NHL 15 News Post

NHL 15 Video, Screenshots & Blog Featuring the Superstar Skill Stick

12:02 PM - July 23, 2014 by Steve_OS

EA Sports has released a new NHL 15 video featuring the Superstar Skill Stick. They have also released a new blog and some new screenshots.

Quote:


	Now, all the tools of an NHL superstar are in your hands.The revolutionary Skill Stick has evolved to give even more control to the player, featuring an intuitive right stick control scheme that is easy to use but also packed with depth. The all-new Superstar Skill Stick allows for complete fluidity when stickhandling, giving incredible control with the right analog stick. Use the Superstar Skill Stick with the right analog stick and True Performance Skating with the left to combine dekes and skating movement together. The left and right stick now act independently, allowing for more moves to embarrass the opposition. Chain moves together to keep defenders guessing. Use a stride deke to move a defender one way then turn him inside-out by chaining it together with a windmill deke. In NHL 15, there are countless ways to get past defenders and creating scoring opportunities using the Superstar Skill Stick.

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Game: NHL 15Reader Score: 6.5/10 - Vote Now
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NHL 15 Videos

Member Comments

# 21 Aggies7 @ 07/23/14 04:15 PM

Video looks awesome but as I have stated before hard to make a comment as everything is shown in slow motion. Still no game speed videos.

Don't get me wrong what was shown was great but I have my doubts it will look like that in real speed.

# 22 Gagnon39 @ 07/23/14 04:21 PM

Dang, that looked ridiculous. I'll try to maintain realistic expectations.

# 23 m-dogg @ 07/23/14 04:32 PM

All EASHL Defensemen are getting the shakes right now.

nothing like knowing what the skater is going to do, guessing right, but still having a low percentage chance to successfully stop it. All conjecture at this point of course, but its been this way for years online, so its hard to see it changing any time soon...

# 24 johnnyg713 @ 07/23/14 05:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigwill33


	Based off of what? The combined 2 mins of real gameplay footage that has been seen or the fluff and repetitive interviews that are out there? I'll wait for the demo to see if it's anything more than a port with some graphical upgrades and shoddy AI and glitch fest to score again. If you can get any discernible info that clears up the questions surrounding this series from these hype trailers then you are a better detective than I could ever be.

Everyone has an opinion. Mine is that this game looks absolutely phenominal. Sorry.

# 25 ericromain @ 07/23/14 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CelticHeart


	the same movements that we see at least ten years, I do not know what you're excited about, a part of that the saga of marketing...with bim bum bam trailers continues, when we see some real gameplay video we can talk about real improvements at this moment it is all marketing.

The Tavares and Kane dekes have perfect pro-hockey form, it was like watching an instructor at hockey camp. I love it.

Why does the puck 'dribbling' in place look so much different? Is it the wrist action, or are they just handling it more/faster? What ever it is, looks great.

# 26 hawley088 @ 07/23/14 07:33 PM

now lets just hope I cant pull these moves off with Zdeno Chara

# 27 actionhank @ 07/23/14 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericromain


	The Tavares and Kane dekes have perfect pro-hockey form, it was like watching an instructor at hockey camp. I love it. Why does the puck 'dribbling' in place look so much different? Is it the wrist action, or are they just handling it more/faster? What ever it is, looks great.

I think it's the way the players use their back hands to actually make it look like they're moving the puck around with the stick. It didn't seem to move a whole lot in NHL14.

Also, i'll say this. The lack of defense is still looking to be a problem. If it's released the way it is looking now, it's still going to be defensemen just backing into the zone holding their stick. Almost all of the defense in that video that isn't a crushing check is a defenseman just moving backwards just holding their stick as they move closer to the goalie, either screening them, or letting the guy around.

# 28 gator3guy @ 07/23/14 08:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by m-dogg


	All EASHL Defensemen are getting the shakes right now. nothing like knowing what the skater is going to do, guessing right, but still having a low percentage chance to successfully stop it. All conjecture at this point of course, but its been this way for years online, so its hard to see it changing any time soon...

Amen. Nothing beats playing an attacking forward perfectly only to get caught in a tripping animation that looks ridiculous.

