Official NHL2K5 Impressions Thread!!!

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Fri Sep 03, 2004 11:25 am

I'm amused by this line:

"...gives you the ability to pass the puck over to an AI controlled player in order to set yourself up in front of the net along the blue line."

How the hell is that possible?

TRI · Post by **TRI** » Fri Sep 03, 2004 12:19 pm

Parker wrote:I present to you today's clueless review, starting with its incorrect title:

http://www.tothegame.com/review.asp?id=73

Obviously, realistic gameplay doesn't matter to many.

I also don't see what is so bad about the franchise mode. Less glaring issues than in ESPN football.

Most people who buy hockey games do not care about realism, they want big frequent hits, big shots, bruise control etc and this is who EA caters too. They just do not care much about realism. EA has been pissing hockey sim fans for a long time.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Sep 03, 2004 12:24 pm

TRI:

True, until last year. NHL 2004 was a huge move in the sim direction for EA's hockey franchise.

I love ESPN NHL 2K5, but I'm eager to rent NHL 2005 this year, too.

Take care,
PK

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Fri Sep 03, 2004 1:15 pm

Anyone know if an online expanded manual is available for this yet?

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Fri Sep 03, 2004 1:16 pm

there is one within the game

GROGtheNailer · Post by **GROGtheNailer** » Fri Sep 03, 2004 1:38 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:I'm amused by this line:

"...gives you the ability to pass the puck over to an AI controlled player in order to set yourself up in front of the net along the blue line."

How the hell is that possible?

Use white button to pass to your cpu controlled player on your team....you will still have control of your original guy....then press white again when you want your cpu player to pass back.

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Fri Sep 03, 2004 1:54 pm

Grog, i don't think he's wondering how to do a give and go; I think he is remarking on the absurdity of the 'in front of the net along the blue line' line. Just guessing, though.

GROGtheNailer · Post by **GROGtheNailer** » Sat Sep 04, 2004 4:08 am

You know, this game can be so brilliant at times and then sometimes I want to punch it in the face. The biggest issues I see right now are the fighting which I turn off 90% of the time, fighting is fun but I cant stand to see Hemsky in one more fight, or any of the rest that should not be fighting every game.

All-star i'm not sure about right now. I'm torn between tweaking the game on pro and all-star. Have some ideas but just testing how it all works/ties together. For instance, if putting up defensive slider the goalies will also get tougher so there is more than one setting to consider when changing just one...it might effect 2-3 settings.

Still too many one-timers, better but too many. Also trying to incorporate a penalty slider change to help with defense so I can see more goals vs scoring chances but being able to keep scoring chances to a minimum as well. I think eventually you will see a lot of tweakers realize that the right thumbstick will become a factor in defense, turning down penalties for individual sliders will give you another option for defense but still get the odd penalty which can be close to a game average. I don't know if you know what i mean, hard to explain.

Playing on pro tonight versus my son we finished off the night with the last two games 3-2 and 2-2 w/ under 30 shots each, was a real fun intense set of games. I've scored some of the best goals ever in a video game (IE a sweet-@ss deak on a penalty shot to tie it)

I think when tweaking you really have to balance correct stats, length of game and fun factor, all this while keeping realism. No one wants to spend 90 mins to play through a game which will really bog down a season/franchise. The added one minute real time at end of periods and PP times can really help actually and have to be taken into consideration, same with the length of how you set PP time against actual time clock.

Little poll here, what level are most playing on right now?

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Sat Sep 04, 2004 5:54 am

Good post, Grog.

I am playing on Pro and I'm getting realistic results so far. Does the CPU play any *smarter* at the higher levels or do more shots just go in? I love the game, but the CPU will sometimes make a stupid pass when they are close to the net and should just shoot. I agree there are a bit too many one-timers, especially by the CPU. I have very good goal variety and I would just like the CPU to score in more ways. Does this happen on All-Star or is there a slider I can adjust? I will say it is much better than last year.

Another thing I really like about the game are the new save animations. The goalies made way too many glove saves this year, but I'm seeing a lot of variety and it seems like there are more rebounds as a result.

James_E · Post by **James_E** » Sat Sep 04, 2004 8:39 am

I'm having fun with the game, a rarity for me and hockey games. The biggest thing that used to bug me was the positioning and lack off brains in the human-controlled team AI players. This year it's a lot better!

I just played as Ottawa, vs. Colorado. Pro settings, speed down, pass accuracy WAY down. I was outshot 38-22 (18-3 in the first period until I figured out how to play D.) Fun game.

