NHL 20 Adds Authentic Signature Shots, Revamped Broadcast Package, New Game Mode & More - Cover Athlete is Auston Matthews

[The EVHL]

Quote: Originally Posted by fiddlerpaul

I'm just an old guy having fun with the only game (other than a bit of Golf Club) I play. It's all hockey all the time for me. With the game progressed to where it is now I can't imagine not playing. Every year its the same when the new game comes out. I hear everyone complain and even quit playing and I just buy the game and have fun (except NHL 15 of course which really sucked). By far my biggest desire every year is just to have the game flow look more and more like real hockey. It's getting there and I wouldn't go back to the animations of the past for the sake of some other tradeoff. It's all about the sensation of real skating, the power and grace of it. What they are promising with better puck pickups sounds like it will take it up a notch in that area. Also great that I might actually get to turn back on the commentary again. Hope they can make it fresh enough to keep it on. Also like the Trade Finder feature in Franchise as I've got too lazy to propose a million trades like I did a few years ago.

And I love that you're loving the game. I've played 19 so incredibly much, that I think it would be disingenuous to say that I hate the game, but this game still leaves much to be desired when it comes to the "flow of hockey" like you stated. I love hockey, I played competitively and I played the NHL series very competitively in the 6s community so I can't just play the AI and be fine with how easy it is to score. I need that challenge, I need that grit to the game that exists in both real-life and in the 6s meta. I can't stand to just snipe goalies with no pressure, or vice versa make easy area passes due to an over-aggressive AI as both scenarios leave me feeling underwhelmed and unrewarded for scoring. I wish I could go back to my 8 year-old self and just enjoy the game at default, I really do (maybe I'll grow back into that stage in a few years) but for now, I need the competition without having to adhere to a schedule for virtual hockey because yes, that does seem rather ridiculous to delay/cancel plans in-order to play virtual hockey lol.

I think the biggest culprit of this game and it's never-ending rush-fest, is the utter lack of neutral zone pressure. When playing 6s, you feel the heat in the neutral zone and it leads to many dump-ins or regroups. Offline or even in 1v1 modes, the CPU just doesn't pressure you in the NZ enough/if you human pressure in 1v1, your AI teammates don't understand how to react and make use of your pressure (close gaps/cut-off escape routes/force a hard pass/dump).

This is why I don't think I can justify $60 for 20 where the devs stated that the AI hadn't been touched. I've literally worked on slider sets + strategy combinations to produce a realistic amount of NZ and in-zone pressure since this game was released (so 9 months of trying to fix what shouldn't need fixing if they actually cared about representing the sport adequately).

[scagwi]

What's been the best game of all time for the "flow of hockey" to you guys?

(I agree that nothing seems to be matching up well with what it appears as in real life for some reason)

[The EVHL]

Quote: Originally Posted by scagwi

What's been the best game of all time for the "flow of hockey" to you guys? (I agree that nothing seems to be matching up well with what it appears as in real life for some reason)

I'd have to go back and replay the 08-15 old-gen games again to give a well-rounded opinion. I know DEJNEO likes 13 and I did too. That was the first year of TPS, but for some reason that was also the best year of TPS imo. The online community hated it due to goaline human goalies, but that's obviously irrelevant now. I know you seemed to like 11 offline, I know that game stuck-out to me as one of the better ones the series has ever seen.

NHL 2000-2007 (excluding 07 for PS3/360) were very fast, very arcadey to me. However, 2004 on the PC has a cult following to this day, so you can't dismiss the obvious impact and "feel" that game had/has on people.

NHL 19 with the right sliders, and trust me, I think I've found the right sliders about 453 different times this year lol, has a pretty decent flow to it. The set I have now has performed well for a single game, but most importantly has actually felt consistent across 5-7 games in-a-row for me which is usually when that feeling starts to go away. If this continues, I'll gladly post my setup so you can see for yourself. The most frustrating thing about 19, is the tool are there for an incredible hockey experience, they just need the AI to play a bit better and this game really would be an incredible offline experience, so I wouldn't count-out 19 for the title of "best feel"

The game that has always felt the most like hockey to me, where there's lulls and then periods of utter-chaos that imo beautifully represents the amazing sport of hockey so well is NHL Hitz Pro. It seems insane, ridiculous, radical, but trust me when I say that a well-tuned NHL Hitz Pro setup is an absolute masterpiece at recreating the ups and downs, and the ebbs and flows of hockey. The biggest problem with this game is the line changes aren't "on the fly" they only happen at whistles, but yes, there is noticeable fatigue and you are very much rewarded for dominating possession. If this game had "on the fly" line changes, I would never even look for another hockey experience.

Hope this brief write-up helps and gives you some insight on what games to possibly test to satisfy that virtual hockey craving!

[scagwi]

Great write up!!
Thanks for taking the time!

