Eastside Hockey Manager
One of my favourite games of all time. If I’m not feeling any other game, I usually just start this up and the next thing I know, hours have passed. It’s literally endless enjoyment if you’re into hockey and simulation and enjoy watching numbers go up and down (preferably up).
I originally used to play a very large amount of the NHL series on my PS4, and while it was fun to occasionally hop in and actually play the game, I found myself just simming through the franchise mode, season after season to watch my players and team progress. Once I found EHM, I almost entirely stopped playing NHL on my PS4. I realize not everyone will be like this, but if you are a fan more so of the sim aspect of other hockey games, this game will be perfect for you.
– Real player with 1900.3 hrs in game
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I’m giving this game a negative review despite loving it. The reason is that I want to draw attention to the negative sides that I don’t feel get mentioned often enough.
First of all, there are still bugs in the game. After so many itterations, one would have thought that things like trading and contracts would work flawlessly, but nope, you’ll still run into situations where you need a save file editor or create another GM just to get the game to follow hockey rules.
My other and biggest issue is with the way this game compensates. Let me explain. I’ve been playing EHM since the very first version, probably spent thousands of hours on all versions together. One thing you have to realize is that this game is essentially a numbers generator, working with probability and such. Thing is, if you’ve been playing this game long enough, you’ll find ways to build fantastic teams, with (probably) the best coaching staff in NHL history and you can pretty much win the Stanley Cup with any team by your second, in a worst case scenario 3rd season. But! The game detects when your team or player start producing extraordinary numbers, and it will start compensating to keep things “realistic”. Won too many Stanley cups in a row? Well, you’ll lose in the playoffs, no matter what you do (tested by replaying the same saves when things got weird on countless occasions). You’ll win with the same team next year, but the game won’t let you win, say 4 times in a row, just because. Same if your team is scoring too much. Built a scoring machine with 1st line level players on your 3rd line? Well, bad luck, because you’re gonna get punished by periods where your team will refuse to score, until your goals scored total returns to a “normal” value, then, without changing anything, you score again. Same goes with winning games. Winning 90% of your games mid season? Well, here’s a drought, it’ll end once you’re around 75-80%, then you’ll dominate again and the cycle repeats.
– Real player with 1542.4 hrs in game
Hockey VR
It is what it says it is. I did not want to KO my daughter so I did not try my actual stick. The VR stick works like you would expect it to. The puck is a little too light imo making fancy dribbling impossible but shooting feels good. I day dream about a fully fleshed VR hockey game every day of my life. I really hope this is a step in that direction. If EA is the roadblock let me know and I will get a petition signed and harass the NHL every day until they give up exclusivity.
– Real player with 0.7 hrs in game
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Well, so far its been pretty unfortunate. I was really hyped after finding it, ordered the stick attachment, and for now have gaff taped it to my stick, calibration was weird as apparently the floor of boundary zone is not as low as humanly possible (had to face it circle facing flat on the floor to get it low enough) or the puck was just under my stick. After firing it up, theres seemingly no way to reset your starting point so it was putting my shooting circle right at the edge of my space, okay, whatever. The shooting mechanic just doesn’t quite work properly, the puck is pretty awkward to move and it is seemingly impossible to shoot the puck hard or lift it, or at least in the motion that you would do it in real life. Maybe a fun gimmick for someone who has literally never played hockey but thus far its seemingly not much more than that. I’ll certainly update my review if by some circumstance the attachment that i’ve prematurely ordered improves anything, but that baby is on that stick snug and exactly in the format of the setup/video.
– Real player with 0.6 hrs in game
Franchise Hockey Manager 7
Received FHM 7 for free as part of a giveaway.
FHM 7 has a few new features which have been pumped up in the marketing, but what they failed to disclose was that for the first four months of this games release, it would be entirely nonfunctional for the multiplayer community as well as not coming as advertised for those wanting to play singleplayer.
The new sim engine
“2D Game Engine: Our game simulation has been rebuilt from the ground up, and now shows games in a top-down, fully-animated view that lets you see every second of the action!”
