NHL 15: Breaking Down the Initial Information

[RaychelSnr]

EA has finally blown the lid (well, slightly loosened the lid is more accurate) off of NHL 15, the first hockey game on the new generation of hardware. They didn't exactly show much, but they sure did a lot of telling. You can see the teaser trailer here, and the game page outlining all of the details is here. There's also a cover vote going on, and you can make your wishes known on this page. GameInformer also wrote up a big piece on the game, so I'd suggest checking that out, too, as I'll be referencing it here.

As I figured, EA played it fairly coy in terms of showing their cards (even though that trailer sparks some good emotion), but they did do a lot of hype-building, specifically as relates to gameplay features and presentation. There are a lot interesting details in what they said, so let's take a look.

Read More - NHL 15: Breaking Down the Initial Information

[N51_rob]

This will be interesting to day the least. While I thought Madden 25 on PS4/XB1 was a current gen port with some upgrades to zone defense. I never considered it to be a true "Next-Gen" offering taking full advantage of the hardware. This game will probably be the first real next gen effort for the "ignite" engine.

[Cletus]

I'm still not very excited. Sure the things are cool, but EA has put a lot of cool things in the NHL series.

[OSGuy321]

Cautious and guarded at this point. Been burned to many times now by marketing.

[adroscoe]

Great read! However with EA sports they've burned us too many times so I am a bit hesitent about getting excited.

[Scribe1980]

"The puck is one of the most complex items in the game to authentically replicate and it finally gets its due in NHL 15. Completely rebuilt puck physics result in a more realistic feel to every puck interaction. Everything on the ice, including the ice surface itself, is live which leads to the unpredictable and authentic puck spins, rolls and bounces seen in a real NHL game."

EA pulls this PR crap every few years. And then for last year we have, SURPRISE! a volleyball puck in the corners. Absolute game-killer. Bout done with this series. Show me. And I ain't from Missouri.

[Eski33]

With the new gen consoles I expect an upgrade in visuals but a more amped up AI. Smarter AI will make single player experiences more fun.

I view NHL on the same level with The Show. An excellent franchise that improves a small portion each year. Now that both are on next gen I expect that these franchises with the excellent development teams will reach new heights. I also think this is the year sports titles offer something awesome.

[coolkev21]

NHL has always been an online game for me

The show has always been a single player game for me.

NHL online is where it's at.... best online sports game out for a while.....

[Wiggy]

NHL has always been an online game for me

The show has always been a single player game for me.

NHL online is where it's at.... best online sports game out for a while.....

EASHL is a ton of fun, indeed.

[spidertour02]

Re: NHL 15: Breaking Down the Initial Information

I buy into the graphics and presentation elements almost immediately. They sound great, and I can imagine that they will go a good job with those. The gameplay, however, I will have to be sold on.

[13whitebread]

There are obviously gameplay issues that have plagued this series most recently the bouncing puck in the defensive zone hopefully and it sounds like it that this most likley will be fixed. I know I have and many others have been calling for something more to immerse me into the game sure they have to prove it but from what I am reading it sounds that they have had extra time too work on it and maybe this first gen offering will pay off in spades. I played Madden and Nba2k and they were let's be honest just another port. I think the NHL series can benefit form a lower payroll than those sports and really give us a true next Gen title. All this of course hinges on EA delivering I am sure betting on this but of course remain cautiously optimistic.

[Trevelyan]

Re: NHL 15: Breaking Down the Initial Information

EA always hypes their games, then ends up making extremely minor changes(which is fine when it comes to NHL, great game already). I'll wait for more concrete information, like changes being made to EASHL/OTP.

That said, I love this series so I'm looking forward to this more than any other game this year.

[H to the Oza]

We need something like connected franchise in NHL

[Robo COP]

Re: NHL 15: Breaking Down the Initial Information

EA always hypes their games, then ends up making extremely minor changes(which is fine when it comes to NHL, great game already). I'll wait for more concrete information, like changes being made to EASHL/OTP.

That said, I love this series so I'm looking forward to this more than any other game this year.

How about having playoffs cut back. Once every month wasn't enough and every single weekend is too much. I think every other weekend or possibly every 3 weeks would be much better

We need something like connected franchise in NHL

.......? GM Connected?

[SVCbearcat10]

I think this is a no win year for the NHL series. They clearly focused on putting a fresh coat of paint on this game... better physics, sharper AI, stadiums, crowds, presentation, commentary. This is everything everyone has been asking for. But this is next-gen and most believe they should be able to get absolutely everything they want in the game on the first iteration.

Now if all the game modes are left pretty much untouched with no major improvements, that is all everyone will be complaining about. If they would have focused on truly changing all their modes and not on presentation/environment, then that is what everyone would complain about. If they changed too much at once and not everything worked properly, it will feel rushed and incomplete. If they don't change enough, they don't seem to care.

Even though they essentially skipped a year on next-gen, they don't know have the time or resources to address everything. They are a small team with half the resources of other EA franchises. I, for one, think this will continue to be a great game and will appreciate the effort their team put forth. As long as their is not massive bug in the game, this will be by far the best hockey game made.