NHL 17 News Post

NHL 17 Beta Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here!

05:09 PM - July 27, 2016 by RaychelSnr

EA Sports today announced the arrival of the NHL 17 Beta, available now to NHL Insiders. So basically if you get the NHL Newsletter and if you signed up for the beta by July 7th, you can get it today -- a full 24 hours earlier than expected.

The Beta will be available to everyone else starting tomorrow and will last through August 4 and features several modes for you to get a kickstart on your upcoming season:

Hockey Ultimate Team: Build. Collect. Compete. The most played mode in EA SPORTS NHL gets even better! Introducing HUT Synergy, an all-new �Team Building� system designed to challenge the way you build and play as your Ultimate Team. Pair player strengths together to create synergy in your roster and grant perks across your lineups. The all-new HUT Dynamic Sets mechanic takes collecting to a new level that replicates the biggest real-world hockey moments. Collect sets to unlock rewards, including new thematic sets, to constantly build and improve your team. With Dynamic HUT Sets, if it happens hockey, it happens in NHL 17.
EA Sports Hockey League: Take your EA SPORTS Hockey League team to the next level and build your brand by completing games, and leveling up your player and team to unlock customization items. Give your uniform a unique look or use the all-new Arena Creator to build the home ice you�ve always wanted.
Online Versus: Play NHL 17 online in a one vs. one environment. Own Every Zone with more end-to-end control with authentic goalies featuring positional awareness and Reactionary Save Intelligence, all-new Net Battles for offensive and defensive zone play, and dozens of thrilling new goal celebrations.

EA Sports is seeking feedback and opinions from the community about your playtime with the Beta. Be sure to leave impressions and thoughts on what you are playing in the comments below!

Game: NHL 17Reader Score: 8/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS4 / Xbox OneVotes for game: 5 - View All

NHL 17 Videos

Member Comments

# 61 jyoung @ 07/27/16 11:07 PM

I've got a club up for USA East Coast players on the Xbox One if anyone wants to join it just search for OS East

It's set to private but I'll accept anyone who posts in this thread.

# 62 bestout51683 @ 07/27/16 11:16 PM

Im going to join My gt will be bestout51683

# 63 RockTheRed7 @ 07/27/16 11:22 PM

If anyone has an extra PS4 BETA Code, would be much appreciated. Thanks! Can email me at [email protected]

# 64 Simple Mathematics @ 07/27/16 11:44 PM

I'm pretty sure the thread title says "post your impressions here", not "post your requests for codes here".

# 65 TheNinjaGuyDon @ 07/28/16 12:13 AM

Special thanks to Ezio for gifting me a code, here are my first impressions:

1. You can run NHL trax for menu music, but the other option is, get this, the same exact menu music from NHL 15 and 16 (nightmares still from 15).

2. Played about 4 or 5 EASHL Drop-Ins on PS4. About 600 people online for drop-ins. Played as goalie for the first 3 games. Button mapping seems to be goofed. L2 does not seem to be precision movement but rather R1? I double-checked the mapping and R1 shouldn't even be an option unless I"m missing something. Gameplay seems a lot smoother and better paced than last year. Switched the balloon icons to smallest but still HUGE, don't think the settings are saving.

3. The menu, customization, etc is basically a cookie cutter from last year. Same color wheel, and similar UI overall across the board. Songs, sounds, and other customization is pretty cool, but tedious. The selecting different zones for customization is the same as last year as well. Not the best experience for customization, L2 and R2 to navigate, etc. Overall still generic but I can look past that.

4. Goalie movement needs tweaking. Goalie likes to face a 90% angle and while he input lag seems to be better and more responsive, the animation hesitates I feel like before sliding over for those cross-creases. Again, all first impressions. I'd need like 30 games to really get the hang. The L2/R1 button mapping issue will take some getting used to, assuming it's bugged though.

5. Did have one disconnect, but no stutter or lag to speak of. After a match, got tossed back to the lobby but had to back out to get into a new match. Overall, gameplay improvements from last year, some added customization which is cool. AI defensemen still loses the puck on the net btw. More passes seem to get through, and goals that I could stop last year are getting by. I'm sure they'll do some tweaking, but like I said, need more games under my belt to truly have solid opinions.

