NHL 20 Beta Available Now Through July 31, Details & Download Links Here

Played one game thus far. Didn't really see a noticeable difference besides one-timers.

Multiplayer only?
No thanks.

@Peter_OS I'm right there with you. I wish they'd give us the opportunity to try out just a play now and practice mode too. I'm not into the multiplayer modes. Oh well, most likely sitting out this year anyway. I'm not seeing enough to entice me to buy.

It’s trash.
Same game as last year.
I couldn’t even get through a full game before I got bored.
Very sad to see this franchise get neglected like this.

1. Goalies are worse then ever.
2. It's going to be hard to play shutdown D this year. Seems like the defense men are a touch slower due to the fact that when you go into backskate it slows you down considerably, it's impossible to keep up with the wingers/ center.
No matter how hard you try and protect the net, the puck alway seems to find it's target.
3. I hate the commentary...
4. it's easier then ever to manipulate the goalie with skill stick.
5. Why in the world is Pro AM still in this game? A waste of space if you ask me.
6. Really the only thing I like is that they added legends jerseys that you can wear in WOC. I also like the team themed skates.

NHL HITZ 2020
Thanks Ea for another great hockey game:zzz:

Wow. Not good at all. There was absolutely no difference from NHL 19 other than it was faster and being good on defense doesn't matter. I pride myself on playing defense and I absolutely love it. It's a great feeling when you beat a player who thinks they can just dangle around and do all of the glitches only for them to get 5 shots in the whole game.
Anyway, I played a person who kept doing the same thing over and over and over. Essentially taking the puck with one player and going up and down and side to side to try and bait me to chase him and just keep hitting poke check. Just typical spam bs. I just held my position. However, at some point you have to get the puck away and if they aren't passing it or even remotely trying to play hockey, you're screwed. Damn near everything resulted in a trip. I'm all for more tripping calls to prevent spam but this was absurd. Even if you hold RB as they come by and you get a piece of the puck, it's a trip because the player still skates into your stick and falls down.
To how my game went, you're pretty much stuck with trying to block a shot to play defense. That's obviously completely reverse of what you would ever want in hockey. The goal is to prevent players from getting a shot off. That is pretty damn difficult to do in this game.
As always it just seems like everything is for the offense, other than the fact they don't call any penalty shots. I had 3 breakaways and was tripped from behind. None resulted in penalty shots.
Truthfully, I quit leading 4-3 in the 3rd period because I couldn't take it anymore. The fact I let up 3 goals to the person I played was just embarassing. He/she was awful and played atrocious defense themselves.
I know I'm an offline player but what a poor representation of the game especially when you can't play the CPU. Also, no clue about any goalie improvements. I know there are things not in the beta and this and that but it's the same animations and wonky puck covers and all of that. Just a really negative experience and I deleted it already.

This HAS to be EA’s swan song for the NHL series now. It just has to be.
There is zero chance I pick up this piece of garbage.
What a joke!

Hmm, the new commentary (the tone of it) reminds me more these hyping YouTubers/Gamechangers that screaming while tearing the HUT packs, rather than actual real sport commentary.

I’m strictly an offline player, so maybe some of my disappointment was that I was playing offline. Online is never a great representation of the offline game, but I didn’t find much to be impressed about. The commentary has also taken 30 steps back, and it reminds me of the early 00’s over the top commentary. Not a good thing.

No offline so still have to wait and see but very concerned  3s and 1s people really play this wow I guess I am in the minority 

Give us offline, I don't play multiplayer.

Favorite sport, buying this game since 92,haven't even tried the beta, zero interest in multiplayer.

