PROGRESS

To create a thorough roadmap to a simulation hockey game we must first understand what has worked in the past and learn from the mistakes of previous iterations. Since there is only one developer currently publishing games in this genre today, we will be frequently referencing it directly.

MVHGA is not affiliated with Electronic Arts, EA Sports, the EA NHL Franchise, or the beloved NHL2K games from the past. Any references to these properties will be for comparison purposes only.

THE GOOD

Ice Deformation

As players skate they carve up the ice and snow begins to form on the surface, along the boards, and in the back of the net. Marks can be seen scattered along the surface where players have been leaving a convincing effect that is more pronounced as a period goes on. It is a small, easily overlooked detail but has been implemented very well without being a taxing resource.

Instant Replays ( Action Tracker )

Some years are better than others but the instant replay system as a whole is a very well polished feature. Post whistle, in between periods, and post-game presentation of current game replays is crucial in retelling the story of a game in real-time.

Basic Stat Tracking

A majority of the most important statistics are accurately accumulated and accessible during gameplay and after games are completed.

Puck Physics

This may be a hot take but, outside of a few random bugs, the evolution of puck physics in the franchise are not only excellent but currently better than they have ever been. There have been some more lively pucks in hockey video games in the past but recent iterations have made things like passing and shooting feel very good. They way the puck interacts with objects and the rink look and sound fantastic.

Foundational Controls

The introduction of The Skill Stick in NHL 07 has been a very intuitive, responsive solution to the game franchise in terms of basic controls. Other mechanics that are notable are the protect puck mechanic, deke modifiers, and vision control.

Franchise Mode

Although there are many ways this mode needs improvement, the system generally functions properly and gives the user a great deal of control to dial-in the gameplay to suit them however they like. A level of control EA rarely demonstrates.

Graphic Fidelity

This is subjective but the graphics have been evolving slowly over time. Although there is a great deal of room for improvement, the in-game player likenesses and equipment renders are generally well done in most cases.

Skating Animations

This is something that has only really been done well in very recent iterations of the EA NHL franchise and I would imagine it would be the single most difficult thing to get right for any new developer to execute. Making a hockey game where the skating does not feel floaty, where the players have weight and do not feel like they are moving on rails is a mechanic that seems insanely complex as there are a ton of factors at play.

Animation Blending

This is something that really is only noticeable when it is not executed well. Essentially it is the transition that models make in the process of shifting from one animation into another which creates a unique state unique to that specific transition. When coupling that with many moving parts, including the players appendages, equipment and stick it gets rather complex.

THE BAD

Navigation

Menus are slow and clunky making loading different game modes a chore. The lack of polish and lack of effort put towards the loading screens amplifies this negative interaction has become standard practice for the franchise.

Pressure System

Artificially implementing endurance penalties based on shots on goal or time on attack was a terrible feature that was implemented poorly. The meter is distracting and serves to do nothing but encourage players to adjust their approach to cater to the system which breaks immersion.

Goalie Fatigue

In addition to the Pressure System, an energy drain meter would be modified for the goaltenders as a the opposition maintains possession in the zone.

X-Factors

Another immersion breaking feature are the inclusion of X-Factors. These have no place in-game. As essentially just another buzz word to describe attribute boosts that effect multiple different categories, EA doubled down by applying them as icons under or above your player during gameplay and during instant replays to illustrate when they were activated.

Identity

The EA NHL franchise has long been plagued with an identity crisis. It does not know if it wants to be a sports simulation, battle royale, or an RPG. And by not committing to any one thing it only succeeds at being a parody of its formal self. Most recently, the inclusion of Fortnite Skins and a Battle Pass within WOC serves to only add to a catalog of items that can only be acquired using real money which only cheapens an already tainted brand.

Glitch Goals

This is a hot topic within the community and one which I feel is the most difficult to resolve from one iteration to the next. With every adjustment made to an AI goalie’s logic tree, for example, there is the possibility for an exploit to surface. There has to be a give and take to this approach and EA’s short coming here is it’s general lack of awareness of what the community is experiencing and/or willingness to patch mechanics mid-cycle.

General Hitting Mechanics

The hit stick is fundamentally unintuitive by way of always being back and forward as opposed to being camera/target relative or directional. This, coupled with massive hit boxes enabling players to knock down opponents after they have skated clean past them create an unbalanced, over-powered baseline. Hitting should be a formula consisting of only three factors: player speed, player size, and player position. A hitting attribute would simply only effect the severity of perfectly timed and perfectly placed hits.

Penalties

If you have only been exposed to EA Sports’ interpretation of ice hockey, you may not be aware that hitting another player who does not have control of the puck or has not just had possession of the puck is interference. This has some nuance when certain dynamics are involved (i.e. board play, net battles, etc.), specifically when players are standing relatively still. Incidental contact does not apply unless one player follows through with an aggressive action.

