- Hockey is arguably the fastest sport on earth, especially among the four major sports.
- 6v6 EA NHL is the slowest sports game on earth.
The game completely fails to capture the fast twitch intensity that makes playing hockey IRL so great. I don't understand why after three years in a row of the same complaint the dev team can't give people what they want and crank up the EASHL game speed. It's not a gameplay issue, it's a SLIDER issue and an easy fix.
A lot of the issues with the skating engine are mitigated with offline slider testing when the game is made significantly faster.
My deke is hurts. The Dekes are not smooth they are clunky and in slow motion. All of the useful Dekes have been removed or rendered ineffective and replaced by fancy Dekes that you see once in every 100 nhl games. I feel like I am trying to do a mortal kombat fatality button combination just to string Dekes together
Ok, so NHL 18 Beta from the perspective of someone coming back who last played NHL 15. Friend made me aware of the BETA and here are. I aint no scrub though, easily 3k games played between 13-15, mainly HUT, but I had a versus record of 66-5-1 when I gave up on NHL 15. Ive played roughly 40 games of versus to this point. Record of about 25-10-5.
In a word the game is: BAD
DO NOT BUY
Connection Issues plague this game for versus. This means that the team with better skating will play keep away for the entire game as you get out of position to defend. Because apparently EA considers the puck carrier to be more agile than defence. Its actually a joke how bad board play is, and even if you do know the puck loose from your opponent, your players WILL NOT PICK UP LOOSE PUCKS. You will skate over pucks, away from pucks, through pucks, and your opponent will get up from a hit or tie up and just continue playing keep away.
Honestly, just pick Chicago in versus and you will see how much skating is OP.
Bugs. Have had period reset to start of 3rd from the 12 minute mark. Glad to see this still happens. Also have had the menu not react after hitting option button to pause, was unable to resume game and lost due to continuation of game while I was stuck on menu. Crashes, 1 straight up crash. Having to re-enter game mode after game because connection is lost when searching for next game. I would say acceptable for BETA. Hopefully these issues disappear.
The Good:
Puck physics seem excellent and perhaps improved since I played 15. This really comes into play around the net, especially on deflection or rebounds. Big thumbs up!!
Scoring. I am going to look at this from two angles. NHL 15 was the era of short side cheese, and I am having a hell of a time pulling off goals that were cake walks in 15. There seems to be more variance in the manner of goals and scoring areas, which is awesome. The only cheese I have noticed so far is wide low shot for horrible rebound empty nets on break ins - primarily due to the fact the AI doesn't understand how to skate towards the puck, and a slightly early cut to middle at top of circle with off hand shot that seems to beat the goalie far too frequently short side bar down...like this goes in A LOT, and shouldn't given the range and clear view the goalie has. One last thing is the amount of own goals that your defence knocks in while charging to the front of the net - these are extremely unrealistic in measure as you check up infront of your goalie and don't bowl into him in actual hockey (I get some will go in, and I love them, but you shouldn't be holding your breath every single time your defenceman skates towards the net)- the physics/skating here need some adjustment to decrease this frequency.
Overall, scoring is good but would still be better if goalie could be beat in more variable situations i.e not watching the same scoring technique over and over to produce results.
Stick lift. I don't know when this changed from 15, but my god is it better. You don't take a penalty 75% of the time anymore, and the lift is actually effective!!!!! Great!!!
Hitting - a little improved, more effective at lower speeds - great feel.
Being able to observe network performance. Yay, now I can see when I get matched up with something that spikes my ping to 250+ at times during a game. At least they've recognized this is an issue, and now we can see it. Now if only they would fix it. Almost there EA.
Pregame setup. I like this, good stuff. (Move this to the Bad list, as setting do not save even though you are connected online when you set things. Things means retting up lineups and strategy EVERY SINGLE TIME you enter a game mode. EA, care to explain why settings don't save? Was this a conscious decision?)
Beyond this I struggle to find anything with the game I can say is working well.
The Bad.
Wow, where to begin...oh yeah, with the brain meltingly bad performance of the game.
Sluggish is the overall impression I get when playing. Nothing at all feels crisp. It in fact feels as though the PS4 is struggling to trying and process the game as it plays. The churning feel of the game is palpable, I wish to god there was a setting to decrease graphics performance in an effort to increase gameplay. The cinematics are not smooth and atrocious camera cut ins and out that bisect other objects and leave you looking at garbage. Very annoying overall feel during cinematic play.
