NHL 15 Video, Screenshots & Blog Featuring the Superstar Skill Stick

[johnnyg713]

Re: NHL 15 Video, Screenshots & Blog Featuring the Superstar Skill Stick

Fair enough. And no need to apologize. I was simply asking based off of what do you consider this game to be a gothy candidate? Because they have literally shown 2 full minutes of actual gameplay and have discussed none of the improvements that would touch on any of the numerous aspects that have plagued this series for the past half decade, from what I have seen. I would just like to tap into your optimism or see what you are at least basing it off of.

At the very least the other sports genres are into their second iteration of games on the ps4 and xbone and have seemingly attempted to crack the issues most of their hardcore gamers complain about by now. And even from the latest screen captures the NBA Live series has seemingly figured out their lighting system and how to light up an arena with more than the first 20 rows of fans. Because after all, that is 75% of what this part of EA Vancouver is resting their hat on, "authentic arenas", so far anyway. That is unless they've released any other screenshots in the prior 2 months that we are unaware of.

Well.. NHL has won sports game of the year before. Multiple times if I remember correctly. It is not so absurd for me to claim that it could win again. This isn't madden, a game that is widely known as a disappointment every year (even though I know it is turning a corner this year).

Most critics believe this game is flat out fun to play. IMO the most fun sports game every year. It's been rated 85% or higher every year. From blogs, E3 impressions, and claims I have read, the game is "shaping up" to be sports game of the year.

I say this because gameplay-wise, I think the game has already been there for years (again, to win multiple SGOTY awards, this game must be doing something right). Yes things can always be improved but that can be said for any game. I do not see absolute game breakers in this title that I see in other games.

You take all the "claimed" improvements they've made to an already fantastic gameplay engine (obv a lot of people on here don't see the game the way I do), along with all the improvements to physics, visuals, arenas, atmosphere, and "claimed" presentation and I see a game that is in the same category as NBA 2k.

There are many of you guys saying you need to see more gameplay footage but from my experience, the claims of this dev team have always showed up in the final product. I have always enjoyed this series and gameplay consistently improves from year to year.

Instead of focusing on what isn't in the game (i've read people claiming about some sort of defensive skill stick which I dont think EA has ever claimed as an idea), my optimism comes from focusing on what the dev team claims to be putting in the game.

Edit: not that there is anything wrong with people wanting new mechanics in the game. It's just I appreciate what the game already has.

[bigwill33]

Re: NHL 15 Video, Screenshots & Blog Featuring the Superstar Skill Stick

Fair enough, I wasn't trying to put you on the spot, but was literally wondering where your opinion was coming from and you've answered it.

I hope that they can deliver a great game. There just has been a few too many glaring gameplay issues in the series for me to truly enjoy the modes that I play the most. That is why I struggle to trust what they are claiming at times without more first hand, or at least visual, proof.

[actionhank]

Re: NHL 15 Video, Screenshots & Blog Featuring the Superstar Skill Stick

Really not sure how anyone can get anything definitive out of this trailer except how far towards realistic the appearance of all these moves has gone.

I will not try to dissect the video to see defensive ai because more than likely whatever ea did for this video was to solely make the offensive skills look good.

Same reason I won't bash or praise ea for goalie play based on videos to showcase other things. They wanted to show off the puck handling and a little bit of after goal emotion again.

I'm looking forward to this game and despite the flaws of past nhl games, I've always enjoyed this series. I'm not about to pretend it's a perfect representation of hockey, but it seems like the team has taken steps to get there every year. Hoping with the upgraded systems we see even more innovation moving forward.

