[Qb]

Quote: Originally Posted by Drakar

You had some good point Qb but its not always the case. I think its might be due to momentum shift. The A.I goes into this "God mode" from time to time and put an enormous amount of pressure on you. Why doesn't my CPU teammate are not doing the same thing in offensive zone ? They just watch the puck go in the corner and retreat. Even with strategy set to aggressive. I don't mind dealing with pressure but the pass assist is really killing my chance of using the board to free up the zone. That's has been the most glaring issue with the game. Stop assisting me and I'll be happy.

Cranking the forecheck up to full while using 1-2-2 aggressive or weakside lock makes my teammates buzz around the opponents zone. I wish the strategy controls were easier to manipulate during play -- or better yet, compatible with voice commands -- because they really do make a difference when used appropriately.

Something else to consider is lowering game speed. The last game I played I dropped it from 3 to 2 and I felt more comfortable with the pace of play. It's kind of like pitch speed in MLB The Show... too fast and you feel overmatched, but you can go from floundering at the plate to feeling comfortable with a simple adjustment (and swallowing some pride).

The increased assist is frustrating. The alternative is to use the fully manual saucer pass. It's almost second nature to me after years of playing OTP with the default pass assist. It takes some practice and you'll misfire at times, but it can be a real weapon.

You can also shoot the puck out of the zone if you're under pressure and just want to clear. If you time and aim it right, you'll get a nice smooth animation to ring the puck around the boards. With the new puck physics, it will often jump the stick of the defender at the point which can create some interesting situations, especially if you have your forwards set to leave the zone early.

Quote: Originally Posted by MizzouRah

I just think the game play is different than 13 or 14.. can't quite put it all to words yet, but I'm so used to 13 and 14 - that skating and hitting has taken me some time to get used to with 15 on next gen. On hardcore, the CPU will skate around you if you try for the hit. Once I became patient and played myself into the lanes, I started playing much better defense. There are some similarities, but there are also quite a bit of differences.

It'd be easier to play this style of defense with directional player switching aimed with the L-stick. There are many times I want to be able to switch to someone other than the man closest to the puck. The CPU loves to hit the trailer around the faceoff dot when you force them wide towards the corner. Unfortunately, the 3rd man back is often a little slow to pick him up and by the time I'm switched, he has the puck in a dangerous position.