EA Sports didn’t just reveal that Auston Matthews will be the cover star for the latest iteration of their hockey video games, NHL 20. They also shared some fascinating information about how it will be different from NHL 19, beyond Matthews taking over for P.K. Subban as the cover star.
With that release, and also details Game Informer’s Matt Bertz recently gleaned from a meeting during the video game conference E3, EA Sports isn’t just revealing who is on the cover of the game, but what’s going to be in the game.
(If I’m not laying it on thick enough: EA Sports’ slogan is “If it’s in the game, it’s in the game.” The best jokes are definitely the ones you immediately need to explain.)
If you follow online discourse about sports video games, you’ll probably come across some harsh criticisms, which can sometimes feel unfair to developers who have to pump out annual sports titles, and it seems especially unfair to the NHL crew in Vancouver, as they don’t enjoy the same resources as teams working on, say, the latest Madden.
With that caveat in mind, the tweaks EA Sports is making in NHL 20 sound reasonably ambitious. Let’s ponder a few details, while you can really dive in at Game Informer.
Embracing star power
One of the most prescient criticisms of the recent EA NHL games is that star players often don’t stand out enough from their peers.
The easiest way to tweak that would be to alter the ratings system, thus making great players stand out from the good, and maybe most importantly, good players stand out more than ones who are mediocre or even bad. Having rosters full of competent players, like see 80’s up and down virtually every lineup, doesn’t square well with the salary cap era, where sometimes teams are sending out overmatched depth players and merely hoping they don’t get swamped too badly.
Fixing that is a tough task, but NHL 20 uses an interesting idea we sometimes see in NBA2K games: unique animations for star players.
In general, more animations also seems to push toward a game that feels more like the real thing ... at least, that’s the plan. Via the release:
The cutting-edge Real Player Motion (RPM) Tech continues to evolve the way that gamers showcase their mastery. This year’s gameplay introduces Signature Shots that replicate the most recognizable shot styles of the biggest NHL stars, including PK Subban’s booming slapshot wind-up, Auston Matthews’ half toe-drag wrist shot, and Alex Ovechkin’s seamless one-timer. Hundreds of new shot animations allow for more dangerous attacks, and RPM Tech-powered overhauls to passing and puck pick-ups create a faster and more fluid game that can be executed at full speed to replicate real NHL action. New goaltender A.I. includes a full offensive threat analysis, allowing netminders to read and react to the development and threat level of each zone entry.
Game Informer’s article indicates that EA will add 10-15 signature shots. At first blush, that might feel underwhelming, but I personally think it’s a great starting point.
If you want to kill some time, feel free to list way more than 15 signature shots for active players in the comments. I’d be super-curious to find out where people tap out.
More tweaks
Let’s list off some of the tweaks that are reportedly coming.
- Your team can be a “Bunch of Jerks” with post-win celebrations in a few different modes. On that note: as great as Matthews is as a cover choice - seriously, well done, and Subban was too - it would have been bold to work the “Storm Surge” into the NHL 20 cover instead. EA should make a special collectors edition with that cover and swim in the ‘Canes cash.
- Fixing one of the most glaring omissions, NHL 20’s franchise mode will include coaches, and in fact a “coaching carousel” of eight coaches: four on your NHL team, four on your AHL affiliate. Sadly, the coaches won’t be licensed, which means we’ll be deprived of digi-Bruce Boudreau, Joel Quenneville’s lush, polygonal mustache, and angry John Tortorella press conferences. Not to mention the pleasure of complaining about coaches’ ratings, when we get bored with complaining about player ratings. Maybe for NHL 21?
- I’m weary of the series’ still-fairly-new player morale system, and NHL 20 seems primed to add line chemistry, and also to have coaches affect morale. Those are good ideas, and the promising news is that, generally, the games let you turn those factors off if you don’t like the implementation.
- There are a bunch of EASHL/etc. tweaks that mostly went over my head (microtransactions are bad, kids), but devotees of those modes should read up.
- Making Ones something you can play on your couch, with a friend, is a no-brainer. Hopefully no friendships, controllers, or furniture will be damaged.
Now, for some, it’s about the changes that aren’t coming in NHL 20.
And, yes, I can bicker with the best of them on certain factors. It doesn’t sound like the board play is being tweaked, which means more aggravating “suction"-type action into the boards if you’re in the area of the AI.
But, honestly, the games are fine for what they are, if you keep your expectations fair, and it sounds like NHL 20 will add some nice features, from the small to ... the medium-sized. Not bad, but we’ll see how well EA actually executes on those ideas when the game comes out on Playstation 4 and Xbox One on Sept. 13.
(Now, if only EA would port those games to Nintendo’s Switch ...)
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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.