News
NHL 14 Gets Aggressive
Cordova, TN; September 10, in the year of our Lord 2013--Family
Friendly Gaming, the industry leader in covering the family
friendly video games noticed NHL 14 Gets Aggressive. It is a
decidedly different direction for EA Sports. Will it pay off?
Will gamers accept the changes? Will families embrace the new
direction? Does NHL 14 accurately reflect the sport? Is the
ruthless aggression a bit too extreme? Does NHL 14 getting
aggressive impact your purchase making decision? Will you buy it
because its more aggressive? Will you pass because it is more
aggressive? Does this change to the franchise help the image of
the video game industry? Or could it hurt the image?
The phrase: “knock down, drag out,” may mean something to you.
It certainly does to me. It also accurately refers to how NHL 14
plays. The hits are bigger, harder, and come much more
frequently. Players in NHL are not nice to one another. In fact
you can spend more time fighting than you can actually playing
hockey. I have not been to a hockey game in some years, but to
me all the fighting gets boring. Sure its funny to see someone
get shoulder blocked onto the ice. Well at least the first ten
times. After that it becomes a bit redundant. It gets in the way
of playing hockey. The fighting gets in the way of playing the
game.
The computer in NHL 14 loves to start fights too. It winds up
killing the flow of the game. I get the puck, go down the ice,
and score. I am on cloud nine. The computer is mad, and picks a
fight. Next thing I know my best player is in a knock down drag
out fight. Guess what? Win or lose my best player goes to the
penalty box. Not particularly fair – especially when I turn the
other cheek and never throw a punch. I didn't even try to defend
myself. Yet the game punishes me. It picked the fight, started
the fight, and then in a conflict of interest punishes me. Not
cool.
My problem is NHL 14 forces you into its system of ruthless
aggression. If you want to play clean hockey, then you need to
play a previous edition of this series. Families will shun the
lesson of fighting all the time. That flies in the face of peace
and harmony. It spits on the grave of good sportsmanship. I hope
NHL 15 returns to a more realistic, and family friendly version
of hockey.
God bless,
Paul Bury
Family Friendly Gaming