind of thinking, "meh."

The announcing will get repetitive, fast. I love Eddie Olczyk and Doc but I'm sure the first year with this team will have limited lines and therefore be even more repetitive that Thorne and Clement. I'm not sure if it's possible for a sports game to have good commentary that doesn't get stale.

# 295 Drakar @ 08/28/14 10:23 AM

are you guys playing the same demo ? I had the cpu not giving up the blue line @ 30-40% of the time. They were playing aggressively in the neutral zone. I think its a good improvement over NHL14 (which I hated). It too easy to glitch the goalie but this is only a demo. Probably a older build set to easy because its of the 2 min period length.

You need to setup the difficultly level after each game. It reset back to default when you go back to the main menu.

# 296 toyo301985 @ 08/28/14 10:24 AM

so.... no ps3 demo.......................................

# 297 bigwill33 @ 08/28/14 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by toyo301985


	so.... no ps3 demo.......................................

Correct. It was announced some time ago that the demo would only be on the new gen consoles, PS4 and Xbox One.

# 298 Money99 @ 08/28/14 12:19 PM

NHL15 demo guys, is it true you can still control the lower half of your body, while stick handling? I remember Rammer saying that was new this year?

If so, how is it implemented? Seen any cool things occur because of it?

# 299 actionhank @ 08/28/14 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skinfan31


	I think this games detractors are crazy and should appreciate the fact that they have a NHL option to play. In an era where sports games are disappearing faster than I can shake a stick at, I'm thrilled to have hockey on my next generation consoles. I'm very happy both graphically, and game play wise. It looks great on my system. It's a must buy for me!!

Everyone's going to have differing opinions. But, that logic isn't very sound. It's like telling someone "You shouldn't complain about getting punched in the face once, because you're at least not getting punched twice."

Most of the people have been pretty respectful in their criticism, but a lot of people are frustrated with the continuing problems that have remained for a while, and we had hoped would be gone on Next-Gen. I'm waiting until i can get some actual hands on time with the final game before i decide to buy. I'd much rather drop 2 dollars on a one-night play through than to drop 60+ on a game that might frustrate me after a few weeks the same way NHL14 did.

# 300 canucksss @ 08/28/14 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bwiggy33


	Sorry for the double post gentlemen but I think I am on to something in regards to easy zone entry. I'm messing around with the strategies as I described in the post above. I no joke just had three instances where a dman stepped up at the blue line and crushed me to get me off the puck. I was in such shock that I couldn't even see it coming or anything. I'm not sure what setting or slider is doing it but I'm trying to nail down which one or what ones they are. As of now I'm thinking the settings affecting this area are Neutral Zone, D Pressure, and D Strategy. I'm just thinking something in those three settings is making the D be aggressive at their own blue line. I'm trying to really narrow it down. I'm still a bit unsure of what the NZ slider does. Here are the settings I have for the Rangers, who are the CPU in the game I am playing. Forecheck: 2-3 (Always leave this setting at 2-3 otherwise you will see one player forecheck and everyone else hang out in the neutral zone) Neutral Zone: 1-4 (just messing around with this to see how each one reacts) NZ: I left it on 3 clicks Changes during the game depending on situation OFF Pressure: Standard Changes during the game depending on situation D Pressure: Normal Changes during the game depending on situation D Strategy: Tight Point Changes during the game depending on situation PK: Large Box PP: Shooting PP Carry: 3 For all of the D pairings I have them as the exact same for now. I'm just playing around with it. Here they are: Hold line: 3 clicks Cycle: 7 Clicks If anyone wants to try and test this stuff out go for it. I think it would be a huge help. The problem is the 2 minute periods is just so short. Plus you have to redo the settings before every single game. I seriously think I may be on to something with this though. For some reason these strategy sliders seem to work way better than last gens. I don't ever remember seeing anything like what I just saw tonight, in last gen. Hopefully I'm not getting over hyped for nothing but I did just see things with this game I've never seen before from a Neutral zone/defensive pressure aspect. I just noticed something new as well. So obviously some of these strategies change on the fly mid game. This is all tied to the CPU Strategy Adjustment slider. In game I noticed the Rangers had changed up how they played at the very beginning of the game. So after period 2, I switched to the Rangers side and looked at their strategies. Sure enough they had changed since the start of the game. Most of the strategies went towards a less pressure approach so I was gaining easy entry and wasn't being pressured in the O zone. Since we don't have access to the CPU Strategy slider in the demo it will be very difficult to test this stuff out because of how fast the strategies can change in the demo. Now it's just making me want the game. I want to figure this out because with the couple examples I've seen tonight, some of the stuff that has pissed us off for so long may actually be fixable or at least partly fixable.

Appreciate the effort....bwiggy33....i'll try it tonite if i get the chance. Hoping EA could shed a light on this...because NZ pressure and D issue of AI/CPU are the few that holds me back from buying this product. PLUS if they could incorporate the player differentiation, I really dont care about the commentaries or crowds...heck even if there's no addition in BaGM, I'll buy this game at the release date.

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