Sports video games often subtract, contract and consolidate some features from year to year, rankling a few diehards in the name of making the game easier to play and understand for more newcomers. But that's not what hockey fans are seeing in the latest edition of EA Sports' NHL series. When it comes to features gone missing from one edition to the next, NHL 15 is the mother of the disappeared. On Thursday, Operation Sports, which is basically The Sporting News of this video game genre,published a by-now notorious list of features that had been in NHL 14, but are missing from the early-release version of NHL 15 that NHL 18 Coins went out to EA Access subscribers on Xbox One on Thursday.
Others have added their own lists. They're all lengthy and mind-blowing.And yes, this is for the full version. The omissions are so severe that some have questioned whether the NHL 15 released to subscribers in the EA Access program's pre-release window is different from the full edition launching on Tuesday — i.e. stripped down for digital distribution. Well, I have a full copy of NHL 15 on PlayStation 4, and I can confirm everything that OS says isn't in the game isn't in the game. No Online Team Play (when this is patched into the game later this year, it will use real NHL players and teams). No tournaments or Battle for the CupNo season mode (you can only play seasons in Be A GM, which is limited to NHL teams). Practice mode is now limited to one skater vs. an AI goalieGameplayNo custom camera optionNo Action Tracker replay highlightsNo Top 3 Stars at the end of games.
Be A GMYearly draft is fully automated by the CPUCannot play the AHL games for your chosen franchisePlayers sent down to the minors do not accumulate any season statsNo fantasy draft optionNo preseason gamesBe A ProNo option to sim ahead to the next shiftYou only play in the NHL; you cannot play for minor league teamsThe Memorial Cup tryout period is gone.
You now begin by picking an NHL team, or by letting a random CPU team draft you. This isn't a list of nice-to-have details or options that were in the series two or three editions ago that folks have asked to return led lights bulbs. These are features, in some cases whole modes of play, that were in NHL 14 but are not present in NHL 15, as the series makes its debut on more advanced hardware.
