comes out tuesday. my favorite of the major sports games. im ready to kick ass n talk some ****

Big changes?

no clue i only play online and the gameplays gonna be solid. i dont play franchise mode or anything like that so im not really worried about any changes theyd make

I played 16 for 3 months straight but hut is brutal and I couldn't get into an xbox league permanently. Everything else seemed boring

Updated rosters. I played the beta and played on EA Access, then canceled my preorder.

My bro and I have played NHL since blades of steel, now days we are only interested in play online vs. other humans. We have questions about this version before buying.

1. Can we play together vs another team of 1 or 2 live players online? (not the mode where all 6 players on each team join and control a single position) We just want to play together as a team and not have other randoms on our team.

We are only interested in teaming up together from separate locations vs. an opponent which has 1 or two live players on their team.

2. Is player goalie control back for Penalty Shots/Shoot outs online? Really hated the last NHL where it was a computer controlled goalie for those situations.

yea you can play coop online tho im not sure if you both have to be playing on the same ps4 or if you can just invite him from another ps4 into the match

bring back gm connect or eashl??

TLDR cliffs to answers to my orig questions at the bottom...

I have the game and played about six full Head 2 Head online games as of tonight. (I only play online Head to Head and don't care about the other game modes. I just go for a great win/loss record online each year and don't get into buying packs of cards or building a team, I'm happy with the default teams.)

We tried to play with us 2vs1 or 2vs2, the only option that seemed to make that possible was joining Team Play mode and hope only one or two others join on the other team and it stalls from there (not filling up all 6 slots)

There wasn't anyway to set a limit to the number of live players on each team and before we even launched a game we decided to back out and just play against each other 1v1 because it looked like even if a game launched we would be "locked" into a position. (could use more testing not really sure if we would be locked into position but it appeared that way).

-I found yes, player goalie control is back for Head to Head online in penalty shots/shootouts which makes me happy. Playing those situations vs a computer controlled goalie while the human player on the other end just sat back and watched wasn't fun.

So 1/2 hopes isn't bad... player goalie control is back for penalty shots/shootout (although they changed the goalie control buttons and some of the mechanics that we were familiar with... it will take some getting used to.. for example you can't go into butterfly and just hold directional with the left analog stick to slide/move to the position you want to be. Also rushing out with the goalie to dive and cover the puck feels way different and maybe not possible.

You have to basically keep clicking the left analog like you are making moves on a chess board to make your goalie move to where you want him in butterfly, it feels VERY slow compared to the old unrealistic but yet more fun style.

It is kind of annoying and don't really like the new goalie controls straight away but I'm willing to give the new goalie control system a chance because it's at least back in the game in the situations I hoped it would be in.

Haven't figured out how to do the one handed deke, pretty sure they just... took it out of the game... which is very disappointing because it is a legit move that NHL players use and also takes skill and timing in NHL video games.... maybe I never got to the level of that move being abused (probably too many noobs getting rekt by it, it really wasn't hard to save as a player controlled goalie myself...) I never felt it was over powered and it's really a shame you can't do that move anymore... mistake leaving that move out. Was so fun to pull it off correctly especially in shoot out situations.

-Let me team up with my bro for 2v1 or 2v2 online matches from seperate locations/consoles with no locked player positions.

-Bring back the standard goalie controls.

-Free the one handed deke.
---------------------------------------------------------------

Cliffs:
1. Can't team up with my bro from different locations for a 2vs1 or 2vs2 game unless we are on same console/location irl.

2. Goalie control is back for Head to Head online scenarios (shootout/penalty shots)...with different goalie controls/mechanics than the previous series most of us learned on. Going to take a complete muscle memory rewrite to feel comfortable.

-Sound track sucks.

This is a hockey game, use "HOCKEY MUSIC" I grew up playing hockey and there is such a thing... it is NOT what this soundtrack is. The sound track needs a strong mix of Van Halen, ACDC, Offspring, System of a Down, ect, it shouldn't be a platform to get people into new music that isn't actually played at NHL games.

It's a damn shame that EA sports (old?) moto "If it's in the game, it's in the game" isn't a thing anymore.

The soundtrack is tilting and as soon as I figure it out, I'm removing all of their songs and replacing them with my choices if that is an option.

My first impression:

-Gameplay 8.5/10 (very smooth, what you expect but better than previous versions)
-Soundtrack 1/10
-Goalie control settings 2/10 (only have two pre set options to choose from (no customization), they changed basically every button/move players were familiar with while controlling the goalie, the only reason I give it a 2 is because you actually CAN "control" the goalie)
-Commentary 4/10 (lots of the same, haven't heard anything really different from older versions)
-Menu navigation 8/10, not any noticeable lag navigating them from my small trial tonight, easy to know what you are getting into/looking for.

It's not so easy n cheap to license people music.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well, it would be better if they spent all of the money they spent on the current soundtrack to replace it with only Kick Start my Heart by Motley Crue.

I wasn't able to replace the soundtrack, just was able to basically turn it off (select NHL 2017 Theme) It plays a lowish volume generic track that is easy to ignore.

The soundtrack isn't very important because you only hear it in the menus, so it's not a big deal really, but it adds a lot to a game when it is good, to get hype to start a game. I feel in this version with the current soundtrack I should just turn on my local pop radio station, doesn't get me pumped up to rekt some fools.

Today I give the game play an 8 /10, would be a 9/10 with the goalie controls that used to be standard. For a 10/10 I would add better/more commentary, MOST of it is recycled, as well as the one handed deke +add in new moves to pull off (this is a "new" game right). Taking away a move wasn't cool.

There are more variations of penalties that are called compared to earlier versions, and it really feels fine tuned where you have to be careful when you go for the stick lift or the shady check, while playing today my opponent got called for HOLDING lol, also saw a Cross Checking penalty called... I appreciate how there are a wider variety of penalties but it is really something you have to be careful of more in this version compared to others, I've been in 3 on 5 situations more times than I want to remember tonight lol.

My record Head 2 Head online right now is 4-6.
My bros record is 4-0.

Slowly getting used to the goalie controls, really miss the old controls though, it feels so clunky controlling the goalie now... fun game so far regardless.... free the one handed deke is still a thought I have constantly while playing.

One thing I really wish was a thing, is Rocket League type quick chat during the game, quick selects like Nice Shot!/Wow!/Okay./What a Save! ... if you've played Rocket League you know what I'm saying.... In game quick communication adds another level to the fun.

Wait they got rid of eashl? Lmao wtf