NHL 18 Beta Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here!

[csamuelsvt]

Played this last night and where do I begin....

It's NHL 17 with sharper textures(I'm playing on PS4 Pro with 4K OLED), new dekes(which are not easy to pull off which is good), some updated goal horns, arcade play 3 on 3 mode(with the NHL2K PA announcer I believe?), and defensive skill stick that is not 100% responsive and is clunky. Commentary is exactly the same, which I seriously can't believe....I mean at least from NHL 16 to NHL 17 in the beta I heard new lines. I've heard the exact same lines over and over.

They added some new cutscenes when you start a face-off and weird goal replays that are placed on the ice...I had a breakaway and did the same move to lead to a goal that works with Patrick Kane, forehand backhand, top shelf...goalie bites every time. Didn't see anything new with the goalies. It's going to take time to learn all of these new controls. I don't know how to puck chop yet as that was changed.

I try to play realistic hockey, but some of these online guys know how to cheese in this game. Online versus is frustrating when you're playing these kind of guys. They puck protect all over the damn ice, gliding, its frustrating, then you try to poke check, then you trip them lol.

I absolutely love hockey, but EA can not sell this game for $59.99. It is not worth it. It has some updates but truthfully, if this were FIFA or a bigger franchise, this "update" would be all over the news for stealing people's money. It has small improvements, but it is still pretty much the same game with minor fixes.

This is a beta, so I'm hoping a lot of what will be in the final build simply is not there right now(e.g. new commentary) but I lean toward this pretty much being it.

Just remembered, they touted this new and improved A.I. was this not included in the beta? I honestly did not notice ANY difference?

[Madwolf]

• Only played a handful of games so far and I'm still getting used to it. The game is a lot smoother game play wise. It flows so well it will throw you off a little.
  
• Visually the game pops a bit more.
  
• The new defensive stick skill is going to take me a bit to get use to it, but it was easy to activate.
  
• The poke check felt more responsive and penalties felt more deserved.
  
• Goalies were more aggressive.
  
• Ratings definitely are more stretched, which was nice to see, even if it meant Vancouver had some guys take big hits.
  
• 3on3 was fun in arcade mode, but not really my thing.
  
• AI positioning was better on offense, but they still seem to get beat too easily on D.

[seasprite]

The AI has definitely improved

Sent from my SM-G935V using Operation Sports mobile app

[csamuelsvt]

Quote: Originally Posted by seasprite

The AI has definitely improved Sent from my SM-G935V using Operation Sports mobile app

How so do you think? Please explain.

[seasprite]

Quote: Originally Posted by csamuelsvt

How so do you think? Please explain.

In VS or in EASHL with a couple of CPU positions, the AI is much better at positioning than what I see just about every game in 17. They play their position better, attack the puck better, and make passes better without you having to call for the puck. JMO

[csamuelsvt]

Quote: Originally Posted by seasprite

In VS or in EASHL with a couple of CPU positions, the AI is much better at positioning than what I see just about every game in 17. They play their position better, attack the puck better, and make passes better without you having to call for the puck. JMO

Yeah I can''t comment on EASHL, but as an offline player only, I played that 3's mode and online versus to get a feel for the NHL teams, and I truthfully did not notice all of this "amazing A.I." that they touted.

I guess I expected a lot more than what I saw from the games I played thats all since it's a "big feature" and from searching and reading on the reddit boards and EA boards, people are saying the same thing.

[actionhank]

Quote: Originally Posted by seasprite

In VS or in EASHL with a couple of CPU positions, the AI is much better at positioning than what I see just about every game in 17. They play their position better, attack the puck better, and make passes better without you having to call for the puck. JMO

That's promising. Did they improve the "Lines" for 3-on-3 to where the AI actually uses two forwards and a defender, instead of the previous nonsense where someone like Berglund got benched and instead the AI would send out Brodziak along with known scorers Gunarrson and Bortuzzo.

[Qb]

I saw some promising AI play in the one 3v3 EASHL game I played -- both teams had AI defensemen:

• AI D-man skated back to collect a puck behind/near the goal and did not self pin
• Not only that, I was able to get him to reverse the puck along the boards several times without him doing anything stupid
• AI made a long bank pass to me on the breakout that I did not call for
• Since it was 3v3, the F/D positioning was more fluid, and the AI generally did what I'd expect in terms of joining the rush if I was last man back or covering the point
• My human teammate had no interest in cycling, but the few times we did, the AI would go low if I went high. Even had the AI D-man score one of the goals from right in front of the net after a brief cycle brought me to the blueline.

Harder to judge defensive zone coverage since 3v3 is naturally a little more scrambly and the other user was a chaser. I had to give up on forechecking because he would always do it, even if I was already committed. Somebody tell that guy you can't get away with that in 3v3!

Quote: Originally Posted by actionhank

That's promising. Did they improve the "Lines" for 3-on-3 to where the AI actually uses two forwards and a defender, instead of the previous nonsense where someone like Berglund got benched and instead the AI would send out Brodziak along with known scorers Gunarrson and Bortuzzo.

Yes, it's setup as 2F/1D and as I said above, an AI D-man recognizes his role but will still play more offensively if he's not the last man back.