– Real player with 928.8 hrs in game
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FHM7 is the best Hockey Manager game out there imo. I’ve logged several hundred hours thru fhm2 until now.. The game is developed by a very small group, meaning it may take several more versions to really make an impact on everyone looking for something in particular they’re hoping for that isn’t already in the game. If your looking for a smart AI, meaning understanding signings, off-season transactions, trades, drafting that occur… and your like me … you’ll be using the commissioner mode to set things right or reverse trades as it happens thru your simulation career. So be prepared to play the game with your own house rules to really give yourself a challenge.
– Real player with 248.1 hrs in game
VR Hockey League
I’m not going to ask for a refund because it’s early access… but.. the feel isn’t right. I had much better luck shooting with only one hand on the stick, as soon as the second hand got involved the movement became impossible to work with. I’m hoping they make progress with it, as I definitely like the idea. I’m going to put it down as “recommend for never played hockey before people interested in a new perspective and a introduction to the game” but if you have experience it may just drive you completely crazy in 0.1 hours.
– Real player with 1.1 hrs in game
Definitely in need of some new modes. All in all though stick handling is pretty good.
– Real player with 0.3 hrs in game
Franchise Hockey Manager 3
Got this game as an avid hockey lover and fan of the ootp series. I purchased the game for 29.99.
Disclaimer:
This review is based primarily off of one full Path of Glory season.
Note these are not ‘Cons’ but more observances.
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coaching is nearly impossible with the rating system. It does not scale. be prepared to never have advantages of any kind. (There appears to be a fix here and that is huge and a great sign for the future.)
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penalties have brought some confusion for me. Several times I thought a PP or SH goal occurred but it did not. Also the majority of my team incurred greater penalty numbers than the years prior. (Again my be my coaching)
– Real player with 141.7 hrs in game
A great game needs a great villan. In FHM 3 that great villian is Jarmo “The Butcher” Kekalainen, General Manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets and low-down traiterous F*#$ing swine!
You see, having never played a game like this one I decided to work my way up. I started with no job and accepted the position of General Manager of the Cleveland Monsters, assuming Cleveland was a low as a man can start. It apperared to be good job. Playing with the awesome tools at my disposal I spend the first hour assembling my roster into elite and dangerous line changes.
– Real player with 134.5 hrs in game
Franchise Hockey Manager 4
Not worth the money! Too many bugs of different kind. It keeps crashing all of the time. So I started saving more often. But the thing is that it also keeps crashing in the middle of the saving process. A lot of the times I can’t even start my save. It loads halfway through and crashes. When that happens I have to search for the automatic backup files in a folder inside the save folder (there are two of those backup folders) and copy the backups content over to the main save folder. That usually works! But now, after the lates update, those backup folders had mystically disappeared and ALL the boxes in the settings were disabled, including the function that automatically saves backups. HOW could I have known that without any warning messages after the update..!? SO after hours of playing, my save file won’t start and there’s nothing I can do to fix it. Wasted time and money! If you DO buy the game, make sure to make tons of your own backup files and save every minute or so. I know, it will be a pain in the a**…
– Real player with 2394.1 hrs in game
So this game was much better than FHM 3 IMO, a lot more dynamic, and more options. I also feel like it’s a lot easier to navigate. I have 5 season played as the leafs, with 90 hours on record. I’m really enjoying my time on the game so far. WITH THAT SAID, a couple things where I feel the game could improve (sorry if they’ve already been said);
The sim speed is slow. It takes quite a while to get through the offseason, i usually just have to go AFK while simming through it, as it takes upwards of 20 mins. I have a GTX 960, Dell Inspirion gaming laptop, so it’s not my Rig.
– Real player with 640.1 hrs in game
Franchise Hockey Manager 5
A big step forward if compared with FHM4. In particular, the new UI is much better, even if some won’t like the brightness. I frankly have no problems with white backgrounds. And the new tactics system is great.
