With NHL 15 launching next week, EA Access members on Xbox One have had the opportunity to try out the full game. As a result, players have discovered that this current-gen version of the game is missing even more content than EA Sports had previously indicated.
Last month, EA outlined what modes are included in the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions of NHL 15, the series' debut on current-gen consoles. In the process, it revealed that things like GM Connected, NHL 94 Anniversary, and Live the Life would be left out.
Operation Sports now reports an even more extensive list of features that are absent, based on the time players have been able to spend with the game through Access (which offers six hours of early access to the full game). This includes key things like drafting players in Be a GM mode (the computer handles this for you), playing friends in Ultimate Team mode, and minor league teams in Be a Pro mode. Not being able to draft players strikes me as an especially egregious omission, considering how key that is in any sports game's run-your-own-team mode.
It's possible that some of the features Operation Sports has identified are in the game, and have simply been overlooked. We've contacted EA to confirm if this is the case, but the company has yet to provide any details.
Series producer Sean Ramjagsingh has responded to some complaints about the situation on Twitter. In response to one tweet about the lack of the draft in a Be a GM, he states, "[A] new draft is coming as part of our content updates." If so, that's not the only feature being delivered in this way, as Online Team Play will also be added through a post-release update. EA has provided no indication of when that update is coming; Ramjagsingh only says in a tweet, "Info is coming…"
It's problematic that fans should need to turn to an individual developer's Twitter account for this kind of information, but it's even more troubling that what players will be getting next week is far from a complete experience right out of the box.
NHL 15 launches next Tuesday, September 9, on Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4, and PS3. For those without access (which includes everyone on consoles that are not Xbox One), a demo is now available for download on Xbox One and PS4.
| Chris Pereira is a freelance writer for GameSpot, and you can follow him on Twitter @TheSmokingManX |
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