There are so many glitches in single player (body check / no pick up puck glitch - puck threw boards glitch - strange 'rubber' like collision detection - players / goalies bodies twisting and contorting to monstrosities) but what makes it horrid is the ai works against you when momentum for your team is low. What I mean by this is games that arn't going my way (which is to be expected in a game of hockey) the team shuts down and you'll pick up the puck to be instantly boxed in by the other team (also still normal and expected) however the problem lies with the ai whose never open for a pass or if they are, they're skating backwards full speed and skate into the cluster of bodies, OR the pass reception makes them twist into the pass when receiving it (whys this a problem ? because they'll be twisting to skate the right direction and are a sitting duck and loose the puck 9/10 times). Its frustrating as heck when you're the defender gonna pick the puck up in the corner and you see you ai lw or rw or whoever sitting at your blue line for a breakout nd you've clearly gonna get the puck, but by the time you've received it the ai hasn't recognized "oh hes got it, I'm gonna turn around to start a breakout" they keep skating backwards, often into me. Theres a good breakout gone because the ai controlling the other forwards goes all "SUPER DEFENSE" . Like I said this too is a problem cus its like the other team has a extra body checker coming at you (its happened numerous times where my own player skating backwards gets in the way and either collide or loose the puck). In real hockey the man with the puck has right of way, GTFO of his way and get yourself open for a pass or back to position if your a defender, not 'my position is where you are so I'm going threw you to get there".
Now compare all these said scenarios to games where I am actually doing well. My players are open on the rush, skating out on the rush leading to goals, avoiding the player with the puck and getting in passing position. They play and handle like a team and it's allot of fun. It's this super inconsistency with it all tho where it feels the game (not the game your playing but the hardware game) decides the outcome before the start. Cus my teams either of fire / responsive / perfect (not perfect but doing very well and any faults I can only honestly blame myself) OR my teams garbage getting in each others way, not being in pass position, not breaking out, all the problems I mentioned...
I guarantee the problem stems from the "Player Attributes" slider that no-one asked for. Think about it, yes you're trying to make the game as realistic as possible and we respect that. But trying to innovate a Inconsistency as part of the game is rage inducing and IDK why you'd play video game hockey for that when if you want THAT DEEP of a hockey game experience go out and actually play some hockey ? Real life inconsistencies are based on allot of things down to chemistry of a team and moral. The players we use on NHL 17 are bits of code. They don't have motivations or drive, they are machine essentially. So why is it that inconstancy is a thing ? Whats there to make them inconsistent, other then the fact the code tells them to be ?
You can't program real life EA, and in trying to your doing too much and taking too much risk on a product people love. I want a game that handles the same every time I pick up and play and single player isn't that at all. These are issues clearly not found because it seems the product this year to work effectively every time is to have a full 5 man team of humans. Which for me I enjoy sitting back and playing the game at my own pace and dont care for online, so as y'all see my options are limited. The only reason I keep buying the new game yearly is HUT single player, but as I've stated above - its a huge let down this year!
Please get ontop of single player play for next year EA