The dekes and everything look really good, but I fear us defensemen will be playing fiddle sticks again this year. And no upping the hit power is not a solution.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpectralThundr


	You can try, you'll likely lose the puck 8 out of 10 tries though.

Yeah...I doubt it.

# 29 drog1602 @ 07/23/14 09:21 PM

This line said it all..."embarrassing defenders". " The left and right stick now act independently, allowing for more moves to embarrass the opposition"

Watching the first few dekes, you can see how the AI is backing up, not closing the gap, and is in very poor position. You can see how the d-men can't change direction smoothly and have issues turning. A recipe for disaster.

This game is geared towards offence and everyone and their dog will be Datsyuk on every rush.

Lack of game balance is killing the series. The thing that really bugs me, is it looks like they have added even more animations, making it easier for everyone to deke. We don't need more animations that play the games for the users.

Dangle, dangle, dangle. There is more to a real hockey game than ESPN highlights.

# 30 Simaofan-20 @ 07/23/14 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drog1602


	This line said it all..."embarrassing defenders". " The left and right stick now act independently, allowing for more moves to embarrass the opposition" Watching the first few dekes, you can see how the AI is backing up, not closing the gap, and is in very poor position. You can see how the d-men can't change direction smoothly and have issues turning. A recipe for disaster. This game is geared towards offence and everyone and their dog will be Datsyuk on every rush. Lack of game balance is killing the series. The thing that really bugs me, is it looks like they have added even more animations, making it easier for everyone to deke. We don't need more animations that play the games for the users. Dangle, dangle, dangle. There is more to a real hockey game than ESPN highlights.

EA needs to do what 2k did in that only certain ratings can do certain deeks.

# 31 thedudedominick @ 07/24/14 12:21 AM

Really not sure how anyone can get anything definitive out of this trailer except how far towards realistic the appearance of all these moves has gone.

I will not try to dissect the video to see defensive ai because more than likely whatever ea did for this video was to solely make the offensive skills look good.

Same reason I won't bash or praise ea for goalie play based on videos to showcase other things. They wanted to show off the puck handling and a little bit of after goal emotion again.

I'm looking forward to this game and despite the flaws of past nhl games, I've always enjoyed this series. I'm not about to pretend it's a perfect representation of hockey, but it seems like the team has taken steps to get there every year. Hoping with the upgraded systems we see even more innovation moving forward.

# 32 bigwill33 @ 07/24/14 03:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnnyg713


	Everyone has an opinion. Mine is that this game looks absolutely phenominal. Sorry.

Fair enough. And no need to apologize. I was simply asking based off of what do you consider this game to be a gothy candidate? Because they have literally shown 2 full minutes of actual gameplay and have discussed none of the improvements that would touch on any of the numerous aspects that have plagued this series for the past half decade, from what I have seen. I would just like to tap into your optimism or see what you are at least basing it off of.

At the very least the other sports genres are into their second iteration of games on the ps4 and xbone and have seemingly attempted to crack the issues most of their hardcore gamers complain about by now. And even from the latest screen captures the NBA Live series has seemingly figured out their lighting system and how to light up an arena with more than the first 20 rows of fans. Because after all, that is 75% of what this part of EA Vancouver is resting their hat on, "authentic arenas", so far anyway. That is unless they've released any other screenshots in the prior 2 months that we are unaware of.

# 33 Sheba2011 @ 07/24/14 05:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meep316


	The game is almost a month away from being released, and other than about a minute of off screen footage of two idiots playing at E3, we have seen absolutely zero real gameplay. This should be a gigantic red flag to everyone.

That happens with every single EA Sports game, they release one feature every few weeks.

# 34 ERA @ 07/24/14 06:26 AM

Does anyone know what next weeks trailer will highlight? I'm hoping to see Be a GM.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk now Free

# 35 Aggies7 @ 07/24/14 08:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ERA


	Does anyone know what next weeks trailer will highlight? I'm hoping to see Be a GM. Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk now Free

They didn't mention it at end of the blog so I would say not in the immediate future.

