NHL 16 News Post

NHL 16 E3 Hands-On Impressions (Quick Look)

02:28 AM - June 17, 2015 by ChaseB

Based on what NHL 15 offered, it’s fair to approach NHL 16 with some caution. The gameplay of NHL 15 generally satisfied, with a few caveats in penalty logic, wacky collision physics and some holdover elements from previous years. The bigger issue was the feature set -- or lack thereof. While the new hardware generation resets the bar somewhat, it doesn’t allow for the jarring lack of modes and features that NHL 15 displayed. The good news is that things can only go up.

Read More: NHL 16 E3 Hands-On Impressions (Quick Look) - (Written by Glenn Wigmore)

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# 21 GrandMaster B @ 06/17/15 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GrandMaster B


	No release date and pre-order yet? All of the other EA games have one.

I should of clarified, digital pre-order.

# 22 GROGtheNailer @ 06/17/15 12:30 PM

Ok, it sounds like they have the features that they should have had to begin with. Hopefully no one forgets how much EA screwed customers last year, do not forget that folks.

I have one question...defense...has there been any changes to make it better?

# 23 actionhank @ 06/17/15 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djhallberg38


	There were a few gripes I had with NHL 15. The first one being the lack of focus put into the post goal celebrations. I could care less about controlling the type of celebrations my player performs, but I would rather see more realistic reactions to what is happening on the ice. In reality, when a player scores in an NHL game, it's a big deal nearly every time it happens, unless the goal is scored in a rout. I believe it would add so much more to the realism and atmosphere, if the developers were able to include 3,4 & 5 man goal celebrations that have some contextual meaning. For example, if a game is tied at 1-1 and you score a goal in the final minutes of the game, you should see your on ice teammates swarm you pushing you into the boards, jumping into the pile to celebrate such a climactic finish. This should also hold true if you are winning by 4 goals and score a relatively meaningless goal at the end of the game. There should still be some celebrating, but much more subdued. If FIFA can have 7 + man goal celebrations, why can't NHL?? My other issue I have with NHL 15 is the lack of realism when it comes to the board play. This is not emphasized nearly enough. Games are many times won or lost in real-life, when a team can dominate board play. This would also help in keeping unrealistic shot stats down as well, if there were several times throughout a game where the puck is being battled for along the boards. I really hope that EA follows these forums and takes our comments to heart. I love the NHL series and just want to see it become as close to a simulation as possible.

Honestly, I hate the self controlled animations. I would mind if i got to control where my player headed, because nothing looked weirder than the previous animations where you would score on a fast breakaway and just instantly stop in place and celebrate, while skating into the goalie and not moving.

But, I want goals to have meaning. Are we down by 4? Maybe have the guys kind of gather, but not with much fanfare. Tied up the game in the late 3rd? Have guys lose it, and jump all over each other. Rookie scores his first goal? Have the kid jump into the glass and have everyone else come pat his back. Best of all, won it in Game 7 OT for the Cup finals? Make it huge. I want to see the entire team jump off the bench. Even if it is a handful of canned animations, it would look awesome to not get taken out of the play, but just see the entire team mob the goal scorer, while the opposite team skates off dejected and sad.

# 24 djhallberg38 @ 06/17/15 01:03 PM

Caniac94 - Nice catch on that trailer.

I did not notice that until you pointed it out about Cam Ward's goalie mask being authentic. I went back and watched the trailer again and noticed that it appears that there may be a few goalie masks that were able to be licensed, but Corey Crawford and Ben Bishop's mask still appear to be generic. At least from the trailer, that is.

EA might be having an issue with this because of the same issue that the Madden football team had with player tattoos. Hence the reason why they needed to get special licensing to use Colin Kaepernick's tats. I believe the goalie masks are artist rendered/designed and would therefore be considered private property. I guess it is just a little weird that on games like the NBA 2K series, they seem to not have the same issues including tattoos, etc. in their games.

