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I found I didn't use board play as much as I thought I would but I was still playing the 09 style so it will take a while to get used to.
Didn't touch hardcore mode and just played on all the default settings.
Shooting from the point and deflections is going to be big this year. The whole puck bouncing around thing is there. Passing isn't always tape to tape anymore.
Only complaint I had which may just be due to the way I was playing was the goalies were letting a lot of bad rebounds out.
Board play is excellent and will be a huge addition to the forecheck and flow of the game.
The fighting is fun as hell! Post whistle scrums don't seem too bad because there's a lot of penalties for the most minor things, I did face wash a guy mid play though and the ref came over and broke it up but didn't penalise either of us which I thought was really cool.
CPU team mates are a whole lot smarter off the puck. Offensively they will go to the slot when the one timer is a possibility, and defensively they really can contain the opposition in the neutral zone.
Passing on default is not easy, passing on hardcore is challenging as hell and really requires you to think about how hard to hit the button and where to aim. I didn't like the flow of hardcore setting much, it's just not very crisp at all and I felt like there was a bit of lag from when I hit the buttons and when the action was taken.
Forwards going to the net for deflections is better than last year but is still not a big enough deal.
Goalie animations are over the top. The spectacular saves make you jump for sure but they happen so often that it doesn't seem authentic. Have also had Fleury go into the splits right after a behind the head blocker save leaving the cage wide open when had he slid across like a real goalie he could've saved the shot. Oh and Osgood sucks on wraparounds! :D
I have to agree on board play, it is a very good feature added to this game and for those that don't think they will use it, I guarentee you will. It will be a good thing to use against those plays where you are just behind a defender going to get the puck on a dump and where they normally get it, hammer the pass button and you're fucked, you can actually get him on the boards before he gets to the puck. So the dump and chase game will be really good this year.
AI is a HUGE improvement as I found you actually have to do that stupid thing called "PLAYING HOCKEY" and you can't just walk in where you want. You have to think about where you are passing, and where they are going to be on both offence and defence. I was just playing on default and it was a nice challenge so I can't wait to try on harder settings and then use the sliders. This will make offline mode playable for months I think.
I was drafted on my first try by the Oilers 9th overall. I really like this type of drafting as it got boring just making the team without any issues. It will make my BAP franchise thing a lot better to look at. I hope they actually look into trading and will make contract signing period a lot better as well.
Passing is no longer tape to tape which is really nice. You are not just always feeding guys the puck on a straight line and guys will fuck up on passes. I tried the hardcore mode, and honestly, I thought I would be a fan, but after one try I'm not at the moment. It isn't fluent enough for just passing as to make the hard passes you have to hold the button for a second which can make the difference between passing or getting hit. It might get easier in time, so I am not going to bash it. It is hard on my TV because I don't see all the ice in a 1v1 type game, so I may have to make the camera higher then normal if I want to use that feature.
Goalies I found were really good. In all the games I played, I scored once and got an assist, but I wasn't trying for any glitches or amazing goals just trying to get a feel for things. The goalie animations I didn't find to crazy yet, so maybe over time it will get worse.
The point shot I couldn't get going, but I am sure with some more time I will use it. Rebounds are fairly good and I didn't see any junk goals or tips from that yet, but again, I have played maybe 3-4 games of it total.
All you need to know when thinking of the NHL vs Madden series is the two people involved in making the games.
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