Input Delay/Lag. Still here and even more impactful than before in my opinion due to the already sluggish game play. EA this is issue #1 and has been for years, how have you not addressed the server issues yet in playing. Every other game I play on the face of the earth doesn't have this kind of issue anymore since the introduction of broadband, unless you want to play over the oceans vs someone.
ISSUE #1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why will you not address this, or even acknowledge it beyond letting my see my network performance.
No one wants to play a game where the passes go in the wrong direction and AI skate like brainless drunks with no objective.
Network connections. Atrocious, the game routinely matches you up with other terrible connections, You might start a game with 20ms ping, but then youll spike after a certain amount of gameplay and it will never recover. The impact feels very one sided at time, and I have certainly observed games where my opponents passes are going way off and even passes it away to nowhere after hes gotten it. A clear sign of network issues. I have also been disconnected 3 times so far, where I had ZERO disconnects through all of 15 (roughly 1300 games). There is even smoothness issues in performance where my average ping was 14ms. I struggle to understand why this is so much worse after 3 years.
AI. You will have several **** moments every game watching your AI do nothing but cripple your chances of winning. Hey, see that loose puck? They don't want it. Oh hey, see that puck floating by, I think ill turn away from it. Countless plays the AI will do the unthinkable. Change in zone play? Get ready for ULTRA flat footedness. Really obvious when you clear your zone and then lose it in the neutral zone, your defenders will be rushing your blueline and can get beat easily if you don't insta switch players back to then to start them backing up to keep pace. This occurs elsewhere on the ice and is an insult to gameplay. Beyond this, lets go with watching the puck instead of actually picking it up. AI will stare down pucks that you have no hope of getting with your active player due to a hit or knock down or stick lift. This is BRUTALLY PAINFUL to watch because you would assume the player would just go easily pick it up, so you've already anticipated the pickup and then....you are left watching the AI do nothing and see your opponent pick up the puck against ur flatfooted player who did nothing but stay out of position. This IS WORSE than it was in 15 by a MILE - likely due to sluggish feel of the game.
AI defence - quick example. Opponent is skating in from the blue line with the puck, AI is right on him skating in same direction, AI is infact between the opponent and the puck that opponent is carrying. Somehow the AI will fail to take any action, be it sticklife, poke or body play, and opp will get scoring chance because you are playing defence against outlet pass. I am saying AI is in PERFECT position to do something for an EXTENDED period of time, and fails, utterly.
Passing. Holy god...what the hell happened here. I have no words to describe how inconsistent passing is.
Played around with the pass assist to no avail. Easily 30% of my passes get fired off in wrong directions or not to the intended target, I fail to understand how this is possible given where my control stick is aimed at times.
YOU CAN BE AIMING UP AT 45% right and the pass will go left with 0 pass assist on. The only player up can still be on that right side, and it will still throw passes left at times.
IF I COULD GET SOMEONE FROM EA TO SIT DOWN DURING A GAME I PLAY I WILL SHOW YOU THIS MULTIPLE TIMES PER GAME. DOES ANYONE AT EA EVEN PLAY THESE GAMES BEYOND WHAT THEIR JOB DESCRIPTION FORCES THEM TO????
Switching Players. Did this somehow get worse from 15? YES please give me the player who isn't closes to converging on puck, that was AI can be useless as they skate to puck carrier, missing chance to recover, while I mash switch player button after having been given a useless player.
Puck Chop - no longer useful as control sacrificed when mashing R stick to try and chop. Whoever decided on this change needs to be moved to a different department.
Getting pinned while skating full stride. This shouldn't happen, pins should occur on spins and when action is stopped. I can see low speed pinning, but really that should be more of a hit. Stupid gameplay imho.
Poke check. Ok, so it feels decent occasionally, but will leave you shaking your head at times. It seems that one teams pokecheck will out perform the others by a mile. Much nerfed from 15, I am not a fan. Defending cross crease is a joke as even if you time it perfect passes will get thru.
Defensive skill stick. LOL, I was using this in 15 and it was MORE effective then. Ive had my stick in the lane on several onetime passes, and have blocked ZERO. GARBARGE feature. IT DOES NOTHING TO BLOCK LANES, AGAIN EA, I CAN SHOW YOU THIS MULTIPLE TIMES PER GAME. It can stop a pass, but is ineffective 90%+ of the time.
