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

[RealmK]

Quote: Originally Posted by MizzouRah

I've been playing on AS and I have to say, Rammer and EA have done one hell of a job. If you can't notice all the tweaks they have made to gameplay, I'm not sure what to tell you. The game really feels like a complete hockey game now to me. There is just so much to love about this demo. I can't believe AS is finally a real experience for me, used to be Pro was too easy and AS too hard (as far as scoring goes) - but now I'm finding new ways to get that goal - and I've seen TONS of new goals this year. The replays are jerky.. I'm hoping that's a demo thing and it's my only gripe. I LOVE the new gametracker, love how the announcer now sounds like a real home announcer when he announces the who scored! The crowd seems a bit more amped up. To me, it seems like they really tweaked and reworked many things, especially the AI. When I play with the lead, I'm holding on for dear life, when the other team has a lead they are trying to protect, especially late in the game, they do whatever is necessary to get the puck out of their zone and regroup. Damn I'm impressed!!! Oh.. and goals are now believeable from myself and the CPU.

I feel the same way, I was up til 3am this morning just saying over and over one more period, one more period. I love the puck physics and AI improvements, that my CPU team mates now actively get in passing lanes and the contact in the front of the net make point shots deadly. The game feels like hockey to me. Less scripted, any shot can go in and I don't feel as though it's just a rehash by any means. Obviously peoples MMV but if the sim engine works out like they say it will, I'll be very happy with this year's game offline.

I actually really also like the hitting as well. if you catch a guy mid shot or pass, he's going to go down more than likely. Or really line him up on the boards and crush him, at times your skater dropping to a knee or stumbling from momentum. There's alot of subtle things that really improve the game for me, the bench reactions to what's going on. Lively puck bounces off the boards that come back out in front. That dump and chase is viable now that the puck has very little magnetism.

Maybe I'm easier to please with this series due to that I've enjoyed it every year since 07, but for people to say this is 09.3 or what not, and doesn't play a much better game on the ice, well I'm sorry I just don't agree.

[Qb]

After playing some more last night and then watching a good chunk of a replayed VAN/NASH playoff game on NHL Network, I really feel the rebounds are off in some scenarios. Sure, there are times when a puck will rebound a great distance, but often that's due to an awkward save or simply intentional by the goalie. Think kicking a low shot out away from traffic or directing a puck to corner with the blocker.

What really struck me as I watched the real game, granted it was Luongo & Rinne, was how few rebounds there are. Almost anything that hits the goalie above the leg pads simply gets swallowed up by the all the padding. Even very low shots -- they have to be quite low to even hit the pads with the proliferation of the butterly & hybrid techniques -- seem to die more often than not when hitting the pads, unless they're from a sharp angle.

When I play the demo, it seems the puck loses little if any force/speed when it hits the goalie. I just don't see this as right... goalies are pratically big soft padded pillows that swallow up pucks and due to better technique & equipment, are much more capable of handling ones they don't.

I like the new puck physics with partial deflections and all that comes with it, but for me, the puck has to lose more speed when the goalie gets a piece of it. Thoughts?

Quote: Originally Posted by SGMRock

I think they should almost have seperate online and offline tuners because of the differences between the two. That way they could totally seperation the tuning of them from eachother, one not messing up the others gameplay.

I don't think it's been confirmed, but one of the menu screenshots showed something that looked like separate online/offline tuners. I agree this could be a big help, as things that get exploited online sometimes work as intended offline... like when they nerfed puck protect last year.

Quote: Originally Posted by Fiddy

maybe have Qb, start a NHL 12 Demo Glitch type thread? so maybe EA can see some of the issues that still exist and maybe get working on fixing it quicker..

We can have one. The only issue I see is the inability to capture/post replays -- aside from the few who have external devices -- which I think would almost be necessary for some of the stuff you're talking about.

[rangersfan30]

For the first time in i dont know how long i haven't followed the progress released during the run up to release date, I have been very meh on NHL 12 due to disappointments i had with the last two versions so much so that i dont even think i'll download the demo and just wait till a month after release date and see what the feedback is from you guys.

I usually cant wait to get my hands on my yearly hockey installment but to be honest i am more psyched for Gears 3 and Arkham City than i am NHL 12, Dont get me wrong if i read positive feedback from the guys on here once the slider sets have been played around with its most likely i will go out and get it but i am going to be more patient rather than buy then end up trading 12 like i have with 10 and 11.

I want to be sure that when/if i get this years game i wont be left disappointed with franchise like i have previously, i want to know that after a season i wont have a free agency pool filled with superstars who havent been signed or RFA's who haven't been re-signed.

I have been left constantly disappointed in my favourite sports games for the past few years, Football Manager has went downhill for me, NHL seems to leave me dissatisfied and i stopped playing FIFA and PES altogether, Maybe thats says more about me than anything but i just dont seem to enjoy them as much.

The weird thing is if NHL 12 manages to nail franchise mode and it were to keep me interested i would never have 12 out my machine.

I hope to be reading positive feedback about 12 when its released, please be the hockey game that has me back happy with this series.

[Money99]

Quote: Originally Posted by kt-od

Well, I have bought the EA NHL game every year since 2001. I'm going to pass this year. Although the game play is still good, I still lose interest in the game after about 1 month of playing. I think it's the lack of presentation.

A very valid complaint.

I don't want to pile on this series, but with an immersive presentation package, the gamer can be sucked into the world to the point they don't want to leave.
But seeing the same 5 canned cut-scenes over and over again, it can hurt the experience.

