NHL 16 Gameplay Video - Detroit Red Wings vs. New York Rangers

[Steve_OS]

Video has been taken down, but thanks for the post Adam.

[go expos]

Does anyone know if Legends will be a part of 16? Will at least Mario and Wayne be back? thanks

[iFnotWhyNoT]

I haven't played NHL for some time so pardon my ignorance but can you still skate full speed while fore checking without slowing down and crash into the boards sometimes resulting in an injury? I'm just wondering because it would be boring if its just up and down full speed skating with little risk.

[actionhank]

Quote: Originally Posted by iFnotWhyNoT

I haven't played NHL for some time so pardon my ignorance but can you still skate full speed while fore checking without slowing down and crash into the boards sometimes resulting in an injury? I'm just wondering because it would be boring if its just up and down full speed skating with little risk.

I feel like they had that back in NHL13 or 14, and if i remember right, it got removed because EA had it a bit overpowered with guys getting injured non-stop. I guess not much seems to be done in moderation...

[Madwolf]

Quote: Originally Posted by canucksss

I agree that it is hard to see something, positive or negative, when random players just bump at each other, trying to hit each other as a means of defense (duh!). No setting up for offense just quick shooting trying to score...these kind of game tactics make my OL experience awful.

It was always funny playing online and ending up playing against guys I could hold to like 3 shots a period because they had no idea what they were doing.

[iaxy]

I guess the writing was on the wall, when they announced playoff beards as one of the most exciting new features!

Granted it is 2 months before release and it is only 2 min short, this video gives a good impression of what the game will look like.

Most comments here seem to justify the lukewarm feeling left by this video by pointing to the fact that the game was played at a lower level, the speed was unrealistically high and the people playing it did not have a clue about hockey.

It is surprising to see people miss the fact that the core mechanics and visuals are largely the same regardless of the level / speed. And in this video they are the same as NHL 15… and NHL 14 and so on. And I don’t say that in a flattering context.

All that work they’ve done with modes, presentation, commentary, beards, blah, blah blah, means nothing and I mean NOTHING if the core gameplay is not interesting, varied, captivating. I am sorry but this game was old after 30 seconds of watching it. Yes, I say watching (not playing). I want to give the game the befit of the doubt in the sense that it may “feel” better once the controller is in your hand, but even though it was at a lower level, the transitions, fluidity and overall skating visuals feel so arcadish, it’s hard to believe this is the year 2015.
Yes, they may have improved some animations and some mechanics, but I'm afraid this is not very different from NHL 15 (or 14 for that matter).

I can’t see anyone enjoying this 6 months in, let alone a full year. I may be jumping the gun, but gameplay wise my predictions is that the longevity of this game is probably 1-2 months. Very disappointed.

[DJ NEO]

video:

NHL 16 gameplay

devs reaction:

NHL 16 | devs feedback pt1. | leaked gameplay

[Money99]

While the gameplay appears to be the similar, I did see some subtle changes in there.
At 1:27, the Rangers forward tries to throw the puck through the crease for an easy one-timer, but Tatar comes back and disrupts the play. And that's a CPU controlled Tatar.

There's also a lot more subtle body contact that disrupts puck movement.

I'd love to see some HUM vs CPU gameplay as well as CPU vs CPU to really get an idea of how the AI has been tweaked.

If there's one (other) thing I'd like EA to work on, it's the no-look pass reception from between the legs while the receiving players back is turned to the puck.
Too many times you can pass to a player, who's not even facing the puck, and it goes between his legs and perfectly on his stick without breaking stride.
(see 1:04 for example).

I believe this simple change may introduce a lot more neutral zone turn-overs and clutter considering the player actually has to engage in a separate animation in order to cleanly receive a pass.

Overall, I'm hoping that with some actual hands-on, we'll see more improvements.
The video AdamJones provided concerning player differentiation was disheartening.
However, the devs seemed to get it right with last-gen titles. So there should be hope that they can adjust it for current-gen as well. And hopefully they turned it up a notch as well.