NHL 15's Tough Season Continues, Has Big Issues in Ultimate Team

[RaychelSnr]

“Of course Ultimate Team made it in.”

Internet comment sections were filled with that sentiment once it became clear that NHL 15 would be missing many of its traditional modes and features on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

But much like the Columbus Blue Jackets barely making it into the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs before floundering in the first round, Ultimate Team's mere presence in NHL 15 is the only positive thing that can be said about the latest card-collecting fad.

The mode's present performance deserves no trophy, and certainly won't be bringing any titles back to Electronic Arts' Burnaby studio, except for the infamy of being the worst Ultimate Team experience in sports gaming.

Read More - NHL 15's Tough Season Continues, Has Big Issues in Ultimate Team

[moosebaloney]

Another huge complaint is the obvious money grab of removing benches from HUT, forcing players to purchase injury cards as opposed to healing them on the bench.

As for theblack screen of death issue. The first couple nights of playing was riddled with it, but this last week I haven't experienced it once in about 50 games.

[tomzennsbruh]

I'm on Ps4 and never had the "Waiting For User Screen' glitch. I have played about 20 Online Season games.

[murph17]

i'm on XB1, haven't seen any of these issues. only thing i've noticed is current auction bids - the time left doesn't always update accurately.

[jake19ny]

Re: NHL 15's Tough Season Continues, Has Big Issues in Ultimate Team

Worst thing about this is that we can now totally forget any hope of them fixing the many things we all were hoping would be fixed as we all know too well that HUT takes center stage with EA and will be the number one priority of any patching or updating. ***Sigh

[snc237]

I bought the nhl ultimate edition because I did have some fun with hut last year, and with the removal of alot of my go to game modes I thought I would be even more involved in hut this year. However the mode is so chunky and just thrown together I have no desire to play it. It really feels like a place holder in an alpha build of the game. Small thing like auto best line feature is sorely missed and the horrible menu interface and speed makes that even more of a drag. I'm hoping there is a significant patch to hut even if it is just for a better layout and speed. Sad to see the best playing hockey game on ice (in my opinion) completely destroyed by lack of game modes and execution on the modes they have in.

[huntt26]

I really enjoy the game on the ice - but the lack of modes really stinks. Then, to top it all off - the modes they did include are very stripped down.

I'm glad I bought a physical copy so I can trade it in at some point. I'm sure the game will show up for free on EA access next summer.

[centauris]

Re: NHL 15's Tough Season Continues, Has Big Issues in Ultimate Team

yep. I can barely get into a game or finish a game in UT. And no, this doesn't happen in other games.

I'm so close to trading the game in. it's so frustrating.

[ChaseB]

The black screen thing is weird to me because I see a lot of people having the issue a bunch or not at all. I've never had it occur -- have had the game lock up in the UT menus a couple times though -- but I've played a ton of Seasons at this point. I wonder if it has something to do with the install itself (digital vs. disc) or something else entirely that's a but out of the game's "control" in terms of being a constant.

[Eski33]

I am not a HUT player. However just another huge disappointment. I was amped for NHL 15. To come out on the new gen consoles with a stripped down game is ludicrous. I would have thought RA would've learned from last gen that offering an incomplete product, and at full price, will bring much hate.

The sad part is the game plays well. Absolutely disappointing.

[ericromain]

"In Online Seasons matchups, once the first intermission concludes, there's about a 50 percent chance that the game will become permanently stuck on a black screen that says “Waiting For User.” The only way to advance past this state is if one of the players decides to quit out and take a “did not finish” loss"

I strongly disagree with this statement. I've about played 50 HUT season games. I had this happen to me twice only on the same night while the servers were particularly struggly. I was admittedly pretty cheesed off and walked away from the game that night with thoughts of abandoning the game, but the next day it was fine, and the tuner came shortly after to rescue the game from being a dangle fest.

I agree on the other points. My #1 complaint with HUT in NHL11-NHL14 was the mode's lack of depth, I had hopes for a shake up in NHL15, but it has even less depth. The only upgrades i can think of is the faster menus and you can have an NHL team's arena. I was surprised how many alternate/retro uniforms made.

There's a lot of changes for the worse this year:
The elimination of a bench for faster line manipulation, the announcers base your team name on your arena, not the jerseys or logo you're wearing, which is completely illogical. The marketplace is a mess.
Injuries happen frequently and even though injury duration is measured in "games", there's no bench to reduce that duration, so your only option is heal cards that i've found are rarer than the frequency of injury.
The lack of legends in the game is an easy addition, but their absence is blatant show of how uncommitted EA is to investing in this series. If 2k had their copy cat HUT mode loaded with hall of famers, you know EA would be right there matching the next year.

Last, for team management mode, the stats in this mode are pathetic. If a player has been demoted to 'My collection' i have no way of checking that player's stats compared to the players in my lineup. Then the stats i can check are limited to GP/G/A/Pts/+-/PIM. What about PPG/SHG/GWG/SOG/Hits/BS ? Those are all stats tracked in a game, but they don't bother saving them to the server. How am I supposed to keep track of my lineup with such little statistical depth.

HUT is fun, i'm addicted. Gameplay if pretty solid post tuner set. I love playing humans, while having the depth of managing a lineup and earning packs is much better than Online VS, but the HUT mode and other online modes have so much potential to be much much more this gen.

[Sheba2011]

This is a game that they should have released solely as a play now experience for $19.99 and worked out their issues with the other modes for 2016. As it stands they have lost me as a customer for this year, the first time in about 20 years I won't buy a hockey video game and they may have lost me in 16 as well. Just more time to play Madden and Destiny.

[NeptunePirate]

Re: NHL 15's Tough Season Continues, Has Big Issues in Ultimate Team

I've never had the black screen/waiting for user problem. I'm on PS4 and have played a good amount of online games in HUT. That said, HUT needs a lot of work. It's just not user friendly in the least. No benches and no option to auto generate the best lineups, like Madden 15 has. It just feels like the whole interface is very clumsy, it's a pain to do the smallest tasks in HUT.

I've still been playing it, because I always have loved the Ultimate Team modes. I have yet to put any real money back into it with buying packs. The Ultimate Team mode in Madden this year is absolutely fantastic, I recently put a few bucks back into it. NHL will not get that from me unless they round out all the rough edges.

Like the article mentions, NBA Live had a better Ultimate Team last year on its next gen debut. Which is saying a lot, because even Live's Ultimate Team was a bare bones version compared to the FIFA and Madden series. EA seems to be making the right approach on fixing the game for the people that invested in it already. Lets just hope they keep it up.

[Iadf]

wow i can't believe how bad this game turned out.

[jake19ny]

Re: NHL 15's Tough Season Continues, Has Big Issues in Ultimate Team

The missing modes were one thing but now it seems on an almost daily basis we find something not working right, something else missing, or flat out stupid with what little game they gave us. They don't have to explain themselves to us I guess but if that were my company some heads would roll. This game playable at times is an outright unfinished untested disaster.