Unlike virtual basketball and football, where Electronic Arts games still have competitors, the company has been holding a monopoly for several years now – exactly since three years ago 2k Games has ceased to release new parts of the NHL 2K. The absence of rivals on ice slightly weakened the desire of Ea Sports to develop a series, but, be that as it may, NHL 14 is the only one, and therefore the best choice of a fan of interactive hockey. There are simply no analogues.
Our youth team
This year, the series turned twenty years old, and she celebrated her round anniversary with an extremely important and pleasant innovation – the inclusion of NHL ’94 Anniversary retro -resistance with surroundings, camera and commentator NHL 94 , but relevant teams of commands and fitting to the modern level with physics.
[[Bullet]] “I am a steel horse, an Indian of the ice open spaces. The club is my tomahawk, the team is my tribe ".
Lovers of the classic mode may seem almost more interesting than everyone else. The view from above, giving a review to a good half-stadium, not only adds a resemblance to the athletes with the heroes of the old 16-bit Mutant League Hockey , but also brings some new faces to the gameplay. Visually, the game turns into the first part Grand Theft Auto in the ice arena, but in fact retains all the complex nuances of NHL 14. In fact, this is such a game in the game, which is offered as a free gift, a kind of gratitude sign to fans for loyalty to the brand.
The joy spoils the joy only that Anniversary periodically includes kinematographic angles – for example, with attacks on goal, during beautiful clips and rough fouls. Understand correctly, repetitions are made at a very high level, there are no complaints about the technical side. But when you see only the tops of hockey players for a long time and almost fall into the atmosphere of a vintage athletes, and you are suddenly shown a detailed bristle of some healthy man, the stylization immediately stops working and the mirage dissolves.
"They do not give a relative, they only give a relative"
EA Sports adheres to the synergy policy of its sports titles: two technologies originally designed for other publishing house games were integrated into hockey. So, the Player Impact Engine engine is now responsible for the physics of clashes and blows. He was finalized in qualitatively so that it corresponds to the new context, and Collision Physics was beautifully called, but the foundation remained the same. And this is very good.
[[Bullet]] Welcome in 1993! Despite the view of the top, you can still consider that with the puck now the legendary Pavel Datsyuk, nicknamed the Wizard, the two-time owner of the Stanley Cup.
The technology has proven itself in virtual football, and did a great job with hockey. Thanks to the meticulous miscalculation of objects of objects in each match, something unusual can happen. Then the athlete will stumble on the team of a teammate and fly to his goalkeeper, opening the gate to the blow, the puck will bounce off someone’s Golden Pharaoh Casino helmet and fly into the net, then something else will happen … NHL has never been so unpredictable.
[[Bullet]] Fights on ice look extremely brutal. FIGHT NIGHT RUUND 4, on which we once held whole mini-tournaments, are felt by the influence of Fight Night Round 4.
In turn, for ferocious hockey scitches, the game uses the “fighting” Enforcer Engine, borrowed from the eminent series Fight Night. The technology gave the fights a new depth: when the annoyed athletes discard clubs and gloves, the real game from the third -person with the block, captures and dumps, bruises and broken lips begins, where you can circle around the opponent.
Finally, the physicist of hockey players moved forward thanks to the introduction of the True Performance Skating system of inconspicuous, but important improvements. Touting tuning improved the sensations from the movement of hockey players across the field, adding them a new level of realism.
On the ice, gentlemen
NHL 14 is expected to introduce Hockey Ultimate Team – you are probably familiar with his ancestor from the thirteenth release of FIFA. In it you can create your own dream team by choosing from the huge file cabinet of your favorite players (over four thousand professional athletes from all conceivable clubs in the world and teams of the National Hockey League), and then fight other fictional compositions online.
Last year’s “Be a PRO), they made a facelift and renamed“ Live the Life ”(Live the Life), but the essence of this has not changed. You create your own athlete and systematically make him the future champion. In fact, this is the same hockey according to standard rules, but you manage only one player and are engaged in his micro -study. The latter, by the way, resembles the development of the hero from New Soccer Star , However, in NHL 14, everything is done three heads higher: you will need to personally make decisions affecting the characteristics of the ward and the course of its professional career. Remember the Nike Cult advertisement “Take it to the Next LEVEL”, removed from the first person? Be a Pro – exactly about the same thing, only on ice.
[[Bullet]] still fights are very effective. Hit the impudent physiognomy of the opponent – and immediately saw the result in the form of a fingal.
Here you need to give an interview (hello, NBA 2K!), attend the ceremony of presenting awards, train a lot and manage to carefully build relations with fans, club leadership, teammates and family. Often, the choice is extremely difficult – to go to the party with the guys and strengthen friendly relations, go to the hotel to sleep and restore strength or try to dissuade everyone from booze and prepare for the game? We guess what the players of the Russian national team would act in such a situation, but we advise them not to be likely. It is better to do it according to conscience – get drunk!
Electronic Arts took into account many claims of fans presented to last year's game. Fights have become more spectacular, the implementation of the finites is more convenient, the career mode was replenished with new elements like the same interviews, and the club control system has become even more complicated, thanks to which NHL once again shifted the balance from arcadeism, without losing its fascination.
The game has grown in all important aspects, and this cannot but rejoice. It is a little upset that the series has been consistently ignored by our native continental hockey league and PC platform, but with so many expansive innovations, no one will feel deceived by no one, including Russian fans.
Reigracy:
Cool plot:
Originality:
Easy to master:
Gameplay:
8
Graphics:
8
Sound and music:
8
Interface and management:
9
Waited?
Every year, lovers of sports simulators are faced with a painful choice: go to a new release or play another year in the old. In the case of NHL 14, a similar question can not be raised at all – the purchase is fully justified.
Mania rating: 8.0
"Great"