NHL 14 Available Now - Post Your Impressions Here

[Money99]

Re: NHL 14 Available Now for Season Ticket Subscribers, Post Your Impressions

Just had two very enjoyable games with San Jose (me) vs Vancouver (CPU).
Both games ended 3-2 with each team splitting victories.

All the goals were great and the action was back and forth.

My only real gripe at this point, and has been for several years now, is that your CPU teammates aren't as aggressive as the CPU is against me.
But I've learned to deal with that.

In the 2nd game, Vancouver was all over me in the 1st period firing 16 shots on Niemi> If it weren't for him, I should have been down by 3 goals, not 1-0.
So I committed to playing better defense and held them to 18 shots over the next 2 periods combined.

This game is very close to 2K3 in many aspects. When I first played 2K2 I hated it. I was so used to EA's up-and-down, odd man rushes and breakways, that I got mad that I couldn't do the same with 2K2.
But then I realized I was complaining about playing a realistic hockey game.
So I started playing like a real hockey game; cycling, dumping the puck, shots from the point, etc.
That's what I have to do in NHL14 as well. As soon as I started doing that, my offense started to work and so did my defense.

I was even able to break through the D a couple of times with guys like Couture and Burns.

Speaking of which, I noticed a massive difference when my first two lines were out there, compared to my 3rd and 4th.
The top 2 have guys like Marleau, Couture, Thornton, Burns and Torres. Large, strong players.
The bottom two lines have guys like Sheppard, Pavelski, Kennedy.. Not exactly figures of intimidation.

This game still has it's problems, but I'm really enjoying it thus far.

[DJ]

Re: NHL 14 Available Now for Season Ticket Subscribers, Post Your Impressions

Maybe many of you have already figured this out, but it seems to me that if I stick to L-stick hitting only, there are hardly any 'big' hits or fights that follow.
I've noticed that whenever I use the right-stick, that's when most fights start to break out.
I'll have to experiment with a game and try to force myself to use L-stick only (habits are hard to break).

L-stick is all about speed and momentum when delivering a hit. I've laid out a couple of guys (took a boarding penalty with McLeod on one) with L-stick hits. It is definitely an adjustment and I'm still learning, but I like this system. If I can't line a guy up, I'll lay off the stick and allow my player to glide towards the CPU and then look to either ride that player into the boards or utilize a poke check.

Played another game last night and was drilled 4-1 by the Predators. I took 2 early penalties and the CPU scored on both power plays, including one shot that deflected in off my defenseman.

Down 4-0, I lost all semblance of disciplined hockey and was playing like a frustrated team; too much one-on-one, not enough cycling and too many rushed shots. Hence, why I scored just one goal, which came when I finally got my head out of my butt, played smart hockey and scored off a one-timer.

[CanuckJ]

Re: NHL 14 Available Now for Season Ticket Subscribers, Post Your Impressions

I'm enjoying the game, I haven't played it that much yet but it's a good game, my 1st full game Vancouver vs. Chicago was great, lots of hits, scoring chances, goals were good, great goaltending. I'm looking forward to starting a season

[Mt Oread]

Re: NHL 14 Available Now for Season Ticket Subscribers, Post Your Impressions

This game is playing nearly perfect for me out of the box. I've been playing mostly HUT, but this is far and away the most organic feeling hockey I've played in a video game.

I'm only 2-4-1 in my HUT online season, but I have yet to play anyone that was cheesing or not fun. It also is a good contrast that illustrates just how terrible NCAA's Ultimate Team mode is.

I've played a few Play Now games wit the Blues on All-Star, Hardcore Simulation, eight minute periods, and auto-aim on, and both games have just been great hockey.

What a great way to go out on the 360!

[Nomah5]

Re: NHL 14 Available Now for Season Ticket Subscribers, Post Your Impressions

Mt oread... playing all star play now what is the shot totals do you remember? The one game I played on all star was a huge discrepancy in totals in my favor but when switching to superstar it was even.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

[Qb]

Re: NHL 14 Available Now for Season Ticket Subscribers, Post Your Impressions

After playing some good ol' offline games this weekend, there's one thing I'm certain of... you need to crank up aggression to get anything close to a 200ft game of hockey.

[Mt Oread]

Re: NHL 14 Available Now for Season Ticket Subscribers, Post Your Impressions

Mt oread... playing all star play now what is the shot totals do you remember? The one game I played on all star was a huge discrepancy in totals in my favor but when switching to superstar it was even.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

Well, I'm not a strong player (my first HUT Online Season record was 2-7-1), so take this with a granite size chunk of salt. But my first Play Now games saw me getting outshot dramatically. But over a few games I started get a feel and saw more reasonable totals.

[18 eighty 5]

Re: NHL 14 Available Now for Season Ticket Subscribers, Post Your Impressions

Getting into Live the Life and my RW was picked up by San Jose in the first round. The skating is much smoother across the board and the crazy physics antics of last year have largely been corrected. Really enjoying LtL and find the games exciting. The interview questions are a good touch in conjunction with the fan/family/team mate/management tracker.

Play Now is much better fun with the more balanced on ice action. Though, the CPU still has some typical EAisms but I don't find to be as blatant but I am reluctant to start a BaGM.

14 is a better experience than 13. Haven't gone online for anything yet so this game is playing as shipped, no patches, rosters updates or tuners. I should have an internet connection for the first time in ages later this week so EASHL and Battlefield 3 are up for a work out :-)

[Nomah5]

Re: NHL 14 Available Now for Season Ticket Subscribers, Post Your Impressions

Just played a game down a level on all star and what a gongshow it was. Here is my stats...I won in the shootout as the nucks playing the cpu.