Statistic Analysis and APIs

In-game statistic overlays, individual guest club stats, and the stats that are accessible through an API are archaic, incomplete, or just poorly implemented. 

Controller Settings

EA has a storied history of creating new control schemes and retiring old ones. While new control schemes are great, they should never replace old ones. The user should have the option to use legacy controls if they prefer a previous scheme over a new one.

Game Stoppages

Injuries, and glass/stick breaking has no place in competitive online game modes. You can make an argument for stick breaking and injuries in offline modes but as for glass, plexiglass is completely shatter resistant and is used exclusively for the glass at hockey rinks for this very reason.

AI Goalies

This is more of a balancing issue than a design flaw. To improve on this there should be a system in place to allow users to test multiple goalie builds and vote on which ones are best suited for each game mode. This would also allow for the inclusion of many more base archetypes to be created for use in user builds.

Crowd Models

The same dozen fan models have been used in the EA NHL franchise for the greater part of two decades. Although this is at the bottom of a long list of more important shortcomings, it is just another example of a general lack of detail attention that spans almost every aspect of the product.

THE UGLY

Online Disconnections

As it is currently, in both 1v1 and EASHL, if a player disconnects from a game they are unable to reconnect. In 1v1 this automatically results in a forfeit regardless of the current score. In EASHL, the player is replaced by an AI teammate and cannot resume play until a new game starts. 

Total Controls

In an attempt to be more inclusive, the EANHL franchise introduced the Total Control System which mapped certain dekes and the Michigan to the controller’s face buttons. To do this, they were forced to re-map the protect puck mechanic to the left stick which also controls the hustle feature. This made more appropriately difficult actions much easier to pull off at the expense of a well implemented mechanic and is a prime example of an arcade approach to controls. A more realistic approach would be to make the maneuvers that are more difficult to pull off in real-life more difficult in-game relative to the basic movement sets. Again, this would not be a fundamental flaw if it was not replacing the original Skill Stick control scheme. This, in combination to the retiring of classic controls which allowed certain players with disabilities to play competitively, has proven to only give the user less options in terms of how they are able to play the game making the series progressively less inclusive.

Paywalls

EASHL Pre-Builds and high value HUT cards and collectibles are just two examples of ways that EA forces users to pay to acquire certain in-game items. If this was reserved for only cosmetics that did not directly effect gameplay perhaps this model could be tolerated but this is not, and has never been, the case. For some, there are game breaking features locked behind paywalls that inevitably stop a casual gamer’s progression without an additional financial commitment. Having any micro transactions in a game that is full price is unethical is should not be tolerated. This is an issue that affects many genres in gaming and little is currently being done to discourage the practice. 

Hockey Ultimate Team

HUT is widely considered to be a pay-to-win game mode as the “no money spent” progression has been made increasingly more difficult and time consuming all while artificial inflation is implemented forcing users to spend more money than ever before just to remain competitive.

Yearly resets with an annual roster update deletes any and all progression ensuring that competitive players are forced to reinvest in the system with each new game launch.

Versus and Peer to Peer Gameplay

Versus was once a beloved game mode allowing for users to compete against one another in a 1v1 clash using current NHL teams and rosters. It was a great way to experience the game and all it has to offer but, with the inclusion of Hockey Ultimate Team in NHL 09, EA stopped offering dedicated servers for Versus and since the game mode has exclusively been a Peer to Peer hosted connection making playing most games an awful laggy experience forcing players to choose HUT if the wanted a smooth 1v1 experience.

Unbalanced Broken Mechanics 

Reverse hitting, hip checks, and certain skating animations are examples of mechanics that are overpowered due to not having direct counters to reduce their effectiveness. Balance should be at the core of every mechanic and when you have an action that does not have a direct counter action, it leads to unbalanced gameplay that feel broken and unfair to those who do not abuse them.

Reverse hitting is especially egregious as it works against a defender who makes any aggressive action including stick lifting and poke checking. A player who is in possession of the puck should only be able to use the reverse hitting mechanic on a defender who is attempting to check the puck carrier.

Optimization

In recent years, game development tools like Unity and Unreal Engine have been scrutinized for their struggles with optimization. This manifests with published games running at less than optimal frame rates and players experiencing asset pop-in, along with a plethora of other problems that effect the user experience.

EA uses an in-house engine to develop their sports titles which has been thoroughly tested over the last decade to ensure a smooth gameplay loop. Despite this, their games are still plagued with sluggish and buggy menus and long load times between game modes. Although gameplay tends to work generally well, everything else runs like it is pulling data from a hard boiled egg.