14 DAY TRIAL // EA has released another trailer for its next-gen hockey game NHL 15, showcasing how the enhanced visuals will also translate into slightly altered gameplay dynamics.
NHL 15 attempts to throw all past efforts out the window and deliver a completely new game, with vast improvements in character models and animations.
For the first time in the long-standing series, the equipment and jersey are all modeled separately from the player, which means that everything will be moving and flowing smoothly, lending the game a much more natural and dynamic feel, instead of the artificial movements of the past.
The technology behind the game enables players to experience new and exciting features such as realistic facial expressions, an unsurpassed level of detail when it comes to player likenesses, enhanced emotional response, and an increased variety in spectator crowds.
The all-new user-controlled celebrations allow gamers to put a personal touch on each and every goal they score, and to share the joy and excitement of playing one of the greatest sports on the planet.
The powerful Ignite engine that developer EA Canada used to create NHL 15 allows for greatly enhanced physics mechanics, leading to accurate and unpredictable puck bounces and rolls, as well as revamped collision physics that allow for secondary collisions and player pile-ups.
The enhanced collisions will take into account all three layers that compose a character model, and as such uniforms will respond dynamically to impacts, rather than just clipping through other models.
With the way that the new characters function, especially the greatly refined hit boxes that come alongside the individually modeled pieces that make out a character, new opportunities will become available during matches, such as scoring a goal by sliding a puck through a gap that used to be a blocky, solid hit box in previous games.
Publisher EA has promised more such developer diaries in the future, exploring more of the game's unique and innovative features, such as other gameplay improvements, living worlds and the all-new broadcasts.
However, most of the enhanced features of NHL 15 will only be available in the next-gen editions of the sports game, and will not be present in the previous-generation versions.
NHL 15 is scheduled to come out on September 9 in North America, and September 12 in Europe and other PAL territories, for the Xbox 360 and Xbox One computer entertainment systems from Microsoft and the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 gaming consoles from Sony.
