NHL 17 Thread

[ItsMillerTime]

21 minutes ago, Monty said:

Compared to Suter. Look at the stats. I know it sounds crazy but Tanev is better than Suter

[Cocolocci]

8 hours ago, -Vintage Canuck- said:

Hockey Ultimate Team Hero 

 

Trevor Linden 

 

The former Vancouver captain is a local legend and is considered to be one of the greatest players in Canucks history. Nicknamed 'Captain Canuck', Linden helped lead the Canucks to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1994 and had his number 16 retired in 2008. He is currently still with the Canucks organization as President of Hockey Operations. Collect items like Henrik Sedin, jerseys, logos and more to unlock HUT Hero Trevor Linden!

 

Uhhhhhhhh....Baby !! My first target in HUT17

[Pr3mo]

[Tre Mac]

Less than a week away!  I play C/RW and will be looking or creating a club(ps4) that's chill and takes lots of 'smoke' breaks lol.  I'll be playing weekdays 4pm-7ish.  I am a good teammate can cycle well etc. Not sure which account i'll buy it for so don't know what username to give out but can always check this thread if there is any interest.

[ftmN]

 

[Cocolocci]

Why are the OA-Ratings in HUT lower than in the Franchise-Mode?

[Monty]

Gamespot has their review up already. 7/10

http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/nhl-17-review/1900-6416511/

 

Quote

Last year's NHL 16 marked a return to form for EA's hockey franchise. It reinstated many of the series’ trademark modes that were removed in the transition to current-generation consoles and introduced an on-ice trainer that made the game much more enjoyable. NHL 17 offers modes with some new bells and whistles, but unfortunately, these few additions aren't significant enough to make NHL 17 stand out from the past.

Thankfully, the action on the ice still shines: handling the puck, skating down the ice, and taking that opportune shot is just as great as it was last year. You feel like you have just the right amount of control over the puck, and you're never left wondering why you lost possession, since taking the puck away from an opponent is also precise and fair. Playing goalie is very similar to last year as well, with intuitive controls that make it easy to drop into a butterfly stance, hug the posts, and move from one side of the crease to the other in an attempt to stop those tricky one-timers.

Gameplay can once again be accompanied by the augmented on-ice trainer--which displays information on the players and ice, such as face-off suggestions and shooting lanes--to help you learn all of NHL 17's tricks. It continues to be a fantastic tool for learning how to perform certain tasks, such as faceoffs and specific dekes, while also telling you why you succeeded or failed. If you went for the puck too early or late in a face-off, it'll let you know. If you lose a face-off that felt like it was a sure thing, the trainer will alert you as to why it happened and whether your player's skill was lower than his opponent's or it was just a toss-up. This information is indispensable. The in-game training system is also adaptive and will flip certain hints off as you learn new skills--and if you don't want to see the trainer, you can turn it off completely. As someone who last made their way through the trainer more than a year ago however, it quickly got me back up to speed and learning new skills in NHL 17.

 

The rest of the game's user interface has received some big improvements. The menus still look and feel like they’d work best with a touchscreen or a mouse, but navigation is now more responsive. Roster filters are now a lot more instantaneous, as opposed to the sluggish feeling of making your way through the team interface last year. The NHL games always have an immense number of modes and menus, so improvements in navigation are always appreciated.

One of this year's marquee single-player modes is Franchise, which replaces last year's Be a GM and adds a bunch of new numbers and menus to tinker with. In addition to cutting deals with free agents and trading for key players, you can raise and lower the price of your stadium's food, schedule promotional nights, and relocate your team to a new city. Changing the prices of popcorn or setting up bobblehead nights is a fun novelty at first, but not for long. Thankfully, NHL 17 allows a fair bit of customization across the game, and this carries into Franchise. Turning off specific elements of this mode allows you to focus on the aspects you want to get involved in, such as cutting a deal on a free agent or trading for a key player.