Who is EA kidding?
when I saw list of a 100 fixes I was like hmmm maybe something might impress me..
but no.. the game doesn't seem any improvement from the game last year to me whatsoever.. not one thing. in fact some things are worse
this is embarrassing. the menu system in this game is worst than the out dated menu system konami puts out in PES. I have hit the back button 10 just to go somewhere to do something in chel. this whole online interface is this game is like horrible. in fact I would argue the NHL 09 on PS3 the very first game with the EASHL is better than this game by far... to level up your game to get legend card.. all this is 10x better and than anything in this best 10 years later. how sad is that ? really think about it. and the interface is way better. you can edit your guy.. test your build and skate around.. you could edit your attributes.. you could actually hit people.. the game was fun.. you had something to play for.. instead of these stupid bags of chit. I mean seriously this game is at an all time low. its sad because it use to by far the best sports game of the year back when I'm talking about in 09. it's really sad because that game had online lobbies.. you can chat.. all things that so many years later they can't include in the game as options? i Mean seriously the game gets worst year after year.
you can tell the money they put in to this game and team they have on is nothing compared to fifa.. but yet they charge the same amount to fools who buy it. what bullchit.. anyone who pays that price for this game is being ripped off bad.
all my game play tonight about 5 hours was playing in EASHL 5's and 3's
any ways.. I can already tell there is no way i buy this game. I will just wait for FIFA as this game is crap... that's the truth
lol @ at EA's list of 100 fixes for that are in this... seriously? pathetic BTW.. I have been playing EA sports hockey since the beginning. I was top 10 EASHL club goaliie during PS3 in 09- 11 .. those NHL games are far superior in terms of the EASHL without a doubt. EA blew it. they had a great thing going but it's like they just switched it all those great resources to FIFA and ever since this game keeps going down hill. it's very sad . I just wish they would get back to that point with this game so bad but they just seem to not be able to do it. I am going to quit hoping until they announce they are rebuilding this game engine. that's it for me because that' what I think it seriously needs at this point to ever be a good hockey game again. hopefully they are doing this for the next systems. I also wish 2K or some other developer would make a hockey game to give them competition like PES gives FIFA competition. maybe that could make this game all of sudden good again as well
PS. EA an online beta is suppose to get people to want to buy your game.. not to scare them off! I want to buy Hockey so bad this year to because my ST. Louis BLUES finally won the Stanley cup but no way. this game is THAT BAD

From first impression of a Video have seen, it looks bit worser than 19.

you can play some ones with cpu (3 vs goalie)

I'm really not a whiner here and have been really positive about NHL in the past. However, like others have said, playing defence in this beta is a bit ridiculous. Everything seems in favor of the offense.
Firstly, game speed is too fast, it was already fast last year, but I think it's even faster this year. That's a major point, because it's almost impossible to get a realistic gameplay with the speed so fast. That being said, there are also other important points I will talk about next.
I understand that poke checks touching opponent's skates result in a tripping penalty, even if it's overdone, I can live with that. However when I hit the puck with my poke, could the puck at least comes loose? There were times where I poked right on the puck 3 times, only to see my opponent continue skating with the puck like nothing happened. Pokes have no consistency and are useless right now.
Same goes from bumps and little contacts. At the beginning, last year's game was great for that, but right now, it's almost simply a big hit or nothing at all. Where are the incidental contacts and little push on the puck carrier to defend and make the puck loose? You can be in a good position, but what tools have you to really defend in this game? The puck carrier will hold onto the puck almost every time and make circles around you without loosing it, his stick may also pass through your body keeping the puck, all that until they find the shooting lane. Only thing you hope is that you are able to block the shot or that your goalie makes the save.
In fact, the better pickups and pass receptions (even if players don't see it coming!) seem to simply come from higher puck control in general, which is pretty bad. It affects the overall gameplay so much, in a bad way. Pucks are literally glued on the stick.
Finally, the commentary is over the top, just like the gameplay. Gameplay is pretty much up and down hockey, based mostly on offense, so I guess it's logic to get that kind of commentary to go with it. But to be clear, since I can turn it down, commentary isn't a big concern for me, gameplay is though.
All in all, there are still some positives about the game, like new shooting and goalies animations for example, but it will need a lot of adjustments offline with sliders to be somewhat balanced between offense and defense. Right now, this is not the kind of game I want to play. I only played 3 versus games last night, winning 2 of them, but I had enough, it wasn't fun and satisfying at all. I'm kind of disapointed with the direction the game is taking right now to be honest.

It's for testing.  They mentioned it's an old version.  If you are going to complain about it, at least provide feedback (which only a few have done) rather than just rambling saying it sucks and you're not buying it.
I personally am enjoying the improved puck pickups and shot animations, although they def need tweaking.  Goalies are definitely improved in terms of not leaving too many pucks laying in front, but every high shot going out of play might get annoying after awhile.
Negatives are the CPU AI still being unstoppable in EASHL, which means it's probably even worse in offline.  Was hoping they would improve it to make them smarter rather than terrible except in certain situations when they seemingly can't be stopped.

