NHL 15: Review, Elite Player Ratings, Tips, Achievements and Roster Updates Info

Brian MaziqueSep 9, 2014

EA Sports has long produced the best and most revered video game hockey simulation around. As a matter of fact, the NHL series is the only one still available. Its primary competition, NHL 2K, hung up its skates in 2009 on most consoles after NHL 2K10 was released.

NHL 2K11 released exclusively on the Nintendo Wii and iPhone. The series was cancelled altogether in 2010.

As the only game in town, the EA Sports NHL series hasn't slacked off in recent years. It's been consistent in regards to gameplay and innovative in the way of features such as GM Connected.

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The series didn't make its next-generation debut in 2013 with the launch of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Instead, it devoted an entire 12-month cycle to the creation of NHL 15. The question is this: Does it deliver what fans of the series have come to expect?

The speculation is done. NHL 15 has released in retail stores for the PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Many have seen the stunning visuals, and you've more than likely heard about the absence of various features from the game.

Now it's time to examine this polarizing title from front to back.

With Xbox One version in hand for about a week, I've been able to log a good number of hours with the game. Many of the online components weren't fully functioning, so the references to those aspects of the game will be conceptual.

Let's take a close look at the pros and cons of the latest NHL video game.

Graphics and Animations

image from NHL 15, provided by EA Sports

What I Liked

Absolutely beautiful player renders
Arenas, environments and crowds look great
Awesome skating animations
Terrific lighting

What I Didn't Like

Players' hair doesn't look as good as their faces
Sometimes a player's reaction to collision doesn't match the impact

Based purely on visual appeal, it's hard to find flaws with NHL 15. The players, their equipment and their surroundings look fantastic. If you zoom in on a player at any given moment in the action, the look is so real that it's like you're looking at a photograph.

image from NHL 15, provided by EA Sports

Most of the players are accurately rendered, but there are a few generic faces given to multiple guys. That type of thing really stands out when the rest of the game looks so great, but it's hardly enough to take away from the overall visual quality.

If you pan around any arena, you're able to see the nuances of each building, as well as authentic staples of an NHL arena. Take a look at the benches; you'll see trainers with rubber gloves, coaches—though they aren't the real-life guys—and other subtle awesomeness.

image from NHL 15, provided by EA Sports

To point out one of the few missteps in the visual package, the look of the players' hair is not on par with the facial renders. Other sports games like EA Sports UFC, MLB The Show and others have lifelike hair, but NHL 15 still has a matted-down look for every player.

Like in football games, this isn't as big of a deal in hockey as it would be in a basketball game, but when players lose their helmets, it is noticeable.

image from NHL 15, provided by EA Sports

Lastly on the negative side, there are times when the collision that takes place should seemingly produce a different type of fall for the player on the business end of the hit. This happens most with the big checks, but it's certainly not such a big deal that it overshadows the overall quality of animations in the game.

Gameplay and Realism

What I Liked

The skating is even better than before
Remarkable puck physics
Multiplayer collisions are cool

What I Didn't Like

Too many fight opportunities

The skating has been great in the series for the last three versions, but this year's game takes the most important aspect of the sport to another level. You feel the weight and momentum of the player you're controlling as much as ever in NHL 15.

It's the basis for what is a really solid and realistic hockey simulation. The Superstar Skill Stick really helps to differentiate the most skilled players with the puck from the normal guys. If you can master the dekes and skating engine in the game, you'll be a terror with the top players under your control.

Sidney Crosby is the highest-rated player in the game with an overall rating of 96. When you're controlling Crosby and other elite players, your moves are crisper and move effective. That's the way it should be.

You can see all of the ratings for each player by clicking here.

*Tip—Spend some time in the practice arena. Try out some of the dekes and other moves with the puck. It'll help you vary your attack once you jump into a real game.

On the other side of things, defensemen who are speedy and great at poke checking the puck away from opponents seem to stand out more this year. Perhaps it all simply ties in together. In any case, it feels and plays well.

The puck physics are also at an all-time best for the franchise. You can see the authentic caroms the puck takes from any normal playable gameplay camera, but if you really want to be wowed by how realistic it reacts, zoom in on it during an instant replay.

It really is pretty amazing to see. You can literally follow the puck into a goalie's mitt or see exactly how it hit the edge of the post.

Another positive in the way of physics accuracy is the collision detection between players. For the first time, collision physics have been applied to all 12 players on the ice. What does this mean? It means that multiplayer collisions and pileups are possible, and when they do occur, you'll be wowed.

The look cool and can be created from just about any on-ice occurrence that causes a player to hit the ice.

One thing that could stand to be adjusted is the frequency in which you can drop the gloves for a fight. At almost every stoppage of play, there's some possibility to scrap with someone on the opposing teams. After awhile, it gets annoying, and you want the guys to simply play the game.

The fight engine hasn't changed and doesn't seem to be a significant part of the package. Aside from that, NHL 15 plays like a dream.