NHL 17 also reintroduces the World Cup of Hockey, which coincides with the tournament of the same name. The World Cup works just like any other mode, where you play as one team and compete against others in a number of games. The difference between this and the regular season or playoff modes is the presentation, with its majestic music and broadcast-worthy camera angles that are only marred by the in-game commentary repeating itself a bit too often. Unfortunately, this is where the presentation starts and ends--if you win the World Cup, you don't get to see your team awarded with the titular trophy. This is confusing and disappointing, since every other mode rewards players with a short video of your team hoisting the appropriate trophy.

 

Whereas most modes have you play as an entire team, Be a Pro narrows the focus to a single player. You create a skater from scratch and take him from the bottom to the top of the NHL by scoring important goals, making big hits, and setting up teammates. It's become a mainstay in the series, but unfortunately, Be a Pro hasn't improved year to year. It's nearly indistinguishable from the experience found in NHL 16 and includes the exact same problems. You can score multiple points a game, but if you don't play a strong defensive game, you could be punished and moved down a line. Scoring a hat trick and getting demoted after the same game is both baffling and frustrating.

Single-player modes fulfill a certain need, but hockey’s a team sport, and the EASHL sees you take a single player online to play with a group of other players. This mode lets you take to the ice in any position, as you play hockey, level up, and unlock new customization options for your player and club arena. The unlockable items are a good target to aim for when gaining experience, since your player and arena will look considerably more awesome as you acquire better-looking gear.

Hockey Ultimate Team makes a return, and it remains an engaging experience. You open card packs, which contain players of different skill levels depending upon the type of pack you purchase--these can be bought with both in-game currency or real money. You then take these cards and make a roster before taking them into games against real or AI opponents. It's a rewarding experience when you get cards that complement your roster nicely, but spending actual money on a pack and not getting a single usable player is infuriating. It makes you feel like you shouldn't spend money at all--you can rely exclusively on the in-game currency you can grind out by playing the game.

Draft Champions is a new addition to the NHL series, and it’s used mainly for earning Hockey Ultimate Team currency. The goal? Win four games in a row against online opponents or the AI with a team you draft from a specific theme, which might focus on players who are from Canada, have won the Stanley Cup, or are relatively new to the NHL. You start with a roster of 20 low-skilled players, and you get 12 rounds to replace them with the best possible skaters. It’s fun to experiment with the strategy of how to draft your team. Do you want to make sure all your bases are covered, or would you prefer to frontload your offense? On top of that, it’s gratifying to actually win with the team you threw together, but online’s the only way to go with this mode. Offline solo play is available, but playing against AI-controlled teams that don't take part in their own draft--and have eight lower-skilled players--is a boring, frustrating experience.

 

NHL 17 is a great game of hockey, but unlike last year, there isn't a standout mode or feature that makes this game substantially better than its predecessor. It rides off a lot of what NHL 16 did, and the new additions don't add anything crucial to the experience. It's still a lot of fun to trade players in Franchise, build a formidable roster in Hockey Ultimate Team, and actually play matches, but if you were hoping NHL 17 would be a significant step forward for the series, you're out of luck.

Sounds like more of the same with the "improvements" being all but hollow.

[Guest]

I don't really know what reviewers expect from sports games. Hockey is hockey, the sport doesn't change exponentially every season, so the game isn't going too either.

EASHL is way better, HUT looks way better, the lag seems to be fixed, the UI is better, the music is better, the skating is better. What else do they want?

[Monty]

24 minutes ago, Incursio said:

I don't really know what reviewers expect from sports games. Hockey is hockey, the sport doesn't change exponentially every season, so the game isn't going too either.

EASHL is way better, HUT looks way better, the lag seems to be fixed, the UI is better, the music is better, the skating is better. What else do they want?

The problem is that it's not only reviewers that see problems with the NHL series and how it's grown stale. Look through any forum and consumers say very similar things over the past 7 years.

