09-26-2019, 09:23 AM
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#1
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Rookie
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Despite my expectations, I actually enjoy the game (with a caveat)
Preface: I only play offline and only play in True Broadcast camera.
Based on the demo, I was really underwhelmed with the package, which felt stale and open to abuse online.
For the first time in 10 years I did not pick up the game on launch date. As a matter of fact I did not intend to buy it at all.
Since I had purchased the EA Early Access monthly pass for FIFA 20, I decided to try NHL 20 too for the 10 hours of free access.
My first thoughts upon downloading were the same as previous – same old, stale and uninspiring, with just a few minor tweaks.
I hate how zoomed in True Broadcast camera angle is, making it impossible to see much of the ice and having to reduce the game speed to 0 in order to have an accurate representation of the speed and flow of the game. This has been a legacy issue since the introduction of the True Broadcast camera.
I decided I could not tolerate this in a NHL style ring size, but everything changed when I tried the European ring size, which pulls the camera back considerably and allows more of the ice to be visible.
I started a league with Plzen in the Czech league and have been having lots of fun.
The new game features became much more apparent – particularly the seamless puck pickups, where you do not loose speed. The lifted pass is also much more usable this year. Passes from one wing to the other and dump ins are now an added weapon in the arsenal. And I love the new shot animations. Gone are the days of stupid looking shots and contorted bodies, defying physics. The game feels much more organic, the flow – much more natural.
I still don’t like some aspects, like the CPU’s almost perfect pass accuracy (even at pass accuracy set at 0) and the CPU’s ability to magically dispossess the puck form your skater without an animation to illustrate that play. But overall, this is an enjoyable game which pushes you to think and play good positional hockey.
Positives:
+ New puck pickups are a game changer
+ Realistic shot animations
+ More authentic physics
+ Lifted passes / dump ins
+ A greater variety of goals
Negatives:
- A lot of legacy issues
- True Broadcast camera is too zoomed in (no possibility to tweak)
- CPU passing accuracy is unrealistic (especially in the larger European rings)
- Some of the sliders don’t seem to have an effect. I reduced pass accuracy to 0 and did not see a single CPU pass go astray (this is on PRO difficulty)
- Also, in terms of sliders, I want to increase the importance of momentum and inertia. I tried to do that by reducing the back skate speed, thus giving an advantage of forward skating players over backtracking defenders, but this had no effect.
- The CPU seems to be over aggressive on forecheck and too passive in their own zone. Once again, there is next to no pressure in the neutral zone. This needs to be balanced out.
Last edited by iaxy; 09-26-2019 at 09:55 AM.
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