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

[Qb]

Quote: Originally Posted by 2kguy

I agree completely with this. Resolution-wise it looks far below the standards of all other PS4 games I have played and as you said it looks washed out. I was coming here to see if there was any additional information from the developer on this. Any chances this is just because it is a demo and the final version will be much improved? I will not be purchasing the game if this is how it looks - ruins the experience for me.

Yes, there's a chance it's due to demo limitations, but to my knowledge, there's been no comment from EA on the matter. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised either way.

[bwiggy33]

Quote: Originally Posted by Gerg04

Yea and it did help a little with the forecheck down low. However there is zero sense of awareness by my AI teammates on where the puck is. They just skate around as of they couldn't care less about the single most important part of the game. It's kind of silly.

You are most definitely correct. You can change the forechecking slider all you want but the AI still doesn't have puck awareness or any of that. It's sad to see. With all of the modes being stripped from the game you'd think AI would have at least been focused on. They say they did but quite honestly I don't see any change to the AI from last gen to this gen. They still play the same way. I do think the strategy sliders are working better this gen though.

[TerminallyOdd]

Quote: Originally Posted by 2kguy

I agree completely with this. Resolution-wise it looks far below the standards of all other PS4 games I have played and as you said it looks washed out. I was coming here to see if there was any additional information from the developer on this. Any chances this is just because it is a demo and the final version will be much improved? I will not be purchasing the game if this is how it looks - ruins the experience for me.

I suppose it's possible, but at this point it seems unlikely. The fact that the question has been posed to EA via their forums, twitter and Rammer's twitter as well, yet has still not been addressed, doesn't bode well for that possibility.

I'm with you though. I still think the game looks good, but resolution is clearly not up to current standards, which is having me lean towards not buying the game on principle.

[ricky24]

Maybe they shouldn't have wasted so many resources on recording a "live" pregame for ever scenario. Am I the only who thought the actual real life footage came across as corny and forced?

[bigwill33]

EA "worked" on the AI several years ago when they put in all the different formations. It was the year after Tampa went to the conference finals, beating my Pens along the way, playing their 1-3-1 system.

I remember Rammer being so geeked that they had all of these new AI formations in the game and he made all of the videos that showcased them all off.

Well, they haven't touched them since. And the entire AI goes wonky if you pull a man out of position or get beat or caught. Not to mention that they don't know how to adapt or play basic hockey outside of those formations should they be attacked with something that takes advantage of it. So when you play a computer and beat their formation with a tactic, good luck to them recognizing it and fixing the break.

Combine that with all of the other shortcomings of the game's AI and it makes for some ugly hockey at times.

[sweetjones]

Quote: Originally Posted by bigwill33

EA "worked" on the AI several years ago when they put in all the different formations. It was the year after Tampa went to the conference finals, beating my Pens along the way, playing their 1-3-1 system. I remember Rammer being so geeked that they had all of these new AI formations in the game and he made all of the videos that showcased them all off. Well, they haven't touched them since. And the entire AI goes wonky if you pull a man out of position or get beat or caught. Not to mention that they don't know how to adapt or play basic hockey outside of those formations should they be attacked with something that takes advantage of it. So when you play a computer and beat their formation with a tactic, good luck to them recognizing it and fixing the break. Combine that with all of the other shortcomings of the game's AI and it makes for some ugly hockey at times.

This goes back to my point I made a couple of days ago. I truly believe they have no idea on how to improve the AI. This should have been a before next gen improvement. Im just starting to take the game for what it is. We will never see a Real Hockey Video game from EA or at least from this current dev team. It's so unfortunate that there's no competition.

[Peter10]

Guys, you are giving me a tough time. I really intended to buy a PS4 and play this game, although i was rather bored quickly with the previous editions.

My main beef during the years has been that it was too easy to detect the way the game wants you to play. Once you have figured that out, it has gotten way too easy even on the hardest level. Even if you play by the "house rules", when the game got somewhat tight i found myself doing what is "expected" to score. It may be that i am just lacking the discipline to contain myself but it always seemed like a catch 22 to me. I know excatly how to beat the AI but i am not allowing myself to do it only to have fun.

If you guys could tell me it was half as close to NHL 2k3/4/5 i would buy it instantly but i am seriously concerned it wont get any close to that.

I am reading comments saying that with slider/team strategy adjustment the game might be able to reflect what i want but i am seriously concerned with the game. I could justify spending the money for the game but in my case i would also have to buy a PS4, so any comment pro or contra would be highly appriciated.

[bigwill33]

Quote: Originally Posted by Peter10

Guys, you are giving me a tough time. I really intended to buy a PS4 and play this game, although i was rather bored quickly with the previous editions. My main beef during the years has been that it was too easy to detect the way the game wants you to play. Once you have figured that out, it has gotten way too easy even on the hardest level. Even if you play by the "house rules", when the game got somewhat tight i found myself doing what is "expected" to score. It may be that i am just lacking the discipline to contain myself but it always seemed like a catch 22 to me. I know excatly how to beat the AI but i am not allowing myself to do it only to have fun. If you guys could tell me it was half as close to NHL 2k3/4/5 i would buy it instantly but i am seriously concerned it wont get any close to that. I am reading comments saying that with slider/team strategy adjustment the game might be able to reflect what i want but i am seriously concerned with the game. I could justify spending the money for the game but in my case i would also have to buy a PS4, so any comment pro or contra would be highly appriciated.

I feel the same way as you, handicapping myself to get a more true experience. As I said before, you wouldn't play a baseball game where every time you bunted the ball it was a base hit and still enjoy it. You wouldn't fire up a football game where a toss right went for a first down every time. Why are we stuck with a hockey game that has so many money plays and refuses to adapt or counter them after half of a decade of the same stuff.

My personal advice to you is this: Wait until the weekend to decide. By Thursday enough of us here, and many other people, will have the Xbox One version. You can watch those people play on streaming sites like Twitch to get an idea of what to expect.

I hope to answer a lot of people's questions about the game play myself. It will be a very busy weekend for me, however. I am heading to Miami on Sat/Sun for the Phins/Pats game so my time will be limited, but I plan on helping out people on the fence in any way I can with honest critiques of what I find in playing.