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

[DrSpaceman7]

Quote: Originally Posted by tofubrain2

has anyone scored on shot from the point yet? i haven't thru like 20 demo periods.

I had all point shot goals last night, so much that I was hoping it wasn't a trend. 4 point shots and a breakaway were my goals. But then again, point shots and screens/deflections are my favorite offense, so it was probably a small sample size.

[Vikes1]

Quote: Originally Posted by bwiggy33

In fact I can take Chara from in his own end and rush the puck up untouched and enter the zone to take a shot. The AI defense forces me to do nothing differently each time I enter the zone.

This is what I'm seeing too, Bwiggy.

At times [many times] even with an AI player skating right along side of you, that should take you into the boards...the AI will simply let you skate right on by. That's pretty messed up. I'm truly hoping it's a symptom of it just being a demo. That the demo is geared to show off the offense. But I do have my doubts. I've been able to deal with this type of play from the AI for the last several releases now...and most likely will be able to again. But I was hoping to not have to...again. This is pretty frustrating, because the defensive AI once I do gain the zone [with ease] is quite good imo.

This issue does imo, hurt the what sure could be...a far less scripted feel to the game. With NHL still being a...up and down, back and forth playing hockey game...a HUGE part of the real life game is lost. That's a shame.

Like I said...I guess I can deal with this for another year vs the AI. I still enjoy the game a great deal. But what a drag that such an easy fix, is left undone for the more sim crowd. I mean, it just can't be that difficult to program the AI to be more aggressive towards the puck carriers headed up ice...without leaving the AI defense completely exposed behind them.

[mkharsh33]

meh, they want the track meet at EA. let's face it, this game is not made for the hard-core hockey fan. as stated here, hopefully slider tweaks can help us, but EA wants this to be Blades of Steel out of the box.

[bwiggy33]

Quote: Originally Posted by Vikes1

This is what I'm seeing too, Bwiggy. At times [many times] even with an AI player skating right along side of you, that should take you into the boards...the AI will simply let you skate right on by. That's pretty messed up. I'm truly hoping it's a symptom of it just being a demo. That the demo is geared to show off the offense. But I do have my doubts. I've been able to deal with this type of play from the AI for the last several releases now...and most likely will be able to again. But I was hoping to not have to...again. This is pretty frustrating, because the defensive AI once I do gain the zone [with ease] is quite good imo. This issue does imo, hurt the what sure could be...a far less scripted feel to the game. With NHL still being a...up and down, back and forth playing hockey game...a HUGE part of the real life game is lost. That's a shame. Like I said...I guess I can deal with this for another year vs the AI. I still enjoy the game a great deal. But what a drag that such an easy fix, is left undone for the more sim crowd. I mean, it just can't be that difficult to program the AI to be more aggressive towards the puck carriers headed up ice...without leaving the AI defense completely exposed behind them.

See and I don't even think this fix would just be for the sim player. It takes away the challenge of the game. After a while who really wants to skate into the zone and take a wide open shot in the slot every time because the CPU d men collapse towards their net? I don't think anybody does sim or not. That's how a game becomes repetitive and stale. I just pray this can be fixed.

MKharsh I wish 2k would have released a game this year just to have two hockey options. I always hated 2k games because of how clunky they feel, but in all honesty it's the more sim one out of the two games IMO. I know many would disagree with me but that's how I feel. After a while you get used to the gameplay even though it's nowhere near as smooth as EA's. EA no question has the better game, 2k is just more sim. That's why if 2k and EA teamed up they would make an absolutely amazing hockey game!

[RealmK]

Quote: Originally Posted by bwiggy33

See and I don't even think this fix would just be for the sim player. It takes away the challenge of the game. After a while who really wants to skate into the zone and take a wide open shot in the slot every time because the CPU d men collapse towards their net? I don't think anybody does sim or not. That's how a game becomes repetitive and stale. I just pray this can be fixed. MKharsh I wish 2k would have released a game this year just to have two hockey options. I always hated 2k games because of how clunky they feel, but in all honesty it's the more sim one out of the two games IMO. I know many would disagree with me but that's how I feel. After a while you get used to the gameplay even though it's nowhere near as smooth as EA's. EA no question has the better game, 2k is just more sim. That's why if 2k and EA teamed up they would make an absolutely amazing hockey game!