However, there was a bug near the end. I was up 3-2, and Kariya was going to get a breakaway, so I hooked him down with Chara. The screen said "Delayed Penalty" The play went on for a second or two and as players chased the puck that had gone behind the ottawa goal, then Kariya retaliated and slashed Chara back.

Kariya got a penalty, Chara did not. I ended up with a power play. It should have been 4 on 4.

On a side note.. I was in a gaming rut. A couple games I had wanted for a while on PS2 just came out, so I picked up Viewtiful Joe for PS2 as well as Star Ocean: Till the End Of Time. Both are a nice break from the sports genre. These games seem to have worked. I play those and also now want to play sports games again. I still don't feel like playing as much as I used to, but at least my desire is > 0 now.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sat Sep 04, 2004 9:11 am

Grog:

Pro here.

Just seems to be more balanced and realistic, as the speed of both teams seems pretty equal. I'm using that as a base and then tweaking sliders from there. And I don't need to tweak as much last year.

Fun game. Fun as hell. Scoop and I had some very good, very fun XBL games last night.

Take care,
PK

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Sat Sep 04, 2004 10:06 am

Im with you guys.
I have leveled down to pro.

Just played a WC tourney last night and played vs khasikisatn twice with Canada very different results........ 8-2 the first game and 2-1 the second.......Seems to be a variety in the games much as there was with ESPN baseball..........

EDIT........or I just suck....my reflexes aint what they used to be.

GROGtheNailer · Post by **GROGtheNailer** » Sat Sep 04, 2004 2:43 pm

I think i'm going to try and start with pro, all-star can seem a little ...."Off' I think. Cpu ai tends to skate a bit faster than you can and they really attack, right now I like the feel of pro setting. As long as they cpu can compete at that level it should be fine.

See you guys in a couple days, i'm outta here.

Airdog · Post by **Airdog** » Sat Sep 04, 2004 2:50 pm

GROGtheNailer wrote:I think i'm going to try and start with pro, all-star can seem a little ...."Off' I think. Cpu ai tends to skate a bit faster than you can and they really attack, right now I like the feel of pro setting. As long as they cpu can compete at that level it should be fine.

See you guys in a couple days, i'm outta here.

I'm liking pro better as well - the scoring seems to be a little better and its easier to break in on the AI without them closing on you as quckly.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Sat Sep 04, 2004 3:10 pm

Zeppo wrote:Grog, i don't think he's wondering how to do a give and go; I think he is remarking on the absurdity of the 'in front of the net along the blue line' line. Just guessing, though.

Correct...

WillHunting · Post by **WillHunting** » Sun Sep 05, 2004 9:13 am

Airdog wrote:
GROGtheNailer wrote:I think i'm going to try and start with pro, all-star can seem a little ...."Off' I think. Cpu ai tends to skate a bit faster than you can and they really attack, right now I like the feel of pro setting. As long as they cpu can compete at that level it should be fine.

See you guys in a couple days, i'm outta here.
I'm liking pro better as well - the scoring seems to be a little better and its easier to break in on the AI without them closing on you as quckly.

I played 4 games on All-Star diff so far and only won 1 (got really lucky when the opposing goalie was way outside and passed the puck into the goal by accident, lol). Otherwise, I would have probably lost that one too. I am not getting any breaks in All-Star so I will be playing on Pro as well. I used to be GOOD at hockey games hehe.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Sun Sep 05, 2004 10:59 pm

This game is like crack.

hoserthehorrible · Post by **hoserthehorrible** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 3:22 am

GROGtheNailer wrote:You know, this game can be so brilliant at times and then sometimes I want to punch it in the face. The biggest issues I see right now are the fighting which I turn off 90% of the time, fighting is fun but I cant stand to see Hemsky in one more fight, or any of the rest that should not be fighting every game.

All-star i'm not sure about right now. I'm torn between tweaking the game on pro and all-star. Have some ideas but just testing how it all works/ties together. For instance, if putting up defensive slider the goalies will also get tougher so there is more than one setting to consider when changing just one...it might effect 2-3 settings.

Still too many one-timers, better but too many. Also trying to incorporate a penalty slider change to help with defense so I can see more goals vs scoring chances but being able to keep scoring chances to a minimum as well. I think eventually you will see a lot of tweakers realize that the right thumbstick will become a factor in defense, turning down penalties for individual sliders will give you another option for defense but still get the odd penalty which can be close to a game average. I don't know if you know what i mean, hard to explain.