 

As for "What else do they want?" Have you played other sports games? Because I have, and I HATE watching Basketball and Football. Boring as hell. But their sports games are so deep, offering a lot more than what the NHL team seems completely incapable of creating; a worthwhile Franchise/GM mode that can't even rival those who play fantasy hockey.

[Guest]

I can't imagine playing any series yearly for 7 years and not thinking it's stale. I get what you mean, though.

 

I haven't really played a lot of other sports games, no, but I do know that they offer more/better modes. But I think they get a significantly higher budget as well 

I'm not trying to defend EA, I know that the NHL games have a ton of room to improve, but personally I think 17 is a massive improvement over 16. 

[Sean Monahan]

It's an improvement but that's not saying much. There's still some pretty big shortcomings in the game.

[Monty]

25 minutes ago, Sean Monahan said:

It's an improvement but that's not saying much. There's still some pretty big shortcomings in the game.

Exactly.

 

I know this is beating a dead horse, but they are literally 12 years behind where Madden was at in 2004. I've said this all along, I don't think anyone is expecting them to break new ground in the sports gaming industry, for the exact reason that they don't have the budget. However, the template is already there for them from other franchises. Templates used not only back in 2005 on the PC, but back in 2009 on the PS3/360 for Madden and NBA2K.

 

Coding your game to do something as simple as extending players in the last year of their contract, or giving them NTC/NMC isn't new or groundbreaking. It's lazy to not include them.

[Sean Monahan]

I've always thought it would be cool if you could hire coaches and your coaches/their strategies would impact your simulation. If you have a roster that really suits your coach's style then they might outperform what their ratings would typically indicate. The whole would be greater than the sum of its parts, so to speak. I've always found little rhyme or reason to the efficiency of your powerplay. You can load it up with talent and a good balance of player types but you can't really be sure how it'll do in simulation, and the PP strategy doesn't do much to change that (though I find shooting usually works best as opposed to umbrella or overload). 

 

Also, the team morale and chemistry is kinda crap right now but there's definitely potential there.

[Silky mitts]

Played about 8 hours worth of it, not too impressed. Think I will wait when it gets cheap to grab like boxing day. Guess it's madden 17 i'll be playing mainly this year.

[Tre Mac]

14 hours ago, Incursio said:

EASHL is way better, HUT looks way better, the lag seems to be fixed, the UI is better, the music is better, the skating is better. What else do they want?

EASHL isn't way better.  It was better 2 years ago when you could level and raise attributes.  This grind to unlock cosmetic gear will get old by October.  I played the beta and am already sick of the menu music and the game isn't released yet lol.  I didn't notice any lag in last years beta so I'll wait to comment on that until the game is released.  There is still lots to add and include.  The reason EA games get such low ratings is because if they don't add anything it's basically $70 for a roster update.  TBH 7/10 seems a little generous.  That being said I bought it and it's already fully downloaded lol.

[TheOgRook]

9 hours ago, Monty said:

Exactly.

 

I know this is beating a dead horse, but they are literally 12 years behind where Madden was at in 2004. I've said this all along, I don't think anyone is expecting them to break new ground in the sports gaming industry, for the exact reason that they don't have the budget. However, the template is already there for them from other franchises. Templates used not only back in 2005 on the PC, but back in 2009 on the PS3/360 for Madden and NBA2K.

 

Coding your game to do something as simple as extending players in the last year of their contract, or giving them NTC/NMC isn't new or groundbreaking. It's lazy to not include them.

Monty, what I've noticed about the way you review games is that you go into them looking for what YOU want and if it doesn't meet that, you feel the game is lacking.  I would suggest going into games knowing that they have something for you rather than hoping/expecting.  NHL makes its money off the people who play HUT and EASHL, not the other modes, so an obvious business model is to develop those sides of the game.  HUt is as popular as ever (I don't play single player)

 

speaking to the side of the game that the majority of players come from (multiplayer). This will be the best version of EASHL since around 2012.  Mechanics, gameplay.. Even the little changes to lobby have pushed things along.  Keep in mind, this was just the beta and will only be better in full version.  

