Official NHL2K5 Impressions Thread!!!

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Post by Jimmydeicide »

Granatofan wrote: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
Yes even told me my game was dirty once.
0 for 3 so far. Gonna try turning off 480p.
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Post by dbdynsty25 »

My one and only game online dropped in the 3rd period with like 2 min. to go. Bastards...
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Post by ScoopBrady »

I can't really add anything that hasn't been said already so I'll keep it short. I'm very impressed after 2 games on Pro. I got shelled in my first game 6-1 by the Penguins (needless to say I was the Hawks) but I beat the Rangers 3-0 in my second game. Goal variety is great, new animations are nice, I haven't noticed any of the hiccups related to the PIP but I did just get a new Xbox with a Sammy. I also really like the pace of the game out of the box. It's not too fast like the past few years but it's not too slow either. It seems just right. Didn't notice any AI gaffes either.

My three biggest gripes have been addressed:
1. No more offsides when you turn around in the offensive zone
2. Your players don't skate past the puck in your defensive zone
3. No more super-goalies/goals can be scored from anywhere on the ice
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Post by GROGtheNailer »

Well, after watching the "Canada Cup", I fired up the game and right off the bat i'm pretty optimistic. Played 3-4 games vs my son and then another versus the cpu (which I lost 4-0 on all-star and all goals had variety).

On the offensice side of things the game itself might just be ok this year, on the pro level there was easily a sufficient mount of goals and of differing varieties. The cpu plays just plain smarter when on the attack compared to last year and do get good chances, also are not afraid to rip shots.

Collision detection, especially how the puck re-acts to goalies is quite improved and something you really notice when a goal is scored or a save made. Deflections off other players who go down to block is outstanding. can't say enough about that. I'm going to be rambling a bit here as I am typing just as the random thoughts about the game come to me, I also type with two fingers so it's painful to get sh1t down sometimes.

Things I am considering changing right off the bat is the time a penalty lasts compared to actual time ticking off the clock. You can set this up (penalty time) to 2 minutes real time but the game clock still counts down to what you have that set on ( IE 5 min periods counting down in gameclock period time of 20 mins) It looks like a penalty time set to 2 min real time will take off quite a bit off the game clock. I will probably set penalty time clock to 1 minute to balance out the fact that any more really eats away the game clock versus how many penalties in a game. You don't want a majority of the game playing on a PP or killing one. I'll try one minute because one minute real time on a PP in this game is probably adequate.

I like the right thumbstick slash/elbow/etc context button and was fooling with penalty sliders to get a more 50/50 chance of getting a penalty when using it and not an all the time penalty situation. Can be used as a good defensive move actually if you don't go overboard or you will be called on it. It's also quite fun to skate by someone not in the play and slash the back of his leg when i'm feeling in the mood, you will be called on those ones more often than not though.

The sweep check is an awesome addition even though I sucketh at it right now and need to work on my timing and control of it but when I was starting to get the hang of it that play really adds to this game a lot. One thing I'll have to check is how effective it is at intercepting a raised pass for a an attempted one-timer.

I scored a beauty of a goal on all-star that had me sit up and go "holy f#ck". Get a deflected pass and held down wrist shot button for a second and roofed it top corner and I mean roofed it. The goalie missed it by about 4 inches and that goes back to me mentioning how great looking the collision detection is. Really nice. I also noticed a few more hard shots which are blocked or high on goalie will go out of play and look great doing it.

We are in the honeymoon phase right now and there will be lots of sh1t we might uncover, who knows? BUT....right now the game feels like I had wanted it to be last year. It looks like the developers tried to address all the things people bitched about last year and tighten up this game all around. I'm still a bit wary about one-timers or the amount of those attempted but so far it hasn't been bad at all and the cpu has scored a good variety. Also neeed to keep a watchful eye on super-goalie syndrome but I have a good feeling about it right now. I guess the first experiement that needs to be done is tweak the goalie sliders to their lowest sliders on all-star and see what that brings, then adjust from there. Pewrhaps they will not even need adjustment but I have the feeling they will be, very easily might not though, too early to tell.

Franchise mode is much improved if you are into that kind of thing, I am. Started one up tonight to get a look at it, signed some coaches and actually you can pick from a list of last names and first names for the head coach. Craig Mactavish is in there PK :) Then pick his likeness, noticed some of the faces could be twins of real NHL coaches ( IE Canucks and leafs). You can check box scores of all past games it looks like this year and the money part of the game looks quite updated and a lot more robust.

