NHL 14 Reviewer Impressions - Wiggy's Blog

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NHL 14 Reviewer Impressions Stuck

Posted on September 6, 2013 at 06:58 PM.

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Having spent a good deal of time with NHL 14 now, I feel I can say with some confidence that the gameplay is a strong improvement over last year's version. The added physicality really helps define an aspect of the gameplay that had been lacking up until now, and the team at EA Vancouver has made some other smart changes that are more of the iterative variety.

The two most successful elements this year are the new fighting and hitting systems. The fighting is just a lot of fun to look at and play, and I'm constantly seeing new ways in which fights can play out and develop. I've had fights where the AI is super aggressive as well as scraps where they try and counter-punch. On the highest difficulty setting and with "hardcore sim" settings enabled, there aren't as many fights as compared to the lower settings, and the competition from the AI is much stiffer.

I do agree with some users that it can be a bit annoying when you deliver a hit with a skill player and he then has to answer the bell, but therein lies the conundrum. In talking to the developers, they told me that the AI is interpreting certain hits as "crossing the line," and that leads to the AI deciding whether a fight is deemed necessary. Essentially, when you deliver a big hit with any player, the AI is factoring in the game situation and the fighting skill of the other player to decide whether to accept this "challenge." I do feel that this does make for some odd mismatches, but the spirit of what EA is going for is totally commendable. The fact that players wear black eyes and bruises after fights is a lot of fun, and if you're timing is good during a fight, you can even dodge a punch and then use the L-trigger to grab and jersey your opponent for maximum punching and humiliation.

Not to be outdone, the hitting feels like a perfect fit for the franchise so far, as the NHL series has never been quite a full-on simulation. Playing on the hardcore/superstar settings combo, hits are less plentiful, and you'll find yourself bumping off of opponents a little more often. It seems that certain hit scenarios have less "give" when you try and initiate on that setting, so I'd suggest that sim users step up their difficulty and settings right away. This isn't to say that the harder settings don't allow for big, satisfying hits, because they do, and you'll also see a lot more incidental contact and glancing shots.

I do find it still a bit annoying that the AI refuses to step up at the blue line for certain hits, and I did notice that after a game that the AI hit totals were quite low. They'll certainly engage you in board play and do a better job of wiping you out if you cut to the slot or try and get around them, but neutral zone and blue line play still feels pretty breezy. Again, this may not bother some that want a faster flow and more stickhandling, but so far that aspect of the AI feels much like last year.

The new defensive strafing does give the AI better tools in the slot, though, and they seem to do a better job of shadowing you if you cut back. The poke check and puck chop have also been tweaked, and you'll find that the poke check can't be spammed as much and won't really work in traffic how it did last year. This is a welcome change. The puck chop has been made even better, as you can now queue it up for a fully directional chop.

The "True Performance Skating" of last year has also been altered, as you can now pivot and cut easier than before, and this allows for better creativity behind the net, on the half boards, and in the slot. Since the foot speed and strafing of the d-men have also been bumped up, this seems like a pretty good trade-off so far.

When you add all of this in with the re-tuned goaltending (more one-timer goals, new animations, more deflections and 5-hole goals), it makes for a better game experience than last year, from what I've played. This isn't to say that the AI provides the necessary puck support on the boards or cuts to the net in the offensive zone, but I'm enjoying the added physical play and increased pace of the overall game. I've still found myself beating the CPU fairly routinely at the highest settings, but it is still a reasonable challenge. Be-A-Pro modes also benefit from these changes in AI, speed, hitting and fighting, and I found that experience to actually be more challenging than before.

Then again, there is the well-worn drum beat of the presentation in the NHL series, and on that front, nothing has really changed. I can't ever say that the commentary, cinematic packages or visual style of the game are aggressively bad, because they're quite good, but when you've seen and heard the same elements for several years now, it's hard not to become a bit cynical about it all. It was interesting being able to meet with the NHL dev team and ask them about the challenges of recording lots of dialogue and designating resources for this type of challenge. I recognize the problems that a 60- or 70-person team is going to face when making an annualized franchise, especially in light of the considerable size of the Madden and FIFA franchises, but the criticism still has to be levelled.

