NHL 12 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360, PS3)

[Vikes1]

Quote: Originally Posted by gopher_guy

Is anybody else experiencing this? Every game I've played (5, all playing as Boston), Chara has been a dominating force. He clobbers anyone in sight, I don't think I've seen him get checked to the ground yet.

That I noticed Gopher....playing with the Bruins, I did see someone [not sure who] absolutely wasted Chara. Only happen once that I saw, after playing lots of periods. I can certainly deal with that.

[mkharsh33]

played about 10 periods - all-star and hard core. scored one goal total...but that's beside the point.

it has some good to it, no doubt. but i hate to say this, it just feels like the same game repackaged with a few tweaks.

sorry, but the commentary needs a complete overhaul. also, has anyone noticed the LACK of enthusiasm when a goal is scored?? No "jump out of your seat" type of excitement.

i love hockey, so i'll probably end up buying this game because i'm a sucker for sports games. but i expected to be more overwhelmed, and with the disconnectedness of the commentary (and same old stuff) it just doesn't feel all that fun...

kinda like what NHL 11 would have felt like with another patch and tuner...

[tabulaRasa]

Pros
Like the subtle animations, seems to be alot more transition animations.
Like the checks, half hits and stumble hits and boardhits were both players fall etc
14 slots in player development in HUT, good but is it for more DLC money?
More detailed arenas.
Shots feel more powerful.
Finding goalie holes are easier up close.
Bigger difference between player sizes
Like the audio updates

Cons

WHy is skating on the ice stilll like walking on concrete in NHL12?
Still easy to collapse net cheese, meatwalling
Cheesegoals are still here
HUT cards are WAY more cluttered and ugly. Okay I guess, but the old ones were much easier to read on.

STIll buy it...

[tabulaRasa]

Oh AI still feels a bit stupid covering non puck carrying players.

[bwiggy33]

Quote: Originally Posted by mkharsh33

played about 10 periods - all-star and hard core. scored one goal total...but that's beside the point. it has some good to it, no doubt. but i hate to say this, it just feels like the same game repackaged with a few tweaks. sorry, but the commentary needs a complete overhaul. also, has anyone noticed the LACK of enthusiasm when a goal is scored?? No "jump out of your seat" type of excitement. i love hockey, so i'll probably end up buying this game because i'm a sucker for sports games. but i expected to be more overwhelmed, and with the disconnectedness of the commentary (and same old stuff) it just doesn't feel all that fun... kinda like what NHL 11 would have felt like with another patch and tuner...

See this is kind of how I feel as well. There are no question improvements that they made, but nothing huge. The top two things that needed to be fixed with the AI were entering the zone on offense too easily and rushing the puck up the ice with any player from end to end. After playing the demo neither one of those has been fixed. It just sucks that if I'm going in on a 1 on 4 I can enter the zone with ease. In that situation I should be forced to dump the puck in because the opposition should smother me at the blue line to create a turnover and transition to offense. In fact in that situation the CPU would probably have an odd man rush. Well I never need to dump it in. Instead I can just enter the zone and skate around until my teammates join me in the zone. It's just stupid. As for players going end to end, it can basically be done anytime and with anyone. You don't even have to pass the puck up the ice in order to get out of the zone. These two things just really bring this game down for me. If I didn't notice these two things I would love the game, but to me every game just feels the same because of it. No team plays any differently.

I'm really hoping that tuners or a patch could fix that department of the AI. If that happened this game could be really good this year. I will say that the AI in 12 looks much better despite these two issues. I love how they actually shoot the puck now. In fact they almost shoot too much, which is a good thing.

[tabulaRasa]

BTW, has anyone tried out if the interference calls are better in NHL12? I felt they were not called as they should in NHL11, were obvious interference calls werent called by the refs.

[Vikes1]

Quote: Originally Posted by DJ

However, it is still way to easy to gain the blue line; you can go coast-to-coast with my most guys. The CPU intercepts anything close and the passing on both sides is still far too clean. With no changes to Be A GM, outside of the sim engine, I have a feeling this game could get stale quickly for the offline crowd, as it won't feel much different than NHL 08-11 in terms of immersion into a career mode. Teams still play similar styles, and the above-stated issues with commentary and presentation really are starting to hurt this game, IMO.

Solid post as always, Dan.

The things you mention here, Dan...are pretty hard to argue with. Yep, still too easy to go coast to coast. That's a fairly big disappointment to me too. Superstar [hardcore] may help with this, but that's simply beyond my skill level. For me at least...looks like another year of just having to deal with the coast to coast stuff....again. Not enough to spoil the game for me. But certainly imo...not very life-like.

Yep, I was also hoping for a bit more updates to BEAGM. Because as is...it just kinda feels like your playing in a vacuum with your team.

The commentary and in-game presentation is imo too, due for a overhaul. Personally now...I am a bit impressed with how the commentary seems to flow pretty well in the demo, without too much dead air. And the crowd reactions seemed to be quite good, imo. But I do agree, Dan...overall, the whole package is certainly showing it's age.

The more I've played the demo, the more I'm digging the subtle gameplay upgrades. So that's keeping my anticipation level pretty high for 9-13. But again, I sure do understand your concerns. And agree with ya.

[Vikes1]

Quote: Originally Posted by bwiggy33

The top two things that needed to be fixed with the AI were entering the zone on offense too easily and rushing the puck up the ice with any player from end to end. After playing the demo neither one of those has been fixed.

This.

Yep Bwiggy...this is a disappointment. What I'm kinda thinking is...by choosing to play on "Hardcore", on the games two highest playing levels...the coast to coast stuff should be really toned down, imo. It'd be fantastic if EA Canada, patched/tuner this in. Because to me...the coast to coast thing, especially with anyone...really hurts the realism of the game.