Where It Stands
Let me say right off the bat before I am accused of bashing EA NHL's recent instalment that frankly, I think they made the right choice to devote the first year to gameplay (though plenty argue that they once again failed; I agree with that opinion in some parts of gameplay). That's the core for any game and they were perfectly correct in focusing on that and putting modes back in in the future. Though they once again forgot to work on goaltenders.
Where they went wrong was the communication about the game. And the pricing. Did I mention that they stripped the game of the most popular mode, EASHL (user team co-op), most online features, and watered down the offline modes (took the Draft out of Be A GM mode) that were left in (no Season Mode, Playoff Mode was patched in). Yet EA still charged $60 for what was unarguably a barebones game. Oh, and you can't sim to your next shift in Be A Pro mode, rendering the mode basically useless for all but the hardcore Be A Pro player.
Speaking of communication, Rammer didn't help his cause with what I will describe here as "inaccuracies." From an Operation Sports early interview (well before the game):
Q: Why was NHL not on Next-Gen last year?
Last year our team was laser-focused on delivering the greatest hockey experience to-date on the Xbox 360 and PS3. We are now in the position to benefit from the learnings that other teams in the studio have had with the next gen platforms to deliver on a brand new hockey experience that optimizes on all the added power and technology of the Xbox One and PS4, along with EA SPORTS IGNITE.
Yet in more recent interviews Rammer claimed that technology "hurdles" cost them a ton of time. I quote Rammer from a different interview:
By not being there for Year 1 we were able to let theFIFAs and the Maddens of the world kind of figure out all of the technological hurdles so we can spend more time focusing on the features for NHL 15.
Or maybe not?
On Be A Pro from another interview:
SR: In Be-A-Pro, you’ll be able to play with a character in BAP, play in the NHL. It’ll be the same as before, the depth is there. With regards to setting us up for the future, the one piece that is not there is the Life the Life piece. Looking at the bar being set by other sports games, and us wanting to set ourselves up for the future and be better with all of our modes, so Live the Life is not there this year.
Right. Same depth as before, minus sim to the next shift and coach feedback (patched in) and the CHL and the AHL.
Last-gen (360, PS3) is the exact same with different commentary and a roster update.
EA patched in FREE content update with more planned in October. In September they put in Playoff Mode, Coach Feedback (BeAPro), 3 Stars of the Game, and some HUT updates. Still no things like, say, Sim to the Next shift or Player Editing—but hey, we got 3 Stars! HUT is apparently buggy as ever. OTP (On-line Team Play) and a GM draft is scheduled to be patched in in October. I expect they will be.
Where It's Going
As I said before, I'm VERY glad EA focused on gameplay. That alone gives me hope for future iterations. However, the dev team will have to focus on modes next year or run the risk of drawing increased ire from the hockey gaming community and more lost sales. I doubt they focus on last-gen next year. In my mind there is no way Xbox 360 and PS3 see NHL 17.
What is worrisome, however, is that with all the patches and content updates it seems that the developers will have less time to work on NHL 16. That's the scariest part; NHL 16 will, and has to be, good. Sales are down. 2k is showing some hockey interest.
Your move, EA.
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