NHL 13 Season Ticket Impressions

[jyoung]

I'm noticing a lot of new contextual commentary where Bill and Gary will replay a moment from the game that just happened then talk about it for a bit during a replay. On shot replays, they can even tell where you're shooting from on the ice and what kind of shot you took.

Nicely done.

[onac22]

Quote: Originally Posted by davis420

I didn't play NHL 12, so this is a big jump from 11 for me. The game is outstanding. I tried playing on All-Star but had to drop to Pro and I'm still losing! lol

You're probably better off this is a different game with the skating.

[savoie2006]

Early impressions aren't much different than that from the demo, though adjusting some sliders definately improves the gameplay. The skating and custom AI are definate high points for me. The Cpu actually responds accordingly with the AI tweaks you make . Should come in useful for those that like to sim. My biggest beef with the game at this point is the Cpu seems to still have distinct advantages on the higher diffculty levels (passing and boosts especially), instead of just playing smarter hockey.

[mkharsh33]

In 2 games before I went to bed last night, I had two 2-0 leads heading into the 3rd period. Both leads disappeared and I lost one of them 4-2 and the other I won 3-2 in the closing seconds. Definitely see a cpu boost (All Star / Hardcore - with some tweaks). I'd like to consider the lower level this year, as I made some sliders a couple years ago for Pro that played well. This game might actually play best on that level, giving the cpu proper boosts. Not sure though...

[mike24forever]

I HATE that I still have to reset my Custom Camera and puck size and puck shadow to uthentic every time I turn on the game! This has been a problem for the past few years! For the life of me I can't comprehend how they have not fixed this.

[Drakar]

posted on the EA forum but I thought I could share here also

Be a Pro Goalie offline.
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. - Albert Einstein

There is a high numbers of positive in NHL 13 early release so far. The game has improved on so many level including goalie movement in the crest. A welcome change. Unfortunately, you will soon find out that Be a Pro Goalie is plague with the same trouble as last year : The dreaded 3rd period. I played 10 games this morning as a Be a Pro Goalie of 65 rating. My Save% in the first 2 period as an average of 0,938 (93%) and a 1.45 GAA. In the third period, I have an Save % of 0,600 (60%) and a 4,10 GAA. Overall, I get around 0,820 Save %.

I am still the same goalie as in the first 2 period but the opposite AI get a boost at around 10min left in the 3rd period and my teammate seem to have brain fart. It systematic. It happened on every single game. I get an score of A+ on positioning, A on teamplay and F on stats. It requires inhuman abilities to stop the AI in the last period. It is worst when my team is leading by a score or two. They put so much pressure that my teams collapse. I tried changing off and def strategy it makes no difference. Similar to last year, I played over 200+ games as a rookie and could never get my rookie card. The requirement was an 90% save percentage. So I had to resort to Save % boosting : I played 2 period and sim the 3rd. It was the only way to progress. This year it will be the same.

Every single year, the NHL team makes some leaps and bound in AI programming and boost forwards and goalie AI. After all, you have to make the game challenging for the player who likes to play forwards. I understand that has become a requirement as the majority of EA NHL hockey player will play a forward position. Where does that leave us ? The odd one that wants to see if he is better then Carey Price or Ken Dryden. It leave us in an impossible vertical progression scenario. The gap between the super human AI and an user controlling a goalie has now become too big to recover.

I don't even want to start thinking about online play as a goalie. It will be so difficult for anyone to succeed. We were already blame for all the breakaway we didn't stop because the defense decided he need to be in the back of the net while the opposite team cherry picked our blue line. If a human player can't play as good or good enough to replace an AI, no one will play that position.

I came to the acceptance that I will not get to play any 3rd period this year (once again) and try to enjoy the 2 great period this game is given me. I hope this doesn't come out an a negative rant. The game is very good, very close to great. I am sure I will have a different opinion when I start to play forward. The game was tweak and optimize for forward player once gain.

[Brio33]

I'm a long time lurker who finally got off his *** and registered. I just want to say thank you for all the people giving us a more in-depth look at the game for those poor folks who don't have Season Ticket. Keep the impressions coming!

I also want to thank mkharsh33 for the sliders he did for NHL 12, as those thouroughly increased my enjoyment of the game. I hope you are up for creating a good slider set for this years version.

[canucksss]

Quote: Originally Posted by mkharsh33

In 2 games before I went to bed last night, I had two 2-0 leads heading into the 3rd period. Both leads disappeared and I lost one of them 4-2 and the other I won 3-2 in the closing seconds. Definitely see a cpu boost (All Star / Hardcore - with some tweaks). I'd like to consider the lower level this year, as I made some sliders a couple years ago for Pro that played well. This game might actually play best on that level, giving the cpu proper boosts. Not sure though...

i'll be on the lookout for your sliders.

btw, i put my slap/shot power at 5 (1 down max.) and slap/shot accuracy in 2 (from 0) and i noticed many of the shots go wild and not even hitting the net. just want to make sure im not on auto-aim....how do you guys check the aim again if its in manual or auto??? thanks.