See this is what I don't understand, 2k's AI can't even do a proper breakout, and 2k10's goalies are peewee at best no matter the slider settings. 2k10 if you have a Dman in your own zone with possession of the puck, all 4 other players race out of the zone, they don't set up a break out, the other dman doesn't make himself available on the other side of the net if you're being pressured, there's actually even LESS neutral zone pressure. 2k's arena's look great, the incidental contact is "okay" but in typical 2k style it's animation heavy to the point where I don't feel like I have control of my players. (long time issue with all of their sports titles imo)

While 2k's arenas and some of their options are nice (NHL Today), they lack so much not only in AI but in just general features that make BeAGM mode so deep (Actual AHL, CHL etc) Not to mention the franchise freeze the game has had for decade. The dreadful unresponsive controls and unintuitive systems (line changes, two buttons for a slapshot etc)

I'm all for competition, I really am, but honestly? NHL2k wasn't even competing, the series up to the time of it's demise wasn't doing much more than treading water.

[bwiggy33]

Quote: Originally Posted by RealmK

See this is what I don't understand, 2k's AI can't even do a proper breakout, and 2k10's goalies are peewee at best no matter the slider settings. 2k10 if you have a Dman in your own zone with possession of the puck, all 4 other players race out of the zone, they don't set up a break out, the other dman doesn't make himself available on the other side of the net if you're being pressured, there's actually even LESS neutral zone pressure. 2k's arena's look great, the incidental contact is "okay" but in typical 2k style it's animation heavy to the point where I don't feel like I have control of my players. (long time issue with all of their sports titles imo) While 2k's arenas and some of their options are nice (NHL Today), they lack so much not only in AI but in just general features that make BeAGM mode so deep (Actual AHL, CHL etc) Not to mention the franchise freeze the game has had for decade. The dreadful unresponsive controls and unintuitive systems (line changes, two buttons for a slapshot etc) I'm all for competition, I really am, but honestly? NHL2k wasn't even competing, the series up to the time of it's demise wasn't doing much more than treading water.

My bad, I didn't specify. I was actually talking about 2k8. I have played 2k10 as well but that IMO isn't as good as 2k8. The main point is I just feel that the AI isn't as predictable in the 2k games. It's probably because I haven't played 2k hockey nearly as much as the EA games, but I picked up on the NHL AI in the demo immediately because I was able to do the same things I could do in NHL 11. The 2k games have more dynamic AI. It isn't scripted. I almost feel as if EA's AI is scripted. NHL beats 2k in every category but AI IMO. Sadly that is a huge deal to me since I love to play BeAGM. Only time will tell though. As I said before I shouldn't be so negative when I haven't played the final release. I just have that sketchy feeling that the demo is going to play like the final version.

On another note I'm more focused on the CPU not so much the AI on my team. I just think the CPU is scripted at what they do. I have very few gripes on what my AI does. I just want the CPU to be dynamic and smart. I want to get the feeling that I deserved to win. When I play NHL 11 I don't get amped up anymore because it feels like more of the same thing every time I play because of the lack of variety in gameplay by the CPU.

[Segagendude]

Quote: Originally Posted by Vikes1

This is what I'm seeing too, Bwiggy. At times [many times] even with an AI player skating right along side of you, that should take you into the boards...the AI will simply let you skate right on by. That's pretty messed up. I'm truly hoping it's a symptom of it just being a demo. That the demo is geared to show off the offense. But I do have my doubts. I've been able to deal with this type of play from the AI for the last several releases now...and most likely will be able to again. But I was hoping to not have to...again. This is pretty frustrating, because the defensive AI once I do gain the zone [with ease] is quite good imo. This issue does imo, hurt the what sure could be...a far less scripted feel to the game. With NHL still being a...up and down, back and forth playing hockey game...a HUGE part of the real life game is lost. That's a shame. Like I said...I guess I can deal with this for another year vs the AI. I still enjoy the game a great deal. But what a drag that such an easy fix, is left undone for the more sim crowd. I mean, it just can't be that difficult to program the AI to be more aggressive towards the puck carriers headed up ice...without leaving the AI defense completely exposed behind them.

This is just my personal opinion......

It's the same deal with most other sports games----trying to strike that balance between "hardcore sim" and "slightly arcade". As a newbie myself, I like the "pick up and play" style. If EA made a true-to-life sim, most gamers who aren't sim players would be turned off by it, let's be honest.