Dekeing. What happended here?????? Routinely I try to engage a deke and it will do nothing. Othertimes is it delayed a little. One touch dekes don't work. Youll end up looking like an idiot gliding with the puck, until you lose it because your player did nothing. When dekes do go off, I like how many players fail them. I am finding effectiveness far less, and that just due to the fact they don't initiate or are delayed in execution. I CAN HOLD L1 and move the R stick and my player will just glide and lose the puck.....SICK. Toe drag and cut are also HORRIBLE inconsistent when trying to initiate. I don't care if it executes, I AT LEAST NEED IT TO TRIGGER so I have a chance. AGAIN THIS ADDS TO THE UNRESPONSIVENESS.
Faceoffs. Actual face offs, still fine, same stuff from 15 - pushing up is OP as hell. On draw back, having won them to your defence and not even having a chance to make a play because opponent gets there instantly, it is insane. Is this a joke or what EA? I get having no lanes to do anything, but saying the player can poke it off my stick at the SAME time I get the puck is wrong.
Infront of the net play. As offense, will you lose every scrum in front of the net. You will be unable to do anything as for some reason your players are in quicksand and take forever to move the puck. Sometimes horrendous physics take over here, resulting in players moving with impossible trajectories. Ive had players warp through my goalie backwards to knock in pucks, or players not skating but gliding on impossible arcs given previous movement. Super weird and takes away from gameplay.
Did I mention the sluggishness?
Announcers and environment. Regurgitated garbage, same stuff from 15. Was it not in the budget to spend any time on this?
Overall....sad. Very very sad. It feels like 1 step forward and 5 steps back. Network and gameplay feel alone will keep me from buying.
Please contact me with any questions EA.
I WOULD ALSO WELCOME ANY SUGGESTIONS TO IMPROVE THE RESPONSIVENESS OF THE GAME. I SEE PEOPLE POST THAT IT FEELS CRISP, AND I HAVE ZERO ABSOLUTELY ZERO IDEA HOW THIS IS EVEN POSSIBLE. WIRED CONNECTION WITH 150dl/15 upload and it feels like quicksand every game. NO OTHER GAME OR CONNECTION acts like this.
The AI passing in EASHL needs to be toned down significantly.
I'm seeing more and more teams run with an AI defenceman and do the following over and over:
Goalie covers the puck.
Forwards break up ice and call for the puck.
Goalie throws the puck to the AI defenceman. ( The "untouchable" pass from the goalie seems exceptionally bad in the beta )
The AI defenceman immediately makes a no-look, rocket saucer pass to the streaking forward.
In the past you could at least clog up the passing lanes but the AI in the beta seems to be able to use the saucer pass to put the puck right through people. This will be a real problem if it's not addressed.
what do you hear at games....metallica, ozzy, GnR ,ac dc, not this crap thats in the game.
not a big deal but why in the hell in next gen are we not putting our own music in the game...in the 90's baseball had custom music....when you subbed a pitcher you could choose the music he comes out to.same with batters...that was 20 years ago......
if someone thinks that adding that **** music was a good plan,than no wonder the game never NEVER gets it right!
Played mostly EASHL as Dman, with a few games of 3on3.
Bringing the D skill stick was much needed. Can use this instead of going down to 1 knee (L1) to block those passing lanes. L1 was almost always a bad idea, like the game no longer counts you in calculations as having a defensive presence once you go down on the knee. D can now keep their presence, and avoid gaining possession when they don't want it. For the first time this console generation, EASHL Dmen have a tool they can be excited about mastering.
However, tapping RB for the easy poke was far too successful, working across the puck carrier's body and locking right onto the puck, even if the checker was going full speed. How do you extend your reach when youre already hunched over to hustle? This easy poke at full speed from bad position should not be more effective than the Def Skill stick from a good position on a calm back skate.
Chop Puck - The D man's favourite tool in NHL 17. Moved to RS-click activation! Need an option to use alternate key mappings. Hip Check and 1 Knee can go to the undesirable buttons, or even be removed from the game if the result is simplifying Chop & DSS:
- RS-click as the Hit-Activator, & RS unmodified as Chop-puck
- or RS-click as Hit, and RS unmod as Def Skill Stick, & L1 or R1 modified RS as Chop.
Couldn't Chop Puck and DSS even share RS-unmodified? Always DSS, except when near a loose puck?
so after playing the game more (online vs) i'm much more happy about the game. I shifted the way i play to be way more in tune with my defensive positioning in all 3 zones (always get a guy between the opposition puck carrier and my net). I've gone something like 10-0-1 since then. As a guy who has complained about lack of ability to defend, i gotta give credit where due, the game plays really really well so far after changing my approach.