So far i'm optimistic. Oh yeah, if you havent noticed, there are two pages of sliders. One for human and the same list for cpu (using the right/left trigger to switch back and forth)...didnt notice that right away. For the amount of money this game is retailing for you cannot go wrong and my early impression so far is that i would of easily paid the full amount.
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Post by Granatofan »

I noticed in franchise that you can also put incentives into a players contract. Very nice touch.
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Post by pk500 »

Unlike past editions of this franchise, I don't think this game will require a ton of slider adjustments to near perfection. It's much better out of the box this year than in past years.

But these are the spots that I'm going to focus on with slider adjustments this week:

Game speed: Default is still a touch too fast. I'll drop it one or two notches.

Pass accuracy: Too high for both sides. I'll drop it to the same accuracy as the default shot accuracy for now, although that setting might be a bit too high, too.

Speed burst: I'll tone this down just a touch. It's not as Mach 3 as in past years.

Fatigue: Totally screwed up at default, just like past years. Third and fourth lines hardly ever get on the ice unless you're using manual line changes. I'll use Original 6 and Granatofan's excellent fatigue settings from ESPN NHL 2K4 as a base for this year's game.

That's it. Otherwise, I think everything is pretty damn good. Maybe a few minor tweaks here or there, but I think fatigue is the only area that needs a major overhaul through sliders.

Man, I'm digging this game. Feel asleep last night around 11:15 a.m., woke up in the middle of the night and played ESPN NHL 2K5, Crimson Skies and FIFA 2004 (gasp!) until about 5 a.m., as I was restless as hell for some reason.

Take care,
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Re: ...

Post by snate »

dbdynsty25 wrote:
snate wrote: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.
C'mon DB. Be real.

Wood, Prior, Zambrano, Clement

Beckett, Pavano, Burnett, Willis

Clemens, Oswalt, W.Miller

are all MUCH better in a short series than

Ortiz, Hampton, J.Wright, J.Thomson

With Byrd as the 5th the Braves have 5 above average pitchers that keep them in the game every day. That is successful in the regular season. But in the playoffs, dominant starters bring home the hardware. No one on that Braves staff can be dominant.

If anyone disagrees with this please chime in.
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Re: ...

Post by Sully »

snate wrote: If anyone disagrees with this please chime in.
Start its own thread and let them chime in there. :wink:
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Post by TCrouch »

Granatofan wrote: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
I played 6 or so last night with not a single problem. 4-1, 2-3 loss, 6-2 (my crowning jewel last night...rematch of the 3-2 loss to the Avalanche. Any time you can put up 6 goals on the Avs and hold their speed in check with the Ducks..well, you're happy. At least I am). 3-2, 5-2, etc. No 1-0 triple OT games, no absurd score fests.

One thing I wonder about...how will the give and go be money? I can barely hit passes with consistency, let alone an effective give and go at full speed in the offensive zone.
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Post by Sully »

I did experience a network error in my third game online last night. It happened in the 1st OT of a 1-1 tie.

Some things I had problems with for an online ranked game:
-Pass accuracy slider is maxed out
-Power plays are too short with the accelerated clock feature
-Goalie puck freeze time is too long
-Shot accuracy slider is a tad too high

Luckily, all these things can be fixed with slider adjustments online. I just don't think you can do it in a ranked game. I was quite pleased with the game and the way it portrays the sport. Like many have said, it plays pretty damn good out of the box.
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Post by James_E »

I posed this question to Terry already on MSN... would like it answered by others too:

"at any time, were you screaming at your AI players to FOR THE LOVE OF f*** DO SOMETHING GODDAMMIT! The puck is right THERE. GO GET IT"
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Post by Zeppo »

Fleury14 wrote: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.
I'm not sure it's gone completely, it happened to me last night. First I was excited that the D-man was up and in the zone, and that he was facing the goal and collected the puck well (it was a power play too, btw), and in trying to bring him deeper into the zone along the boards, for whatever reason he did the classic SEGA loop-de-loo (sort of like the James Brown 'Ow!' move the kick returners do sometimes in the NFL game), and viola, he 360ºs and sweeps the puck out and back in for the offsides. GRRRRRRRRRR. It might not happen as often as it used to, but it still happens, folks.

I REALLY disllike that one cannot skate backwards with the puck. I have to admit, that's one thing I just fail to understand; why is that impossible? Am I missing something here, some bizarre rule I'm not aware of? I don't think so.

Otherwise, I've been enjoying the game, and I think I will learn to like it more and more. But at this point I still miss Rivals. Now hang on, I'm a head-to-head guy here, so don't get all crazy on me withe Rivals stuff. I miss the R-stick passsing because it was so QUICK- you could actually sort of hack at the puck with that move, so it was much more like real hockey. That is, you didn't really need to establish 'posession' in order to knock the puck one way or another; hugely helpful when working the boards.

