Official NHL2K5 Impressions Thread!!!

[ScoopBrady]

Thanks for the impressions boys. I'm picking up my copy tonight but might not get to play it until real late seeing as it's my wifes birthday today.

And tjung, sorry to say man but this reaks of the time that you reviewed a game you had only played for 10 minutes and it was only a demo version of the game on the old SR boards. I'm sure others here remember that all too well.

I can't wait to unlock the old school rink pictured here:

[dbdynsty25]

And tjung, sorry to say man but this reaks of the time that you reviewed a game you had only played for 10 minutes and it was only a demo version of the game on the old SR boards. I'm sure others here remember that all too well.

You're a post too late.

[seanmac31]

There are quite a few penalties at default. I played one overtime game on XBL where Alexei Kovalev got called for about five different penalties, and I think I had seven penalties in all, every one of which was committed by a player under CPU control. Maybe I accidentally racheted up the aggression rating, but I don't think so.

There are also a decent amount of fights, and they tend to happen after appropriate events. I leveled a guy with a body check, and he came down the ice after me and started a fight on the other side. Not sure what to think about the notion of unlimited turbo for the winning side. A little gamey, but it does put some urgency in the fighting, and you can counteract it by simply playing carefully right after the fight is over and not leaving yourself open to odd man rushes.

[ScoopBrady]

And tjung, sorry to say man but this reaks of the time that you reviewed a game you had only played for 10 minutes and it was only a demo version of the game on the old SR boards. I'm sure others here remember that all too well.

You're a post too late.

Would have been on time but I was linking pics

[Diablo25]

Only penalties I had in my first game were 2 fights. It was only one game though.

[pk500]

One thing PK. In some reviews I've read, they've stated that on default, there are too many penalties called. It might be a good idea to bump the penalty slider down if the trend from your 7 penalty game continues. Just some food for thought.

Sull:

I had no problem with the number of penalties. Eight penalties in one game isn't that obscene, but the imbalance of calls -- seven against me, one against Pitt -- was troubling.

Again, it was one game. Hopefully just an exception. I only had one fight in two games, and I'm also not fond of the unlimited turbo for the winning brawler's team. Hopefully that can be turned off, but it didn't seem like the winning team's skaters were on steroids, and the unlimited turbo doesn't last long. I still don't like it, though. "Gamey," as Seanmac said, is an apt description.

I did notice that there are individual penalty sliders for the first time, I believe, a la ESPN NFL. ESPN NHL 2K4 had just a general penalty slider, I believe, but now you can set sliders for various types of penalties.

As the Guinness twins say, "Brilliant!"

Take care,
PK

[pigpen81]

Doby (Diablo25)...it is great to see you over here.

For anyone that doesn't know, Doby isn't just a fellow teacher, he spent 7-8 years catching in the minor leagues.

I haven't picked up the game yet....my Gamecrazy didn't have it in yet.

I hope to have it tomorrow but wont get a chance to play till the late evening.

[GROGtheNailer]

Great impressions PK, I'm stoked man. Just bought it but havent had time to play yet, will get in 4-5 games tonight, i'm really happy to see the sweep check is working.

I'm also not fond of the unlimited turbo for the winning brawler's team

I'm pretty sure this can be toggled on/off if I remember correctly from a developer Q & A.

Welcome aboard Doby, over from the High heat boards eh, glad you are posting here.

[pk500]

One more positive I forgot in my initial posts: There are many more off-target shots by the CPU and human players, even with default sliders.

The deflections off the rear boards and back glass are realistic as hell after those errant shots, too.

Take care,
PK

[Fleury14]

Finally, it's possible to pass it back to the blue line and not have to worry about the D-man going offsides because you turned the wrong way. That was very irritating in last years game, seems gone now.

One nice play that shows of the AI happened in my first game: I had possesion down low on the left side, and passed it to the center who was along the left side of the boards. He was getting crowded so I skated backwards and right towards towards the blue line. The D man read this perfectly and as the players crossed, he pinched in at the correct time, dusting the players that were chasing my before. It's hard to describe, but the defensemen actually pinch/cut at the right times, and the players rotate well.

[webdanzer]

You can turn off the fight reward turbo...

One of the first things I did before playing my first game.

[pk500]

You can turn off the fight reward turbo...

One of the first things I did before playing my first game.

Yee-hah! I will follow suit.

