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

[Qb]

Thanks to those getting their impressions up. I only had time to play two quick games -- not even the equivalent of one period on my usual settings -- so I can't offer too much insight. I played on All-Star/Hardcore, although it didn't seem to change the settings when I changed game styles.

My first impression was, "wow, the game seems a lot more active." Players simply moved around a lot more, which I assume is what they meant by the anticipation AI reading the play as it develops rather than reacting as or after it happens. I particularly like seeing players take away passing lanes through the neutral zone, providing more support on the puck carrier, and more or less being aggressive in general.

I'm disappointed the skating still features some awkward transitions when changing directions. But, I was happy to see some of the new animations for hustling and tired players. That was something we really tried to drive home during the community event last year, but it was too late for NHL11.

Looking forward to more games tonight to get a better feel for some of the additions I didn't notice in such a brief session... net battles, puck physics (loose slappers is quite the change, eh?), live goalies (I had a hard time making contact?), and whatever else I find.

Quote: Originally Posted by theglory

A very small thing, but I dislike the sound the game makes when you manually change a line.

Yeah, at first I didn't know what the noise was and it was bugging me. I hope that has an on/off option... don't see the point to be honest.

[Fiddy]

from the looks of it, you cant run into your own goalie and knock him down. which i guess is a good thing!!

also, on delayed penalties, the goalie cant be touched at all.. i took a slash, then just wanted to run Thomas to see a goalie reaction, it made me zip by him like he had a wall around him again. maybe they did this so he can get to the bench and the team can get the extra attacker on the ice? so people dont take advantage of that situation.. if so, good job ea!!

[bwiggy33]

I will say that the game definitely feels better than 11. The puck physics are way better. Shooting finally feels better and the fact that pucks go off of the goalie and hit the glass is a breath of fresh air. I was sick and tired of seeing goalies either smother everything, have the puck rebound in front of them, or seeing the puck fly high in the sky only to drop behind them and into the net. Another great thing is on breakaways. Once a player starts dekeing their speed drops a ton. This will prevent the same deke going in every time. I think it's a great addition to the game.

One thing that still needs improvement is hitting. I have played 10 games so far and have seen numerous unrealistic hits. No player should go flying on a hit where neither player has any momentum. I had a play in the neutral zone where I tapped a Vancouver player from behind and he went flying. I barely even nudged him.

Although this game feels better than 11 I still think the gameplay will become stale after a while. The only way it won't is if each team plays differently, and you actually have to adjust your gameplay in order to beat the opposing team. That will not be known until the final version of the game comes out. I still truly believe that until the EA developers realize that the skill stick and non real life movements by the goaltenders are bad in their game, this game will never reach it's full potential. I pray these two things can be changed next year.

Also another thing that needs to be done is cyberfaces. I understand it takes a lot of work but there really is no excuse. MLB The Show has way more guys that they have to develop and even the crappiest of players have ridiculously great looking faces. I just don't understand how the developers can't at least provide 100 or so new faces per year. Otherwise at least allow us to edit the players faces so we can make them look moderately like their real life counterpart. I don't want to see Pierre Marc Bouchard with black hair. The man is bald.

Overall this game is still solid. I don't think it will ever not be a solid game, but for a hardcore hockey fan like myself I want to see more done to this game.

[goosedennis]

Two more things:

I like how the benches are active this year. Not only with checks having the possibility of going into the bench, but players react to pucks going into the bench area and hits as well.

However, I want realistic breakouts. I don't want three guys chasing me behind the net and then nobody on my team is in a set position, but floating all throughout the ice.

[goosedennis]

Two pretty imporant hings just happened IMO.

First, I took a run at Hamuis with Lucic, and Hamuis ended up on his *** but Lucic lost his stick

Second, I loved the sloppy work on the gwg with 3 seconds left:

I had a 3-on-2 pretty deep into the zone, at the top of the slot. I figured I had no shot trying to score with Seguin, so I tried passing it over to Savard, but he couldn't corral the puck and it went over to Krejci who deked LOLuongo out of his jock strap and scored on the backhand

[savoie2006]

Quote:

from the looks of it, you cant run into your own goalie and knock him down. which i guess is a good thing!!

I would you be able to. That way it would be more realsitic if you got knocked into your own goalie during a front of the net battle. It happens in the NHL where a defender will accidently bump his own goalie, it should happen in the game.

[goosedennis]

Though I am still trying to figure out why I had three centres on the ice at the same time

[gopher_guy]

Quote: Originally Posted by savoie2006

I would you be able to. That way it would be more realsitic if you got knocked into your own goalie during a front of the net battle. It happens in the NHL where a defender will accidently bump his own goalie, it should happen in the game.

I think it's best that they didn't include that though. Can you imagine how many people would be super pissed about accidentally knocking their goalie over allowing an easy goal to be scored?



I keep finding cool stuff in this demo as I play it Another thing I noticed, somebody else brought it up too, is how much better the puck looks during a slap shot (when the player is winding up to take the shot). I will have to look and see if it still magically moves into position when the player does the move where he spins 180 degrees and takes a slapshot, all in the same motion.