NHL 14: Keys to Best Last Year's Effort

[Money99]

Quote: Originally Posted by Simple Mathematics

I want them to fix the AI, fix goalies, and look at the BaGM Community Wishlist thread.

Bingo. But those have been on the wishlist for over 5 years now.
I don't have any faith in EA to deliver the NBA2K of hockey games.
When Next-gen comes around, I'll take a look, but really, EA's games haven't changed much since NHL92.

[DJ]

Being able to control the CPU tactics/strategy in Be A GM would be nice. Strange that EA added this feature for Exhibition games but you can't carry it into any of the career modes.

Adjustable season length in Be A GM; I don't mind playing 82 games but I'd like to have the option to play 48, 50 or 66 games.

Better HUM teammate AI. I want to see my teammates moving without the puck and getting into scoring areas and helping me out when I'm fighting for the puck against the boards.

Penalties. We need more variety and we need more penalties called, especially against the CPU.

[canucksss]

Quote: Originally Posted by I3RIS3H

Despite what anyone else thinks, i believe this is an arcade game 100%. There is way too much catering to the casual and online gamers for my liking (yes i do realize this equals $$$ for EA). The NHL series honestly doesn't even feel like hockey to me. As a hockey player myself maybe i'm just looking for something too "sim", but unless drastic changes are made i'm not purchasing any more NHL games by EA.

same here. i will not buy NHL 14, because there's a high probability that it is just a slight improvement of NHL 13 or the worst. plus with the new console, i dont know if EA can take advantage (if there's any) in improving this game based on new console features.

Quote: Originally Posted by Money99

Sliders can improve some problems, but in the end this game is still very much catered towards Joe Fratboy. The game has been plagued for years with cheating AI, little to no neutral zone pressure, teams that all play the same and CPU players that all have all-star skills. NHL2K3 will still go down as the game with the best AI ever seen. You could tell the difference between different teams, neutral zone traps were effective, and high-octane offenses were very hard to stimy. You needed to have someone like Lidstrom on the ice when playing Sakic, Forsberg and the Avs. In NHL08>>>>NHL13, all defenders are the exact same. A poke check with a 99 defender is no different than a poke check from Phil Kessel.

well said!

Quote: Originally Posted by Simple Mathematics

I want them to fix the AI, fix goalies, and look at the BaGM Community Wishlist thread.

If EA will read and implement at least 50% of your wish list for NHL 14, I might consider getting it.

[CaptainSuperman]

Quote: Originally Posted by Money99

Sliders can improve some problems, but in the end this game is still very much catered towards Joe Fratboy. The game has been plagued for years with cheating AI, little to no neutral zone pressure, teams that all play the same and CPU players that all have all-star skills. NHL2K3 will still go down as the game with the best AI ever seen. You could tell the difference between different teams, neutral zone traps were effective, and high-octane offenses were very hard to stimy. You needed to have someone like Lidstrom on the ice when playing Sakic, Forsberg and the Avs. In NHL08>>>>NHL13, all defenders are the exact same. A poke check with a 99 defender is no different than a poke check from Phil Kessel.

So this makes it a bad game?

[Money99]

Quote: Originally Posted by CaptainSuperman

So this makes it a bad game?

I'm not sure if I should take your question seriously, but yes.
If all the teams play the same, and all the CPU players play the same, then what's the point?
Instead of Season mode, just play the same team 82 times in a row.
And I don't know anyone that enjoys having the CPU cheat over and over again in order to compete.
I didn't buy '13 this year (even though it was on sale for $19.99 at a store once the lockout ended) because I knew I'd just get frustrated the first time I'd see Colton Orr make laser passes or snipe top-shelf goals.

It sounds like you're okay with that, and kudo's to you.
But for me, I'll wait to see what next-gen has to offer. But my guess is NHL 15 will be no different than NHL98, NHL2002, NHL08, NHL13....

[CaptainSuperman]

Quote: Originally Posted by Money99

I'm not sure if I should take your question seriously, but yes. If all the teams play the same, and all the CPU players play the same, then what's the point? Instead of Season mode, just play the same team 82 times in a row. And I don't know anyone that enjoys having the CPU cheat over and over again in order to compete. I didn't buy '13 this year (even though it was on sale for $19.99 at a store once the lockout ended) because I knew I'd just get frustrated the first time I'd see Colton Orr make laser passes or snipe top-shelf goals. It sounds like you're okay with that, and kudo's to you. But for me, I'll wait to see what next-gen has to offer. But my guess is NHL 15 will be no different than NHL98, NHL2002, NHL08, NHL13....

Huh. I'm playing a season and I don't win every game with the same score. Not every team plays the same, and how can you even have any input, you said yourself you didn't buy the game.

Only time CPU cheats is on the harder difficulty, don't play on harder difficulty and play with some sliders and the game is still fun.

Even if your point was valid of every team playing the same, how does that make it a bad game? Emphasis on BAD. The game is not perfect, nobody is saying that, but to actually say it's a bad game, that's ridiculous.

And your last statement of 1998-2013 playing the same, that's just foolish.

[hockeyguru15]

Oh, and another thing. PLEASE EA MAKE AS MUCH CUSTOMIZABLE IN THE GAME AS POSSIBLE!!!! Make it so that we can tweak everything from the AI to the everything about the players, custom goalie pads, custom arenas, make EVERYTHING TWEAKABLE. By restricting users' access to customize parts of the game, you are making the game substantially worse than it has the potential to be.

[milesizdead]

Hmmm, I think that the game has improved a lot since 08, but for me it's all about online. EASHL, GMC and even VS have all improved so that most games are won by the better player. Which is all that matters to me.

I can see how people are tired and bored by the series if they play offline, only reason I play offline is to unlock boosts for my EASHL pro. And I hate the grind of it, AI is predictable and cheats with checking and shots since they don't have reaction times, they know what happens on the ice before your puny little human brain can process the same info.

This year I think EA should just focus on perfecting the game modes that are already there, nothing new, just polishing. Save all the fancy gimmicks and improved physics to nextgen release.