NHL 16: Official Gameplay Balance Video, Trailer and Blog

[scottyp180]

I didn't play a ton of NHL 15 but I didn't notice much change in that gameplay video, though I guess that can he said about most sports titles these days

[Money99]

Re: NHL 16: Official Gameplay Balance Video, Trailer and Blog

Wow that gameplay was slow

I actually liked the pace of the game.
Luckily there's sliders to change that for anyone who wants it to be slower or faster.

Overall, there were good things in that video from Cobourn's interception to more loose pucks from minor contact.

I'm still interested in seeing a full game and whether or not the CPU is able to turn into Pavel Bure with any player on the ice.

[CupCrazyManiac]

Re: NHL 16 Gameplay Video - Overhead View and Blog

Tough to tell much from a :56 clip.

Liked that players weren't all over the ice.

+ Sticks in lanes to break up passes

+Speed of the game seemed toned down (the first videos last year showed the same thing, the final online product did not match this, however)

Disliked the carrying the puck through traffic and how easily it seemed to occur.

-No real reason to dump the puck, again.

-Goalie makes a desperation save while facing a short side shot. Bishop is tall, he would likely kneel down on that shot and try to make his chest big. Perhaps getting his shoulder on it, rather than trying to glove that.

-Human throws a blind pass through the neutral zone and it goes through the defender and is received by the offensive player as he goes on his way with ease.

-Neither team gains the zone and attempts to set anything up. It looks like both the CPU and Human objective is once again to skate down the boards into the zone and look for the cross crease or an in front opportunity. Small sample size, but the CPU pressure was kind of mindless in that it really didn't wait for the rest of the team to get into the zone or try and work anything.

-This game is really missing a chip puck off the boards feature. Everything is just skated in or around. Then make one pass and attempt a shot. That isn't real hockey. Real hockey uses angles and boards and body/stick positioning to make opportunities or defend them.

I liked the strafing, but I really fear that it will be abused online. I really hope that it is easy to skate with someone that is strafing and that you can dislodge the puck they are holding in front of them.

bold= that is one thing i do NOT understand...cmon EA its 2015 pls give us a REAL "its in the game" feel!....

[Caniac94]

Re: NHL 16: Official Gameplay Balance Video, Trailer and Blog

Like everyone has said where's the pressure in the neutral zone? If that's hardcore all star settings then I am really disappointed. I didn't expect a big leap in terms of changes but jeez you could put this up side by side with NHL 15 and not tell much difference. Even with the commentary. Same old lines, same old goaltenders. I'm going to wait until I get a chance with the demo but it's likely I'll be saving some cash this year.

[iFnotWhyNoT]

Re: NHL 16: Official Gameplay Balance Video, Trailer and Blog

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABfnbDIIREM

I didn't play nhl 12 but did it have NZ pressure coded into the game for CPU? IF not Im confused why it would be a pro tip by EA but not implemented.

[Panther84]

Re: NHL 16: Official Gameplay Balance Video, Trailer and Blog

Still feels like nhl 15, same goalies doing splits for no reason and did they even work on the commentary? sounds the same

[bigwill33]

Re: NHL 16: Official Gameplay Balance Video, Trailer and Blog

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABfnbDIIREM

I didn't play nhl 12 but did it have NZ pressure coded into the game for CPU? IF not Im confused why it would be a pro tip by EA but not implemented.

I think that was the year that EA/Rammer put in the new formations. I remember him touting the 1-3-1 after Tampa rode it all the way to game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. He was so proud that teams would "run their authentic formations" and every game would feel different.

But it wasn't implemented very well and most people quickly found the one or two formations that worked best online and versus other humans and just used those all of the time. This trend continues today. Every online vs. or Club game has teams quickly changing their attack and defensive formations to the same thing, because those are seemingly the only combination that works somewhat against human tactics. Or works well enough that the defense would be aggressive and not back off and allow the cheese shots from the high slots all day. People would rather roll the dice on the d missing the hit and the player missing the breakaway than to have soft goals go in all day from above the circles cause the game thinks the defenders are screening the goalie on those floaters.

[Cletus]

I'm not sure why forwards are in the zone so much on the forecheck. I like that they have strategies but for the most part every one seems like a 3-2 because the forwards are so aggressive. Goalies look like EA goalies. It would be nice to see them move better, but we've all been playing EA NHL and know what to expect. The d-men use their sticks to knock away passes but don't harass the puck carrier. That doesn't make much sense to me because they want to make team play their mantra for 16. You would think if they made the d-men lax it would be on passes instead.

Outside of all the old snafus that we come to expect and hate, the strafing system sounds nice and the gameplay seems like EANHL. At this point if you've been unhappy with the games of the past, you're not going to be happy with this one.

[aaron777]

Couldn't they just implement a slider for nz pressure . Wouldn't that help the game or would it mess things up ?

[snc237]

Couldn't they just implement a slider for nz pressure . Wouldn't that help the game or would it mess things up ?

I domt know what sliders could do to help. The A.I. In general just needs to be better, however you don't want a situation where the A.I. Can stop everything. I'm sure it's auch harder thing to balance then we all think but it defiantly needs some work.

[bigwill33]

Re: NHL 16: Official Gameplay Balance Video, Trailer and Blog

Couldn't they just implement a slider for nz pressure . Wouldn't that help the game or would it mess things up ?

Hard to create a slider to affect something that isn't programmed into the game to begin with.

And by pressure I hope they realize that we don't mean more hits that level players. We mean space that is taken away because a pass may get picked off or deflected, or a puck carrier might get stripped and have the rush go back the other way against them.

Every hockey coach stresses smart hockey and not turning it over in the neutral zone. Always gain the red and get it deep if you have no other option. In EA's NHL you always have other options.

[ddhex27]

Re: NHL 16: Official Gameplay Balance Video, Trailer and Blog

Kudos to them for releasing the sizzle real and the gameplay video side by side. Especially considering how underwhelming the actual gameplay clip is.

[nddurst]

Re: NHL 16: Official Gameplay Balance Video, Trailer and Blog

I'm thinking NHL 16 is going to be a no-go for me this year. It'll be the fourth year in a row I've passed on this game.

I had some pretty high expectations this year, and I must admit EA did make strides to improve some of the things I had issue with. But there are still some glaring legacy issues in the core gameplay that this video confirms still exist. And for me, a mostly offline player, they are huge. And this doesn't even include potential shortfalls of Be A GM mode, which also doesn't have the best track record.

I just don't see myself getting prolonged enjoyment out of this game. Would I enjoy the occasional game against the CPU or a buddy? Sure, could be fun. But that's not enough for me to fork over $60.

As of now, I will not be purchasing this game.

[ThaLiveKing]

Re: NHL 16: Official Gameplay Balance Video, Trailer and Blog

I didn't mind the video, at least we know we can tweak a few things once the game comes out, but the skating is good for player vs player. Still don't know if the cpu has that unrealistic stop and reverse, to gain an advantage BS, they need to be given real momentum so they have to actually stop and go like real skaters.

I do see some improvements, but they should have shown a bit more.

[bad_philanthropy]

Re: NHL 16: Official Gameplay Balance Video, Trailer and Blog

After a few watches it started to look better. I did see some good things with passing. I would really like to feel what the version of manual passing feels like this year, and how well the assertions of expanded control over chipping pucks off the boards and everything is implemented.