I believe the large list of fixes EA posted was stuff changed since the beta was made. Is it possible that lots of people's issues are solved in later builds?
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There was some stuff that I was happy with. The skating was a little better and more responsive and the simple dekes worked most of the time. The shot animations are a nice touch to make some players look different in how they let their shot go.
Goalies steering the puck into the corners or even over the glass is massively welcome. Yeah itll get annoying when it happens too much but all these scrubs who used to do that flick rebound goal wont have that option anymore.
Commentary I like just because it is different. It's over the top yes but still better than the dull and bland commentary from the past few seasons.
The progression after games is way better. It skips along fast so you dont have to sit there waiting to see what happens. That's also a nice touch.
They stated that the build for the beta is an older one so a lot of things arent working right and skme things are unfinished but overall, I had fun playing a few games last night. That being said however, it is EA and they mess everything up so the beta will e screwed up the day of the first patch like every other year when people whine that it's too hard to score.
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This game is hard to judge for me right now because I absolutely hate online, it never feels like real hockey, everyone kills penalties like they're playing 5 on 5...if someone would actually ice the puck on the pk I might go into cardiac arrest. I've seen a few too many bad angle goals for my liking
Playing 3 on 3 offline in chel is the closest the to real hockey in the beta and I like it but it's a bit too easy.
I hope with the updates and some slider adjustments the game can be fixed but I'm on the fence about purchasing this year.
Overall my biggest complaint is the modes on the beta...stop trying to sell us on your online crap where you get a bunch of kids to pay $2.99 for the latest pair of gloves!!!

Just a bunch of random thoughts here.
The menu's, basically the same, changed a color or two and changed the font. It does look a lot cleaner. But the menu's are too lagy, slow, clunky, and too many of them. This was like that last year, so this isnt a beta issue.
Skating feels a bit better, more weight to players, transitions etc. With that said, same moves work, dekes etc. Loose pucks dekes easier.
Presentation
I don't mind the new play by play guy, mainly because its new right now. I'm sure i will turn this off after a few weeks when the game comes out. Scoreboard, dont like it at bottom and in beta when making it "small" it doesnt work.
EASHL
Only thing changed is the ability to play NHL Arcade 3's with your team. Which is a solid addition IMO because I enjoy this mode because this is where the game is the most fun.
Other than that their is ZERO reason to play EASHL. They give no reason at all to continue to play this mode. Zero!
Why do they lock things? Equipment, jerseys, etc for EASHL? This stuff was FREE on older versions to customize your team. I understand the causal stuff for Ones and OTP to be unlocked but why EASHL team stuff? Dumb!
Passing
Passing is a tad harder, players pick off passes better etc. What i can't stand is players picking off passes facing the wrong way, drives me nuts. It should get through 99.9% of the time unless it hits a skate or the blade of the stick, but they shouldn't suction it up.
Shots
Havent notice much of the shot differences, only 15 in the beta i do believe. Scoring though, same shots, same spots, same goals. Deking the goalie out is easier than usual as well. Don't even have to use special dekes, quick move one way and back another easy goal.
I feel like i will have some fun with my buds in EASHL and EASHL Arcade 3's Elimination and even the Pro Am stuff. I'm just enjoying this from here on out as the Arcade game that it is.
Goalies
Playing shots into the corner and out of play is a nice touch. Saw new animations obviously as well.

Ok. After 5 online games here’s my 2 cents.
It’s nice to have the new more realistic shooting and movements in addition to the new skating from last year but like last year it doesn’t translate into a better hockey game. Guys still take too long to cut and turn and at times look like they are still skating in mud.
I don’t get the people saying you can’t play defense I played exactly the same as last year.
The AI is identical to last year. That’s bad
I saw some new goalie animations but I didn’t see that “awareness” EA touted. They still drop down too early and don’t seem to know where they are in the net. Money goals still work.
Zero player separation....still....4th liner or a star....play exactly the same. Ugh
The new commentary is way too arcade like but EA had made it clear they abandoned trying to capture a true NHL game and are leaning heavily on a more arcade experience and gimmick modes.
I also don’t buy the excuse this is an early build and the game is probably different....why release it then if this isn’t where the game is close to being at as feedback would be pointless. Those expecting a much different game at release are in for a big disappointment.
Final thought is this isn’t much more than NHL 19.2 and all of us offline true hockey sim guys need to accept that we will never get a true representation of the sport we love from EA. Definitely not a preorder and unless something magical happens and we also get a roster share I simply don’t see any reason to buy this game.

I might be in the minority but I actually liked the commentary.

The new commentary is fantastic, no complaints there.
The only thing I really had an issue with that I don't see getting addressed is the new scoreboard at the bottom of the screen just sucks. That and you can't change the size of it. The other modes have a more classic scoreboard, please let us use those or at least move it to the top and allow it to be auto hidden.