# 66 berad88 @ 07/28/16 12:14 AM

A couple other things I noticed.

It does seem that penalties get called more often but not excessively.

The tie ups are not just a gimmick, they help cut down on one timers.

Guys that get checked no longer get up and maintain control of the puck. This is huge and this alone makes the game a lot better.

The more I play the more I really like the audio changes.

It does play a lot like 16 but the changes give the game a much better feel. 16 seemed like a solid foundation and this improves some of the weaker points of that game. Anybody looking for a major overhaul will be disappointed but those that enjoyed 16 will probably love 17.

Can't wait till the full game launches and I can start GM mode or whatever they call it now. I am really enjoying the beta. Just wish I could play offline with normal teams instead of a HUT roster. Weird that it's a beta and we can't even test the major offline mode.

# 67 briguy4747 @ 07/28/16 12:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clou14


	Skating feels great, much smoother than 16. The goalies look amazing. 41(!!) new stances. Almost every Canuck have face scans, I'm not sure about the other teams. The create a team/arena is beautiful! I just wish we could import music like The Show. I went and pre ordered the game after about 2 hours of playtime

Hey Clou...Is the Canucks roster up to date ?
Erickson & Dudbranson included ?

# 68 clou14 @ 07/28/16 01:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by briguy4747


	Hey Clou...Is the Canucks roster up to date ? Erickson & Dudbranson included ?

Gudbranson is there, but so is Vrbata (he looks amazing in this game) and Hamhuis. So it looks updated to the McCann trade but thats about it

# 69 briguy4747 @ 07/28/16 01:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clou14


	Gudbranson is there, but so is Vrbata (he looks amazing in this game) and Hamhuis. So it looks updated to the McCann trade but thats about it

That's not very up to date then...what about Louie Eriksson ?

# 70 mikeq672 @ 07/28/16 01:54 AM

Gameplay feels like the exact same damn thing. Pretty disappointed so far, hopefully it grows on me over the next week but as of now it looks like I might not be giving them one more year like I thought.

Everything I remember them saying about gameplay changes seemed very similar to last year.

# 71 Al_Tito13 @ 07/28/16 02:14 AM

I have to say that the game definitively feels better than last year and it's because in big part of some little improvements made to gameplay. Sometimes, a few little improvements put together can improve a game by a lot and this is the case for NHL 17. I just hope that the game won't be altered much, because I really believe that we have something good in our hands right now. I don't want to get too excited, I will definitely have to play more games, but I loved my experience so far. Here are my comments:

- Positioning is better and players really square up to the puck now.
- Hitting is improved and smaller contacts can separate the puck carrier from the puck.
- Poke checking is better, it's in a good spot right now.
- Stick collision detection is improved. Is it perfect? No, I would like even more, but it's really a lot better.
- Puck control seems a bit lower, which is good and it marries well with hitting, poke checking and stick collisions.
- Net battles look like a good addition, but didn't have enough time to test it fully yet.
- Skating is also a bit changed and feels quite good.
- Passing feels better.
- Boardplay isn't working bad using the button to pin the opponent against the board, but I hope that boardplay gets more improvements in the future, it's a pretty huge part of hockey but it isn't represented really well in the game.
- Goalies saves look better with their new positioning saves.
- Goalies seem better on poor wrap-around attempts.
- AI seems better, but I will have to play more to be sure about it.
- With a defensive skill stick, it would have been even better, but I'm sure it will be looked at in the future.

So far, good job EA! And I can't wait to play offline and test the all new 0-100 sliders.

# 72 snc237 @ 07/28/16 04:06 AM

So far I have only played vs and HUT. Unfortunately I have faced no one competent and my closest game has been 6-2. The game feels smoother overall. Goalies hug the post/protect the weak side much much better. Much harder to get onetimer off in the slot. A.I. In general is much improved (though neutral zone still weak). Mix that in with the puck being losser and the physics engine approved apon it makes for a much more skill based game. For all the people that say it's the same as last year it's not, if you play the game casually here and there you probably don't see all the changes and improvements. I have played around 500 games of online games in various modes and from what I see so far this is a really really good game.

