Customer Ratings: 
List Price: $59.99
Sale Price: $59.96
Today's Bonus: $0.03 Off
So far, I've played ~80 games (I had the early release) in EASHL with most being in club play, but a handful of OTP games as well. The good things I've seen so far are that hitting generally works, skating seems reasonably fluid once you have enough stats on your player, goalies aren't making saves they shouldn't and aren't letting in too many weak goals, the new EASHL seasons makes things a bit more exciting, stick lifting now seems to work well enough and not give constant penalties, and that the AI seems to be improving on the offensive side.
On the other hand, it also has a few areas for improvement. AI on D during a rush is almost useless and gives up the toe drag wrist shots from the high slot as it has in the last 5 years or so. On top of that, these seem to be going in at an alarming rate for players who likely are well below having their legend card yet. Larger players seem to have a big balance boost, which makes it nearly impossible to knock down a player more than 4 inches taller than you. Poke checking seems inconsistent. Forcing passes through defenders works too often, and offense seems to be much more able to pick up loose pucks than on defense.
It will be interesting to see how future tuners change this, as EA doesn't seem to have much of a rhyme or reason for many of the changes they end up making, so we could be looking at a much different reaction in 3 months or so.
UPDATE 9/16-
While at first fighting seemed like an improvement over the old system, after getting into a few dozen fights the majority of online players just seem to mash the punch button and manage to win more often than not. There doesn't seem to be much of a way around this either. Using R2 to dodge and counter is somewhat difficult to do, and if they manage to connect with a hit, you might as well just let them win. At least the old system gave you a ton more control as far as dodging went.
More disappointing is that face-off spamming (continuously trying to win the draw before it is dropped, making your character twitch) still works in the game despite countless complaints and EA promising to fix it. As a top 50 center right now with 60% wins, I still manage to have games against these guys where I go 30% while they are clearly exploiting the system. Its been going on for a few years now, and should have been fixed long ago.
Finally a more minor issue is that low speed skating that you would do defensively to get into position and face the puck is more difficult than it should be, and results in too many cases where I'm out of position because the game decided I wanted to do a big spin rather than just turn my hips.
Click Here to Read More Reviews >>
This will be broken up into two sections: The actual product review and ideas to improve the play for next year:
PRODUCT REVIEW:
Since it's release, NHL 09 has left many hockey-mad gamers "chasing the dragon." Since the title came out, revolutionized hockey video games, and monopolized the hockey game market, many players have been wondering if EA will ever manage to outdo itself again. When I reviewed NHL 12, I indicated it was comprehensive, but that the overall gaming experience left a lot to be desired. I originally wrote a gushing NHL 13 review based off the demo until the gameplay pulled me back to reality and forced me to give it an average review; which lead to me testing this out one more thoroughly so I didn't repeat the same mistake again. So how does NHL 14 fare? Some of the gaming could stand improvement, but this is the best title since NHL 09.
One of the improvements that EA touted this year is that the goaltending AI has been refined to do a better job at anticipating the shot. This may not seem like a huge deal to your casual gamer, but this is an IMMENSE BOON for anyone who plays the goaltending position regularly (like myself.) I can finally say that the goaltending AI doesn't want to surrender a goal on every 9 shots taken by the computer. Instead, you're now in control of making sure you've covered the angle (which is a challenge in itself) while your goaltending AI does a better job of stopping the shot. This, along with the anticipation feature that was introduced in NHL 13 and the butterfly function, allows a human-controlled goaltender to be in the game just as well as the computer goaltender. There are certainly some defensive deficiencies that the AI-controlled players on the human-player team experience (more on that later), but the improvements in the goalie functions allow for you to overcome that through most games.
The new fighting engine flat out ROCKS! Though the fighting is in third-person now instead of first-person, the fighting now occurs as a direct result of what happens in the game and not just through instigating a fight using the Triangle button. Take a shot at a goalie when the whistle's blown or lay out a massive hit to a star player? You better be ready to defend yourself! What's more is that there can be multiple altercations at once, so if you're playing with and against others online, it's entirely possible to have a full-on line brawl. The fact that there can be multiple fights at once makes it better than in the games of the past, but there aren't any instigator penalties handed out for third-man-in fights and players aren't thrown out of a game if there's a second altercation (this should be changed to both make it true to life, but your casual gamer probably won't care either way.)