I can sense my opposition get frustrated but they keep going for big hits, or way too aggressive in chasing loose pucks. I played a few games against others that play very sound defensive hockey, and the games have been awesome. Very intense, chess match like.
If they can keep the game as it is (ie. don't overreact and nullify back to previous year's gameplay thru tuners) i have to say, i can't wait for the full release.
I fail to see the point,as i I will only be asking for the same things that 80% of the community and myself,have been asking to be fixed and/or added for (insert amount of years here).
If I choose to further waste my time in doing so,it will have to come with a monetary value attached to it.
I will stick with 17 and wish you all the best in making 18 as close to it as you can before 19 rolls around.
I await my ban with open arms and bid you a good day kind Sir.
A couple of more observations from tonight's EASHL games: like someone mentioned above, the AI defence men can now pass with laser accuracy from their own goal to the opposing blueline, even when facing the opposite direction, so of course those 3 player teams are exploiting this. What's worse our players can't seem to intercept them passses?
Another thing, shortside wristers seem a thing, saw lot goals like that, and they even try it with live goalies.
And finally, the d-men AI seems very broken in this beta, in addition to the usual stuff, now sometimes after faceoff they just stand there doing nothing for s second or two.
- Hockey is arguably the fastest sport on earth, especially among the four major sports.
- 6v6 EA NHL is the slowest sports game on earth.
The game completely fails to capture the fast twitch intensity that makes playing hockey IRL so great. I don't understand why after three years in a row of the same complaint the dev team can't give people what they want and crank up the EASHL game speed. It's not a gameplay issue, it's a SLIDER issue and an easy fix.
A lot of the issues with the skating engine are mitigated with offline slider testing when the game is made significantly faster.
Cheers.
I completely agree with this opinion. I am still trying to figure out why the right stick deking is slower then NHL 17 and the touch passes are being stopped by puck pick up animations. This beta forces people to rag the puck in order to create offense because of the lightsaber defense stick movements. The game played better on 360 and I hope EA brings the individual skill back into the game before you lose more loyal customers.
TheTerminus wrote : "Countless plays the AI will do the unthinkable. Change in zone play? Get ready for ULTRA flat footedness. Really obvious when you clear your zone and then lose it in the neutral zone, your defenders will be rushing your blueline and can get beat easily if you don't insta switch players back to then to start them backing up to keep pace. This occurs elsewhere on the ice and is an insult to gameplay."
Yes, this started happening in NHL 17, most players recognized this very early on and it's absolutely APPALLING to me that nobody on the NHL team recognized this as a very pressing AI issue. I can admit the offensive side of things has been worked on, and most of it is positive, but on the defensive side I see no improvements WHATSOEVER, my guys still don't stick to their man in the slot, the AI charges up ahead still 2 full seconds after the giveaway, just... really disappointing.
At least the hitting seems spot on, especially at low speeds.
This game has far too many long lasting issues that break up the immersion. I was ranting about the missing vision control the very year it went away. Afterwards, I skipped a year on NHL, didn't really miss it, might skip this one and call it the end of that. I thought I'd be enthralled by this beta. It's already uninstalled.
sgiz said it, fix the skating, you fix the game and the fun factor increases DRAMATICALLY.
It's a great addition no doubt, but there are some issues.
It's far too effective, it's accuracy needs to be decreased and have more accurate input placed on the right stick. I can disrupt nearly every single puck carrier, and they can do it to me unless I laser focus on gap control.
I have no evidence but I am confused by poke checks from behind being so effective or a tripping penalty. It's either or.
Other stuff:
I've had 2 stick lifts result in game misconducts. They didn't connect with the stick, just caught the carrier in the face and got a game for it.
There are still some odd, wide swooping forced puck pick ups in both zones where you have zero input and have to hope for the best.
3's is fun, but the smaller ice is flat out stupid. I missed this in the notes and got all amped up to play and immediately quit. Abandon the small ice, it's just silly and wrong.
In the neutral zone, it's incredibly frustrating when you're approaching the ozone and your AI forward does not get out of your way at all and disrupts the play, causing an offside or turn over. It was a bit of an issue in 17 but it's a consistent problem in 18.
In 3 games I had the old school glitch goals performed on me in versus. It was exploited over and over again. From d zone faceoffs, a win back to the D with a slap shot is also way too effective. It was like the glitch wrister where it was being exploited.
Also, turn down Carey Price. He's not a world beater, never won a Cup. There's no reason for him to be super human in net. None. He's good, but damn, be fair.