[TheOgRook]

20 minutes ago, Tre Mac said:

EASHL isn't way better.  It was better 2 years ago when you could level and raise attributes.  This grind to unlock cosmetic gear will get old by October.  I played the beta and am already sick of the menu music and the game isn't released yet lol.  I didn't notice any lag in last years beta so I'll wait to comment on that until the game is released.  There is still lots to add and include.  The reason EA games get such low ratings is because if they don't add anything it's basically $70 for a roster update.  TBH 7/10 seems a little generous.  That being said I bought it and it's already fully downloaded lol.

I think we all miss the days of the completely adjustable stats... But you can blame the 99 glitches for the death of that.  At least they are adding new types of player builds like the Jumbo Playmaker, Hitting sniper etc. Hopefully the continue to add those builds

 

the great thing about playing EASHL is that it's not necessarily about the grind, and more about just playing the game, hopefully with a good group of friends.

[Monty]

19 minutes ago, TheOgRook said:

Monty, what I've noticed about the way you review games is that you go into them looking for what YOU want and if it doesn't meet that, you feel the game is lacking.  I would suggest going into games knowing that they have something for you rather than hoping/expecting.  NHL makes its money off the people who play HUT and EASHL, not the other modes, so an obvious business model is to develop those sides of the game.  HUt is as popular as ever (I don't play single player)

And I would accept that, IF higher selling games with critical acclaim (FIFA, Madden, The Show, and NBA2K) don't all pour a massive amount of time and resources into those other modes that the NHL series is completely lacking in.

 

All those games have an online component, because that's obviously where the money is. But their off-line franchise modes are so deep that sometimes you can't even fully utilize them. They literally put so much in that they ensure that, not only are they all excellent, but they make sure they are hitting all their bases.

 

NHL ensuring that they focus on HUT year after year is going to come back to bite them in the ass. Especially if, at any point, another developer decides to get into the game.

[TheOgRook]

2 minutes ago, Monty said:

And I would accept that, IF higher selling games with critical acclaim (FIFA, Madden, The Show, and NBA2K) don't all pour a massive amount of time and resources into those other modes that the NHL series is completely lacking in.

 

All those games have an online component, because that's obviously where the money is. But their off-line franchise modes are so deep that sometimes you can't even fully utilize them. They literally put so much in that they ensure that, not only are they all excellent, but they make sure they are hitting all their bases.

 

NHL ensuring that they focus on HUT year after year is going to come back to bite them in the ass. Especially if, at any point, another developer decides to get into the game.

 

Ok so If those games main player bases were multiplayer then I could see them handling their game different.  Currently the multiplayer modes for all of the above are leap years behind NHL.  NHL is the only game out there where you can play full team vs full team, no AI. It's really an apple to oranges thing.  The reason single player modes is better on those other games is because that is where their player base is.  NHLs player base is mainly EASHL and HUT so that is why those modes are the more polished.. If anything us multiplayer people have been the ones robbed over the last few as EASHL was a stripped down pile of garbage..  But it's still 6v6. And where you gonna get that besides lacing a pair up Friday at midnight  

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Tre Mac said:

EASHL isn't way better.  It was better 2 years ago when you could level and raise attributes.  This grind to unlock cosmetic gear will get old by October.  I played the beta and am already sick of the menu music and the game isn't released yet lol.  I didn't notice any lag in last years beta so I'll wait to comment on that until the game is released.  There is still lots to add and include.  The reason EA games get such low ratings is because if they don't add anything it's basically $70 for a roster update.  TBH 7/10 seems a little generous.  That being said I bought it and it's already fully downloaded lol.

 

 I like it better without the attribute levels, I don't have time to grind out EXP to make my player competitive. This way everyone is always on the same playing field. It comes down to each player's actual skill level.

 

I had a crazy amount of lag in EASHL last year, and so did my two buddies. We almost never lag in any other game. The EANHL subreddit was always talking about lag too. I'm pretty jealous of your internet connection