The core action stays crisp and precise, but the new visuals are outstanding
Ask any fan of the NHL series and they’ll tell you the game has been great for years, but the past few years especially, its felt and looked the same. On a next generation console however, “NHL 15†proves the guys at EA Sports made the right decision to wait a year to make its debut on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Even in demo form, “NHL 15†feels polished and is undeniably fun.
Featuring the same great hockey action you’ve come to expect for years, with a few added improvements on the play front, “NHL 15†is a better game than last year, but the visuals this year immediately take you by surprise. From just a few games of the demo it’s obvious it’s the best looking hockey game of all time. From the arena, to the crowd (There are even security guards stationed at exits.) and updated animations, the game just looks great. The new “Dynamic Cloth†technology, first used in this year’s “UFC†game, works awesome as well. Simply put, in-game cutscenes show a level of detail never before seen in an ice hockey game. The added NBC Sports presentation elements also add to the experience, making “NHL 15” feel like a real game on television.
In terms of gameplay, the new updates to the Skill Stick, as well as changes to the goaltending game (more rebounds) instantly takes away the arcade-esque feel the game had in the past. For the first time, in a long time, the NHL series feels much more realistic. All in all, it appears the NHL series is set to make a grand first appearance on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
“NHL 15†is currently scheduled to skate its way on to the Xbox 360, PlayStation3, Xbox One and PlayStation4 video game consoles on Sept. 9.
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports.
Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders.
His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023.
Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief.
Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale.
Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.
The core action stays crisp and precise, but the new visuals are outstanding
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