I am liking it so far. Love how the skaters receive puck in motion and continuing skating towards the net. Defense is fine. I am 3-0 online with all 3 games being shutouts

The thing that gets in my craw about this whole situation is, okay, so it's not final, okay, it's an old build.  But they still put it out, knowing there's going to be a backlash?
Why?
Isn't the purpose of a public beta to build buzz?  If you're putting something out that's first look, needs a lot of work, and you're putting out an explainer that it's really  better than it looks, that is something you do with a closed alpha.  A public beta implies, "a few final tweaks and we're done."  For EA to misplay this, that badly, suggests that either the programmers are out of their depth, or that the PR and image management swamis are running the show.

Just watched a couple of videos.
I thought that the commentary was better than before because of the improved situational awareness. The guy may not sound like a tv pro but he seemed to describe the play better.
Other than that I was not impressed. Pretty much looks like the same recycled game.

So far.... Only few games in. C+ A.I. lags but the front end presentation is finally beyond 2K10. Beta or not it just seems to be a copy of 19 with a tuner gameplay wise. But it's early and we have time to see what EA does. Madden is tanking again. Let's hope they circle the wagons and try and save NHL20. It won't take alot. It seems they did try at least.
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I have over 1000 competitive games played in nhl 19 so this beta is in my wheel house. . While a handful of things do feel to be in a rough spot at the moment, it’s also a really early build of the game.  I will say that skating feels really good, much quicker with no noticeable slow down or animation lock. Hopefully defence gets a little buff as with the add responsiveness to skating with the puck/pickups Defense will have a harder time corralling top players even more so. 

Commentary:
It took some getting use to, but I am really digging the new commentary. As another poster said, the situational awareness is on point. There was one moment where I shot the puck, goalie made the save but could coral the puck, then the puck trickled in off the skate of a defender. He said something like "Takes the shot, saved by . Wait Wait the ref is signaling a goal, it's a goal." That is three separate phrases stitched together naturally. What I hope is that it was not predetermined based on my first shot or save by the tender. I can't see how it could predict that the goalie would make a save, have it go off a defender in a scramble and then in the net.
Also if EA is following this thread: please, please, please do not change the commentary teams going forward, add to them. I don't see what the point is to completely scrapping the work of Doc Emrick/Eddie Olczyk and even Jim Hughson/Craig Simpson. Instead, why not add a new commentary team to the existed teams and have National, Regional and Out of Market/AHL games. The reason we get bored of the commentary is it's the same team over and over. Adding to an existing team would alleviate that. And if licensing pros like Doc and Jim is too expensive or time consuming, why not look at other local talent.
Broadcast package:
I find that the broadcast package in NHL 20 is a little too bombastic and in your face for my taste. I do like the Overwatch still replays during intermissions and end of game during EASHL. However, I will need to see it in action in things like franchise mode to be sure. This is another area, just like with commentary, where having more than one option would be great. This is something Sony's MLB The Show does really well and I hope that the EA NHL team could take notes. Just giving use the option of 2-3 packages would do wonders in keeping things fresh on a game-to-game basis.
Gameplay:
On the flipside, I just can't stand the feel of this game online. It feels like every single reaction is delayed by a second making quick plays virtually impossible for me. I have a gigabit connection and yet I feel like I am playing on dial-up sometimes. The funny thing is, this is the only sports game I feel this in. I've played Madden, Fifa and both NBA games and never once do I feel like I am actively struggling with the controls like I do on NHL. Which is sad, because hockey is my favorite sport.
Nevertheless, the gameplay (away from online) feels great and it's going to make a great solo/couch game. Looking forward to the additions to franchise mode.

So I have started playing the beta, a few thoughts:
Pros:
1) the puck moves more freely which is a good thing. No longer feels stuck to the stick. Allows for more neutral zone plays.
2) more importance on momentum and the skating ability of players is better appreciated.
Cons:
1) the goalies are flat out terrible. I mean soft goals, put backs, poor passes all continue to plague, and feel worsened, the game
2) online play is absurd, it’s NHL Hitz all over again - it’s cheese and makes for poor replayability.
3) while it is nice to have a new voice in the booth, the level of excitement is almost “too” much - it’s monotonous and I hope they can fix this
All in all, I hate to say I spent the $100 for the preorder but I am cancelling it and waiting on more reviews when this game drops. EA really should not have dropped this Beta - even with their calculated disclosures. I suspect others may cancel their preorders as well.
Any other thoughts?
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I'd say it's more to test network infrastructure and get feedback on areas that are still in flux. A beta is not to build buzz. That would be a demo.
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I've been saying this for years and the BETA hasn't altered my thinking in any way. This series doesn't have a chance for survival until Ramjagsingh and his group are shown the door. This will mark the third straight year of passing on a hockey game....easily the longest stretch for me. Sorry, EA but i'm done buying your gimmick sports games....get some new faces with new ideas and I could be back.

