NHL 12 Trailer - Legends Teaser (This is the "Big" Announcement)

[Stormyhog]

It wouldn't surprise me if EA releases more legends in DLC packs in the future. It feels that's what their setting this up for.

[Qb]

Quote: Originally Posted by Stormyhog

It wouldn't surprise me if EA releases more legends in DLC packs in the future. It feels that's what their setting this up for.

Hmmm, good call. Hadn't thought of that possibility.

[VDusen04]

Quote: Originally Posted by murph17

probably just one "legends" team vs the 20-30 historical teams 2K had back since what...2004?? laaaame.

So is it clear that these legends will not be a part of their actual classic teams? As Mkharsh said a few posts back, I think that's the sticking point for the inclusion of legends. Just having the ability to place old legends on current teams is way too strange and fantastical for long term enjoyment. It's more a "Ha! Look! Gretzky's on the '12 Oilers! Neat! Okay. . .put him back. Let's play for real" situation.

However, if those mid-80's Oilers squads were available or some 90's Bruins and Hawks, maybe some '54 Wings, and more, then we'd be talking. I think NBA 2K11's Legends worked because we were able to use those players in context. Patrick Ewing wasn't playing alongside Chauncey Billups and Carmelo Anthony. He was battling among John Starks and Charles Oakley. Just the same, I don't want Gordie Howe skating with Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg. Where's Ted Lindsay? Terry Sawchuk?

In truth, I'd much rather have the generic faced legends we had in NHL 2K if it meant we could have the entire rosters of all the classic teams. Of course, if EA is offering classic teams (even filled with editable generics) then I retract anything that could have been taken as criticism.

[plaidchuck]

Here is how I look at the features of the mode:

Legends in BAGM: Considering the BAGM players are the hardcore sim people, they will ignore this and probably be infuriated if the 9 legends are running amock in their GM career. (I know I would put the controller through the tv if I saw "The Philadelphia Flyers have signed Mario Lemieux")

Legends in HUT: A cool little addition but you're going to have to play the mode a TON and put up money as well to get these. I've been playing HUT consistently for about 3 months and the highest rated player I've received so far is Khabibulin (85) with the highest rated skater being Kesler. So I can only imagine what kind of luck you're gonna need or the pucks you'll have to put up to get one of nine legends.

BAP Legends: Again, problems with authenticity.. drafting Gretzky in 2012 just makes no sense to me. I'm going to guess that there will be some unlockable boosts that will need to be grinded out with this i.e. "+5 Wrist Shot Accuracy: Score more than 92 goals in a season" (which once again is ridiculous as this would never happen in the modern era)

Legends team: Eh I guess it will be fun for a play now every once in a while or online shootouts... if they could do the ratings right it'd be cool to compare say Gretzky/Lemieux with Crosby/Ovechkin but once again I don't see much reply value in this.

My conclusion: They could have worked on a ton of more gameplay/BAGM improvements instead of squeezing this out just to add a new mode. Then they could actually have done it right with more classic teams and players a la 2k.

[FBeaule04]

Quote: Originally Posted by mkharsh33

I don't know how many of you have played NBA 2K11, but I have played it to death. GREAT game! Though Jordan was the focal point, we were given MANY teams covering multiple years. The starting 5 of each those teams were provided, and with some very creative people here at OS, we were able to add the missing bench players for ALL of those teams. We ALSO have MULTIPLE season's worth of COMPLETE / ACCURATE rosters - I personally created around 8 of them. With DNA / CAP sharing and roster sharing, it made 2K11 one of the greatest sports titles I've ever played in my life (and the gameplay, though with a few holes, is VERY, VERY good!). EA just doesn't get this, which is why this idea, though a decent one, lacks any value to it because they will not provide us with the same concept 2K did in implementing this idea...

2K showed with NBA 2K11 that solid presentation, solid gameplay and not spreading all-over the place with 20 modes can be successfull. It's not a surprise to me that EA is doing a copy/paste of the best features from NBA 2K11 since it was one of the best game I played over the years.

I hope that the NHL Dev. Team understand that it's one thing to shorten the game for online but you can't skip the presentation alltogether for offline user. Seems like Madden Dev. fully understood that since the Demo is showing a presentation that I've not seen on an EA game for a while. Let's hope it's the same for NHL 12.

As for the Legends, again, it's down to the same thing as usual. EA will have people buy the game just to play a bit with the legends, but in the end, core hockey gamers would like more time spent on the gameplay/ai/presentation.