NHL 15 Reviews
NHL 15 is fun to play and pretty to look at, but it's disappointingly light on modes to keep you hooked on hockey.
As the first next-gen entry in the series, 'NHL 15' breaks new ground - and the hopes of the hardcore fans along with it.
Devoid of many important modes and features, NHL 15 feels incomplete, and will not appeal to long-time fans.
Hockey fans are better served playing the old-gen versions of the game
NHL 15 missteps badly in its introduction to the current console generation
New generation graphics and marginal gameplay improvements clash with a lot of missing features in NHL 15.
Whatever steps forward NHL 15 has taken in visual presentation hardly make up for the alarming gutting of many of the series' best features.
NHL 15 is one of the most frustrating sports releases to date. The core experience has been markedly improved.
On the ice, NHL 15 is great. Gameplay is smooth and fun to play, and the plethora of customization options means everyone should be able to find an enjoyable setting. The visuals and commentary round out the package that is only let down by the occasionally questionable AI. Where NHL 15 falls down is with its replayability and game modes. Not only are fan favorite modes missing, but the ones we do get are not feature complete. If you can deal with only having a few modes, then NHL 15 is well worth buying, but the lack of variation is sure to become an issue over time.
The choice to rebuild from square one on a new engine has resulted in a game that doesn't necessarily stand up to last year's on paper, but shows promise when taking into account the track record of EA Sports NHL. In the game of hockey, sometimes you have to make the counter-intuitive decision to take a big penalty to prevent a season-ending goal.
NHL 15 offers stepped up physics and superb visuals, but it's a regression for the series due to a significant number of missing features.
There are undoubtedly great things in the pipeline for the NHL franchise, but NHL 15 isn't a part of those plans.
If you're expecting a completely stacked, feature-laden game as you've gotten in the past, you're bound to be disappointed and on the phone with EA's customer service department, wondering where the majority of your game content has gone. However, if you're an avid hockey fan, you probably won't mind hitting the ice and taking part in a well-rounded contest of hockey, and seeing what the new visuals and audio have to deliver.
Whether or not the horn sounds on home ice, every goal will give the fan in you the same satisfaction as if the game were live right in front of you.
For the last couple of weeks, the majority of the talk surrounding Electronic Arts' NHL 15 has been what is not in the game
NHL 15 looks impressive on the surface with graphics and gameplay, but way too many features have been cut or neutered this time around.
As someone who plays every NHL yearly release all year long, it is unfortunate to see just how badly this has gone. I can somewhat understand taking out 6v6 online play if it wasn't ready, but taking out features in Be a GM or making Be a Pro completely unplayable is just ridiculous. If you are not a hockey fan at all but you want to slap around a few pucks, this might be the game for you. However, with all the lost features and left out modes, NHL fans might want to wait until everything is patched in to jump on this ship. EA Sports: it's in the game… eventually.
Considering that EA Sports took an extra year to craft NHL 15, the wealth of missing features here is inexcusable. The solid, exhilarating gameplay is still present, and feels better than it has in a couple of years, but the astounding absence of features and game modes overshadows everything that the game does right. . . . Put simply, this is not a complete game.
NHL 2015 truly has glimpses of being a fantastic sports title on its own merit, given the improvements in the gameplay mechanics, visuals, physics and even sound. That being said, we have been spoiled to a degree by some outstanding previous versions with all the features and now I find that the series has lost a bit of its lustre given what they cut out to get this one out the door. The omission of key modes really hurts the end product, and in a way it feels like we're stepping back somewhat.
Even with everything missing NHL 15 is still a great playing game. The on-ice action is still hard to top, and if EA does patch in all the missing features, this could end up being the best in the series in years. Sadly, as it stands right now there is too much missing to make it feel like a complete package.