Amen brother!!

We could all not buy this and they still will make $$$$ from HUT so they don't care.
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Yes but if we atleast wait until black friday maybe they will get the hint. Yes they will get all the hut people buying the game right away but i have to believe that there are enough of the rest of us to atleast make them listen a bit if we all wait

I could care less what the HUT community does.
I control my own pocketbook.
And THAT is what matters.
EA isn’t getting my money.
No NHL, no Madden, NO FIFA, NO BATTLEFIELD.
No nothing!
I’m done.
Easy peasy.

Now I see why they released all of the beta info. Why does this game play different in drop in vs. clubs? It's a noticeable difference. Drop In flows a lot more. Clubs is a slog. Most of the time players move faster than the puck. I wasn't going to buy it anyway. Why should I when it will be free on access in a few months after release? It is rather disheartening seeing what this game has become. I used to play probably 5,000 games of NHL a year. Last year I'm not sure if I made it to 250. This year I'm not buying.

Finally !
My favorite time of the year is has come and I can start to brag how 2k8 is the best hockey game ever produced and how you guys are fool for not playing it over EA NHL year in, year out and how I'm so smart to advise you guys since 10 years.
Feels great to be the "Old man yelling at clouds" once every year.

I posted a more detailed review earlier in this thread but should have added this to it...
Bottom line is the development team continues to display how little they know about the sport in which they are developing a game for and how little they understand hockey fans.

Hah, would be great to have just a remake of this game for sure :) Imagine that for PC and roster share.

I didn't notice much difference. However with the useless multiplayer modes included it's tough to say.
The one thing I can say... the new commentary is awful. I didn't think Cybulski would be bad, I didn't think anything could be worse than Emerick. I was wrong on both counts. It's brutal. Cybulski is just screaming at everything. Even a puck pickup off a pass is cause for excitement from him. It's ridiculous. It's as if they were trying to create game commentary that you'd use in an internet broadcast of an e-sports game, not a TV broadcast. If it wasn't all excitement and yelling it might not have been bad, but it's just painful to listen to.
For me, it's a wait and see till the EA Access trial when I can play single player and franchise. It's trending towards a no buy, at least not until it's on sale.

That was my main takeaway.
It feels way off to be this "excited" about everything.
It reminds me of when Gus Johnson first started doing college football games for FOX. It took him a while, but he finally calmed down and realized that a first down at midfield in the 1st quarter is -- very little to get excited about.

It’s EAs steady decline into a full blown arcade style hockey game. It’s a cross between regular commentary and the over the top NHL 3”s commentary.

So they hired 2 years ago a new creative director for NHL game William Ho.
Before his work on NHL he worked on last Need for speed games that were pure arcade titles for kids.
These games were absolutely abysmal representation of the actual motorsport tho. Pure arcade titles with whining teenagers acting cool and all this fluff.
The reception wasn't good and reviews were poor.
Anyways, so I think we are just witnessing his vision of a hockey game right now.

Did he work on the one that was 5 minutes of racing in between 30 minutes of cringy cutscenes with scantily dressed "girls" and a main character who said "bro or brah" about 15 times every cutscene? When I actually did get to race, "hints" would pop up on my screen so I couldn't see where I was going. I can see why we have NHLFortnite now.

Ya, these games have a lot in common indeed. You can feel it's less and less NHL and more and more CHEL, unfortunately.
I actually didn't exactly knew before what that means, but I think I already have an idea.

Come on, give some attention to offline players,not going to put down online players but I've tried online and I get bored after a minute and want to quit.They're still offline players out there.This beta means nothing to me.Silly,ones and chel.WTF.

There are still offline players. We may even be in greater number than online players. The problem is that one single HUT player can earn them more money than MANY offline players .
Micro-transactions and dumb players ready to rebuy the same virtual cards every year ruined offline sport gaming.

I remember the amount of hours I put into NHL 99, 2000 and 2001.
Sad that it feels like those were the best years of the series - 2 decades ago.
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I agree,offline is what made this game.