# 25 jboe235 @ 06/17/15 01:13 PM

Have more or different cutscenes / celebrations been added?

The overtime goal cutscene where the player falls and gets jumped on gets old fast, especially when that is a very unrealistic celebration for a regular season game.

# 26 jboe235 @ 06/17/15 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djhallberg38


	Caniac94 - Nice catch on that trailer. I did not notice that until you pointed it out about Cam Ward's goalie mask being authentic. I went back and watched the trailer again and noticed that it appears that there may be a few goalie masks that were able to be licensed, but Corey Crawford and Ben Bishop's mask still appear to be generic. At least from the trailer, that is. EA might be having an issue with this because of the same issue that the Madden football team had with player tattoos. Hence the reason why they needed to get special licensing to use Colin Kaepernick's tats. I believe the goalie masks are artist rendered/designed and would therefore be considered private property. I guess it is just a little weird that on games like the NBA 2K series, they seem to not have the same issues including tattoos, etc. in their games.

I think Quick had his actual mask added in with one of the updates last year. And you're correct with the licensing issue with the masks. I know the some artists do several goalies, so if they are working on getting more hopefully they can take care of a few at a time.

Also, they updated a few generic ones last year, but it would be nice if they came up with 3 or 4 generic designs for each team instead of two.

# 27 13whitebread @ 06/17/15 01:50 PM

This is probably more for the marketing department of the game but I wonder if you could ask them about midnight early release of the game? I know they had them in a lot of major Canadian cites with real NHL stars signing autographs. I was wondering if they will include major hockey hotbeds in the good old USA? Like Boston ,New York Chicago and Detroit just to name a few.

# 28 lucio360 @ 06/17/15 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djhallberg38


	bigwill33 - Awesome post !! I agree 100% with everything you said. I would also like to know if we will ever see the real goalie masks for the star goalies, instead of the generic team logo masks that have been a staple in this series for years now. It would be awesome to have the ability to customize your goalie masks in more depth. Afterall, most NHL goalies have in some cases 3-4 different mask designs that they switch off depending on home/away games or for the post season. This of course lower priority than the game play suggestions being made, but again would really add to the realism that we all want in this game.

Caniac94, i dont mean to be rude but you obviously do not follow EA NHL whatsoever if you keep asking about goalie masks. For the 100000000 time no they cant get the goalie mask BECAUSE they are licensed by the artist who created them. SO IT WONT HAPPEN!!!!

# 29 csamuelsvt @ 06/17/15 03:00 PM

Where's the gameplay? I mean honestly lots of videos are coming out....except NHL 16...again.

Even Live is showing off gameplay today...NHL better not be hiding again like last year

# 30 huntt26 @ 06/17/15 03:05 PM

Is the United Center in the game? If not, what is being done to show the Chicago Blackhawks some love with the "sights and sounds" around the arena like the other arenas get?

# 31 Caniac94 @ 06/17/15 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lucio360


	Caniac94, i dont mean to be rude but you obviously do not follow EA NHL whatsoever if you keep asking about goalie masks. For the 100000000 time no they cant get the goalie mask BECAUSE they are licensed by the artist who created them. SO IT WONT HAPPEN!!!!

Whoa chill out bud. Okay obviously I do follow EA NHL because I am on this board. Also I never asked about goalie masks, I only pointed out that Cam's actual authentic mask is in game and wondered how many more might potentially be in. I know why not all the goalie masks are in game. It would obviously take a lot of money (too much money) to license them all. We're just in here speculating.

# 32 AdamJones113 @ 06/17/15 03:36 PM

*What bigwill said.

Yup.

# 33 canucksss @ 06/17/15 04:12 PM

Thanks for the write up Chase, at least give us perspective coming from OS and not just EA fan-boy. This is what I want personally, real description of the game that frustrates me year after year, so I will not be victimized or will change my mind to get this game after deliberately not buying 14 and 15.

GREAT QUESTIONS BIG!!!!!