I'd love for EA to introduce a weekly show highlighting scores and goals from around the league.
Adding out of town highlights would go a long way as well.

I haven't played NHL12 yet, but based on the previous versions, the NHL series still suffers from a disconnect during Franchise modes.
You simply don't feel you're apart of a larger world.

Imagine if you had a really good rookie and late in the year, after scoring your 25th goal, the commentators noted what a great year you're having but "Edmonton's young star scored his 31st last night in Phoenix to make him a favorite for the Calder Trophy".

I could go on and on about this subject, but in the end, you can make all the gameplay advancements you want. If it's still in the same shallow cup, people will turn away thinking they got the same girl, but with a touch more lipstick.
Give her a new dress, funky hairstyle and high-heels!

[Blzer]

I've always had problems with rebounds in this game. I believe it's where the NHL gets most of its goals, if I'm not mistaken. There don't seem to be enough deflections, and instead there is a whole lot of suction going on from the goalies.

I always forget if there is a slider for this... ?

[Skerik]

Quote: Originally Posted by Qb

After playing some more last night and then watching a good chunk of a replayed VAN/NASH playoff game on NHL Network, I really feel the rebounds are off in some scenarios. Sure, there are times when a puck will rebound a great distance, but often that's due to an awkward save or simply intentional by the goalie. Think kicking a low shot out away from traffic or directing a puck to corner with the blocker. What really struck me as I watched the real game, granted it was Luongo & Rinne, was how few rebounds there are. Almost anything that hits the goalie above the leg pads simply gets swallowed up by the all the padding. Even very low shots -- they have to be quite low to even hit the pads with the proliferation of the butterly & hybrid techniques -- seem to die more often than not when hitting the pads, unless they're from a sharp angle. When I play the demo, it seems the puck loses little if any force/speed when it hits the goalie. I just don't see this as right... goalies are pratically big soft padded pillows that swallow up pucks and due to better technique & equipment, are much more capable of handling ones they don't. I like the new puck physics with partial deflections and all that comes with it, but for me, the puck has to lose more speed when the goalie gets a piece of it. Thoughts?

I think this is in direct response to the technique that a lot of teams employ in EASHL, which is to throw a harmless little wrist shot on the net from the point, which is stopped by the goalie's pad and kicked directly out onto the crashing forward's stick on the other side of the net for an easy goal. I agree that there are very few rebounds in general, but the ones I've seen that have exhibited the behavior you're describing have all been directed into the corners and not out into the slot.

I'd like to see more rebounds come off the goalie and land loose at his feet, but in comparison to last year's game where there were way too many springy rebounds generated by very weak shots at a goalie's pads, I'm happy if this is the solution.

[kerosene31]

Quote: Originally Posted by RealmK

I feel the same way, I was up til 3am this morning just saying over and over one more period, one more period. I love the puck physics and AI improvements, that my CPU team mates now actively get in passing lanes and the contact in the front of the net make point shots deadly. The game feels like hockey to me. Less scripted, any shot can go in and I don't feel as though it's just a rehash by any means. Obviously peoples MMV but if the sim engine works out like they say it will, I'll be very happy with this year's game offline. I actually really also like the hitting as well. if you catch a guy mid shot or pass, he's going to go down more than likely. Or really line him up on the boards and crush him, at times your skater dropping to a knee or stumbling from momentum. There's alot of subtle things that really improve the game for me, the bench reactions to what's going on. Lively puck bounces off the boards that come back out in front. That dump and chase is viable now that the puck has very little magnetism. Maybe I'm easier to please with this series due to that I've enjoyed it every year since 07, but for people to say this is 09.3 or what not, and doesn't play a much better game on the ice, well I'm sorry I just don't agree.

I'm totally with you.

Those physics changes and other things are what will keep the game interesting over the next many months.

I get why others don't like it though. People want different things out of the game.

That said, I think that since 07 this is the smallest jump in improvements.

[Jattbreed]

My gripe is this, I'm not saying the game is bad, NHL 12 is NOT bad. But is it enough to call itself a brand new game worth $60+ dollars?

You added puck physics, advanced the hitting engine (which demowise, the collisions at times look awful), and edited skating a bit to show the strides, that's great what else?

Winter Classic? Who cares. 9 legends? Why not give me a whole team. Hell I had a Legends roster created for 1993 in my NHL 11 that I would've gladly shared with this community had roster sharing been enabled but NOPE. So 9 legends? Screw that, I had over 200 in my NHL 11 Classics Roster.

Last year you revamped hitting, BEAGM got their RFA's and trading years picks, EASHL got a makeover. I mean, last year, I'll give you the fact I was excited.

This year, I mean WHAT have you added really? A sim engine to BEAGM? You mean a sim engine that was broken for the past couple years is fixed...that's something that should've been fixed from the beginning! Don't introduce it now like it's "new and improved", no its a fix of a horrible sim engine from past years.

And if you're excited by goalie fights, broken glass, and helmets popping off, well then we're in different boats of NHL gaming fans.

By the way, I can't wait til we find out our first NHL player's cyberface that is completely off. Last year we had a bald Karlsson, the year before we had an Iranian Luke Schenn, which player's image will be fudged this year.

Maybe I've been playing too much NBA2K and MLB The Show and that's why I expect so much. Or then again, maybe those games have set such a high standard of what gamers have, SHOULD and deserve to expect from gaming companies wanting your yearly investment.