NHL Hitz Pro 'eh?
I've never even played that!
What platform?

[The EVHL]

Quote: Originally Posted by scagwi

Great write up!! Thanks for taking the time! NHL Hitz Pro 'eh? I've never even played that! What platform?

So growing up, I always played Hitz on the GameCube as that's the console my parents bought me when I was young. Now that I'm older, I have a gaming computer and I run a GC emulator (Dolphin) and play Hitz Pro on there. There's a few hiccups and stutters, but honestly it's no worse than the GC when things got a little hectic and the updated graphic looks great for an 03 release!

The thing that will surprise you with Hitz Pro is the amount of sliders they have. I mean, you can really tune the game so that the big, over the top cartwheel hits and through the glass hits don't really happen unless you're "on-fire". You can also turn the "on-fire" visual effects off, so while you can't disable the attribute boosts that come with being "on-fire"(which is a fun mini-game/reward you receive for being on the PP or winning a fight) you can at least keep the flames off of your players to keep a "sim" look to the presentation.

There's a ton of added bonuses for shooting on the goalie with adjustable sliders so that you can set how much of a bonus you get for your shot when it falls under that category:

one-timer bonus
slapshot bonus
breakaway bonus
open shot bonus
rebound bonus
possession bonus - basically how long you hold the zone (my favorite as the goalie gets fatigued after numerous shot attempts, not saves, which is really cool to see)

there's more but I can think of them. Anyway, I have goalie skill 1 or 2 clicks away from being maxed, but then all of my bonuses are maxed out and it produces really believable goalies. I mean, you score on some of the most mundane attempts when you're not expecting a goal but the puck just squeezes through. You also will get robbed on a lot of grade-A chances as that's the nature of a more arcade-focused game, but many times those big saves produce rebounds which help you create chaos and tire the goalie, so I really do find the gameplay to be quite balanced and rewarding.

A control I love in the Hitz series is the "dump puck" button. It is used hundreds of times a game as carrying the puck in is very hard due to the simplistic nature of the game and the lack of devastating deke moves. Also, the dump puck control works as an in-zone cycle button, and you can also feather the button (lightly tap) to produce a very high, shallow dump which is great for tricky zone entry plays, and also to get the puck out of the zone without drawing an icing.

Overall, the game forces you to play a simpler game, dump and chase a lot, and look to move the puck quick with lots of quick shots to break the defense down. Not too different from real hockey, but I will admit there's a lack of finesse to the series that doesn't go unnoticed, but I think it's a small sacrifice when you see so many little things like goalie fatigue due to shot attempts, or the gritty but required need to dump and chase, done so correctly. The goalies are so fun to watch because they make some incredible 2nd shot saves, but they will also sell-out for those saves and be in terrible spots to recover for a 3rd shot, again much like real life. The rebound goals feel earned, not cheap/inevitable. The tips goals are simplistic (always come from the middle of the point) but they work and are also easily negated by the CPU's elite shot-blocking abilities so you do feel like you earn them.

If you can't tell, I love the game. It shows it's age, even with the updated mods and the lack of uniform customization drives me crazy because I really do love making use of it in NHL 19. Gameplay, I don't think I've played a hockey game that beats it in-terms of overall fun-factor, balance, and that hockey "feel" but there definitely is pros and cons to every sports game. If you haven't tried it out, I believe it certainly worth your time, and I can give you the slider set I run if you ever do get your hands on it.

Weird thing to note - I play Hitz Pro with auto aim and from the side camera angle. It's honestly a blast. I don't like their traditional top-down camera angles, and I think playing at such a unique camera angle and having so much fun doing so, is just another unique "feature" that makes me love the secret gem that is NHL Hitz Pro.

[CarryTheWeight]

Hitz Pro is one of the most underrated hockey games of all time. Even the Franchise mode is unheralded. I'm glad someone mentioned it here, especially in 2019!

It was so good, I bought it on both Xbox and GameCube. Never had so much fun playing a sports game in my life, and that's on the Sim settings!

I guess that's why the developer (Next Level Games) is now developing first party games for Nintendo.

[sweetjones]

Quote: Originally Posted by scagwi

Hey, you weren't kidding about NHL 11! I just downloaded the demo and played the 3rd period and had a total blast! It feels so different than Legacy - I'm very surprised

I believe that 3 year period(09-11) is when they also had Create A Play. I never understood why they removed that feature.

[bruins2012]

Awesome article man!!!!

Signature shots. Lol

So the sims are still going to be shiiiit, there will still be no difference of skill gap between the players, and the ratings will still be garbage.

The rating won’t be staggered for type of player and position. What a god damn joke.

Still can’t control all the teams. What a god damn joke.

Roster sharing???? LOL........it’s in every other sports game, but somehow the bums at EA still can’t manage to simply implement this feature into the game.

It must be a fookin joke.

AmIRight......