Watching the gameplay reveal trailer is a bit odd:
A few things:
- The hitting in this video is much greater than in actual NHL games.
- "Hit players into the bench and break the glass" which was the case in NHL 2003. Okay,
- The tethering thing for the goalie controls - again, something that was largely the case in 09, the first year they had Be a Pro.
- Oddballs in the comments wanting things like warm-ups and coaches challenges (what virtual recreations of sports need is all the administration that goes with it)
09 was the last NHL game I had and 11 was the last FIFA I had. I've not played an EA sports game since. I know enough about FIFA to know that gameplay and game modes don't really improve year on year, but they're too far gone in terms of chasing money from FUT to expect anything. The latest I know of Career Mode is that it genuinely just doesn't work, but they've no real reason to try and fix it.
Either way, the (somewhat naive, probably) notion I have is that games like this year on year should build on the previous year and add and refine features. Instead it seems like features get added, deteriorate over the next few years then get reannounced as if they're to be celebrated. Is this about accurate? I'm getting the game regardless (and I'll probably love it) but I'm curious about how underwhelming it's going to be.