Serious question- has poke checking or "DSS" effectiveness been dropped since beta drop?
Single tap of R1 for poke was still extremely effective last night. Laughable how much range this tool has from bad position and full speed.
Not only that but the Machine Gun poke is back. I had a guy follow me around from behind absolutely MASHING the poke check!! It was coming out nearly twice every second with no penalty to his skating speed and it went through my skates several times without a call.
I can appreciate that a BETA might have certain bugs, but why are the same problems the game's had for years STILL in this code? You'd think they would've had time to at least fix those.
I can't play the mode because it's very hard for me to see the puck with or without Puck Highlight option. Puck Size set to Large as well.
NHL series overall have always lacked colorblind mode. I mostly play EASHL. I'd be glad to have an option to set default shirts (on my screen, affecting only me) to for example full black & full white.
Colorblind mode is really a must have for color deficient people like me - at least for the fast paced NHL Threes. It's close to being unplayable for me right now.
Or change the ice back to clear and transparent. Or give us an option to change the Puck Highlight color.
I can't play the mode because it's very hard for me to see the puck with or without Puck Highlight option. Puck Size set to Large as well.
NHL series overall have always lacked colorblind mode. I mostly play EASHL. I'd be glad to have an option to set default shirts (on my screen, affecting only me) to for example full black & full white.
Colorblind mode is really a must have for color deficient people like me - at least for the fast paced NHL Threes. It's close to being unplayable for me right now.
Or change the ice back to clear and transparent. Or give us an option to change the Puck Highlight color.
I'm not colorblind AFAIK , but we really should have that option! Especially in EASHL where custom made jerseys can be so freaking ugly/colorful it makes your eyes bleed!
Replies
- Hockey is arguably the fastest sport on earth, especially among the four major sports.
- 6v6 EA NHL is the slowest sports game on earth.
The game completely fails to capture the fast twitch intensity that makes playing hockey IRL so great. I don't understand why after three years in a row of the same complaint the dev team can't give people what they want and crank up the EASHL game speed. It's not a gameplay issue, it's a SLIDER issue and an easy fix.
A lot of the issues with the skating engine are mitigated with offline slider testing when the game is made significantly faster.
Cheers.
In a word the game is: BAD
DO NOT BUY
Connection Issues plague this game for versus. This means that the team with better skating will play keep away for the entire game as you get out of position to defend. Because apparently EA considers the puck carrier to be more agile than defence. Its actually a joke how bad board play is, and even if you do know the puck loose from your opponent, your players WILL NOT PICK UP LOOSE PUCKS. You will skate over pucks, away from pucks, through pucks, and your opponent will get up from a hit or tie up and just continue playing keep away.
Honestly, just pick Chicago in versus and you will see how much skating is OP.
Bugs. Have had period reset to start of 3rd from the 12 minute mark. Glad to see this still happens. Also have had the menu not react after hitting option button to pause, was unable to resume game and lost due to continuation of game while I was stuck on menu. Crashes, 1 straight up crash. Having to re-enter game mode after game because connection is lost when searching for next game. I would say acceptable for BETA. Hopefully these issues disappear.
The Good:
Puck physics seem excellent and perhaps improved since I played 15. This really comes into play around the net, especially on deflection or rebounds. Big thumbs up!!
Scoring. I am going to look at this from two angles. NHL 15 was the era of short side cheese, and I am having a hell of a time pulling off goals that were cake walks in 15. There seems to be more variance in the manner of goals and scoring areas, which is awesome. The only cheese I have noticed so far is wide low shot for horrible rebound empty nets on break ins - primarily due to the fact the AI doesn't understand how to skate towards the puck, and a slightly early cut to middle at top of circle with off hand shot that seems to beat the goalie far too frequently short side bar down...like this goes in A LOT, and shouldn't given the range and clear view the goalie has. One last thing is the amount of own goals that your defence knocks in while charging to the front of the net - these are extremely unrealistic in measure as you check up infront of your goalie and don't bowl into him in actual hockey (I get some will go in, and I love them, but you shouldn't be holding your breath every single time your defenceman skates towards the net)- the physics/skating here need some adjustment to decrease this frequency.
Overall, scoring is good but would still be better if goalie could be beat in more variable situations i.e not watching the same scoring technique over and over to produce results.
Stick lift. I don't know when this changed from 15, but my god is it better. You don't take a penalty 75% of the time anymore, and the lift is actually effective!!!!! Great!!!