# 36 Sparkles @ 07/24/14 08:31 AM

It doesn't look like net physics are the real deal. i could've sworn someone at E3 stated that net physics were hell of a lot better

# 37 MizzouRah @ 07/24/14 08:37 AM

I will say, the crowds look fantastic.

# 38 jake19ny @ 07/24/14 09:17 AM

Not trying to be a negative nelly here but the lack of actual gameplay video this late in development makes me think that most of what will be new is the presentation. That's not a bad thing we have all been screaming for that for a while but I suspect aside from a few minor things the game play will be very similar to the past few years. The latest issue of Game Informer did not have NHL15 in its top 50 from E3. Madden and FIFA where in it. Take that for what its worth since hockey does not get much love aside from us hardcore fans. I guess if they had to spend much of the time on one thing for Next-Gen it had to be the over all look of the game first. Imagine the rage if gameplay was improved but we still had the same crowds, arenas, and commentary. I think the idea was to give it a whole new look first and then attempt gameplay improvements with future releases. I'm still a release day buyer because despite its flaws I always find a way to enjoy the game. Just my thoughts maybe I'm wrong.

# 39 Sip_16 @ 07/24/14 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drog1602


	This line said it all..."embarrassing defenders". " The left and right stick now act independently, allowing for more moves to embarrass the opposition" Watching the first few dekes, you can see how the AI is backing up, not closing the gap, and is in very poor position. You can see how the d-men can't change direction smoothly and have issues turning. A recipe for disaster. This game is geared towards offence and everyone and their dog will be Datsyuk on every rush. Lack of game balance is killing the series. The thing that really bugs me, is it looks like they have added even more animations, making it easier for everyone to deke. We don't need more animations that play the games for the users. Dangle, dangle, dangle. There is more to a real hockey game than ESPN highlights.

Its possible you are right and its possible you are wrong. There is no way to know until you actually play the game. You have your opinion and everyone has theirs, but no one can predict how the game actually plays from these trailers. People just need to wait and see for themselves, only way you can truly judge.

# 40 johnnyg713 @ 07/24/14 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigwill33


	Fair enough. And no need to apologize. I was simply asking based off of what do you consider this game to be a gothy candidate? Because they have literally shown 2 full minutes of actual gameplay and have discussed none of the improvements that would touch on any of the numerous aspects that have plagued this series for the past half decade, from what I have seen. I would just like to tap into your optimism or see what you are at least basing it off of. At the very least the other sports genres are into their second iteration of games on the ps4 and xbone and have seemingly attempted to crack the issues most of their hardcore gamers complain about by now. And even from the latest screen captures the NBA Live series has seemingly figured out their lighting system and how to light up an arena with more than the first 20 rows of fans. Because after all, that is 75% of what this part of EA Vancouver is resting their hat on, "authentic arenas", so far anyway. That is unless they've released any other screenshots in the prior 2 months that we are unaware of.

Well.. NHL has won sports game of the year before. Multiple times if I remember correctly. It is not so absurd for me to claim that it could win again. This isn't madden, a game that is widely known as a disappointment every year (even though I know it is turning a corner this year).

Most critics believe this game is flat out fun to play. IMO the most fun sports game every year. It's been rated 85% or higher every year. From blogs, E3 impressions, and claims I have read, the game is "shaping up" to be sports game of the year.

I say this because gameplay-wise, I think the game has already been there for years (again, to win multiple SGOTY awards, this game must be doing something right). Yes things can always be improved but that can be said for any game. I do not see absolute game breakers in this title that I see in other games.

You take all the "claimed" improvements they've made to an already fantastic gameplay engine (obv a lot of people on here don't see the game the way I do), along with all the improvements to physics, visuals, arenas, atmosphere, and "claimed" presentation and I see a game that is in the same category as NBA 2k.

There are many of you guys saying you need to see more gameplay footage but from my experience, the claims of this dev team have always showed up in the final product. I have always enjoyed this series and gameplay consistently improves from year to year.

Instead of focusing on what isn't in the game (i've read people claiming about some sort of defensive skill stick which I dont think EA has ever claimed as an idea), my optimism comes from focusing on what the dev team claims to be putting in the game.

Edit: not that there is anything wrong with people wanting new mechanics in the game. It's just I appreciate what the game already has.

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