The visuals are on the whole very nice. I like the Winter Classic mode as it feels very authentic. I like the authentic opening to the Sharks games with the shark on the ice. It's just a shame it seems like the openings to the other rinks are generic. I find the cut-scenes very repetitive. Yes, they're more dynamic now, but there isn't much of a range of them. Most of the player faces are completely wrong. I recently read on the Operation Sports forum that the faces haven't been updated by EA for several years. This is so lazy. It'd be nice if the players looked a little more authentic.
The commentary is infuriating. I can't stand Bill Clement and Gary Thorne. I have heard the same lines of commentary for what feels like ten years now. I wish they'd bring in new commentators with some fresh lines. I hate hearing their over-the-top views on the game - every game is a thrilling game in their eyes.
I wish they'd sort out board play. It's just the same "pinned to the boards and kick it with the skate" animation each time. It seems easier to body-check in open ice than against the boards. This doesn't seem quite right.
I think I'm still getting used to the game and am finding it a bit of a learning curve. Having said that, I do think the AI has too much of a boost with the default slider settings. My pass percentage is usually around 55-65% whereas the AI will have something like 70-80%. I'm not sure whether mine is low or the AI's is high. The AI seems to have a much better shot than me. Again, perhaps it is because I'm still a novice, but in my most extreme example I lost 6-1 as the Jets vs the Lightning. The Lightning only had 18 shots - so 33% of their shots found the back of the net. I had 19 shots and only scored once. Faceoffs is another area of difficulty for me. I was winning something like 1 in 30 faceoffs. Having decreased the faceoffs slider by one click, I'm now winning roughly 50% of faceoffs.
Penalties are rarely being called (this is a common criticism). When they are called, it is always against me for tripping (because I'll have badly timed my pokecheck). It seems the AI can keep hold of the puck much better than I and that it can take the puck off me without actually performing any move/animation. Yet if the AI skates near me, I can't take the puck off him unless I put in a well-timed pokecheck.
Goalies are somewhat irritating. They'll pull off several stellar saves and will then totally fail to stop the easiest of shots.
Maybe all of the above is because I'm very rusty at this game. Maybe it's me that needs to get better rather than the AI that has been too greatly boosted (I play on Pro).
All things said, this is an enjoyable game - but there are a lot of niggles.Btw, in the Wings v Lightning game, one of the Lightning's goals was reviewed because the referee thought it had been hit into the goal by the skater's glove. The video replay showed quite clearly that the puck was nowhere near the glove - it was hit by the blade of the stick (about three or four feet away from the glove). However, what the game didn't pick up was that the stick was well above the crossbar (maybe 6 - 12 inches above). It seems the game doesn't pick up high-sticking. I'll upload the replay and screenshot once I get my new router (the wired LAN ports have died).
Here's a funny video of the Hercules Check:
Welcome to the club!leafsnation wrote:And THAT gets me to 100 posts!
](./images/smilies/wallbash.gif "Brick wall"){kind=small}
This is so lazy! Either have the authentic 1981 rosters or just don't bother with historic Moments!! How can we recreate that Moment if Gretzky is playing with the likes of Taylor Hall, etc?!!!
I was expecting that EA would freeze the rosters during the lock-out, but I don't see why the Nash trade hasn't been included.
Maybe I need to increase the User shot accuracy slider a little...
