One of the oldest and most iconic traditions will be back in NHL 15
EA Sports has detailed the full feature set for NHL 16, which includes many offerings trimmed from in last year's instalment. But, most excitingly, the game now includes playoff beards - honouring the tradition of hockey teams that leave their facial fuzz untrimmed until they either win or are booted out of the Stanley Cup. We don’t know exactly how they determined the growth rates for the players, but we’re excited to see the result, especially should a user play as the San Jose Sharks. It’d be great to see just how out of control Brent Burns’ beard could get come the Stanley Cup finals because at the best of times Burns’ face is hidden behind a wall of facial hair. The skater customization doesn’t end at beards, though. Upgrades over last year’s iteration include the ability to fully customize just about everything when it comes to gear. Players can have custom stick tape and color, tape on the shaft of the stick, ear guards, shin pad tape, skate guards and more.
There are plenty of other new features listed including visual on-ice training, new precision skating, distinct arena atmosphere, story driven commentary and 6 vs 6 team online play. NHL 16 has nowhere to go but up after NHL 15’s struggles, and it seems like the folks at EA Sports are listening (for once) and implementing features fans want. They’ve learned their lesson from half assing a product. I have a feeling NHL 16 is going to be much more enjoyable than it’s predecessor, and with these new features, that’s almost assured. Team also carries through to the on the ice gameplay in NHL 16. We’re introducing new gameplay innovations on both offense and defense to deliver a balanced gameplay experience to make every position on the ice meaningful to your team’s success. In the case of FIFA 15, EA cut out trading to minimize on some of the customer issues dealing with the cash shop and microtransactions, so we'll see how well they fix NHL 16 to keep complaints about microtransactions to a minimum.
To its credit, EA is attempting to start off on the right foot with its fanbase this year, acknowledging 2014's missteps and laying out a full list of all NHL 16 modes along with its announcement blog post today. The company took a lot of flak last year for refusing to answer specific questions about NHL 15's feature set until the day before launch. "First we looked to our biggest fans and asked them to be a part of our team," said EA. "We spent more time listening and working with them this year than ever before." EA is also answering direct questions from fans on the game's website, and doing so in a more forthright way than developers of big-budget franchises usually do.
Time to get back on the ice this season with stunning NHL 16. With the legendary success of the last generation NHL, expectations of NHL lovers are rising high. Developers incredibly added awe-inspiring cool looking features in the last sequel that are irreplaceable in Ice hockey match. Developers incorporated the realistic attributes like ‘bouncing pucks’ – Pucks that roll and bounce just like in a real game- to give gamers the feel of the real game, dramatic graphics and eye-catching events adds up in the pace of the game. These are little things, but really unique one that takes the NHL franchise to the successful summit of the gaming world. The NHL last generation has given so much fun to all game lovers, now it is the time of the next generation of NHL to walk on the same path of game entertainment with more thrill and super control.
Yes, the newest edition of EA Sports much acclaimed NHL series has finally added a feature you didn't know you were missing out on until the very moment you read about it. EA boasts that the game will include "accurate representations of beard patterns, length, thickness, and growth rates for individual players. Aside from that incredible feature finally making an appearance, a number of other cool additions were also announce on Tuesday, including Distinct Team Arena Atmosphere (eg: Lighthouse in Xcel Energy Center), increased superstar authenticity and beefed up Be a Pro & GM modes. EA Sports has finally taken notices and is adding a playoff beard feature to the upcoming NHL 16 video game. Surely the most welcome in-game feature for fans of the series, EA Sports says the game will contain "accurate representations of beard patterns, length, thickness, and growth rates for individual players," although they don't say how this will be measured and then replicated.