Playing on pro tonight versus my son we finished off the night with the last two games 3-2 and 2-2 w/ under 30 shots each, was a real fun intense set of games. I've scored some of the best goals ever in a video game (IE a sweet-@ss deak on a penalty shot to tie it)

I think when tweaking you really have to balance correct stats, length of game and fun factor, all this while keeping realism. No one wants to spend 90 mins to play through a game which will really bog down a season/franchise. The added one minute real time at end of periods and PP times can really help actually and have to be taken into consideration, same with the length of how you set PP time against actual time clock.

Little poll here, what level are most playing on right now?

I agree Grog. At times I really like the game because the players play solid positional hockey. Then, other times, I hate the game because of the damn one timers and because the defensemen I control tend to get turned around too easy.

I'm playing on Pro level with tweaked sliders based on some popular ones I found at ESPNHockey.net.

GROGtheNailer · Post by **GROGtheNailer** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 4:59 am

I've solved the fighting issue in regards to way too many fights, turn them off the first two periods and then back on going into the third, a house rule if you will. You should get 1 fight and maybe two, plus the 4th line seems to be in more at that time so your tough guy could be on. Also can keep an eye on each team intensity guage in the third and then slap in your fourth when it is peaked. Just turn off fighting until the third period, simple and takes all of 5 secs.

I'll probably release a set of sliders tomorrow for the pro setting as i've had three great games in a row with them...if anyone gives a sh1t really

Seems like everyone and their dog has a set posted all over the place so I guess one more won't hurt . Just need to test one more thing and i'll post some early sliders that seem to work pretty well.

Perhaps tomorrow some us can start a thread and put our pointy heads together and see what consensus we have on the game right now and what needs to be worked on and what doesn't.

blueduke · Post by **blueduke** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 10:02 am

Looking for ward to your sliders, Grog. Thus far I've used several sets but the game still doesn't feel right. Pro is a tad too easy while all star has a speed cheat for the cpu imo. And the goalies seem to be either dumb as a brick or they perform like Hasek after drinking a case of Red Bull. I've found no happy medium

WillHunting · Post by **WillHunting** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 10:54 am

I tried Pengmen's sliders, they are too slow for my taste. I am experimenting with my own sliders so it is less arcadey than the default, but less sim-like then Pengmen's. Hopefully, I will find a happy medium so I can enjoy this game more without it being a shooting gallery or snore fest.

MizzouRah · Post by **MizzouRah** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 10:58 am

I'll tell you one thing, I just got XBL for my bday and have played 3 great games online so far with NHL 2k5. The game plays SO much better than last years version.

I never knew how much fun it was to chat with someone across the country and play a game of hockey.

XBL GT: MizzouRah71

Todd

hoserthehorrible · Post by **hoserthehorrible** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 2:17 pm

GROGtheNailer wrote:I've solved the fighting issue in regards to way too many fights, turn them off the first two periods and then back on going into the third, a house rule if you will. You should get 1 fight and maybe two, plus the 4th line seems to be in more at that time so your tough guy could be on. Also can keep an eye on each team intensity guage in the third and then slap in your fourth when it is peaked. Just turn off fighting until the third period, simple and takes all of 5 secs.

I'll probably release a set of sliders tomorrow for the pro setting as i've had three great games in a row with them...if anyone gives a sh1t really
Seems like everyone and their dog has a set posted all over the place so I guess one more won't hurt . Just need to test one more thing and i'll post some early sliders that seem to work pretty well.

Perhaps tomorrow some us can start a thread and put our pointy heads together and see what consensus we have on the game right now and what needs to be worked on and what doesn't.

Grog, over on another board somebody suggested I try lowering pass speed and increasing pass interceptions to help decrease the one timers in the game. I haven't tried it yet but thought you might be interested.

GROGtheNailer · Post by **GROGtheNailer** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 3:23 pm

Thanks Hoser, ill give that a look.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 9:00 pm

Had to dig this one up after taking the game online for the first time

Damn, what an awesome game. Played three games (but opponent lost connection while beating me 1-0 in the second), winning 5-3 and losing 4-2.

What I liked the most was that I felt like if I played fundamentally sound (as far as I can tell) hockey, then I could beat any cheese the other guy was trying. Using the block too often? Fine, I'll just skate around you. Feel like charging at me for the hit? I'll draw you away from your assignment. Two great games against random opponents, could be a complete rarity, but I'm probably hopping back on in a little while (have to watch Santana continue to stake his claim to the Cy Young too). This is going to be as addictive as any racing game so far on Live.

The Flames appear to be very popular online, their goalie is a brick wall!