We offline true hockey fans are shouting into oblivion...there isn’t a dime to made from us post release and they have no idea how to make a decent realistic hockey game anyway....it’s over for us. They failed to please us by ignoring us for years and are now dedicated to arcade hockey
What upsets more than anything is not how inept EA is but that the NHL allows this company to represent their sport....I shouldn’t be surprised Gary Bettman has destroyed this league

Just hope somehow another company will make a hockey game,I need my hockey fix.

Please God

What I don’t understand is how this beta is providing them any valuable feedback when this is not even the most recent version. When we play the EA Access version there may be more issues because it wasn’t tested properly.
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This Beta is for testing online only.
They're trying to figure out the bugs so all the online players don't get mad/frustrated and quit early.
And we can't lose all those precious microtransactions.
Offline gamers can drop dead for all they care.

I think it's fair to say that this generation of EA hockey has been the worst of all of them.
I recall reading an article stating that EA messed up on the first version of this generation and they've been suffering since.
I hardly doubt I buy another console, but I hope for future hockey gamers that they start with a better build when the PS5/XB2 come out.
This gen proved that if you build on shaky foundation, you'll always be playing catch-up.

Agreed....the last release I enjoyed offline and played out an entire season was NHL 14 on the PS3. It’s amazing that we had the ability to share rosters and add custom music and goal horns on last gen but 5 releases (soon to be 6) on current gen and we can’t do any of that. The lack of innovation and attention to the offline aspect has been slowly killing the series. It's simply arcade hockey, gimmick modes, and cash cow HUT

I think it’s over for #metoo. After trying to do some edits for the rosters, I did Anaheim, Arizona, and my beloved Boston Bruins and I came to the realization that all the players are basically the same. No difference in ratings between forwards and D, and simply not enough variance to make players feel different from each other. Can’t even make a players above 95 without distorting all other attributes.
The game is a god damn travesty.

One thing I don't get regarding player separation.
Would it not make sense for them to have greater player separation to justify those HUT cards purchases ?

Exactly.
This is an alpha test.
The beta test starts in september and costs $60.

Man, all the positivity about the series here is killing me! XD
Considering all your fantastic reviews I guess I'll stick with my PC and 2KHS for another year.
Just need to finish up that NHL2K19 roster...

Some of ya'll are stuck on this offline vs online thing, when in reality its HUT vs everyone else. UT has brought upon us the total decline of sports games. They all suck now. Until the bubbles bursts on these game modes, or these types of micro transactions those modes are built on are not allowed, this is what were stuck with.

Well it's all about making money and they will produce what they think will make them the most of it. For us buyers the game quality matters, but companies want to make money at the least possible cost.
Problem is when buyers stop buying (or companies just get greedy - OR BOTH), they need to get more from the actual paying customers which is what micro transactions enable. A way to get more from those that actually do pay. You need to maximize what you can get out of them.
This might be why things like file sharing and a lot of other things was removed aswell as it did not make them money, instead fans could improve their games for free.
Nah. I stick to the PC and 2KHS which is moddable for free.

I haven't bought an NHL game in about five years so I thought I'd jump back in, but my god what have they done to the goalies? If you slightly stick handle the puck one direction and come back the other way you score almost every time. On top of that, their lateral movement on close pucks is atrocious so any puck carrier crossing the goal mouth scores almost automatically. The AI on goalies just gets abused by the skill stick.

Three words: 
Stale. Stale. Stale

I'm not arguing with you. But this is where a lot of sports game developers are short-sighted.
You don't have to look anywhere else but NBA2K to see that you can have your cake and eat it too.
I know lots of people who aren't even basketball fans who buy that game annually based on a tonne of offline content.
I owned the game for a time as well. The game is so polished and the franchise modes as well as My Player are incredible.
What the NHL fails to realize is that if your sport has a great video game representation, you will add to your fanbase.
They should become involved to an extent and ask themselves why sales for this game are stagnant.
I mean, we don't even see current goal/point totals in the overlay when a goal is scored.
It's 2019 man!!!

Allow me to offer a positive to this justifiably oft-derided game.
I haven't had one dressing room error yet!

I thought last year's commentary was bad,but wow this year it's terrible.

I agree with you. They do show the total goals on a 2nd graphic.. at least I did see that in a video. :)

It's not just sports game developers... It's all game development. They have a budget, development cost a **** load of money especially if you have good experienced devs. If you can make money on less effort, the company will try to do it.