# 73 Nittany @ 07/28/16 06:22 AM

I haven't had a chance to play yet...but here's one huge question. EA hasn't fixed this in 5 years now.

I play 3 on 3 in EASHL only...so the AI is important. Whenever we are down a goal under 2 minutes to play and the other team is on the PP...the AI just dumps the puck. They never even attempt to make passes out of our zone and tie the game up. It's like EA codes the AI to dump the puck on the PK no matter what.

It's basic hockey! I have never understood why this hasn't been addressed in 5 plus years.

Does anyone know if this has been fixed?

Also....do the AI D-men immediately skate backwards when controlling the puck in your own zone? Instead of quick breakout passes...EA has them skate backwards first (usually behind the net) which ends any chance of a breakout. Drives us nuts!

Thanks!

# 74 Flgamma1856 @ 07/28/16 07:17 AM

Xbox one codes:
VWYPY-RG2JJ-R46X9-RC64M-R46CZ
JFPGH-JXMP2-WTHGJ-W4VFV-DPX9Z

# 75 devinmr711 @ 07/28/16 07:51 AM

I signed up for this Day 1 and I dont have a code yet. Anyone got a extra? XB1

# 76 x5xflaccox5x @ 07/28/16 07:56 AM

I've registered to nhl 17 beta but I haven't received

Has anyone a code for xbox one please??? I am very sad for not receiving

# 77 seasprite @ 07/28/16 08:42 AM

Not sure what people are playing who are saying it's exactly the same as 16. There are many differences in the two, mainly passing accuracy and puck control. Pucks are much easier to separate from the carrier. The skating feels much different as well, feels much tighter at slower speeds.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

# 78 pslieber @ 07/28/16 08:58 AM

In EASHL (I'm at ~150 games in NHL 16), definitely different.
1. Dig how they boot awful goalies. They kicked mine out literally in the first five minutes. Related, thank God for the one pause per team bit.
2. Glaring glitch in slapshots from the circle against goalie hugging near post. Opposing player literally scored 5 goals on this same shot against CPU goalie. CPU goalies, in general, give up more goals.
3. A little more realistic in getting going, skating. If you're a masochist like me who prefers D (with your partner always pinching and/or going for big hits), it's a great deal more difficult to prevent odd man rushes by fast skate back.
4. Passes are more realistic. The puck moving defenseman player type is new in gameplay.
5. Grading system is a bit stupid, in that it doesn't control for teammates. 16 was smarter on positioning versus outcomes (which you obviously can't control).

I understand the consternation above, but - IMHO - different from NHL 16. 'Very' different? Well, we'll see how final version comes out.

# 79 bad_philanthropy @ 07/28/16 09:02 AM

Couldn't find an opponent for online vs so I've played EASHL. I don't play the mode, and didn't play last year so I'm sure most will think my impressions are pretty useless.

Anyway, I'm not going to criticize the mode since I am inexperienced, but coming from playing single player for decades, and Rocket League it was like an assault on the senses with all the indicators, and jerky, sometimes stiff, sometimes twitchy movement (why do there even need to be indicators for your teammates?).

What I will say, is players seem ridiculously strong on the puck and able to retain it in open ice simply by holding the right stick.

Small contact does seem better though, and I actually like what they've done with contact in traffic in the offensive zone. It can be a bit unreliable at times, but generally, screening the goalie, and backing into a defender feels pretty good.

Some aspects of skating seem a bit better, but the acceleration curve is still either too high or there simply aren't enough animations at lower speeds to convey the control and agility a player should have. I still think they need a modifier for close in skating control.

I've played enough hockey in my time and for whatever reason it makes me feel like skating speed, momentum, and the whole of its physics generally seem scaled to a larger sized rink than the one in the game. It's odd.

# 80 joshtree14 @ 07/28/16 09:51 AM

Only played versus. Players feel heavy. Big guys feel big and shifty players feel elusive. The game is more sloppy and that's a great thing. Hockey is a sloppy game. The precision of tic tac toe passing is not as prevalent as in years past. Cross crease was difficult to pull off. The gameplay just seems more organic. In that I mean when you add up puck deflections, players bumping into other players and the weighty ness of the players, anything can happen at any time.

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