Is NHL 16 EA's last chance for you?

[nddurst]

It is for me.

I, like many others, did not buy NHL 15 (or 14, or 13 for that matter). I bought 08-12 on release day and played them constantly, but with 12 I started getting really bored with the product and it's the last version of the game I've purchased.

I recently played NHL 15 for the first time and I was shocked at how far the series has strayed from being a fun, well-balanced, true-to-life hockey game that fairly represents hockey as a sport.

I'm not going into the details of the game that I didn't enjoy, because they're all documented at length on this forum already. My point is this--every year around May I come to these boards looking for information on the next iteration of the game that will arrive in the fall. And this year might be my last time putting myself through it. Last year's marketing hype, filled with promises that were never delivered on and the release of a completely unfinished game with GLARING holes, both feature-wise and gameplay-wise, has pushed me to the edge.

If big changes aren't in the works for '16, like better goalies, defensive tools, AI and offline mode improvements, I'm done with this series for good. I'm going to move on, knowing that we will never get the NHL game we deserve as long as EA Sports and the current development team are the ones making the game.

I'm curious if anyone else feels the same way. I've got a short list of 5 things that I want to see listed as improvements. If they're not all there, I'm done. I'm already not buying your games, EA...now I'm going to stop caring altogether.

[Simple Mathematics]

Re: Is NHL 16 EA's last chance for you?

I will buy the game when editing players is put back in. Until then, it is a no buy for me. I gotta have the Revamped Rosters to enjoy the game.

[headzapp]

Re: Is NHL 16 EA's last chance for you?

I was bleh about out how I thought they skipped a year to work on the game, and to find out they did nothing that off year (for the xone and ps4). Everything that made it into the game is the best it has been. My only gripes that I hope to be fixed are better goalies, player collision as it happens in real life, loose pucks, real board play, using defense to put pressure on the puck handler.
So I believe next years game will be what everyone wanted, or at least close. Plus all the missing features will be back in. It's like the first Madden on ps3 that was a basic game. If they don't put things back in or make better improvements then yeah I wouldn't get it, but that would be suicide if they did that.

[manitoba450es]

Re: Is NHL 16 EA's last chance for you?

Latest tuner and a couple slider changes and this is the most I've ever played a NHL series in a long time. Game play is great. Can be better. Especially goalies but game play is awesome. It's bare bones and there is lots of features I'd like to return and added but I hope they don't stray far in game play. Just add some more control of the D man's stick and it's golden

[canucksss]

Re: Is NHL 16 EA's last chance for you?

I skipped 14 (360) and did not buy 15 (nephew gave it to me who used to work at EA) for PS4, in 2 weeks, i exchanged it to NBA 2k. Of course, I told my nephew about it prior, so not to offend him.

I will rent it from gamefly just to see on my own if EA corrected the much needed corrections (player differences and teams, coz I dont want close numbers especially between L1 players to L4 players).

To answer your question, 13 was the last chance for me buying NHL video game (bought NHL game every year since '94). But I will keep checking in via Gamefly, and if Im satisfied with the product, only then I will buy EA NHL.

[MizzouRah]

Re: Is NHL 16 EA's last chance for you?

Latest tuner and a couple slider changes and this is the most I've ever played a NHL series in a long time. Game play is great. Can be better. Especially goalies but game play is awesome. It's bare bones and there is lots of features I'd like to return and added but I hope they don't stray far in game play. Just add some more control of the D man's stick and it's golden

Agreed.. I play almost every night, season 2 now.

[13whitebread]

Re: Is NHL 16 EA's last chance for you?

I want to be immersed into the game with more score overlays and more talk about the season series between two clubs. And maybe have the sliders work a little more effectively. Better defense obviously. Doc needs to sound more fluid and less robotic. However Eddie and Ray sound excellent and spot on just hopefully more lines less repetitive. And the penalties could increase and more variety as well. Even though I consider this year a debacle much because of the misinformation that was out there and the team did have supposedly more time to work on it. But I think it will get a lot better when they don't have to release a game for last gen but hockey is my sport I have tried madden and I don't really like it and it needs to improve as well

[Vikes1]

Re: Is NHL 16 EA's last chance for you?

Honestly, my big issue with this game continues to be the near total lack of play between the blue lines,vs the ai. The constant up and down, back and forth nature of the gameplay just gets very boring for me. If this alone was fixed for 16...it would make NHL 16 a sure buy for me.

