NHL 15 is a promising addition to the EA NHL franchise. It’s coming out for the PS4 and Xbox One and promised high detail to graphics and such. However, when we’ve been told they’ve potentially left out a lot of key components in the game play, we get a little skeptical.
In a post from OperationSports, they’ve covered all the ground for what wasn’t included during EA Access. There were gutted features, according to Producer Sean Ramjagsingh. This included taking out GM Connected, Live the Life, OTP, and EASHL. But, this list seems pretty vast for “gutting” features.
Here’s the list right here:
Modes/Features
- No GM Connected
- No Online Team Play (when this is patched into the game later this year, it will use real NHL players and teams)
- No EA Sports Hockey League
- No EA Sports Arena
- No Online Shootouts
- No Live the Life
- No Be A Legend
- No Winter Classic
- No tournaments or Battle for the Cup
- No season mode (you can only play seasons in Be A GM, which is limited to NHL teams)
- No NHL 94 Anniversary mode
- No custom music support
- No create-a-play designer
- Cannot customize each team’s AI
- No create-a-team
- No way to edit individual players
- Practice mode is now limited to one skater vs. an AI goalie
Gameplay
- No custom camera option
- No Action Tracker replay highlights
- No Top 3 Stars at the end of games.
Be A GM
- Yearly draft is fully automated by the CPU
- Cannot play the AHL games for your chosen franchise
- Players sent down to the minors do not accumulate any season stats
- No fantasy draft option
- No preseason games
Be A Pro
- No option to sim ahead to the next shift
- You only play in the NHL; you cannot play for minor league teams
- The Memorial Cup tryout period is gone. You now begin by picking an NHL team, or by letting a random CPU team draft you.
- No All-Star game
Ultimate Team
- Cannot play against your friends
- No tournaments
- No mobile app
Most of the problems I have with NHL 15 is with the customization. There’s not a lot of it. While there was a problem with how the minor league EASHL worked with Live the Life, scrapping the whole thing for Be a Pro seems a little extreme. NBA 2K14 had their new storyline and I wish it translated into more games. This is all fine if NHL 15 wanted to focus on gameplay, which it seems like is what is happening.
Here’s what they are fixing though. They’re posting about bringing online team play in october, as well as the GM draft. September will have playoff mode and other small features that were missing from NHL 14. Personally, I can’t see what NHL 15 is trying to do here, but having an incomplete game seems to me like they’re trying to rake in cash and patch up their losses later. All that promise in the summer seems to be melting away towards release date. But, that’s only what I think.
NHL 15 will be released for NA systems tomorrow, September 9th, and the rest of the PAL systems on September 12th.
What do you think of NHL 15’s missing features? Are you upset? Are you glad? I’d love to know your thoughts in the comments down below!
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