Be A Pro has had a facelift as of this season and is now known as Live The Life. In addition to playing out your pro's career, you're now tasked with saying and doing all of the political things a player does to ensure their popularity improves amongst the fans, management, teammates, and their families. Say the right things and your endorsement deals begin to appear, fans chant your name, your teammates and family love you, and management wants to give you the contract you deserve. If you say the wrong things, you'll end up traded to a different team, which can have a detrimental affect on other things. Though most of this was spot on, one thing I didn't care for was that any answer that bashed the team somehow raised the player's popularity amongst the fans. Maybe I'm a minority, but I'm not going to cheer for a guy who bashes his team. Otherwise, the new features make an already fun game mode even more fun to play.
The Be A GM feature has had some revisions as well in this year's game. You can set the trade difficulty to be separate from the difficulty of the gameplay and the difficulty of the franchise mode. You can also grant the AI more control to administer the team to the point where the only necessary human interaction is scouting; as even goalie rotation can be handled by the AI now (I suppose EA could have simulated scouting as well but what's the point of playing the game if the AI's going to play if for you?) Thanks in part to the lower salary cap, there's a significantly better chance of catching a big free agent during the off-season then there was playing last year's title. However, as the salary cap inflates, teams will be more likely to retain star players through the ability of being able to bury salary without giving other teams the option to claim the players; leaving either depth-role prime-aged players or veteran-aged castoffs with declining ability as the only options to be made available through free agency as the game goes on. The fact that teams can circumvent the waivers through the pre-season roster management presents a hole in the game that can stand to be patched; I'll make a suggestion for this later on. The only other problem with the Be A GM mode is that injuries intensify the deeper your roster is; so it's like you're being punished for actually building your AHL team as well.
The game has other features and improvements as well. Winter Classic has been expanded a bit to give you the option as to which venue you wish to play at (meaning either the Winter Classic '11 or Winter Classic '12.) The NHL 94 mode provides a retro-style hockey experience complete with simplified controls, old-school soundtrack, and the classic celebrations whenever you score. You can select your position prior to accepting a drop-in game when playing online. The soundtrack has gotten more rockin' again, as it was great to see Soundgarden and Bullet For My Valentine on the soundtrack (I do wish Blackguard would come back though!)
Otherwise, the gameplay hasn't changed drastically. Taking face-offs in this game has never been smoother, so that was a very happy surprise in comparison to previous seasons. Dishing out body checks feels more real-to-life in that your larger players can steamroll the smaller players, but larger players can also be adversely affected by poor balance as well. This remains a shooters game for those of you who prefer to put the puck onto the net. The passing isn't terrible, but there seems to be a difference between executing a pass within a game and executing a pass online; so it could stand revamping.
So with that all that said, this title is excellent for the casual gamer and great for the gamer with slight or moderate interest in hockey. If you're looking for a fun hockey title that's better than the more recent titles and updated from NHL 09, then this is the game to get.
ROOM TO IMPROVE:
Though this is excellent for casual gamers and well enough for those who are interested in hockey, this game can still cause frustration for the hardcore hockey gamer who's sees the annual NHL installment the way most gamers currently look at Grand Theft Auto V. The leaps and bounds shown this season was awesome and shouldn't be discounted, but there's always room to grow. With that said, here's what I'd like to see for next year:
The passing engine should be revamped, as the AI has an easier time connecting passes then human-controlled players do. I would love to see the passing being done with R2+Right Paddle, where the strength of the pass could be determined by how hard the paddle was pressed in that direction (the pass could be cancelled by releasing the R2 button without having executed the pass.)
Change the defensive players for the human-controlled teams in the goaltender Live The Life mode to be better than movable pylons. The back-checking should be more aggressive and the players should intentionally get into the passing lanes. Playing as a goaltender, there's still too many instances of "cheap" goals that get scored against a human goaltender where the defense breaks down and leaves the goaltender on their own because no one's coming back to play any semblance of defense; if your player's already positioned there then it's fine, but the AI won't do it as a reaction to the gameplay.