And you cannot compare basketball or football/soccer to ice hockey. The markets are hugely different. The amount of potential buyers of those other sports...
And in the end that decides how much money you can spend to make a game.
But you can definitely argue they should focus their budget differently. But I have a feeling they want to catch the non-hockey fans more than please existing hockey fans, since that's the way they can expand the market beyond the limited existing hockey market.
But it is also one reason that limiting modding potential is a bad move IMO. The modders can keep optimizing their product toward a more realistic product, while the devs focus on catching a larger market share.
Now they manage to keep players like me that don't buy a PS4 just for one game or those that want to mod games away from the new versions or make us instead play old games or mods like 2KHS on PC for example.
If they'd release a moddable PC version on steam I'd probably buy it.
But on the other hand 2KHS is def good enough for me to not really bother about EA anymore.

@nikethebike
Well said.
What they have effectively done is just keep me playing old versions on my PS3. Custom rosters, custom music, fun gameplay that was well evolved, especially by NHL 13/14 and newer.
I don’t know.
To me all the current gen stuff is mostly 1 step forwards and 1 or 2 steps back.
I just wish they would embrace the concept of a great core game that is extendable and moddable.
It’s possible we are blaming the wrong entity however. Perhaps the licensing and working with the official league gets in the way of creating anything that is obviously going to be moddable.
We probably need something like a “super mega hockey” that the community can morph into what we all actually want.
I personally really want a hockey game on the PC also.

Well if you haven't already you should really check out 2KHS and http://PlayNHL.TK for current roster.
Since it is emulator based it is a bit demanding CPU GHz wise but it is really good as a PC hockey game.
It is a great core that is very moddable through Dolphin.

I was never able to get it run acceptably for me.
I have an 8700 cpu, but back down to a lower level GPU right now.
What exactly do you run it with?

8700 and gtx1070 runs it flawless.
8750h and gtx1060 laptop ran it at 60fps with occasional drops.

I'll give it another try when the next major release of it is out.
By then I'll probably have a better GPU

Hello, Boyos! Meesa Back!
It's funny, but I was at least expecting more positive reviews of the BETA. But almost everyone universally panned it. LOL!
For myself, I could only muster playing a few games on release day, then a few more on Sunday before uninstalling the damned thing off my Xbox One X hard drive.
I mean, sure there were some really neat things that EA added, like the different shot animations and goalie animations. But to me the BETA felt like NHL 19 v.2B.
I had the most fun playing it as it was intended in the arcade modes like ONES. Because make no mistake, EA's NHL was and always will be meant to be played as an ARCADE game, not a SIMULATION of hockey. Taken in that light, the game does have some fun to offer, but not at 80$ CAD (+tax). I don't think it's even worth paying half of that.
Also, it's kind of asinine of EA to release a BETA code that was 2 months old. What kind of "feedback" are they expecting to receive other than "It's NHL 19 but sorta patched" from the community? Though if you look at the history of EA's NHL, you'll see that the full game doesn't stray too far from the BETA, except for last year's NHL 19 BETA which was awesome, before EA patched it to being like NHL 17/18 all over again.
I'm kinda disappointed also in the fact that I was at least hoping that EA had learned it's lesson after they nerfed the AI and the Goalies after the 19 BETA and made them easier to score on for the "Chel Bruhs" on Youtube and Twitch. But now... They're still piss easy to score on now.
EA's NHL modis operandi is (as always); you don't need to actually play hockey to succeed. Just get to the money spots and shoot. Don't even need to pass, just dipsy-doodle until you can hit the sweet spots. There is no challenge, no rewarding smart hockey plays, just reward the scrubbery.
Oh, and the nerf to LT? Yeah, they only mildly nerfed it. It only affects skating if you go into a FULL turn, but a half turn still retains your forward momentum while helping you control and shield the puck away from pokes and hits. Pathetic...
The main part that stings is that Human goalies still get no love. EA's philosophy of "Goalies gotta get sniped sometimes" is still going strong. Whether you're in front of a shot or not, it's a crap shoot if you'll actually be able to keep the puck out of the net. Bacon Slappers are still a thing. Veering away from the net and shooting a weak backhander from the red line the goalie can't handle is still a thing. Goalies turning in towards their net to make a save is still a thing. Auto-saves that lock you into an animation without any possibility of canceling out of with your own inputs is still a thing. It's just awful.
I've suffered through 4 years of it and I'm tired of it. No more EA NHL for me. Not unless something drastic happens, like REAL changes are made to how the game is played competitively. LG scrubs might like the arcade aspect of it where they can dangle, snipe, celly 10 times each period by abusing the game's exploits, but I say it's about time that EASHL Club starts being the more SKILL and HOCKEY KNOWLEDGE based mode, while keeping HUT for the mindless throngs that need to have their "LT" abusing ways satisfied.
Not that EA would EVER listen to the hockey fans in a million years. But one can dream...

