NHL 12 News Post

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

06:52 AM - August 23, 2011 by Steve_OS

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NHL 12 demo is available now, please play a few games and post your impressions here. The demo weighs in at 1.34 GB. Available now for 360, later this afternoon for PS3.

UPDATE: PS3 demo is available now.

What's included in the demo? Check out the NHL 12 demo announcement blog.

Game: NHL 12Reader Score: 7.5/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS3 / Xbox 360Votes for game: 26 - View All

NHL 12 Videos

Member Comments

# 161 stew514 @ 08/23/11 08:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Qb


	I suspect this is something they will be looking closely for feedback on for further tuning. I can see a lot complaining from those used to the old style, so hopefully they don't go too far back the other way. It sounds like a promising change if balanced properly.

I think slowing down the movement of the right stick was a perfect compromise. Sure you would still lose a bit of speed, but when you aren't able to go left right in a blink of an eye it's not as impactful. When you combine the two it makes playing 1 on 1 defense extremely easy.

# 162 LuGer33 @ 08/23/11 08:56 PM

A few other things I noticed:

-Net physics seem better this year. This is small but kind of cool. The puck seems to react much more realistically when hitting the twine. I was thinking this for awhile then I had the Bruins snipe me in OT and the puck went into the net and died in the very back of it. Like it disappeared into the back of the net almost. I've also seen shots pop out, roll around, etc. Very cool!

-Lots and lots of different shooting animations (saw a nice shovel shot by Sedin on the side of the net) depending on body position. Excellent improvement, just like the varied skating animations.

-There's commentary in the game about how your team has done the past 10 games. Should be cool for offline play.

-On the Xbox dashboard, you can see what mode people are playing again instead of just "Playing Online" or "Playing Offline."

# 163 Redskins Pride @ 08/23/11 08:58 PM

I was playing as Boston and winning until those dirty Canucks loop glitched me!

Heh.

Seriously though, the demo isn't going to make me NOT buy the game. I'm too addicted to EASHL to pass it up. Although, hearing Gary Thorne's tired *** voice seriously made me consider it ...

# 164 kerosene31 @ 08/23/11 09:24 PM

Just got the demo and played 3 regular games and a be a pro.

First off: I have always felt that the difficulty in the demos is always watered down a bit vs the full game. I know with 11 and 10 the demos were easier than the full game, and I am guessing things are the same this year. I don't remember what year it was but one year we all played on all star in the demo and thought we were good, then the game came out and nobody could score.

Anyway, impressions:

Note: with replays unavailable it was hard to verify a lot of things...

Positives:

-One of my first scoring chances was seeing Malhotra wide open in the slot below the hashmarks. I hit him on the money and he takes a second to corral the puck and the D picks him up. Later on, I hit Henrik Sedin with a harder pass into much less space and he not only controls it but buries it. We've definitely got better player separation.

-It seems harder to skate through a crowd, and easier for a D with good positioning to push a player wide without really "hitting" him. One thing that bugged me in 11 was the players felt super thin and everyone could easily roll off or skate through anyone. In my one BAP game I decided to just run the goalie. Well, by the time I fought through all the bodies to get to the front, the puck was out. Last year I would have "clipped" my way through.

-Puck physics seem better. The puck seemed more lively along the boards. I play a lot of D in the EASHL and BAP and usually I can easily clear most pucks. I noticed more hard dumps in that didn't slow down nearly as much. Hopefully this makes the dump and chase more viable.

-Skating felt a lot better. Definitely more separation between players (still maybe not as much as we'd like).

Negatives:

-Might just be a weird thing, but I had 4 goals in my first 5 minute period, all but one on slapshots from far out. Without replay controls I couldn't check for screens or bounces well. It didn't happen again so maybe a fluke.

-Hitting felt a little weird. At times I was still hitting hard, but other times nobody would go down. In my last game I wanted to purposely get a boarding or hitting from behind penalty, and I could not knock anyone over. Not sure if this is really a bad thing or not.

Overall:

The one thing that I like is that they make hundreds of tiny little gameplay tweaks, yet when you put them together you can so much better gameplay overall. If it ain't broke...