I hope you can turn off the picture-in-picture on faceoffs, too. Absolutely worthless feature that causes HUGE slowdown for a moment after each draw, at least in the Xbox version. Otherwise, the framerate seems quite solid, but I've never been someone to notice the difference between 30 fps and 60 fps.

Take care,
PK

[Jimmydeicide]

ok 3 games in 1st on default pro got beat 2-0 out shot 33-11, 5 min periods, Just messin with controls.

First thing i noticed was ,wow this feels like 2k3. my biggest thing with 2k4 was the skating was too smooth.

Im a happy man.

Contact controls are good ,penalties are fine at the moment im guessing your using the contact controls too much if your getting a lot of calls.

With pass aim assist off its incredible, lotsa icing cos your passes need to be spot on.

Goalies are beatable.

Backwards skate is awsome , its very nice were you need too skate forwards and then pivot, otherwise you will take forever to get any stride going and the puck will be in the back of the net

2nd game shots were 27-25 forgot score .
I turned off speed burst( felt awsome Grog)

last game won 5-4 in ot

wish i could type faster damn game has started again .

Bottom line . Im loving it so far and its goona take an eternity to mess with all these sliders cos for once they realy work.
Maybe that will help us i dunno.
off to watch 2nd period catch you online later boys.

[Diablo25]

Penalty killing is very cool with this game. I don't mean to keep harping on the right analog "total stick control" but its awesome. Pull and hold the left trigger to skate backwards then use the right stick to sweep your stick back and forth to poke check. I was pinning guys on the boards, elbowing and kicking the puck out of the corner and so on....FUN. My favorite goal so far was a semi breakaway with Somik (on All Star) - I coasted the last few feet then gave a quick wrist shot short side/low...it hit the post and snuck in! Sweet! The "super goalies" of 2K3 or 4 would have never let one like that in. You have to make sure you have manual aim on though. With pass aim assist off things are very nice. You gotta be crisp with your passes. If you win a fight you get an extra boost of turbo for a while. I'm not a big fan of the turbo boost after a fight win so I turned it off. Its becoming evident that turbo is too high on default (as in the past) so thats gonna get bumped down. Can't wait to see how much better this game gets with some realistic sliders. I'm very optimistic right now

[Diablo25]

Oh yeah and a very cool thing I saw. CPU was on a PP and the center got the puck after I cleared it. "He" waited behind his net for the forwards to arrive back for the rush. One forward actually went in front of him...he waited patiently then boom...here they come. Cool.

[Jimmydeicide]

Ok between periods in Montreal.

My negatives so far.

Diving shot animation is too frequent.

At the end of a game if your still pressing buttons it goes straight to exit screen ,Kinda weird.

And the Biggy Diving poke check is now mapped too left trigger+X.
Thats big already did too many.

Give and go is gonna be the online pisser i think gonna be banned i feel.

And lastly ,they dont have that god awful Jersey Canada are wearing right now.

Wait .Thats a good thing.

Not many eh? but about 1 a game so far.

Im thinkin weve got a gooden on our hands here and i ended up hating 2k4.

[vader29]

Played two games tonight as Pittsburgh, won 6-1 over St. Louis on amateur and lost 1-0 to Detroit on Pro. I like how the power play sets up and how the goalies come way out of the crease to pick up loose pucks in the corners.

Noticed the slowdown on faceoffs with the PIP also, doesn't seem to be a way to turn it off either.

Looks like Pro is the level I will play my first season in franchise mode as the shots on goal ended up 35-25 in favor of Detroit. Detroit had 5 power plays and I had 2. Really like it so far.

[dbdynsty25]

The game is good.

[Parker]

The game is good.

Wow, I wasn't going to buy it, but with that compelling endorsement, I'm on my way to the store now!

By the way, the Red Sox still don't look like a match for the Yanks these days, right?

I'll admit I didn't expect the Braves to be this good, but I also didn't expect the rest of the NL East to stink this bad. The AL is too tough this year, Boston should be on easy street for the wildcard at least with their record.

[dbdynsty25]

Wow, I wasn't going to buy it, but with that compelling endorsement, I'm on my way to the store now!

I just find it funny that everyone goes into this great detail about the one or two or five games they played. It's pointless to even really read these threads until they are about a week or two old.

I think the BoSox could do some damage in the playoffs...especially if Lowe gets it together. In fact, they will probably win the World Series this year, they are that strong from top to bottom.