Dump-ins are better now, and i can clear the puck OK when shorthanded with the shoot button. But I still get very frustrated that the y-button dump move takes so long for the animation, and then even if you L-trigger to slap-shoot it around the boards, that dump can be blocked with the greatest of ease; I've had guys basically pick it off the blade of my stick, and start sakting the other way with perfect stick-handling control of the biscuit. Since the animation takes so long if you want to get some umph behind it, it gives the D guy plenty of time to come in and take it away. Frustrating. I miss how in Rivals you could just shove that R-stick forward to slide the puck into the zone lickety-split, instant action on the pushing of the stick, no long animnation to let the D get in position. I do think that there are more dump-in options now, so I thnk I will get the hang of it over time.

Goal variety has been pretty darn good, I think. I've hit a slapper top-shelf, whpped a wrister from the hash-marks in the slot, etc. etc., I've seen a few different types of goals. However, the rebound seems to me to have been made into a major scoring method, something I don't remember too much from older Sega hockey games. Now, I guess this is a good thing, really, the more I think about it. But i have to say sometimes I feel a little bit like the uber-goalies have been 'fixed' mostly due to increased # of rebounds. I know this isn't 100% true, but sometimes it feels that way. Still, I do think the collision detection on the goalies is much improved, that is, the vaccuun effect is gone. Vaccuuming stil happens plenty for the skaters, though, as that puck looks like it's made of Iron, and the blades powerful magnets. I guess you got to do something.

I'm glad Sega picked up on Rivals's penalty time method. I set it to one minute, no matter how long the periods (I guess I would do 2 if I were playing 10 min. periods or something). It's tough to find where to set it, though, and I can't figure out how to do it for online exhibition play. One cool thing is you can set a lot of these options for onine leagues/tourneys. That's pretty cool.

My biggest frustration is getting in games online with guys I know :wink: . I just so tire of playing the CPU. I should play random people more. Oh, and the Caps are so bad it makes me sick, but that's not Sega's fault. :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:
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Post by marino »

I played a bunch of online games last night,Played two with Sully,first one was kind of laggy,and the second was better.Played a game with jackb1 and he won 1-0 late in the first overtime. No lag at all.

Then played a bunch of unranked games with slider adjustments and was having a blast with slider adjustments.Lowerd shot accuracy and pass accuracy.

I have been waiting for a longtime for a hockey game online that would give me the same feeling as playing football online.I don't think EA will be able to match this,but who knows.I will rent it first.

I just love the flow of hockey online better than football games.The end to end rushes and the constant play can't be beat.

I was finding later as the night went on that I was getting more success scoring off the face off.Hopefully, just a fluke.

To say this is just an upgrade with more bells and whistles is just plain wrong.This game is a major upgrade from last year and if it was 49.99 I would have bought it.
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Post by tsunami »

After playing a few games last night on Pro and All-Star I'm a little disappointed. I'm not sure what I expected, but it didn't feel too different from years past. Overall it wasn't bad...but it wasn't great either.

I agree with most of the positives already expressed in previous posts, so there's no need to rehash those (in case anyone thinks this a bash on the game - which it isn't).

I read a review on Team Xbox that points out some of the problems that I have with the game:
My only gripe is that while skating backwards, the speed burst function on the right trigger is disabled. This allows the other team to race past you quite easily if you take the wrong line.

The White button now acts as a “pass and go” move where you can dish off to a teammate, move into scoring position and then call for a return pass. While the function works fairly well, I found its use is limited due to the placement of the White button on the Xbox controller. Also, the AI will make the occasional bad decision, but being you are essentially in overriding control, most times the bad play will rest on your shoulders.

Now is time for my rant. While I absolutely love the additions that Kush Games have implemented this year for NHL 2K5, there are still areas that just don’t tickle my fancy. First off, the speed of wrist shots is way too slow. This has been a problem since the series was created, and it is unchanged in 2K5. Yes, holding down the X button increases the speed of the shot somewhat, but nowhere near the level of those found in the NHL. That and you cannot change the angle of your shot while holding the shoot button, i.e. the curl and drag. When a wrist shot from Alexei Kovalev feels the same as one from Matthew Barnaby, you have a problem. Secondly, the velocity of passes does not change (well, not that much anyway) depending on how long the press the A button. Don’t look to throw a saucer pass over a defenseman’s stick to a streaking teammate because it ain’t gonna happen. Lastly, the Total Control Dekes still seem a bit limiting to me. I prefer the manual control of EA’s game and even Hitz Pro’s style. Don’t get me wrong, you can make things happen with Total Control Dekes, but it is limited to about five moves.
Also, while I was able to score in a variety of ways, I didn't feel like the CPU could or even attempted to. They didn't take too many shots from more than 10 ft. It seemed like every attempt was a direct rush to the net (either straight up or from the corners) and rebounds/put backs or one timers acorss the slot. Nothing seemed different than in years past. I didn't see any use of the point or cycling. It was only about 5 games or so, but I didn't see any differentiantion in the style of play from team to team or the manner in which they tried to score.