# 165 crayzman @ 08/23/11 09:33 PM

Loving the game, just lost despite scoring 2 goals because they were both disallowed due to goaltender interference, first one Lucic just bowled over Luongo trying to get past Bieksa, 2nd one it looked like Luongo initiated contact, flopped and got the call.

Pretty sweet and realistic haha

# 166 TheMatrix31 @ 08/23/11 09:40 PM

First time I've played a hockey game in years. My first thought? Too many things to control. I have to get used to this definitely. Is there a turbo button or something like that? Also couldn't figure out what to do on faceoffs. This is the PS3 version.

Had some fun though, especially with the computer generated scenarios going into the third period.

Game is a little slow. I like hockey games to be a bit faster. As mentioned earlier, maybe if there's a turbo button or something I don't know about, that'd be great.

Had a couple nice dekes and some passes. I feel like this game will be crazy fun once I get used to it.

# 167 Super Glock @ 08/23/11 09:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheMatrix31


	First time I've played a hockey game in years. My first thought? Too many things to control. I have to get used to this definitely. Is there a turbo button or something like that? Also couldn't figure out what to do on faceoffs. This is the PS3 version. Had some fun though, especially with the computer generated scenarios going into the third period. Game is a little slow. I like hockey games to be a bit faster. As mentioned earlier, maybe if there's a turbo button or something I don't know about, that'd be great. Had a couple nice dekes and some passes. I feel like this game will be crazy fun once I get used to it.

What difficulty level are you playing on?

# 168 TheMatrix31 @ 08/23/11 09:47 PM

Not sure, whatever the default demo difficulty is, I guess.

# 169 SinisterAlex @ 08/23/11 09:49 PM

Another thing I'm liking about this game is that Dump and Chase hockey, at least to me, is a very viable option in this years game I've dumped the puck numerous times and I've gotten control of the puck right away or a few moments later after a dump in.

# 170 MiNiDiTkA @ 08/23/11 09:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheMatrix31


	First time I've played a hockey game in years. My first thought? Too many things to control. I have to get used to this definitely. Is there a turbo button or something like that? Also couldn't figure out what to do on faceoffs. This is the PS3 version. Had some fun though, especially with the computer generated scenarios going into the third period. Game is a little slow. I like hockey games to be a bit faster. As mentioned earlier, maybe if there's a turbo button or something I don't know about, that'd be great. Had a couple nice dekes and some passes. I feel like this game will be crazy fun once I get used to it.

I'd suggest playing it on easy and changing the control scheme to 94 or classic

# 171 BobSacamano @ 08/23/11 10:00 PM

Did it take anyone else forevvvvver to install the demo? The game downloaded fairly quickly (20 minutes, maybe?), but the install is just crawling.

PS3, btw.

# 172 sportdan30 @ 08/23/11 10:10 PM

I have played both versions, and I'm surprised to say I prefer the PS3 version to the 360 version. This was not the case with Madden!

The PS3 version feels smoother and more responsive. It also seems to play faster. Graphically, they are identical.

I'll have to give the 360 version some more time, but maybe it's the PS3 controller I enjoy so much with this game too!

# 173 H to the Oza @ 08/23/11 10:18 PM

Feels like NHL 11, which is a good thing. Few problems I noticed were

Problems pinning opponent against boards
Hitting a player down from behind with little momentum

# 174 Money99 @ 08/23/11 10:20 PM

Just saw something pretty cool.

I was in the Bruins zone and tried to pass to my dman who was pinching in.
Marchand tried to intercept but it went off his stick and deflected right on my pinching-Dman's blade for a decent shot.

In previous versions this would have been an automatic interception and turnover.

# 175 DCSportsFanKyle @ 08/23/11 10:21 PM

Two things.

1. I really like the realism on the boards. First, David Krechji was boarded, they stopped play. Showed replays and David limping down the runway.

2. The coolest thing ever happened in my first game. CPU took a slapshot, it hit of a Bruins knee and then the CPU baseball swing it out of the net into the goal. The referee then waved of the goal. It was the most amazing sequence to ever happen in a sports game.

