Producer David Littman Talks NHL 14

[Rhouston]

Man, I feel like I am alone in thinking that this year's version was a vast improvement over the previous editions...

I will admit that out-of-the-box, this did not play like REAL hockey and was uber frustrating. But with Cycloniac's sliders (http://www.operationsports.com/forums/ea-sports-nhl-sliders/594228-cycloniacs-truesim-nhl-13-sliders.html), this, to me, is the most realistic thing we've ever had. True, it's not perfect and doesn't completely play like the game we see in person, but if that was the case, it would definitely lose a lot of the "fun" factor.

Based on the improvements this year and what I've read so far, I am excited for NHL 14. I hope I'm not alone.

[Al_Tito13]

Quote: Originally Posted by Wiggy

RE: goalies Just to clarify guys: it wasn't a feature, but at the end of the piece, I did mention the goalies being tweaked. They're aware of the spiderman goalie stuff, and they're claiming that it will be addressed. Just thought I'd point that out.

I have to admit that I didn't read the 'More to Come' section at the end of the article, so thanks for the clarification. It's really good to know that goalies will be tuned, as it was the most annoying thing to me in NHL 13.

[canucksss]

one touch deke..... i'd say that troubles me....some gamers will spam it (EVEN EA DENY that it will be)...good thing i dont play online anymore. not excited about NHL 14 until i see drastic improvements in presentations, AI IQ etc. i cannot wait until more info to come in...but for now...im going to dodge NHL 14 on release date.

[onac22]

OH great so now any goomba, can spam deke's up and down the ice no thank you.

[Money99]

The fighting engine sounds like a lot of fun - very similar to 2K's fighting engine (which is still the best in the business by a long shot).

The rest sounds pretty good, but we've heard this before.
The biggest thing for me, AGAIN, is if these changes will be tied to attributes.
Will we still be able to pin Chara with Hudler?
Will players like Datsyuk drop the gloves and fair well against real tough guys?*
Will every player on the ice be able to pull off those one-button dekes? I'm of the opinion that unless your deke rating is above a certain value, the dekes wouldn't work at all.

We'll have to wait and see.

* Remember NHL93's fighting? I loved it! If a middleweight fought a Probie, they still had a chance, but Probie could take a massive amount of shots, and he had the ability to injure a player depending on their fighting rating. That was awesome.

[jyoung]

Has anyone seen an injury occur from a fight in NHL 13? It used to happen frequently in NHL 12, but I can't recall ever seeing someone get hurt from fighting in NHL 13.

The same thing goes for blocked shot injuries in NHL 13, they were common in NHL 12 but seem to have been toned down significantly this year to where I can't remember ever seeing a blocked shot injury occur in NHL 13.

I guess they decided getting hurt by fights and blocked shots "wasn't fun" so they took it out of the game.

[Rhouston]

I've seen injuries as a result from fighting and from block shots in NHL 13... man, maybe I just lucked out and got a "good" copy of the game!

[Ryan97]

I agree with some here, this series is by behind the best sports games on the market by far. Yes thats great you have the best hockey title....But that is not saying much...The show, NBA 2K13 (I hate basketball) still blow these titles out of the water as far as capturing the sport from a presentation and realism side, Its time to step it up to the next level already. There are some glaring issues in these games (I have played them all) that anyone who lived and breathed the game of hockey as they suggest their developers do, would have picked up on years ago. Living and breathing hockey comparatively speaking to who ?