Another problem I had on All-Star was how much faster all of the CPU players were than my own. Even on full turbo with my fastest guys, their players would routinely be able to zip around me or catch up to me from 20 ft away. Pretty unrealistic. Now, this may be remedied by sliders, but it's pretty poor right out of the box. The Pro setting definitely does not have that inbalance.

Like everyone else, I'll continue to play, see what new sliders come out and see if it lasts past the honeymoon stage.

I'm still eagerly anticipating NHL 2005, since that was my game of choice last year. I'm hoping they made some noticeable improvements. So far, early impressions have been good.
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Post by pk500 »

Tsu:

Good points, but I find it realistic that speed burst isn't available when skating backward. I've yet to see a defenseman skating backward in the NHL who can keep pace with a fast forward at full steam, especially if the D man approaches the forward at the wrong angle.

Defense in hockey is all about playing the angles, as you know, and you should be penalized if you play the angles wrong. Skating backward should be slower than skating forward, as that's closer to reality.

Zeppo makes a good point about Rivals, too. That game doesn't get the props it deserves for its three big contributions to console hockey:

1. Multi-multiplayer games. It was awesome to play three-on-three or four-on-four with other human players online, each controlling one skater.

2. Right stick passing. I'll give this muted praise. It was a great, intuitive feature, much like analog swing in console golf games. But it also was way too accurate in its implementation in Rivals.

3. Faceoff options. I LOVED how you could choose what type of faceoff technique you wanted to use to try and win the draw. Much more exciting and interactive than simply hammering the A button.

That said, I still think ESPN NHL 2K5 is leaps ahead of Rivals as a complete hockey package.

Take care,
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Post by dbdynsty25 »

snate wrote:If anyone disagrees with this please chime in.
All you gotta do is check the NL Pitching stats this year...the Braves are first in ERA.

First in the league in ERA (tied w/ St. Louis)
2nd in the NL in Wins
3rd in the league in OPS.

No other NL teams, or ML team for that matter is in the top three in those categories except St. Louis (which you happened to discard as not having enough pitching for the playoffs). I don't get it man...the two teams you say don't have enough pitching are in the top three in the three most important pitching categories statistically.

Back to NHL...I have found a money goal. If you don't want to hear it...don't read this:

As LW was scrumming along the boards with a defenseman, he got out of the scrum with the puck and let loose with a cannon from right next to the boards, about 15 feet from the end line at an almost impossible angle. Sure enough, 4 out of the 5 times the puck went top shelf and beat the keeper.
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Post by Granatofan »

TCrouch wrote: I played 6 or so last night with not a single problem. 4-1, 2-3 loss, 6-2 (my crowning jewel last night...rematch of the 3-2 loss to the Avalanche. Any time you can put up 6 goals on the Avs and hold their speed in check with the Ducks..well, you're happy. At least I am). 3-2, 5-2, etc. No 1-0 triple OT games, no absurd score fests.

One thing I wonder about...how will the give and go be money? I can barely hit passes with consistency, let alone an effective give and go at full speed in the offensive zone.
Terry,

Were you playing early? I played 2 against Sudz with no problem and 8 later against Web when I had the problems. All the problems occured after 8 pm PST.

Ted
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Post by Zeppo »

O here's a couple things I forgot:

The lack of clutching and grabbing is frustrating. My D tends to consist of trying to get in the passing lanes or in front of goal, instead of trying to engage guys or slow them down physically. I can hit them with a hard check if the situation is right, but I'm frustrated they sort of slide off me if I'm not actively hitting them.

Pinning on the boards is way too rare. Another thing I think Rivals did well (though not perfect), and I miss it.

The R-stick passing was far too accurate, yes, but what I miss most about it was the instant-pass aspect of it. This Sega game seems very FIFA-like to me, in that one must establish posession before moving the puck (I guess you can one-time shots, even off a rebound, but it has to be a shot. . . ?). This isn't lacrosse or team handball here, it's hockey, which like soccer has the ball/puck available to all at all times. Not in Sega hockey, though.

And the dump-in options in Rivals I would add to your list there, PK. That is something I think Rivals did better than any other game I've tried, and I'm bummed in Sega it's mostly the same-old, long animation Y-button thing.