# 176 vader999 @ 08/23/11 10:23 PM

I liked it a lot! Quite sure i'll be buying it.
My only complaint about the demo so far is that I find it hard to score goals with the sliders and shot aim both locked. Loved seeing player's loosing helmets in addition to getting Luongo into a fight!

# 177 H to the Oza @ 08/23/11 10:24 PM

and theres some soft interference calls too..

# 178 SinisterAlex @ 08/23/11 10:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by H to the Oza


	and theres some soft interference calls too..

I like the interference calls in this game. They were BRUTAL in NHL 11. Hopefully this will help hold back some of these obnoxious big hits in OTP/EASHL.

# 179 Gagnon39 @ 08/23/11 10:28 PM

I've played NHL since 08 on superstar and I have to say that this might be the year that I bump it down to all star. The CPU is WAY too hyped up. Intercepting every pass, on my like flies on... well.

Anyway, here's my overall breakdown.

The Good...

The game feels great. Skating just simply seems more fluid and more natural. The net battles are a nice addtion. One of my favorite things is how they tweaked blocked shots. If you hit both bumpers in NHL 11 you automatically slid on the ice and it often was out of place. In the demo it is contextual and very appropriate. If you hit both bumpers while you're lined up for a block and not sliding into position for the block, you lower to one knee and make yourself big. Very, very nice. The passing seems fluid but definitely needs to be a little sloppier, something I'm sure sliders can fix.

The Bad...

The hitting "physics" if you can call it that are a joke. I wish I could upload a video to demonstrate but I'll just try and explain instead. I lined up Daniel Sedin with Zdeno Chara (I was the Bruins) for a hit along the boards. Chara dropped to his knees when contact was made and the hit just looked akward. Also, I can't count the number of times that Chara was taken out. I probably played 10 games and he got dropped to the ice at least 3 times each game. When's the last time that has happened in real life?

It honestly feels a bit like playing NHL Hitz. Bodies flying everywhere. Glancing blows are no where to be seen. Everything is a huge, crushing hit. Again, something that can hopefully be fixed with sliders. As of right now I feel like the game is border-line unplayable until we can tweak sliders. If this was the game that we had to play and sliders were not available, I'd pass.

The ugly...

All CPU players are little Gretzky's, passing with pinpoint accuracy and intercepting every pass that comes within their stick length. Even when you use a saucer pass you cannot pass it through the opposition and connect for a long, breakaway chance.

The goalies seem robotic. I went to a shootout once and it was hilarious how perfect Luongo was on every single deke. He literally mimicked my stick as I went from side to side until he made a perfect save every time. My only goals came during regulation play from one-timers in the slot.

Final thoughts.

First and foremost, I hope sliders fix this game. Right now it was the worst game of hockey I've seen from EA in a long time. The game feels like an arcade game and the defenders fly around like they're on speed. Given I was playing on superstar. The one thing that would give me some peace about it was if I knew (some of you might know) if the game has the slider, CPU difficulty, at 3, which was default in NHL 11.

This made the CPU skate faster, shoot harder, etc. Its the only explanation for some of the things I saw in the demo.

Bottom line. Not impressed. Hopefully sliders make this game what I expect it to be.

# 180 gopher_guy @ 08/23/11 10:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheMatrix31


	First time I've played a hockey game in years. My first thought? Too many things to control. I have to get used to this definitely. Is there a turbo button or something like that? Also couldn't figure out what to do on faceoffs. This is the PS3 version. Had some fun though, especially with the computer generated scenarios going into the third period. Game is a little slow. I like hockey games to be a bit faster. As mentioned earlier, maybe if there's a turbo button or something I don't know about, that'd be great. Had a couple nice dekes and some passes. I feel like this game will be crazy fun once I get used to it.

Not necessarily a "turbo" button, but I think they call it the "hustle button"

While you're skating with the left stick, you push it in (as if it were a button), to make your player "hustle". He skates slightly faster with the left stick held in.

Another thing you can do, is hit left trigger (or whatever the PS3 concurrent button is, L2 I think). What that does is pushes the puck out in front of your player, and he will skate faster to catch up to it. This one is a little more dangerous because you actually lose possession of the puck, but it's a great way to get position on a defender that is right next to you.

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