How many threads would start with "I can't even get into the zone!! This game is too hard"?

I look at The Show, as an example----how many beginners got frustrated cause they couldn't even pitch a good game? Alot, even on rookie mode. Or, "Dang, I can't hit a hr to save my life, and I'm using the Yankees!!!" Because it's skill level is pretty high.

Now, OTOH, I myself wouldn't want an NHL game where I could score at will using scrub teams vs. championship-caliber teams. That gets boring, and is partly the reason why I stopped playing Madden. Winning games by double digits constantly just isn't fun.

Now, for me personally, NHL gives me a nice challenge. Sure, I can skate right past the blueline into the zone, but from there, I can't just fire a slapshot and score, esp. in this current demo. In fact, I moved the game down to rookie just to score a goal or two to see what it's like, lol.

Default Pro, I constantly lose the puck, miss shots, skate right past the rebounded puck, etc. Again, though, that's just me. The challenge is there for me, which is why earlier in this thread, I posted about getting over-excited when I actually DO score a goal, esp. one that wasn't "cheap". This demo makes me work for it...

I've used sliders I found for NHL 10 that gave me low-scoring games, tough defenses to play against, and the like. I'm quite positive this will be the case this year; there are some awesome slider makers here.

But I can certainly understand what hardcore sim players are yearning for. Happens in every game thread, every year-----"It's not sim enough!!"

And as I always suggest, EA (Or whomever) should just make a two disc set: One similar to what we have now, the other hardcore sim. Yes, the price would skyrocket, but if they could satisfy BOTH types of players, I'm sure a majority of fans would spend the $$$$.

[bwiggy33]

Quote: Originally Posted by Segagendude

This is just my personal opinion...... It's the same deal with most other sports games----trying to strike that balance between "hardcore sim" and "slightly arcade". As a newbie myself, I like the "pick up and play" style. If EA made a true-to-life sim, most gamers who aren't sim players would be turned off by it, let's be honest. How many threads would start with "I can't even get into the zone!! This game is too hard"? I look at The Show, as an example----how many beginners got frustrated cause they couldn't even pitch a good game? Alot, even on rookie mode. Or, "Dang, I can't hit a hr to save my life, and I'm using the Yankees!!!" Because it's skill level is pretty high. Now, OTOH, I myself wouldn't want an NHL game where I could score at will using scrub teams vs. championship-caliber teams. That gets boring, and is partly the reason why I stopped playing Madden. Winning games by double digits constantly just isn't fun. Now, for me personally, NHL gives me a nice challenge. Sure, I can skate right past the blueline into the zone, but from there, I can't just fire a slapshot and score, esp. in this current demo. In fact, I moved the game down to rookie just to score a goal or two to see what it's like, lol. Default Pro, I constantly lose the puck, miss shots, skate right past the rebounded puck, etc. Again, though, that's just me. The challenge is there for me, which is why earlier in this thread, I posted about getting over-excited when I actually DO score a goal, esp. one that wasn't "cheap". This demo makes me work for it... I've used sliders I found for NHL 10 that gave me low-scoring games, tough defenses to play against, and the like. I'm quite positive this will be the case this year; there are some awesome slider makers here. But I can certainly understand what hardcore sim players are yearning for. Happens in every game thread, every year-----"It's not sim enough!!" And as I always suggest, EA (Or whomever) should just make a two disc set: One similar to what we have now, the other hardcore sim. Yes, the price would skyrocket, but if they could satisfy BOTH types of players, I'm sure a majority of fans would spend the $$$$.

That is very well stated. The reason why The show is my favorite game is because of how sim and challenging it is. To me frustration=Success in the video game world. If I get frustrated because the CPU plays a fair game, but I make a critical mistake, it feels awesome. Sure it pisses me off, but it makes me come back for more.

As for why they can't have total sim in this game, I really don't understand it. They've already split up the game into different game styles. There's casual, normal, and hardcore. I don't understand why they can't make casual complete arcade then make normal an arcade/sim combination (what NHL 11 is right now), and then make hardcore a complete sim. That doesn't make much sense. This game has the different game styles depending on what each person is looking for, yet hardcore isn't how a sim hockey game should feel. By doing that they cater to every single person, making this game that much better.