EA Producer Blog: NHL 12 Gameplay

Producer Sean Ramjagsingh here to give you a look at the improvements we’ve made to gameplay and AI in NHL 12. We’ve made a ton of improvements over last year’s game that we know our fans will appreciate and that will make NHL 12 the most authentic hockey videogame yet. Before we dive in, don’t forget to check out our first producer blog for NHL 12 which focused on goalie improvements.

The first thing you’ll notice when you play NHL 12 is what the new Full Contact Physics Engine brings to gameplay. Gone is the ‘A + B always equals C formula’ or in hockey terms, if you hit someone, they’re going to fall down. Size and physicality really do make a difference in the game as the physics engine uses these and other player attributes to produce a variety of unique outcomes with every hit or jostle for the puck. The Full Contact Physics Engine will also factor in player speeds, balance at the time of impact and facing. Contact won’t always knock players down, it can also cause a player to stumble or fall to his knees, forcing a player to slow down to recover and regain balance. You will now also see collisions where both players fall down after a hit. Where size difference is a factor, smaller players are more likely to be knocked off their skates while delivering a hit – think Daniel Briere trying to hit Zdeno Chara on the forecheck. In a nutshell, we let real world physics do what it would do!


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