Hitting - a little improved, more effective at lower speeds - great feel.
Being able to observe network performance. Yay, now I can see when I get matched up with something that spikes my ping to 250+ at times during a game. At least they've recognized this is an issue, and now we can see it. Now if only they would fix it. Almost there EA.
Pregame setup. I like this, good stuff. (Move this to the Bad list, as setting do not save even though you are connected online when you set things. Things means retting up lineups and strategy EVERY SINGLE TIME you enter a game mode. EA, care to explain why settings don't save? Was this a conscious decision?)
Beyond this I struggle to find anything with the game I can say is working well.
The Bad.
Wow, where to begin...oh yeah, with the brain meltingly bad performance of the game.
Sluggish is the overall impression I get when playing. Nothing at all feels crisp. It in fact feels as though the PS4 is struggling to trying and process the game as it plays. The churning feel of the game is palpable, I wish to god there was a setting to decrease graphics performance in an effort to increase gameplay. The cinematics are not smooth and atrocious camera cut ins and out that bisect other objects and leave you looking at garbage. Very annoying overall feel during cinematic play.
Input Delay/Lag. Still here and even more impactful than before in my opinion due to the already sluggish game play. EA this is issue #1 and has been for years, how have you not addressed the server issues yet in playing. Every other game I play on the face of the earth doesn't have this kind of issue anymore since the introduction of broadband, unless you want to play over the oceans vs someone.
ISSUE #1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why will you not address this, or even acknowledge it beyond letting my see my network performance.
No one wants to play a game where the passes go in the wrong direction and AI skate like brainless drunks with no objective.
Network connections. Atrocious, the game routinely matches you up with other terrible connections, You might start a game with 20ms ping, but then youll spike after a certain amount of gameplay and it will never recover. The impact feels very one sided at time, and I have certainly observed games where my opponents passes are going way off and even passes it away to nowhere after hes gotten it. A clear sign of network issues. I have also been disconnected 3 times so far, where I had ZERO disconnects through all of 15 (roughly 1300 games). There is even smoothness issues in performance where my average ping was 14ms. I struggle to understand why this is so much worse after 3 years.
AI. You will have several **** moments every game watching your AI do nothing but cripple your chances of winning. Hey, see that loose puck? They don't want it. Oh hey, see that puck floating by, I think ill turn away from it. Countless plays the AI will do the unthinkable. Change in zone play? Get ready for ULTRA flat footedness. Really obvious when you clear your zone and then lose it in the neutral zone, your defenders will be rushing your blueline and can get beat easily if you don't insta switch players back to then to start them backing up to keep pace. This occurs elsewhere on the ice and is an insult to gameplay. Beyond this, lets go with watching the puck instead of actually picking it up. AI will stare down pucks that you have no hope of getting with your active player due to a hit or knock down or stick lift. This is BRUTALLY PAINFUL to watch because you would assume the player would just go easily pick it up, so you've already anticipated the pickup and then....you are left watching the AI do nothing and see your opponent pick up the puck against ur flatfooted player who did nothing but stay out of position. This IS WORSE than it was in 15 by a MILE - likely due to sluggish feel of the game.
AI defence - quick example. Opponent is skating in from the blue line with the puck, AI is right on him skating in same direction, AI is infact between the opponent and the puck that opponent is carrying. Somehow the AI will fail to take any action, be it sticklife, poke or body play, and opp will get scoring chance because you are playing defence against outlet pass. I am saying AI is in PERFECT position to do something for an EXTENDED period of time, and fails, utterly.
Passing. Holy god...what the hell happened here. I have no words to describe how inconsistent passing is.
Played around with the pass assist to no avail. Easily 30% of my passes get fired off in wrong directions or not to the intended target, I fail to understand how this is possible given where my control stick is aimed at times.
YOU CAN BE AIMING UP AT 45% right and the pass will go left with 0 pass assist on. The only player up can still be on that right side, and it will still throw passes left at times.
IF I COULD GET SOMEONE FROM EA TO SIT DOWN DURING A GAME I PLAY I WILL SHOW YOU THIS MULTIPLE TIMES PER GAME. DOES ANYONE AT EA EVEN PLAY THESE GAMES BEYOND WHAT THEIR JOB DESCRIPTION FORCES THEM TO????
Switching Players. Did this somehow get worse from 15? YES please give me the player who isn't closes to converging on puck, that was AI can be useless as they skate to puck carrier, missing chance to recover, while I mash switch player button after having been given a useless player.