I understand not wanting to judge the other non-focus parts of the video, but my problem is, i don't see EA neutering the AI just for the sake of making the video. And even the limited gameplay videos kind of hint towards the defensive AI being the same. It's still early, and AI routines could be something they start knocking out after getting the exterior work done, hell, it might not be implemented at all yet.
But, it is a bit worrying to see that the AI still just backs into the zone with their sticks in their hands and a blank look on their face. Defensive AI that would skate backwards while maintaining some distance, and trying to poke check, maybe ride guys into the boards trying to go around, and then having forwards who come down the ice and actually try to back check would address a big issue which is neutral zone pressure, and the ease of skating into the zone. In NHL14 the AI just escorted you face-to-face into the zone, and would only really steal the puck when you go right on them, or passed near them. The "suction" type puck stealing made it difficult to do things like split defenders, or even just skate near them. Avoidance was always the best policy.
If the AI actually had to get stick on puck, but also went out of their way to try and knock it loose, hit sticks, and push players towards the boards between the blue line and the net it would not only play a lot better, but it would do a lot to lower the ease with which you've been able to skate in and just go around the defenders, circle towards the middle, then pass around until you scored.
That's what i'm hoping they add. Hell, it might even be something we don't get until NHL16 based on them still having to support past-gen systems. But, i definitely hope for at least more pressure, if not some new animations with players trying to bump guys off the puck while still moving, and forecheckers coming in trying to break up passes, or cover guys who are open coming down the middle.

[pm83]

Re: NHL 15 Video, Screenshots & Blog Featuring the Superstar Skill Stick

Great trailer and all but how about giving some defensive tools also?

[SpectralThundr]

Re: NHL 15 Video, Screenshots & Blog Featuring the Superstar Skill Stick

Great trailer and all but how about giving some defensive tools also?

I don't think people should be too worried yet for a number of reasons, this trailer was specifically mean to show off the improved animations for puck handling and one on one dekes. That was the goal, imo they succeeded in it because it looks fluid and great.

They haven't really talked about AI yet, especially on the defensive side of the puck. I would think since it's likely the most important issue, and likely the game's biggest deficiency to a lot of us, myself included, that down the line here we'll get either a trailer or a blog write up about what they have done to improve the aggressiveness of the CPU on defense to better read and react.

Considering it's the game's biggest flaw imo I would think they did at least some work to improve it.

[Russo]

Re: NHL 15 Video, Screenshots & Blog Featuring the Superstar Skill Stick

This is the game and it looks terrible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RE50h0Bhhc

[Segagendude]

Re: NHL 15 Video, Screenshots & Blog Featuring the Superstar Skill Stick

This is the game and it looks terrible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RE50h0Bhhc

That's E3 footage which has already been posted.

[thedudedominick]

Re: NHL 15 Video, Screenshots & Blog Featuring the Superstar Skill Stick

This is the game and it looks terrible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RE50h0Bhhc

That's E3 footage which has already been posted.

Of a build that would probably be considered pre-beta.

[meep316]

Re: NHL 15 Video, Screenshots & Blog Featuring the Superstar Skill Stick

Of a build that would probably be considered pre-beta.

I hate when people say this, and they say it every year.

They wouldn't bring a version of the game to E3 and make it playable to the public, if it wasn't an accurate representation of the game that we will get when it ships. People will bend over backwards to defend EA, for what reason, I have no idea.

That's the game we're getting. It's only a short clip, but it's not promising at all, and would make sense as to why they haven't shown any real gameplay yet. They know it's still horrific.

[bigwill33]

Re: NHL 15 Video, Screenshots & Blog Featuring the Superstar Skill Stick

Regardless, we all know by now that the final product will be very similar.

The same is generally true of the demo.

[SpectralThundr]

Re: NHL 15 Video, Screenshots & Blog Featuring the Superstar Skill Stick

This is the game and it looks terrible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RE50h0Bhhc

Footage of 2 dude bros, locked on pro, default sliders of an alpha build 5+ months from being finished and gold. Let's judge how the game is going to play without slider tweaks and without even finished being made. GREAT IDEA!

[drog1602]

Re: NHL 15 Video, Screenshots & Blog Featuring the Superstar Skill Stick

I don't think people should be too worried yet for a number of reasons, this trailer was specifically mean to show off the improved animations for puck handling and one on one dekes. That was the goal, imo they succeeded in it because it looks fluid and great.