Sound and Presentation

What I Liked

NBC presentation looks great
The live-action broadcast team is a nice touch
Intelligent, reacting crowds are great
Over 9,000 different fans in the stands

What I Didn't Like

Mike Emrick and Eddie Olczyk don't have enough conversational banter
Intermissions are nothing special

Going with the NBC-branded, TV-style presentation was a smart move for the franchise. In NHL 15, the beginnings of games are almost dead ringers for real broadcasts. Live-action versions of the new commentary team of Mike Emrick and Eddie Olczyk appear in the game.

image from NHL 15, provided by EA Sports

They aren't rendered characters like Phil Simms and Jim Nantz in Madden. The animated versions of Simms and Nantz aren't a negative for Madden, but seeing the real Emrick and Olczyk adds a level of gloss and authenticity to the NHL 15 presentation.

Ray Ferraro is the ice-level analyst, and if you go into an instant replay, you can actually see him.

image from NHL 15, provided by EA Sports

The crowds look and sound great. There are over 9,000 variations of fans in the stands, and they react appropriately to the action. If the road team is doing well, you can hear more of the on-ice action until the home team gives the fans a reason to raise the noise level in the arena.

Score a goal with the home team and you'll hear them explode. Signature arena sounds, intros and player signs in the stands only add to the presentation value.

While it was nice to see the series get a fresh commentary team, not all that much has changed with the approach to the concept besides the voices.

There's still far too many repeated lines and not enough conversation between Emrick and Olczyk. The best sports games blend in storytelling with the action while punching in to interrupt secondary discussions with important events happening on the ice.

Even with Emrick and Olczyk in place, the NHL series still hasn't resolved mastered the in-game audio side.

As good as the visual presentation is, and as much of the NBC brand the game uses, you would think there would be more hoopla during intermissions. There is none. Emrick recites the shots on goal and that's about it.

This is a missed opportunity to really drive home the enhanced presentation.

Game Modes and Options

What I Like

Welp...at least Be a GM is back

What I Didn't Like

Far too many options removed
Very little customization allowed
Features that have returned have been scaled back considerably

Here's where the game hits a major snag.

The rumors you may have heard are true. NHL 15 doesn't have GM Connected, EASHL, fantasy drafts in Be a GM, the Live the Life concept in Be a Pro, Winter Classic, and a bevy of other staples the series has featured in past versions.

In this year's game, these are your options: Play Now (exhibition), Ultimate Team (though you can't play friends or in tournaments), online versus play, Be a GM (though there's no fantasy draft, editing players, no ability to play for your AHL squads, and the offseason draft is handled by the CPU), Be a Pro, NHL Moments Live and Practice.

The menu for the game looks so empty it's almost as if it isn't a full version of the game.

It seems this year EA Sports decided to focus on core gameplay components and it sacrificed the inclusion of the other modes that made NHL 14 such a treasure chest of options.

For gamers who primarily play offline, the omissions in Be a GM will be missed, but they won't have as much problem with the diminished feature set as fans who spend most of their time online.

GM Connected and EASHL had become popular aspects of the franchise. To have them completely left out is hard to look past. At least the list of achievements/awards remained the same from NHL 14. NHL 15 features 49 goals for gamers to strive for, per XboxAchievements.com.

Early this week, EA Sports responded to the outcries of fans looking for more depth to this year's game. Per Operation Sports, in addition to the customary player ratings updates, a list of free post-release content updates were announced.

Here's the schedule, per OS:

"
September:
Playoff Mode
Create a custom offline tournament bracket with up to 16 teams from any of the 12 leagues in the game. Play or simulate each game and track player and team stats throughout the tournament.
Be A Pro—Coach Feedback
Get the coach’s feedback while you are on the bench. The coach will give you tips on how to stay on top of your game and grade you on your play.

3 Stars of the Game
At the end of the game, see the three stars and their high level stats. Will apply to every game mode.

Hockey Ultimate Team
Several content updates, including:
• Changed layout and navigation in HUT store
• New animations for player items
• Improved edit lines screen to better identify players who are injured or require contract extensions

October

Online Team Play
Online multiplayer mode where every player on the ice can be human-controlled.
GM Draft
For the first time in the NHL franchise, you will be put on the clock and feel the pressure like real NHL GMs. You will now only have 3 minutes to make a draft pick. If the pressure is too much, you can also call timeouts to extend the amount of time you have to make a draft pick or potentially negotiate a trade. You can make trades at any time during the draft. The CPU will also propose trades to each other and the user throughout the draft.
"

Will this be enough to satisfy fans who weren't going to buy the game before the updates were announced? It's hard to say, but it doesn't change what the game is at the time of release.

Overall

NHL 15 looks great, plays sweet and has some promising presentation elements, but the lack of depth in the modes, options and customization makes the game feel incomplete. If three-quarters of the features that were removed were included, we'd be calling NHL 15 one of the best sports games ever created.

This game obviously has some value because if its undeniable qualities, but those looking for the total package can look ahead to NHL 16. Hopefully the internal depth catches up to the exterior beauty. Here are the numbers.