Gameplay Tips
For Scoring, the two best ways I've found to score are the first and most
obvious, the deke, and the second is shooting towards the upper right hand
goal as my right winger hits the blue line along the boards on his side.
With the deke, I can score 3/5 times, depending on my players speed.Most
times I'll come in on the goalies right starting from the point at the
boards and on an angle(moving from my left to right) and at the last
second,shift left and shoot. usualy will go in, other times will hit the
goal post. with slower players, I can't shift left fast enough and goalie
picks the puck up. The shot from the point will also score about 3/5 times,
because it seems like the angle of the shot is just enough to slip by the
golie and miss the post(again, almost every botched attempt is because I
hit the goal post.) like below. I used to be able to do a similar move in
NHL96 with certain players by using my left winger on his side and shooting
just as I passed the point towards the lower right goal. would slide right
between the post and pad. worked mostly for Leclair and a little for
Lindros in Phili.
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Passing, well, it seems alot worse than in NHL96, where I used to get at
least between 50 and 60% rating each game, I've droped to around 40%. I'm
happy to say though that it's not limited to human controlled players
:)...where the computer regularly got between 70 an 80% passing in 96, it's
also drop into the mid 40% range in 97. I have also found(and from what
I've read, others too) that passing seems more effective in your own zone,
but once you hit you're opponents, it drops dramaticaly.
One timers in NHL96 were alot easier. In NHL97, because of the passing
problem, one timers are alot harder, but I found the best way to do them is
once you pass the puck, just tap the shoot button(although, chances are,
your player will still miss the puck.*shrug*)
AI- well, Myself...I find that AI has improved somewhat in some areas, but
still lacks in alot of others, and again the problem is related to passing(
then again, the passing is because of the AI). The computer itself thinks a
little more before just shooting the puck at times, and I find this real
kewl....I have a computer controlled player who just got the puck he waits
a few seconds to wait for one of his players to come down and open up, then
will either try to pass, or take a shot himself, depending on what I'm
doing( either trying to check him, or block him.) I think this is one of
the best improvements in the AI that I've seen so far. As for my own
players, like I said, if the passing was better I would prob. have no
complaints about AI....I've been able to set up box plays on the PP, only
to have it ruined because a player at the point just lets the puck slip by,
and this was a slow pass. My defencemen will play defence alot more than in
96, where they would come up and linger in the oppositions zone while my
center went back to play defence. My forwards come up with me alot more and
stay with me or rush the net to 1- catch a rebound or 2- tip the puck in as
the puck slides to them or close to them. I've been able to set up some
great plays that was never possible with 96 just because your team played
as indviduals, not as a team. I'm not saying that they play this way all
the time, just a great deal more than in 96. Also a nice feature is
whatching both the players and ref "hop" over the puck/ fallen players.
And talking about the ref, He's still annoying...I just wish they would
program him to skate away from all players period.
The only other real AI bug I found in 97 apart from passing, is the
scoring on own net, either you or the computer by having a shot rebound,
and having one of your players rush for the puck,get it, and guide it into
the net as he continues to rush towards the net. you can't seem to turn at
these points, and the same goes for the computer players..they just ramthe
puck into the net and it's a bit annoying at times. this was also present
in all other nhl games.
Goalie behavior has changed somewhat from 96, but again not much. I don't
find them to be the Super-goalies they once were, only because I couldn't
score more than 1-2 goals in a normal game in 96 and now I'm scoring an
average of 6-8 in 97. they still do make some unbelievable saves, but as
far as I know, so do some goalies in the Real NHL :). Also, goalies still
can't seem to manage to make saves on certain moves, the most apparent
being the deke..yuo kinda think that EA would've given them some kind
learning ability that tells them after the first few dekes, that they are
bad and should try to stop them :) This coupled with the manual goalie
only feature, really sucks, cause when you're playing others that use the
deke only to score, and do it extremely well, withought player controlled
goalies, your more or less toast unless you play good defence.