Don’t expect much huge news, the core of the game has been worked a lot so the game is now more stable, more realistic, more solid. There are more options for those who like custom games, but frankly, I’m not interested in that game mode so I haven’t scrutinized it much. You can now play online as you can do with OOTP, but once again, I prefer solo gaming anyways. The only thing that I think the 5th iteration is a bit behind is gaming in the European leagues. The improvements in the core of the game have of course their impact in the European leagues as well (in particular, a better in-game screen, new tactics, better visualization and so on), but rules, customs, finances and similar things are pretty similar to FHM4.
– Real player with 993.2 hrs in game
Long time EA NHL user.
I have a friend who isn’t into video games who played the baseball version OOTP..
He recommended me to try FHM because of the same makers and the depth of realism. I am obsessed with analytics and simulation management. EA Franchise mode has always frustrated me as there is no variance. You buy NHL 19 and Crosby is god forever and always.
This game really has so many factors that change every aspect. A long term bruins fan jumped in and said ‘Bergeron doesn’t need more training!’ Halfway through the season Bergy starts to decline in skill (Yet still can be effective with good line chemistry) I try to play him with unfamiliar linemates and he performs terribly (As when he was at prime (used other players to compare)).
– Real player with 306.8 hrs in game
Tropical Air Hockey
So i got this game in a bundle and on sale, and i played it for about an hour, i found it really addictive trying to beat the AI and all the fun modes this game has. I loved the crazy little characters and graphics were also enjoyable, the music was really relaxing too, so it was a very pleasant experience! I always loved playing air hockey so this was a must for me :)
I would absolutely love this game if it had multiplayer so that i can play with my friends! As much as i can see the devs are still developing this game so i have high hopes for the final version! Get it guys, it’s really a steal.
– Real player with 2.8 hrs in game
This is great, I was having a lot of fun, especially with the pinball mode, you can’t get something like that in similar games. I found myself playing this way more than I intended to!
I saw in the change log that they updated the physics and a lot of other stuff. The physics pretty good right now and I haven’t encountered any bugs in v1.2
I hope that they add more modes like pinball and wacky customization for the pucks and everything. Maybe even something nearby that i can throw at the AI if i lose.
– Real player with 2.4 hrs in game
Franchise Hockey Manager 6
Somewhat disappointed in this.
As with previous versions, there seem to be a ton of bugs (you’d think that, when you’re on your 6th version of the game, bugs that have been in numerous of the previous versions would be fixed but, this isn’t the case).
Couple of examples: I offer a F.A. a contract, we agree on the money and term and the player asks me to submit the offer but I can’t as “submit” is still greyed out. I have space contract wise and on the cap but still can’t release the offer. The player ends up signing for less elsewhere and I’m able to sign a lesser player to the same contract. Also, each year, the top eligible for the draft is somehow an already drafted player…
– Real player with 861.6 hrs in game
Complete copy paste job of FHM5. This offer is complete with the same old glitches , a different coloured background and the ability for players to get suspended. Oh and don’t forget about the real coaches now! Buy this game for the coaches or just play any other FHM game , its the same shit. It’s not even worth it on sale. This is the end of the franchise for me. Greedy knob jockey devs.
Edit: The trade offer system is also glitched. every team offered me a 3rd round pick for a prime Phil Kessel and to prove it wasn’t a coincidence , the same thing happened for JVR among others.
– Real player with 691.5 hrs in game
Hockey Manager 20|20
The game is as deep of a hockey sim as I’ve ever seen, however no NHL license is a bit of an immersion killer for me, because I spend more time editing than I do playing. Another downer for me is not having the ability to choose between Euros and Dollars or KG’s and LB’s. When there is a complete overhaul to the US and Canadian teams available in the workshop then I’ll be more interested in playing, but until then it’s FHM for me. If you don’t mind the lack of an NHL license and or editing for months, then the game might be for you. If you’re like me though, I can’t recommend it.
– Real player with 14.2 hrs in game
I like the editing options, there is a lot of play editing possibilities and you can even save and load edited databases. you can even get some addons here https://wasserlasser.com/
Although u might be spending a long time in the editor, the overall gameplay is nice and chill.
– Real player with 9.0 hrs in game