Just to add to the questions:

(1) Will my RW/LW take the face off even when my Center guy is on the 4 on 4 or during PK?

(2) If you got the chance to play in the playoff, is the Intensity (esp. in defense and NZ pressure), the same as the regular games?

(3) BaGM questions:

(a) If ever you got the chance to play the BaGM, is it still the same features as compared to 14?

(b) What's new in the BaGM?

(c) Scouting is it the old way, like assigning a scout to a specific region where he has a higher rank? Does it give you a detailed report?

Thanks so much!

# 34 jake19ny @ 06/17/15 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caniac94


	Whoa chill out bud. Okay obviously I do follow EA NHL because I am on this board. Also I never asked about goalie masks, I only pointed out that Cam's actual authentic mask is in game and wondered how many more might potentially be in. I know why not all the goalie masks are in game. It would obviously take a lot of money (too much money) to license them all. We're just in here speculating.

Exactley......We all know about the license thing with the masks but two years ago they added Brodeurs which he owned the rights to and last year they added Quick and I think Prices mask as well as a generic but closer to realistic Lundqvist mask. It appears that is Wards mask in your clip so......wondering about masks is ok. I know they mentioned they were working on getting what they could and I would like to see more creative generic masks related to the team or city they play in. I know there are way more important things they need to address though. We will see what happens.

# 35 ericromain @ 06/17/15 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jake19ny


	Exactley......We all know about the license thing with the masks but two years ago they added Brodeurs which he owned the rights to and last year they added Quick and I think Prices mask as well as a generic but closer to realistic Lundqvist mask. It appears that is Wards mask in your clip so......wondering about masks is ok. I know they mentioned they were working on getting what they could and I would like to see more creative generic masks related to the team or city they play in. I know there are way more important things they need to address though. We will see what happens.

And about 5 years ago they had Rick Dipietro and Luongo's mask in the game. It seems like EA NHL is good for a few decent masks, but they'll never go for the NHL 97 full gambit, which is too bad considering some mask artists paint several NHL goalie masks, so licensing just a few would help out quite a lot.

# 36 King_B_Mack @ 06/18/15 12:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by huntt26


	Is the United Center in the game? If not, what is being done to show the Chicago Blackhawks some love with the "sights and sounds" around the arena like the other arenas get?

Chelsea Dagger is in the game and plays on scored goals. I asked twice going on a month now about the UC being in the game on their Q&A and haven't gotten a response yet. So I'm just going to assume that's a no or they aren't ready to reveal it. I wish they'd put in some kind of ice editor and paint tool kind of like the WWE games' create-an-arena and paint tool. Cause the UC is an eye sore in game with the generic center ice.

# 37 bigwill33 @ 06/18/15 12:57 AM

Is there no media allowed of NHL 16? We are getting all of this E3 coverage from other games and, once again, NHL seems to be under lock and key.

# 38 Dolphins88 @ 06/18/15 01:40 AM

That's good news the core gameplay is the best so far. I want to know if there is more differences in players because most players all played the same. Also, do some players have signature moves. Of course I want to know if defense is in the game especially in playoffs where things tighten up and do goalies have likenesses and play on a whole a lot better?

# 39 csamuelsvt @ 06/18/15 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigwill33


	Is there no media allowed of NHL 16? We are getting all of this E3 coverage from other games and, once again, NHL seems to be under lock and key.

I've been saying the same exact thing.

FIFA, Madden, NBA LIVE(which was a step in the right direction last year, but a disaster the years before), RORY M. PGATOUR(whatever it is called), you name it, it seems every other EA sports title has interviewed and showed gameplay with IGN, GameSpot, etc except NHL..

Why is this? Why do they hide everything especially after the disaster last year? All we get are 5 second gameplay videos on snapchat for those that have it

# 40 AdamJones113 @ 06/18/15 11:41 AM

Rammer will be taking the floor at 2:30 PST.

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