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[Splitter77]

Re: NHL 14 Available Now for Season Ticket Subscribers, Post Your Impressions

i know i havent played the games as much as i did 5 years ago, but i think the scoring this year is worse than nhl 13.
I like nhl 13 because the goals you should score on, actually went in most of the time. This year it seems as though they changed that. Im consistantly outshooting the cpu on susperstar level and only getting 1 goal a game.

The cpu gets 3 or 4 goals. All the same way. Me either giving them the puck with my goalie, because Ea refuses to put a quick whistle in the game, or the cpu doing their money goal wrap from behind the net.

Im really getting annoyed with the wrap goal though. Every time cpu takes it around the net, comes in front and goal. that was not there last year.

[DJ]

Re: NHL 14 Available Now for Season Ticket Subscribers, Post Your Impressions

After playing some good ol' offline games this weekend, there's one thing I'm certain of... you need to crank up aggression to get anything close to a 200ft game of hockey.

Could you please elaborate as to why you think that's so? I always appreciate your thoughts on the game.

Played a game last night and CPU took 6 penalties against me on All-Star/Hardcore Simulation. Two were for fighting, the other four were minor infractions.

[iaxy]

Re: NHL 14 Available Now for Season Ticket Subscribers, Post Your Impressions

Whilst the demo gave me some mixed feelings (suffice to say I did not even pick up the game on release day), I am actually quite impressed with the full game.

My first two games were Winter Classic 2011, All Star difficulty, stock sliders. The first game I got smoked by the CPU whilst trying to get used to the controls, but the second game was a very gratifying experience staying together with the CPU right till the end and then winning 2:1 with a shorthanded one-timer 30 seconds from time.

Whilst I will continue to maintain that NHL 14 should have been what NHL 13 never was, I find noticeable improvements in pretty much every department. More than ever the game feels and looks like real hockey, with momentum, inertia and fluidity playing a major part. Position your player incorrectly and the opposition blows by you with momentum. Conversely, applying patience to your own offensive game and then hitting a clever pass to a flying skater, results in a great opportunity. What I like the most is how players will now react to receiving a pass. The motion is fluid, they do not lose momentum. This is especially useful when passing the puck between your D-men. The other noticeable improvement is control. Powerplays are immensely enjoyable, with the ability to cycle the puck around without accidentally going offside or turning over the puck because of clunky controls (like all previous installments). I love setting up plays being just patient and cycling around till I see an opening. The one touch dekes are also very well implemented and very useful in pretty much all contexts. For the first time the game plays and feels organic with stock sliders (though the speed seems too high on True Broadcast camera).

Defense is more of a challenge, but not necessarily in a good way. Similarly to FIFA, playing defense is a mixed bag. The CPU is too good at dangling with the puck, stopping and turning leaving your human-controlled skater hopelessly out of position. Sometimes it’s more useful just standing in front of goal and hope for a rebound. That said, I love how D-men look when they skate backwards. It feels so fluid and organic.

Fighting is a mixed bag for me. I am aware most people welcome this new addition. For me it is a non-event. I dislike fights in hockey – they detract from the game experience and EA has done exactly this here. To me it’s an unnecessary destraction that you can’t seem to turn off.

Online is also fun. I only played one game, which was competitive, fair and very close. My opponent ended up winning 4:3 with an OT goal, but all the action was very exciting and I loved the verity of goals and plays. There was no lag – everything worked to perfection.

I wish EA would not persist in recycle their commentary and visual presentation. This is the weakest part of the game for me. The cameras are identical (still no customization available for True Broadcast) and the commentary is just plain dated. I do have to concede though that some visuals have improved. The ice looks amazing, including the degrading of it as the period progresses.

Overall a good job, EA. A good title to say farewell with to current gen consoles. I bought NHL 13 and played it for about 2 weeks before losing interest. I think NHL 14 will maintain my interest much longer than that.

[CanuckJ]

Re: NHL 14 Available Now for Season Ticket Subscribers, Post Your Impressions

The thing about fighting is not true, I dislike fighting in hockey myself so I turned it down to nothing and have yet to see a fight since that time.

[Qb]

Re: NHL 14 Available Now for Season Ticket Subscribers, Post Your Impressions

Could you please elaborate as to why you think that's so? I always appreciate your thoughts on the game.

In my experience, raising the aggression slider to 5 or 6 does as much as anything (outside of maybe pass assist) to change the gameplay from flowing end-to-end rushes to something more uneven and unpredictable. Of course, I'm lowering acceleration, puck control, pass accuracy/reception, along with raising fatigue effect, but I think the increased aggression ties it all together.

CPU players on both teams make more of an effort to attack the puck, disrupting break outs more often, and keeping the puck in the attacking zone for extended periods. There are times when I really feel the need to clear the puck after getting pinned in my zone (fatigue!), but I can also do that to the CPU more effectively. This leads to more realistic scoring situations & chances and less "hot dog hockey" as someone (Kerosene31?) called it earlier.

It's not a panacea for all the gameplay issues and your opponent's strategies play a large part in how the game plays out (max out CPU strat adj to help with in-game variety). Zone entry is still easier than it should be and I'm sure one could skate in circles if they really wanted to, but I played several competitive games with balanced shot & TOA totals on All-Star. The big thing for me is that feeling of "I need to do something with the puck NOW" that really isn't there by default. Combine that with looser settings for puck control & passing, and it makes for a better game of hockey.

[bad_philanthropy]

Re: NHL 14 Available Now for Season Ticket Subscribers, Post Your Impressions

It's a big disappointment for me that the cpu doesn't use the puck chop. It has been one of the better defensive tools the past two years, and it's nicely refined this year.