NHL 17 Beta Impressions (Roundtable)

[RaychelSnr]

The NHL 17 Beta has closed and several OS'ers got a chance to give the game quite a bit of playtime. The Beta included three modes: Hockey Ultimate Team, EASHL, and Online Versus for gamers to dig into. There were a few hiccups but overall the impressions seem positive. Check out our thoughts after the jump...

Read More - NHL 17 Beta Impressions (Roundtable)

[Luke466]

Not sure I'm sold on that 'keep your team' in the EASHL drop-in mode. Quite a few times I'd pop in as a solo and us scrubs would be up against these usually better skilled players. Wasn't too enjoyable. Overall not a drastic change in EASHL which isn't necessarily bad - customization will add a bit of shine to it.

[snc237]

I give a thumbs up to the game

[Syce]

well there are still a lot of issues that need to be worked on. such as the front of net tie ups. i play a dman and i was able to tie a guy up and he literally could do nothing the whole time the puck was in the zone, he wasnt able to get off me.

[dannyheck]

Not sure I'm sold on that 'keep your team' in the EASHL drop-in mode. Quite a few times I'd pop in as a solo and us scrubs would be up against these usually better skilled players. Wasn't too enjoyable. Overall not a drastic change in EASHL which isn't necessarily bad - customization will add a bit of shine to it.

It only gives you that option to start another game with the same drop-in team you played with. Last year, the game would end and you couldn't play with those guys again unless you became friends. Then did the magical count down from 3, hit start at the same time, and hope you got in the same game lobby. Now if you have a drop-in game that goes great, you can stay together as a team for as long as you want because you go back out to a locker room together as a team. If you do t like that team, just leave, and select solo drop-in again. It is a great addition because many times last year I played with guys where we hit it off, knew what the other was going to do, and all of us played our positions. Now we have a way to keep it going.

[mikeq672]

Re: NHL 17 Beta Impressions (Roundtable)

Not sure I'm sold on that 'keep your team' in the EASHL drop-in mode. Quite a few times I'd pop in as a solo and us scrubs would be up against these usually better skilled players. Wasn't too enjoyable. Overall not a drastic change in EASHL which isn't necessarily bad - customization will add a bit of shine to it.

What? If your team sucks, just dont start another game with them, really simple.

[unisol_us]

I really enjoyed HUT synergy. Built 5 different squads and the boosts worked as advertised. I like the sets option to help build your team and keep collecting interesting. A couple of things the are rather annoying. When I am building a set why are my duplicate cards not in order? I wish there was a search option to find duplicates. Also when opening packs it shows the high / low price before the animation plays out so you know if you got a scrub before the card displays.

All in All I enjoyed the game. The ability to knock players off the puck is going to be huge. I like to play an active D and I feel I am being rewarded for my defensive diligence. I wish the moment the puck went in the net was more thrilling. It seems very anti climatic when scoring. Puck goes in and instantly its time to celebrate and why is the celebration window so small. It seems like I never have time to hit the button to celebrate. Maybe I need to play more but I do not get the exciting feeling when I score. It all seems so businesslike in the beta. The water bottle and some twine moving and a little camera zoom would do wonders for that moment when the puck goes in.