Home » Reviews » Review: NHL 14
Reviews

Review: NHL 14

I’m sure some gamers think that EA Canada simply jumped into NHL 13‘s code to do a cut all, paste all job for NHL 14 this year. After all, of all of EA Sports’ yearly sports franchises, poor old ice hockey is the only one that doesn’t get the next-gen, EA IGNITE (all caps) treatment in 2013.

Mercifully, that cut and paste strategy only proves true about half the time.

EA Canada clearly loves ice hockey. When you’re playing NHL 14 and controlling players on the ice, you can tell that this yearly franchise is far more than a paycheck to its developer. A new physics and collision system means that every bone-crunching hit – and there are a lot of them – plays out differently. Gone are the old, canned collision animations I’m used to, and in their place are the awesomely brutal (and admittedly, sometimes comical) hits you’re accustomed to seeing in EA Canada’s FIFA 14.

Actually, let’s stop there for a moment. EA Canada develops FIFA 14 and NHL 14. Both games are basically the best-in-class when it comes to sports titles. Hell, NHL 14‘s cover even says the franchise has picked up “26 Sports Game of the Year” awards in its lifetime. In short, the NHL franchise is damn good.

So why then is the game always left in the corner, devoid of consumer attention, while FIFA gets all of the limelight? Sure, ice hockey’s a bit of a niche sport compared to FIFA football, but even the American-centric NFL football gets more love from EA in terms of marketing… and this year, clearly in development dollars as well. Why do I assume that? Well, Madden NFL 25 will be available on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 later this year.

NHL, a franchise respected by games critics and players alike, has to wait until the FIFA franchise gets money to spend on a cool physics and collision system before they it can be implemented in-game. EA IGNITE? Not this year, NHL. Hell, it looks like the NHL team didn’t even get to spend money on new before-, during- or after-game animations. The same intro as in (at least) NHL 11, 12 and 13 plays as teams skate onto the ice. If you win the Stanley Cup, you’ll see the same animations as in other years as well — and, as I’m sure gamers have noted in the past, your own Be A Pro player is still absent.

Worse still, the (admittedly, top-quality) game commentary from Gary Thorne and Bill Clement remains untouched. You’ll hear the duo tell the same stories you heard last year. And the year before that. And the year before that. I understand it takes a bit of money to have voice talent come in and record, but surely a refresh was in order — especially in a year where other sports fans had their titles of choice injected into EA IGNITE.

That all being said, I have no insight into how funds are allocated inside EA and EA Canada, and I could be making some grossly incorrect assumptions. Sadly, I think I’m pretty spot-on.

Now, don’t get me wrong: NHL 14 is extremely enjoyable nonetheless. Moreover, it’s received some new functionality in terms of Be A Pro and Hockey Ultimate Team enhancements, plus a fully reworked fighting engine.

Fighting is leaps and bounds better than the creepy first-person affair of old. Getting into a fight is almost as much fun as fighting itself, and once you’ve thrown down to protect your own interests — or those of a teammate — there’s now a ton of strategy involved. You use the right stick to punch, the left stick to push and pull an opponent after grabbing them with the left trigger, and the right trigger dodges.

As the Detroit Red Wings’ little scrapper Jordin Tootoo, I was able to take down giant Boston Bruin Zdeno Chara by dodging his car-sized fists at the right time, then using his own momentum against him by tugging down on his jersey. I delighted in literally bringing Chara down to his knees.

Then I punched him in the face a couple times. Obviously.

Be A Pro is now eclipsed by Live the Life mode. The basics are the same: you take a player of your own creation through a junior league – might I suggest starting with the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades — and up into the NHL. Your pro is now interviewed in pre- or post-game segments, and your responses will win or lose you favour with fans, teammates, team management or your family. The variety of responses at your disposal is quite fun as well, with answers ranging from wholesome and humble to downright egotistical.

Your actions impact what happens on the ice; piss off your team enough, and your fellow players won’t pass you the puck. On top of that, your pro is also eligible for endorsement deals which will bring in even more income than your base contract salary.

The mode is as awesome as in past years, yet shares the same problems inherent in NHL 10, 11 and 12. Most notably, I brought 18-year old Offensive Defenseman Steve Wright from the Blades up into the NHL and the Detroit Red Wings. Midway through a successful pre-season as top scorer, I was told by management that I was “guaranteed” a spot on the team. After pre-season, I was put down into the club’s farm team, the Grand Rapids Griffins, for no reason that I can discern.

Just like last year.

I took to my old tried-and-true method of simming through two periods of hockey to play the last period of the game, which not only appears to make my player look lazy, but also denies me any EA Pucks I would otherwise have been eligible to earn. Simming through an entire game has always been a no-no, but a third period intervention used to be acceptable; in fact, NHL 13 was patched to reflect this after the same start as this year’s iteration. At any rate, it appears as if you need to play through full games to keep your player in good standing for the time being. That’s all well and good, but with a 70-game season, that’s a lot of hockey to get through. To be top-scorer and still shunned… well, it honestly doesn’t make sense.

EA Pucks are very important in the Hockey Ultimate Team mode, and providing you play full games, each of NHL 14‘s game modes will help you earn them. Those pucks buy card packs which give you players, skills and other useful consumables necessary to build a squad to take online against other gamers. It’s a fun little mode, now boosted by the fact that you don’t have to grind it exclusively for team-growing pucks. The shame is, in Australia it’s sometimes hard to find games because of time zone shenanigans.

I’d be remiss not to talk about the game’s NHL 94 Anniversary mode, which is simply delightful. From the awful blue-coloured ice to the star icons around your players, fans of the franchise will love the trip down memory lane. Add authentic sounds from NHL 94 into the mix, and it’s nostalgia at its finest. Still, if I had to choose between the mode or a next-gen affair using EA IGNITE…

All up, NHL 14 is a great game. On-ice gameplay is better than ever before. That being said, you can’t help but play it and wonder just how much better the game would have been on a next-gen platform. On top of that, recycled pre- and post-game assets and commentary really detract from the whole package. Fans of the franchise should pick it up for the new fighting engine alone, but honestly, I’m really of two minds about whether I want to recommend a purchase of NHL 14 or not.

If we as consumers chose not to buy the game in protest of what I perceive to be the franchise’s poor treatment this year, would it help or hinder NHL 15? I honestly don’t know. Do I penalise it in my review for what it could have been, or respect it for what it is? That answer is thankfully easy — I have to acknowledge NHL 14 for continuing to be amazing, and EA Canada for making the best of what they had to work with.

EA, hockey fans love and continually support this franchise. Please show us some full-blown love next year in return.

Tags

This article may contain affiliate links, meaning we could earn a small commission if you click-through and make a purchase. Stevivor is an independent outlet and our journalism is in no way influenced by any advertiser or commercial initiative.

About the author

Steve Wright

Steve's the owner of this very site and an active games journalist nearing twenty (TWENTY!?!) years. He's a Canadian-Australian gay gaming geek, ice hockey player and fan. Husband to Matt and cat dad to Wally and Quinn.