As a general example, I often find myself in the situation where the opposition will come up the rush and while my defender will be on them up to the defensive-zone face-off circle, the defender will actually turn away from the play and head for the boards, giving the attacking forward the opportunity to set up his shot without interference. The attacking player will go to an area inside the dot where it's too far to poke-check but too close to commit to the butterfly; often resulting in a goal. In a more specific example, I was playing as a member of the Winnipeg Jets facing the Anaheim Ducks. Though I successfully poke-checked Corey Perry twice, he still scored on the third attempt in the same sequence because AI-controlled 6'5" Dustin Byfuglien can't break past 5'10" Kyle Palmieri to make a defensive play because the latter's stick checking was too intense; even though they were 3 feet away. This goal was followed up by a 2-0 in my direction after the face-off because apparently, having a goal scored on you makes your teammates forget how to play defense. (I could complain that my AI-controlled centers win 10% of their defensive zone face-offs, but the resulting shots are low-percentage so I really can't moan about the stat fluffing.)
Further, if the coaching options are changed by the player during the game, the game should maintain those settings instead of changing them. It's frustrating when you begin to realize this occurred when the opposing team begins to attack and your players aren't responding the way they had previously (I'll set the offensive pressure to Aggressive and the team will play fine, but then the AI will change it to Defend Lead, where my team loses the ability to skate the puck past the red line.)
Revamp the Be A GM mode to give the GM a more realistic gameplay. There should be a full-on training camp for the preseason mode with an intra-squad scrimmage followed by 6 or 7 pre-season games where you can have up to 50 players (either on one-way, two-way, minor, or ATO/PTO contracts) where you can cut or designate them for assignment after each game; players who aren't waiver-exempt would be available to be claimed by the other teams instead of stashed in the minors as they are currently prior to the start of the season. There should be an option to allow GMs to manage their minor league teams as well. GMs so be able to add no-trade or no-movement clauses to contracts so they can negotiate better terms with their players. Much like the Live The Life mode, the GM should be able to receive positive (or negative) performance boosts based on their actions. Finally, an assistant GM upgrade (which would increase the chances of a trade being accepted/give better feedback on trades) would be better than adjusting trades to be done either easy, medium, or hard. Perhaps the AHL veteran limit could be imposed to prevent teams from stockpiling talent.
With the online drop-in game, actually divide the rooms based on skill level. Have a drop-in room for amateurs, rookies, et al, in addition to an Open Skate room for players of all skill levels. I hate seeing newer players get bullied by those who dedicate their lives to EA NHL games because it discourages the newer players from getting better; but the established players don't deserve to see their stats suffer because the other players aren't at their skill level, either. Open Skate means you run the risk of getting jeered by the jerks with mics or having your stats suffer because a level 56 goalie's leaking like a sieve. And if an amateur player is able to upgrade their equipment to boost their stats, then either they dedicated that much time to playing the Live The Life mode or they were willing to open their wallets to purchase the upgrades; both of which seem fair to me.
Finally, can EA get the KHL on-board? Could Live The Life see a player go to Europe instead of any of the North American leagues? I would love to see these refinements as well.
Buy NHL 14 Now
Con: The computer seems to be much more attentive than last years game. They are all over you all the time while your own AI is just ok. If the puck is near one of your guys and you are playing as him, they often sit there and don't go for the puck. It is very frustrating.
Pro: the physics are much better, love the hits. The game seems just a bit more polished overall. Everything runs smoothing minus the long load times.
Overall it is an improvement over last years. It adds enough to make it worth it and the faceoffs are much more intense now too.
Read Best Reviews of NHL 14 Here
While visually, this game isn't much different, the game play is much better. Fighting is much improved and it's easier to hit. The 'fixing' of the one timer is nice as well. Buy this game!
Want NHL 14 Discount?
NHL 14 is an excellent game by far! I've been playing Live the Life mode since I got it, and it's very satisfying to make the decisions of a hockey player day in and day out. It also has kept the mode from becoming completely stale! The fighting in the game is PHENOMENAL, the hits leave you satisfied, and the SIMULATION in Be a GM mode as well as other game modes is improved so it no longer takes me 3 hours to simulate through one season!
It's the little things you'll notice in NHL 14 that will satisfy you as a fan of the series!