The Braves are good, but pretty much everyone in the NL is fairly weak except the Cardinals so I expect them to come out of the NL. Of course I'd like the Braves to but I just don't think they've got the middle relief to do it. Their starting pitching is very good and their closer is very good...it's everything in between that worries me. If Andruw comes around, which it looks like he's doing over the last two weeks or so, they will be dangerous. But like I said, I expect whoever comes out of the NL to lose to Boston in the series.

The DBacks proved you only need two dominant starters to win the Series (Johnson & Schilling), and Boston has that covered as well (Pedro and Schilling) as well as a hellova lot better offense than Arizona had.

Should be an interesting playoffs.

I do find it funny that everyone counts the Braves out every year yet they come back and dominate at the end of the year to pull away from the division. Sure the NL East has been weakened by injuries, so that contributes to the "weak" notion. The Braves have been decimated by injuries as well, they just have better minor leaguers to step in and perform than the other teams in the division (Chucky Thomas and Nick Green).

[sportdan30]

The Braves played the Cardinals fairly tough in the last series, so I definitely wouldn't count them out. The Cards smacked 4 bombs against the Padres tonight. They didn't look too impressive....hope they sneak in ahead of the Cubbies. Is it bad to root for the Pads' to take 2 out of 3?

Onto the topic at hand. I'm extremely pleased with this game so far. Last year, I wondered what all the crying was about concerning the lack of "zoom". Well, now I know. It's a huge addition. I now feel as though I can work the puck around with ease instead of feeling that I have to work it one on one or simply pass to one other teamate for a one timer.

Whoever mentioned the fact about the defenseman receiving a pass back and turning the wrong way forcing an offsides is absolutely correct. That bothered me beyond belief. Now, you can actually work the defensemen into the offensive scheme.

I'm also liking the flow of the game this year. On default, rebounds are a thing of beauty. Second chance shots are much more common this year than last. Also, and this is big......there's a lot less stoppage of play compared to 2K4. More often than not, last year the CPU would make a save...an unbelieveable save no doubt and hold on to the puck for a face off.

Some said they don't like the PIP. I for one don't mind it for the simple fact that by focusing my attention on it, more times than not it seems I win the faceoff about half the time. For me, it seems easier to judge.

Amateur and rookie are ridiculously easy, but Pro seems just right for me. I hurried into a few games, and only changed a couple options. I look forward to turning "off" pass aim assist. I was passing at a 90% clip. Also, I have to make it so the power play takes the actual 2 minutes instead of what seems like 30 seconds.

Overall, I'm thoroughly impressed so far. Then again, I was very happy with last year's game, but added controls, workable sliders, and the "zoom" feature easily make this a steal at $20.

By the way, I traded in three games at EB Games. Got $15 for Toca 2, $20 for WE:7, and $25 for Fight Night. In addition, they have a deal going on this September that if you trade in 3 sports games, they'll give you an additional $10 in credit. There's just too many good games on the horizon and those games were collecting dust.

[snate]

Braves and Cards don't have the starting pitching to do well in the playoffs. I think the wild-cards will be in the series - Boston and whoever wins the wild card in the NL (Chicago, Houston or Florida).

[JackB1]

PK....I agree with mostly everything you said. The upgrades are subtle. At first glance, the game doesn't play or look much different than 2K4, but as you discover the improvements, it becomes a better game than last year's. I played 3 games so far...(1 solo and 2 online)

The good:
-better AI than last year. Computer really waits for a good shot.
-better out of the box....minor slider changes are all that seem needed
-graphics seem "sharper and more vibrant"...but not a drastic improvement
-plays more like real hockey....more scrums, clutching & grabbing, etc
-goalies seem more beatable.....no "money" plays yet

The bad:
-slowdowns during faceoffs and sometimes other times. Don't see an option to turn off the PIP
-game not very different from last year's (without close inspection)
-play by play seems same as last year
-game cuts too quickly after period's end and game end.
-ESPN stuff (presentation) not as good as it could be

[Granatofan]

Anyone experience multiple "network errors" that dropped them from games Tuesday night? Web and I played about 8 games and only one made it past the 1st period.

Ted

[dbdynsty25]

Braves and Cards don't have the starting pitching to do well in the playoffs. I think the wild-cards will be in the series - Boston and whoever wins the wild card in the NL (Chicago, Houston or Florida).

Uhh...none of the teams you mentioned have better starting pitching than the Braves...in fact no one does in the NL.