Puck Chop - no longer useful as control sacrificed when mashing R stick to try and chop. Whoever decided on this change needs to be moved to a different department.
Getting pinned while skating full stride. This shouldn't happen, pins should occur on spins and when action is stopped. I can see low speed pinning, but really that should be more of a hit. Stupid gameplay imho.
Poke check. Ok, so it feels decent occasionally, but will leave you shaking your head at times. It seems that one teams pokecheck will out perform the others by a mile. Much nerfed from 15, I am not a fan. Defending cross crease is a joke as even if you time it perfect passes will get thru.
Defensive skill stick. LOL, I was using this in 15 and it was MORE effective then. Ive had my stick in the lane on several onetime passes, and have blocked ZERO. GARBARGE feature. IT DOES NOTHING TO BLOCK LANES, AGAIN EA, I CAN SHOW YOU THIS MULTIPLE TIMES PER GAME. It can stop a pass, but is ineffective 90%+ of the time.
Dekeing. What happended here?????? Routinely I try to engage a deke and it will do nothing. Othertimes is it delayed a little. One touch dekes don't work. Youll end up looking like an idiot gliding with the puck, until you lose it because your player did nothing. When dekes do go off, I like how many players fail them. I am finding effectiveness far less, and that just due to the fact they don't initiate or are delayed in execution. I CAN HOLD L1 and move the R stick and my player will just glide and lose the puck.....SICK. Toe drag and cut are also HORRIBLE inconsistent when trying to initiate. I don't care if it executes, I AT LEAST NEED IT TO TRIGGER so I have a chance. AGAIN THIS ADDS TO THE UNRESPONSIVENESS.
Faceoffs. Actual face offs, still fine, same stuff from 15 - pushing up is OP as hell. On draw back, having won them to your defence and not even having a chance to make a play because opponent gets there instantly, it is insane. Is this a joke or what EA? I get having no lanes to do anything, but saying the player can poke it off my stick at the SAME time I get the puck is wrong.
Infront of the net play. As offense, will you lose every scrum in front of the net. You will be unable to do anything as for some reason your players are in quicksand and take forever to move the puck. Sometimes horrendous physics take over here, resulting in players moving with impossible trajectories. Ive had players warp through my goalie backwards to knock in pucks, or players not skating but gliding on impossible arcs given previous movement. Super weird and takes away from gameplay.
Did I mention the sluggishness?
Announcers and environment. Regurgitated garbage, same stuff from 15. Was it not in the budget to spend any time on this?
Overall....sad. Very very sad. It feels like 1 step forward and 5 steps back. Network and gameplay feel alone will keep me from buying.
Please contact me with any questions EA.
I WOULD ALSO WELCOME ANY SUGGESTIONS TO IMPROVE THE RESPONSIVENESS OF THE GAME. I SEE PEOPLE POST THAT IT FEELS CRISP, AND I HAVE ZERO ABSOLUTELY ZERO IDEA HOW THIS IS EVEN POSSIBLE. WIRED CONNECTION WITH 150dl/15 upload and it feels like quicksand every game. NO OTHER GAME OR CONNECTION acts like this.
I'm seeing more and more teams run with an AI defenceman and do the following over and over:
In the past you could at least clog up the passing lanes but the AI in the beta seems to be able to use the saucer pass to put the puck right through people. This will be a real problem if it's not addressed.
what do you hear at games....metallica, ozzy, GnR ,ac dc, not this crap thats in the game.
not a big deal but why in the hell in next gen are we not putting our own music in the game...in the 90's baseball had custom music....when you subbed a pitcher you could choose the music he comes out to.same with batters...that was 20 years ago......
if someone thinks that adding that **** music was a good plan,than no wonder the game never NEVER gets it right!
Bringing the D skill stick was much needed. Can use this instead of going down to 1 knee (L1) to block those passing lanes. L1 was almost always a bad idea, like the game no longer counts you in calculations as having a defensive presence once you go down on the knee. D can now keep their presence, and avoid gaining possession when they don't want it. For the first time this console generation, EASHL Dmen have a tool they can be excited about mastering.
However, tapping RB for the easy poke was far too successful, working across the puck carrier's body and locking right onto the puck, even if the checker was going full speed. How do you extend your reach when youre already hunched over to hustle? This easy poke at full speed from bad position should not be more effective than the Def Skill stick from a good position on a calm back skate.
