Each year EA Sports updates their sports games, including "NHL 15." Unfortunately for gamers, the updates that EA sports made this year did not include many of the popular game modes and features that sports game fans are used to.

This is 2014 and the company is taking away the core features of franchise or story mode. Every sports gamer wants to feel like a GM, so why take that away?

Sure, the graphics are remarkable and the attention to detail is perfect, but the GM mode really is lacking. Back in the SEGA and Super Nintendo days, you could play "NHL 96" and enjoy an entire season mode. Now with "NHL 15," there isn't even a Season Mode anymore -- why not?

Now, in "NHL 15" you have to go to "Be a GM Mode." And, this Be a GM Mode isn't what it sounds like. It's a stripped down version of Madden's Franchise Mode. You can't even play a pre-season game to hone your skills.

Then, there's Be a Pro Mode. Sounds pretty cool right? Well, it too is stripped down. Somehow, you create your own guy, give him a name, and automatically you can be drafted to a professional hockey team.

In past versions of "NHL," Be a Pro Mode required you to train your character and then practice with minor-league teams before you could make it to the big leagues, not anymore. You can just magically be placed on an NHL team and make the big bucks.

Oh, and the glitches: Sometimes the artificial intelligence (or lack there of) will score on themselves. So, imagine you are playing the game and your goalie turns around and puts the puck in the net! It happens and hopefully EA Sports releases a patch update to fix these glitches.

Not everything is bad about "NHL 15." The goal celebrations are incredible. The crowd looks realistic and the camera angles are fully customizable. That is a great thing for a next-gen sports simulator to have, but why take the realism out of the game and strip down these other modes?

"NHL 15" has been out since Sep. 9, but I bet you don't hear many people talking about it. It currently is rated a 61 on Metacritic.com.