Most realistic / sim based hockey game? your opinion

[MJ200]

Does anyone know which hockey game gives the most realistic simmed stats.
Im looking for games you can play though. Not just text based games like hockey manager.
I remember NHL faceoff on ps1 had some realistic simmed stats.
Im looking for stats where some goalies have sv% over 930 sometimes and players with over 130 on occasion.
I just hate how EAs game the players always have the same stats year after year. And goalie sv % is always too low.

[dom22]

While some games have been able to represent some parts of hockey pretty well, such as the 2k Goalies and the skating engine from the late PS3 era EA NHL games, I feel like no game has really done a good job of capturing the difficulty of breaking out, getting through the neutral zone, and getting into the offensive zone, which make them all pretty unrealistic and not sim-based. Pretty much every hockey game I have ever played has really just been all about trading opportunities for offensive zone play. Maybe the closest to getting this right is NHL 2004, which is probably why it is held in such high esteem to this day.

Especially egregious (to me anyway) is how much AI defencemen in every hockey game back up at their own blueline and don't try to prevent zone entries, and often allow players on the rush to take shots from the slot unchallenged. It really breaks immersion and makes the game a lot less fun and interesting when it is so easy to get in the zone. Lets be honest, you never really have to dump the puck in in hockey videogames unless you're going for a line change. I don't know much about other sports and the games that represent them, but I doubt any other sport has such a big part of it - 2/3rds of the playing field essentially - essentially missing from video game representation.

Maybe this is because it is hard to code forechecking/neutral zone/d gap control, maybe it is they think most people don't want to have to work at breaking out or getting through the neutral zone. Probably part of the issue is that we can see the whole ice all the time. Whatever it is, it seems like hockey games are the least representative of the sport of all the sports. I know NBA 2k and MLB the Show aren't perfect and people have issues with them, but it seems to me they represent their sports far more accurately than the NHL games have.

[LODHockey]

2k10 is still the #1. I have 99% of all very one made to compare. LOL 20230810_171427.jpeg

Sent from my SM-S918U using Operation Sports mobile app

[PernellKarl076]

Quote: Originally Posted by dom22

While some games have been able to represent some parts of hockey pretty well, such as the 2k Goalies and the skating engine from the late PS3 era EA NHL games, I feel like no game has really done a good job of capturing the difficulty of breaking out, getting through the neutral zone, and getting into the offensive zone, which make them all pretty unrealistic and not sim-based. Pretty much every hockey game I have ever played has really just been all about trading opportunities for offensive zone play. Maybe the closest to getting this right is NHL 2004, which is probably why it is held in such high esteem to this day. Especially egregious (to me anyway) is how much AI defencemen in every hockey game back up at their own blueline and don't try to prevent zone entries, and often allow players on the rush to take shots from the slot unchallenged. It really breaks immersion and makes the game a lot less fun and interesting when it is so easy to get in the zone. Lets be honest, you never really have to dump the puck in in hockey videogames unless you're going for a line change. I don't know much about other sports and the games that represent them, but I doubt any other sport has such a big part of it - 2/3rds of the playing field essentially - essentially missing from video game representation. Maybe this is because it is hard to code forechecking/neutral zone/d gap control, maybe it is they think most people don't want to have to work at breaking out or getting through the neutral zone. Probably part of the issue is that we can see the whole ice all the time. Whatever it is, it seems like hockey games are the least representative of the sport of all the sports. I know NBA 2k and MLB the Show aren't perfect and people have issues with them, but it seems to me they represent their sports far more accurately than the NHL games have.

NHL23 with the right roster/settings/sliders is a true representation of the sport IMO. I’ve worked more than 600 hours under the hood to bring periods between 15 and 20 minutes with real stats, real speed, real gameplay.

It has tons of neutral zone play, dump in's, active DMEN that are good on both sides of the ice, hard zone entries and whatnot… Just take a look at that stats screen after a game with 15 minutes periods. With the TOA on both sides, you can tell that allot of the game was spent in the neutral zone 😉😀

Quote: Originally Posted by LODHockey

2k10 is still the #1. I have 99% of all very one made to compare. LOL

Hey LOD, very nice collection you got there, very impressive 😀 You sure love Hockey 👍✌️

I agree that the 2K games were very good, but if you give 23 a try with my setup, maybe it will change your mind 😉 A hockey nut like you, cannot pass this up 😉
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[MuzzUK]

Based on my current preferences my top 5:

#1 2k10
#2 NHL 23 (very slider dependant)
#3 2k8
#4 NHL 14 with revamped rosters
# NHL Legacy

NLH 04, NHL 17 and NHL 11 are decent... NHL 20 is horrendous... NHL 2005 to 2009 have not aged well at all ha. I've tried a bit of 2k6 and 2k7 I just don't get it I'm afraid.