[badazzleroybrown]

Re: Is NHL 16 EA's last chance for you?

the game needs a lot of things
Goalies need to be hard to beat , they need to throw out penalties and rebuild the engine on how there called the sliders should make dramatic changes .
need more camera angles, more seasons stats while playing games being displayed. the game needs to keep your players yearly stats instead of stats for the current game. while you are playing so if you scored 2 goals and had 48 going into the game then the game should recognize that you now have 50 goals. the 3 stars should skate on the ice after the game.

players need to have some kind of emotion engine like nba 2k to create a game atmosphere. face offs need a revamping. and way more cyber faces added . along with editing rosters that we can share and the game tuners need to prompt at loading like last gen there is no reason i should have to have a gold account to get tuners and have to do a bunch of whammy stuff to get them to show up.

this game is a joke there are so many players that have the same face
and when you trade for goalies they have there old teams masks
we should be able to create masks for them.
even the game menu is slow and un responsive and no depth

and the game needs to recognize you breaking actual team records along with
nhl records it just needs a new team making it.

[RicoLaguno]

Re: Is NHL 16 EA's last chance for you?

Before I return back to the series I need to see all of these added:

=Player attributes that really seperate player performances and skills and can be noticed on the ice

=Variety in different team styles of play and strategic approach

=More board play and variety of scrumming, struggling for puck control and positioning in front of net. (Too often a player will get one touch and it either gets gloved by the goalie or sent out of the zone by a defender)

=More intensity and desperation in gameplay during the playoffs...players should be reaching and stretching and going balls to the wall at a much higher level as well as the announcing dialouge should also be intense

=Better commentary that relates to real performances and standings , situations and events that are actually happening in your Franchise

=Better job of providing some pre game scouting and analysis of the teams and matchups prior to playoff games to add more hype and excitement

=Historical Section that tracks League Standings, Playoff and Cup boxscores, stats, awards, etc from each previous season so you can look back and enjoy your Franchise stats over the years...Franchise mode is all about creating and enjoying the history you've made!

=I want the ability to control or PLAY any team/game in my League if I want. Some people like to control and play with more than one team in a Franchise mode. Sometimes people like to just play random games around the league to get a feel for other teams from time to time. Some people just want to be able to play all the Playoff games in their Franchise mode....None of this is currently possible. Full control options should be provided for GM/Franchise Modes to allow the player to have these choices! MLB the Show and NBA 2K lets you do it ...this should be a standard in all Franchise modes!

[Devilsfan3026]

Re: Is NHL 16 EA's last chance for you?

15 was. What they offered in NHL 15 was something you'd expect from a launch title on release with the new consoles. Instead of half-assing it, they should have skipped two years then if the staff is so small. Not like they'd lose out to any sort of competition. NHL 15 was so poor that reviewers will have to call 16 the best NHL game ever made for me to even think about buying it.

[actionhank]

Re: Is NHL 16 EA's last chance for you?

It definitely will be. I'm glad some people are having fun with NHL15, but just the videos alone caused me to not get it. Sure, it might be a bit unfair for me to criticize a game based on watching others play it, but at the same time, when it's that hard to see an actual difference in a game that's 2 years removed from what you're comparing it against, i don't think that speaks well to the gameplay.

Factor in EA's shift towards riding HUT to death, and somehow managing to spend almost 2 years working on the game only to release it with fewer features and more broken promises doesn't leave me optimistic.

I'm going to continue to follow the development and hope for the best. But i'm not holding my breath. Thankfully I'm 2 years behind The Show, so i can hopefully get a PS4 and catch up on that soon.

[nddurst]

Re: Is NHL 16 EA's last chance for you?

It definitely will be. I'm glad some people are having fun with NHL15, but just the videos alone caused me to not get it. Sure, it might be a bit unfair for me to criticize a game based on watching others play it, but at the same time, when it's that hard to see an actual difference in a game that's 2 years removed from what you're comparing it against, i don't think that speaks well to the gameplay.

Factor in EA's shift towards riding HUT to death, and somehow managing to spend almost 2 years working on the game only to release it with fewer features and more broken promises doesn't leave me optimistic.

I'm going to continue to follow the development and hope for the best. But i'm not holding my breath. Thankfully I'm 2 years behind The Show, so i can hopefully get a PS4 and catch up on that soon.

I just bought a PS4, and I've been lurking around various MLB The Show boards and researching this year's game (I've never played The Show), and I have to say, they know how to approach things. The developers seem open and honest about what can/can't be done, and the game itself looks like it's going to be amazing. I have a feeling if I play it NHL will look like a joke in comparison...that both excites me and scares me.

Hockey is my favorite sport, and it would be so great if a game company would make a solid game around it that includes all of the small details and plays true-to-life, like sports like baseball and basketball have.

[GlennN]

Re: Is NHL 16 EA's last chance for you?

Funny, I guess it depends on your perspective. I bought (and did not like) NHL 11-14. I thought the series peaked at NHL 10. But, unlike most of you folks, I am really enjoying NHL 15. For me, it is the best version since 10, and represents progress. Yeah, there is still much I would change, but this stopped the downward spiral.

[Södy]

Re: Is NHL 16 EA's last chance for you?

Still enjoy the game. Especially HUT seasons is great.

Too bad you stopped at 12 since 13 was the biggest step forward imo.