Oh, and the ridiculous red-line rulings get me in every hockey game. You seem to have to have your player physically over the red line to avoid the icing, not like the real rule at all. Bugs me, but one can adjust to that, I suppose.
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Post by TCrouch »

Granatofan wrote:Terry,

Were you playing early? I played 2 against Sudz with no problem and 8 later against Web when I had the problems. All the problems occured after 8 pm PST.

Ted
I was playing from about 5pm until 1am (with a break to play one game of ESPN NFL in there) PST.
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Post by tsunami »

pk500 wrote: Good points, but I find it realistic that speed burst isn't available when skating backward. I've yet to see a defenseman skating backward in the NHL who can keep pace with a fast forward at full steam, especially if the D man approaches the forward at the wrong angle.

Defense in hockey is all about playing the angles, as you know, and you should be penalized if you play the angles wrong. Skating backward should be slower than skating forward, as that's closer to reality.
Agreed, but I still think it is a little unbalanced. Even if a player is not using turbo, they can still blow by you.

I also don't feel like the CPU defensemen (especially on my side) stand up enough at the blue line or prevent players from skating freely into the slot (whether it be on the rush or from the corners). They back in way too much and don't offer much resistance. Now, I know I can control the defenders, but I shouldn't always have to do that.

Also, did anyone else see that one of the unlockable rinks is a parking lot? Does that mean 5-on-5 roller hockey? Hope it's similar (or even better) than the version in NHL Hitz Pro. If anyone unlocks it and tries it out I'd be interested to hear about it.
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Post by James_E »

tsunami wrote: I also don't feel like the CPU defensemen (especially on my side) stand up enough at the blue line or prevent players from skating freely into the slot (whether it be on the rush or from the corners). They back in way too much and don't offer much resistance. Now, I know I can control the defenders, but I shouldn't always have to do that.
This is why I almost never like video game hockey. This pisses me off to no end.

That being said, I'm still a sucker as usual, and for $30 I'll get it since everyone is saying it is way improved over past efforts. Maybe this will be the game that turns me into a Vidoegame hockey fan. I know just hours ago I said I wouldn't get this, but every place I read people are loving it. Gotta try for $30, since hockey is my favourite sport.
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Post by tsunami »

Zeppo wrote: The lack of clutching and grabbing is frustrating. My D tends to consist of trying to get in the passing lanes or in front of goal, instead of trying to engage guys or slow them down physically. I can hit them with a hard check if the situation is right, but I'm frustrated they sort of slide off me if I'm not actively hitting them.

Pinning on the boards is way too rare. Another thing I think Rivals did well (though not perfect), and I miss it.
IMO, this has been a problem with the Sega games from the start. Players bounce off of each other too easily. There is no way to impede their motion by simply getting in front of them. I find it especially difficult to stop players from charging right out of the corners because they weave in and out so fast that I can't get (or stay) in front of them to poke check and they have a clear lane to the net. Short of a penalty, there is little to stop them besides trying to get in front of a shot or pass.

That is one of the things I really liked about the EA NHL series...they introduced the tie-up button which allowed you to slow players down or prevent them from setting up in front waiting for a tap in or one timer.
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Post by pk500 »

Zeppo:

I believe you can set icing to international rules, which eliminates the touch-up.

Zeppo, Tsu:

I'm finding that a quick flick of the Total Contact Control right stick will tie up a guy nicely, and I don't get a penalty most of the time if the flick is a quickie and I don't charge at the guy and chop him by clicking the right stock and using the right trigger.

Not perfect, but better than before.

Take care,
PK
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Zeppo
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Post by Zeppo »

pk500 wrote:Zeppo:

I believe you can set icing to international rules, which eliminates the touch-up.
??????? What is this in response to? Why would I want to do that?
pk500 wrote: Zeppo, Tsu:

I'm finding that a quick flick of the Total Contact Control right stick will tie up a guy nicely, and I don't get a penalty most of the time if the flick is a quickie and I don't charge at the guy and chop him by clicking the right stock and using the right trigger.

Not perfect, but better than before.

Take care,
PK
That's good to know. I've been a bit reluctant to use the stick. However, one should note that if your man is skating backwards (L-trigger held down) those R-stick moves aren't active. Still, it could help me a lot to use that stuff.
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Post by Zeppo »

Oh, OK I see, you misunderstood me PK. I mean going IN, you have to be like 100% across the red line before dumping the puck, as opposed to the real game where there is quite a large grey area, that is, as long as the last point at which your stick touched the puck is on or across the red line, there is no icing. In the video games for some reason they can't seem to get that right.
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