NHL 20 - Full Period Gamplay (IGN)

[Sportsgamefan]

AI looks as bad as always. They can't setup a powerplay. They don't apply any pressure to the puck carrier through the neutral zone and always give up their blueline. In the defensive zone, they can't ceep their position, they like to run around and chase the puck carrier. They can't clear their zone or dump the puck in. They don't avoid hits by passing or clearing the puck and so on..

Probably entertaining game to play against a human opponent, but that's it.

[Chiefaho]

I think James does a great job. Probably the only announcer in a video game that actually shows emotion in his calls. Tons of people were asking for EA to get actors who were more readily available to do the commentary and who were a little better in the recording booth. Now that they finally have, everyone wants Emerick/Olczyk's horrendous commentary back IRL commentators are almost never good at commentating a video game. Vasgersian in The Show is a prime example. I like him in real life, but he's blander than oatmeal in the game.

I think the new overlay is pretty cool. I can't see how people could like that boring NBC overlay. I'm sick of the idea that every single thing in a sports game has to mirror real life 200%. Gameplay wise sure, I understand, but let the devs at least have some creative freedom.

Skater animations all look fantastic actually. Not sure if it will play smooth, but it sure looks smooth. Goalies on the other hand look horrendous. those 300+ added animations they touted really don't seem to help anything. Every time EA say they improved the goalies, they end up being way worse than the last iteration. Hopefully they are fixed at least a little before launch because the goalies are by far the worst thing I have seen in all the beta footage so far.

I agree with Sportsgamefan 100%, the added tweaks this year will probably make it a little more fun to play against friends, but if you're gonna be playing solo mostly just leave this series alone til they actually put some effort into improving the AI and the rest of offline singleplayer.

[Mitchrapp]

Quote: Originally Posted by csamuelsvt

Commentary is MUCH MUCH better 2 minutes in.

And repetitive 3 minutes in.

[nikethebike]

Quote: Originally Posted by Travolterjohn

Did they not sell all what they removed under the line as an improvement ? So this doesn’t surprise me anymore.

They are doing what all companies do when they change stuff. They sell it as change==improvement which is actually not always the case.

[Gangrel]

Quote: Originally Posted by Mitchrapp

And repetitive 3 minutes in.

Has anyone thought the full game will have much more commentary? People are rushing to judge based on a beta with 30% of the actual game.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[The EVHL]

Quote: Originally Posted by Sportsgamefan

AI looks as bad as always. They can't setup a powerplay. They don't apply any pressure to the puck carrier through the neutral zone and always give up their blueline. In the defensive zone, they can't ceep their position, they like to run around and chase the puck carrier. They can't clear their zone or dump the puck in. They don't avoid hits by passing or clearing the puck and so on.. Probably entertaining game to play against a human opponent, but that's it.

If you play the game in "Play Now" or "Season Mode" just any mode where you can adjust the strategies for both teams, you can semi-regularly get the CPU to apply neutral zone pressure. Set the opposing team to full forecheck, 2-3, 1-2-2 Blue, defensive pressure on "High Pressure" and then set the defensive pinch slider to 9/10 (almost always pinch) and you'll see actual AI pressure.

Now, I also supplement these changes by using my own slider set that makes the game a lot more challenging, but I can say with confidence that the CPU is hard to play against under my sliders. (Link if you're interested: https://imgur.com/a/cQQtSjT)

All that being said, my main goal of sliders in 19 was to generate NZ pressure as this game is one of the most boring, stale experiences offline if you don't go out of your way to make the AI actually pressure you. It's why I could never dream of playing in Franchise Mode.

I'm glad I went through the many months of slider + strategy adjustments I did for 19, because it literally saved the game for me and I'll happily continue playing it despite 20's release.