Player skating and movement...again, Like 96, took a little getting used
to, but was easier to learn I find..the only real problems I find are 1-
from a standing start, it can be VERY slow to get moving. I can see being
slow to get up to speed, but to actually have to wait a second sometimes to
get moving is plain stupid. the second problem would be skating around in
circles, which really becomes a problem sometimes when you want to get a
puck that isn't moving and you miss it on your first pass and when you want
to try and hit someone who is weaving. By skating around in circles means
exactly that, you skate around the puck or the player you're trying to get,
even at low speeds. You more or less have to stop, point in the direction
of the puck/player then start moving again, bringing up the problem in the
first point. I may be doing something wrong, so if anybody can give me some
skating tips, it would be helpfull :)
Offensive tips ...
To win faceoffs, hold the joystick in a direction and press the button
just as the official drops the puck.
To execute one-timers, aim in the direction of a teammate and press the
pass button. Do not press the button for too long or the pass will be
too hard to handle. Do not hold the joystick in the direction you
passed or the recepient will shoot in that direction (unless, of course,
you want him to aim toward that location). Make sure you quickly move
the joystick to aim the shot as soon as the pass is released.
Keep pressing the shoot button when there are loose rebounds in front of
the opposing goal. Persistence will yield scoring.
In order to find success on breakaways or carrying the puck into the
offensive zone, you must use the turbo button. You will be caught from
behind and checked or tripped to the ice every time if you do not. Be
careful not to overuse the turbo button, though, or your player may be
out of control and skating too fast to shoot or pass.
Here's a couple of my thoughts on NHL '97 gameplay....
No longer can you one-time your way to wins. In '96 I could average 6 or
7 goals (w/Penguins) by just one-timing 90% of my shots. Not anymore.
The key to scoring - never pass. No matter how good the players or pass,
its 50/50 whether it'll be complete. And the goalies are much better
against one-timers this year.
Scoring....the deke. I couldn't consistently do it last year, but no
prob this year. So far, I'm averaging about 10 goals a game (and 90
shots)...about 7 of those off the deke.
Passing sucks. Don't even bother. Ever...
SCORING I've found to be easier than in '96. On breakaways, pound a big
slapper through the five-hole and your rate of success goes way up. The
deke work very well too. Since the controls are much more sensitive,
you can put some major-league moves on the goalies and pop the puck into
many open nets. I think I've also figured out one-timers. When the
pass is made to your teammate, wait until the puck is almost AT THE
SHOOTER before pressing the shoot button. He still has enough time to
wind up and blast it, and if the pass is cross-ice enough, it usually
goes in. Aim HIGH. Normal slapshots take a while to develop, therefore
VERY REALISTIC. If you're in the slot in a lot of traffic and you try
for a slapshot, you're going to wind up on your butt before you get the
shot off.
PASSING does seem to be a little more erratic than last year. Short
ones seem to be OK, but when you start launching passes from the right
corner to the red line, cross ice...it invariably gets either picked off
or hits a skate and bouces away. Again, just like the real thing.
HITTING...pretty much the same as last year, except with the incredible
graphics, the players do some neat things if they get hit at full
speed. They spin, they somersault(not new), and they also bounce.
PLAYER ATTRIBUTES are also pretty much the same as '96 and the players
seem to respond according to their traits. Player height and weight
also plays a role, I think. I played Philly and had Kjell Samuelsson
skate beside Todd Marchant...maybe I was seeing things, but I thought I
saw a difference in their height...about 8 inches.
The computer AI could use some work. I guess because it worked so well
for Florida in the playoffs they figured every team should do it...ALL
THE TIME! Yes, the computer even does it on breakaways. Too bad. It's
probably the only MAJOR flaw in the game. Other than that glitch
though, the computer's not too bad. The defense is tight, PUNISHING in
fact, and GREAT on faceoffs. The computer sets up in the box on the
penalty kill, sets up on the powerplay, and does a zone breakout fairly
well.
The goalies are OUTSTANDING! Limitations? There appear to be none.
They fire the glove up to make a stop, they stack the pads, they drop
into the butterfly and then get back up right away, waiting for the next
shot. It's COOL. They do have a weak 5-hole on the breakaway...and
that seems to be the only reliable way to score so far. Give the
goalies a 9.5 out of 10.
And as far as player movement and control goes...well...the control is
much better than in 96. They are more responsive, better stickhandlers
(accoring to the ratings) and the shots are a lot quicker. They actual
player movement is cool...they look like REAL players. That's pretty
much it.