They haven't really talked about AI yet, especially on the defensive side of the puck. I would think since it's likely the most important issue, and likely the game's biggest deficiency to a lot of us, myself included, that down the line here we'll get either a trailer or a blog write up about what they have done to improve the aggressiveness of the CPU on defense to better read and react.

Considering it's the game's biggest flaw imo I would think they did at least some work to improve it.

And when they don't, will you then say something about it? Or will you just give them a free pass since its year one on next gen?

[SpectralThundr]

Re: NHL 15 Video, Screenshots & Blog Featuring the Superstar Skill Stick

And when they don't, will you then say something about it? Or will you just give them a free pass since its year one on next gen?

I'll say the same thing I've said about the last couple versions, they need to address neutral zone pressure as a priority. That being said, I enjoy the game warts and all, as I've also said many times. I get that it's easier to be negative all the time, I also get that it's easier to hate on EA since they generally haven't done themselves many favors over the years and not just with sports games, but I am not going to pick apart the game every year and act all dramatic about it because despite the issues it has, I still get a vast amount of enjoyment out of it since it's reboot last gen.

It may not improve leaps and bounds every cycle, but reality? No sports game does, MLB The Show and NBA2k included. These guys have 10 months pretty much to get a game done and shipped from year to year and that goes for all the yearly sports titles. I don't expect them to reinvent the wheel every single year, and if people looked at it realistically, they shouldn't either.

My biggest issue with the game is CPU neutral zone pressure, I don't know how many times I need to repeat that before people get that I don't think the game is perfect or flawless by any means. That being said however it is the best hockey title all around including the past few iterations of 2k's game, the one thing that would make it near perfect is NHL2k3's AI, or at the least something comparable to it. If that doesn't happen year one on the current gen systems, sure it'll be a tough pill to swallow, even still I don't think personally I'll have a hard time finding sliders that still allow me to enjoy the game.

[Zobitembois]

Re: NHL 15 Video, Screenshots & Blog Featuring the Superstar Skill Stick

Seriously guys, stop having expectations. We all are hardcore gamers playing virtual hockey since a ****load of year.
Trust your experience, you already lived this situation at least two times in the past. We all know that each time we have next gen hardware coming to us the first games won't be delivering what we expected.
The devs don't know yet how to handle the possibilities of the new systems and will just be able to create a graphically updated version of the previous gen last occurence of the serie. We'll have to wait 2-3 years to have a really ground breaking nhl game.

Dont' be a fool, you comrades know more than anyone else the strategies the industry use to sell us crap.
Instead, just spend 5 bucks and go back to Nhl 2k8 as I did.

Edit : One love. This post isn't meant to sound agressive. Please excuse me if it felt like it was. Peace.

[DoubleDizzle]

Re: NHL 15 Video, Screenshots & Blog Featuring the Superstar Skill Stick

Seriously guys, stop having expectations. We all are hardcore gamers playing virtual hockey since a ****load of year.
Trust your experience, you already lived this situation at least two times in the past. We all know that each time we have next gen hardware coming to us the first games won't be delivering what we expected.
The devs don't know yet how to handle the possibilities of the new systems and will just be able to create a graphically updated version of the previous gen last occurence of the serie. We'll have to wait 2-3 years to have a really ground breaking nhl game.

Dont' be a fool, you comrades know more than anyone else the strategies the industry use to sell us crap.
Instead, just spend 5 bucks and go back to Nhl 2k8 as I did.

exactly - the problem with expectations is that it leads to disappointment and frustration. temper your expectations and just enjoy the game for what it is, a GAME! if you want the real deal, 100% sim style hockey, go buy a pair of skates and some equipment and hit the local rink for some pick-up or sit back and watch some NHL action instead of buying the game.

the people that are complaining ad nauseum are putting EA and this game on WAAAAY too high of a pedestal. what has EA done in the past that warrants that? NOTHING! yet we still buy the game and have fun with it (for the most part) until December when the glitchers start finding ways to beat the system. play a season offline, only play online with friends, avoid the lobbies and remember that EASHL games are going to make you want to throw the controller.