I've come around on the gamepaly of the NHL 94 Anniversary mode a good deal. It's certainly provides some entertainment with its brand of high-speed, no-rules gameplay, and I can definitely see where fun can be had with some casual friends who might not want to unearth the complexity of NHL 14's main game. At the same time, I feel that any mode invoking an old classic should go further than this one does in terms of the presentation, as I think the sound and visual treatment could've been much more inspired. Just the same, if they devs felt the need to include fighting and dekes in this new mode, why couldn't it support the modern feature of online play?

The other big feature this year is Live the Life mode, which serves as a redress of the existing Be-A-Pro career component. So far, a lot of the issues I had with the mode after hearing about it a few months back have come to fruition, as I just think the feature, while totally interesting in concept, is too embryonic to really make that much of a splash. From what I've played as of this writing, the questions and answers are pretty sporadic and random, with no real continuity from the game in terms of the character you're creating. Sure, you'll hear some boos when your fan likeability is low, and you can piss off management by screwing around in off-ice events and answering questions weirdly, but none of it feels all that cohesive.

The developers told me how they chose this path to allow the end user more control of their experience, contrary to Fight Night Champion's story, but while I agree with the philosophy to some extent, the presentation of your character and his exploits on and off the ice doesn't feel all that meaningful, and the mode suffers for it.

As for other changes, HUT and EASHL are also seeing the benefit of the "seasons" feature from the FIFA series, and I think this serves as a nice way of doling out smaller rewards for those that have less time to play. The increase in the number of divisions, improved hub screens and promotion/relegation dynamic create a feel for those modes that's much more immediate, which is a good thing.

It seems like GM Connected has had its menu issues mostly resolved, as I was able to move around free agent lists, trade screens and player cards with relative ease. It's still not perfect, and loading to the main hub screen takes a good deal of time, but it's less of a crippling problem than last year, which I'm glad to see. Still no fantasy draft feature, though, which stings a bit.

Outlook

I remain really positive on the gamepaly changes EA has made to NHL 14. I think the physicality is a great addition to the franchise, and the fighting actually feels somewhat organic to the flow of the game, which is great. I'm liking the other subtle and mid-levels changes to skating, goalies, speed and defense, and all of this buffed by the appropriate "hardcore simulation" setting.

It's hard to know what to really make of the other features, as GM Connected, HUT and EASHL have received some smart and succinct changes that immediately make them better, but then Live the Life and NHL 94 mode just feel sort of half-baked. We all realize that EA is gearing up for the next-gen version of the game in the future, so it makes sense that a few of the feature ideas for this game will feel a bit thin.

Look for the full review of NHL 14 on Monday.

Comments

# 1 geisterhome @ Sep 7

NHL 13 was my first hockey game in 11 years and still the presentation felt boring to me. The commentary is decent for somebody who hasn't heard it before and was actually the best part of the presentation. But the missing player faces, arena inaccuracies, boring cutscenes, screwed up goal celebrations and ugly menus (which are a downgrade from the NHL games around 2000 imo) were something that I couldn't overlook for a long period of time. I feel NHL 2002, the last one I played before 13, was one of the better sports games when it came to presentation during that time, while NHL 13 might be the worst in that department by nowadays standards and sometimes doesn't even feel like a triple AAA title to me anymore cos of that.

# 2 Semipro91 @ Sep 7

Same $hit different year. I played the first 6 preseason games of Live the Life on Superstar. Finished with 10 goals, 4 assits, and a plus 12. I got sent to the AHL. Thats enough of the Live the Life for me. I gues its HUT and Be a GM from now on.

# 3 13whitebread @ Sep 9

I'll be brief this years titles across the board have run there course. Knowing that the next gen is coming I guess I agree that to expect too much would not be fair. And this might be old hat but my problem with this series was NHL 12 to NHL 13 which was mostly the same. I did not preorder this go around because much will be the same between the titles. But I'll get around to picking it up mostly because the red wings have changed to the east. But if the play by play team and presentation is not addressed I will be extremely disappointed but I expect with 2 years basically they will get too it. I play offline mostly I just hope there are more penalties called in a game and the sliders actually work. But I will have to wait too Tuesday to play.

# 4 Bleak5170 @ Sep 9

Gameplay is so awesome but the presentation is so bad. The number of mispronounced names is enough to drive any hardcore hockey fan crazy. As are the number of generic faces of long-time NHL players.