The disabled gamers review of NHL 20 Beta:
So I wanted to start doing these reviews for all the games I play and my hope is that eventually game developers will give us a voice in the developmental cycle (kind of like the game changers program.)
So, I had not played the EA NHL franchise since midway through the NHL 18 cycle because my brother held our PS4 hostage for until this past month when he passed it onto me. I didn’t know what to expect heading into the beta, but I was excited to find out. The game I played was a damn good hockey game.
The presentation overlays are like something that I use if I was an upstart network. The announcers could be toned down a bit.
Gameplay is ok I guess, I can’t really judge playing online because it’s harder when you have a disability. My biggest complaint as a hybrid controls is that I always accidentally hit the one touch deke button causing me to loose the puck almost every time I skated into the offensive zone. Hitting ain’t what it used to be, I used to be able to the left stick and just skate into a player to bulldoze him to the ice, now I barely bump him
Chel is fun but I am more of a franchise guy, sooo I’ll hold off on modes.
Please don’t laugh at me, just trying to give the minority a voice
P.S. mods can you change my username to thedisabledgamer
Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

Man, can we go back to the 2khockey.net days and argue sim sliders with Peng, Shadow, and WWTC? Go back to watching those unreal goalie saves you would post in 2k8?
With all the HUT stuff, micro transactions etc. kind of makes EASHL pointless for causal players. What’s the incentive to play that mode? Nothing carries over rom previous versions and to quote a buddy of mine. “We play EASHL to unlock equipment and jerseys that were unlocked for years and it’s just luck of the draw now on a bag if we can get our team set the way we want!” So dumb, but he’s right. I get unlocking ones and OTP clothes and equipment but no reason to have to unlock EASHL club stuff, none.
But for sure will enjoy this years game via arcade modes.

Hey Fiddy! Were it so easy...
But if you want your 2K fix, I just bought NHL 2K10 from Amazon and I'm gonna start to stream THAT on my hockey channel. Maybe even dust out my old NHL 2K8 disc and play that as well. Hmmmm? :y16:

When do you expect some more info/videos? I'm still playing 2019 now but truthfully the beta did nothing for me... What happened to good ol fashion DEMOS??

Hi Venom and greetings from Finland! Same here, bought NHL 2K10 and Xbox360. :) I just need NHL 2K so bad. Can’t wait to download latest rosters when the season starts!
I will follow your stream if you are going to do it and I remember that I enjoyed your 2K8 / 10 sliders ten years ago. (:
Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

Why not go the 2KHS route guys???

Because you have to download the NHL 2K11 rom when I already have 2K8 and 2K10 on my Xbox 360?

2KHS is basically a new version of NHL2K though, with corrected animation etc, not just a texture mod...
You can also rip the iso yourself.
Whatever floats your boat though. :)
It's kind of cool these ten year old games still have something to offer while at the same time, EA still hasn't caught up in many aspects is sad.
I actually bought 2K10 aswell, but realized how improved 2KHS was gameplay wise so did not play it very much...

Which would be great if a download link was actually available for the mod.

When do you all expect more info to come? I wish they would release a classic demo... Beta wasn't great IMHO... I will hold out on a few reviews and such before purchasing the game...

My god u just gave me flashbacks hearing those names. I barely posted there but lurked enough. Lol

WAZ will sometimes post on the EA NHL Forums. We Want The Cup and Shadow I think are working as developers. Pengman19 I see quite often and we'll sometimes play EASHL club games (though I've done that less these past few months) because... well because EA's game just leaves a very sour taste in my mouth every time I play it.
I see a few names I recognize from 2khockey.net here like DJ Neo and Fiddy.
it's nice to see everyone's still around in some capacity or other. Maybe one day 2K comes back to Hockey and we'll all need a place to call home again! ;)

Based on that little arcade 3v3 Pond hockey vs CPU-mode, new shot animations, teammates getting on shot positions and CPU more active shooting will make huge difference for gameplay.
Also big thing was there was more of agility, control, acceleration for more situations with puck and also better puck pick ups. That made some great NHL2k10 vibes for me certain situations.
Have to wait and see. I liked little details a lot, but only buying game for sale after bug fixes and proper rosters.
Hopefully next year they will put that "rpm tech" to also passing and defensive stick!

You made some solid rosters dude.
I like what I am seeing. I will see if I get it. I like the one timer shots though they look smooth. Just wish they bring back the skating out of the shark head with your own music.