Chop Puck - The D man's favourite tool in NHL 17. Moved to RS-click activation! Need an option to use alternate key mappings. Hip Check and 1 Knee can go to the undesirable buttons, or even be removed from the game if the result is simplifying Chop & DSS:
- RS-click as the Hit-Activator, & RS unmodified as Chop-puck
- or RS-click as Hit, and RS unmod as Def Skill Stick, & L1 or R1 modified RS as Chop.
Couldn't Chop Puck and DSS even share RS-unmodified? Always DSS, except when near a loose puck?
I can sense my opposition get frustrated but they keep going for big hits, or way too aggressive in chasing loose pucks. I played a few games against others that play very sound defensive hockey, and the games have been awesome. Very intense, chess match like.
If they can keep the game as it is (ie. don't overreact and nullify back to previous year's gameplay thru tuners) i have to say, i can't wait for the full release.
I fail to see the point,as i I will only be asking for the same things that 80% of the community and myself,have been asking to be fixed and/or added for (insert amount of years here).
If I choose to further waste my time in doing so,it will have to come with a monetary value attached to it.
I will stick with 17 and wish you all the best in making 18 as close to it as you can before 19 rolls around.
I await my ban with open arms and bid you a good day kind Sir.
Sincerely:A loyal customer since "92"
Another thing, shortside wristers seem a thing, saw lot goals like that, and they even try it with live goalies.
And finally, the d-men AI seems very broken in this beta, in addition to the usual stuff, now sometimes after faceoff they just stand there doing nothing for s second or two.
Yes, this started happening in NHL 17, most players recognized this very early on and it's absolutely APPALLING to me that nobody on the NHL team recognized this as a very pressing AI issue. I can admit the offensive side of things has been worked on, and most of it is positive, but on the defensive side I see no improvements WHATSOEVER, my guys still don't stick to their man in the slot, the AI charges up ahead still 2 full seconds after the giveaway, just... really disappointing.
At least the hitting seems spot on, especially at low speeds.
This game has far too many long lasting issues that break up the immersion. I was ranting about the missing vision control the very year it went away. Afterwards, I skipped a year on NHL, didn't really miss it, might skip this one and call it the end of that. I thought I'd be enthralled by this beta. It's already uninstalled.
sgiz said it, fix the skating, you fix the game and the fun factor increases DRAMATICALLY.
It's a great addition no doubt, but there are some issues.
It's far too effective, it's accuracy needs to be decreased and have more accurate input placed on the right stick. I can disrupt nearly every single puck carrier, and they can do it to me unless I laser focus on gap control.
I have no evidence but I am confused by poke checks from behind being so effective or a tripping penalty. It's either or.
Other stuff:
I've had 2 stick lifts result in game misconducts. They didn't connect with the stick, just caught the carrier in the face and got a game for it.
There are still some odd, wide swooping forced puck pick ups in both zones where you have zero input and have to hope for the best.
3's is fun, but the smaller ice is flat out stupid. I missed this in the notes and got all amped up to play and immediately quit. Abandon the small ice, it's just silly and wrong.
In the neutral zone, it's incredibly frustrating when you're approaching the ozone and your AI forward does not get out of your way at all and disrupts the play, causing an offside or turn over. It was a bit of an issue in 17 but it's a consistent problem in 18.
In 3 games I had the old school glitch goals performed on me in versus. It was exploited over and over again. From d zone faceoffs, a win back to the D with a slap shot is also way too effective. It was like the glitch wrister where it was being exploited.
Also, turn down Carey Price. He's not a world beater, never won a Cup. There's no reason for him to be super human in net. None. He's good, but damn, be fair.
There are positives.
Single tap of R1 for poke was still extremely effective last night. Laughable how much range this tool has from bad position and full speed.
Not only that but the Machine Gun poke is back. I had a guy follow me around from behind absolutely MASHING the poke check!! It was coming out nearly twice every second with no penalty to his skating speed and it went through my skates several times without a call.
I can appreciate that a BETA might have certain bugs, but why are the same problems the game's had for years STILL in this code? You'd think they would've had time to at least fix those.
Nope...
I can't play the mode because it's very hard for me to see the puck with or without Puck Highlight option. Puck Size set to Large as well.
NHL series overall have always lacked colorblind mode. I mostly play EASHL. I'd be glad to have an option to set default shirts (on my screen, affecting only me) to for example full black & full white.
Colorblind mode is really a must have for color deficient people like me - at least for the fast paced NHL Threes. It's close to being unplayable for me right now.
Or change the ice back to clear and transparent. Or give us an option to change the Puck Highlight color.
And I totally agree to your other points too.