NHL 13 News Post

NHL 13 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360, PS3)

06:14 AM - August 21, 2012 by Steve_OS

This video is also available on the OS Youtube channel, please subscribe while you're there.

The above video showcases everything that is in the demo. Sliders, cameras, options, etc.

The NHL 13 demo is available now for the 360, later this afternoon for PS3. (We'll update this post when it is available.)

Queue it up right here, if you're not near a console. The NHL 13 demo weighs in at 1.33 GB.

The NHL 13 demo features four different modes. Play Now, NHL Moments Live, Hockey Ultimate Team and Free Skate.

In Play Now, you will control either the Los Angeles Kings or the New Jersey Devils in the 3rd period with a random score each time you play.

To learn more about the NHL 13 demo, click here and check out the latest blog.

Post your impressions here!

Game: NHL 13Reader Score: 8/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS3 / Xbox 360Votes for game: 23 - View All

NHL 13 Videos

Member Comments

# 261 Armor and Sword @ 08/24/12 06:49 AM

The game is awesome.

I skipped 12 and have been playing 11 for the past couple of years. I am a casual Hockey gamer but always love to play a good game....and NHL 13 looks and feels awesome. Organic is the best word. Speed kills and now it matters.

I am totally looking forward to firing up a Connected GM with my brother in-law who is a hockey junkie and going at it in our own NHL universe.

EA killed it this year with this game. Great stuff.

# 262 Nickflyers @ 08/24/12 09:40 AM

Had an awesome Play Now game before I went underway.

Started off 2-2, and with roughly 30 seconds the Devils scored off a fluke goal. I forgot who took the shot but it hit Quick's blocker and went up and over him and trickled in.

So I crank up the pressure and drew a faceoff in Jersey's zone. Pulled Quick for an extra attacker, lost the faceoff but pressured, I think, Zajac on the side boards with Brown and Kopitar, won the puck with Brown, snuck a pass over to Carter in the high slot and he fired a hard shot over Brodeur's blocker with 1.9 seconds left. Looked like a real hockey game, just how organic the players moved and reacted.

This game is going to be insane! September 11th can't come any sooner!

# 263 jake19ny @ 08/24/12 10:47 AM

I have finally been able to log a bit a time with the demo and played a bunch of games. Bottom line I stink now LOL...I cannot win a face off and I cannot score to save my ***. The new skating is great and the game finally has that somewhat realistic aspect we have been waiting for. The goalies make some great saves. I stick to my original thought that as long as the sliders work this game will be awesome. I am still concerned about the lack of penalties, but hope the sliders fix that as well. I'm not to worried about scoring because once I get the hang of the new skating I should be able to gain the zone, cycle better, and have more scoring chances. I have been playing around with free skate just to get used to the skating. I kind of like how if you tap the back skate button just once your guy kind of does a quick stop and turns. Not only does it look realistic if I can get used to it you can make some good passes or you can cut and change direction. I cant wait for the release.......one complaint....whats with the really creepy over the top blue eyes some of the guys have....LOL

# 264 Money99 @ 08/24/12 11:32 AM

Played quite a bit more last night and this morning and while I'm still enjoying it a lot, I'm starting to grow tired with your lazy and passive AI teammates.
I have to do everything in the defensive zone. Wingers just stare at their d-men at the point, and my own dmen just stand in the corner and watch the CPU do whatever it wants.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the plate, the CPU dogs my point-men with extreme prejudice and I have to really work hard downlow in the corners because their wingers come back to help their dmen.
If my teammates played like the CPU it would be SO much better.
I hope sliders can fix it, but they didn't last year. So hopefully that's different this time around.
Not sure I can stomach having another year of playing grab-arse while my teammates stand around picking their noses.

# 265 Flamesfan102 @ 08/24/12 11:45 AM

NHL 13 is such a phenomenal leap over NHL 12. I love the true performance skating and the presentation overhaul. I can't see this game not getting at least one 10/10 review when it launches.

I cannot wait to tryout GM Mode with the new GM Brain and Hockey IQ!

Only 2 1/2 weeks to go which seems so long. What makes it worse is the game is already manufactured and ready to play, it's just waiting to ship from their warehouse... haha

# 266 Spanky @ 08/24/12 11:47 AM

Played several games of the demo; my opinions pretty much mirror what already has been said.

I played NHL 08, 09 and 10 and really liked the series, but there was little upgrade from one year to the next, so I did not purchase 11 and 12. However, I feel there is a significant enough upgrade from 10 to 13 to justify a purchase.

I enjoy the skating and the fact that it is harder to complete passes (almost everything in 10 seemed to go tape to tape).

I will buy this as long as I can get some type of discount, either right away or a credit for a future purchase through Amazon, which is where I buy most of my games from nowadays. I'll pay $40 to $45 for a game, not $60. Just on principle.

# 267 Vikes1 @ 08/24/12 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flamesfan102


	NHL 13 is such a phenomenal leap over NHL 12. I love the true performance skating and the presentation overhaul. I can't see this game not getting at least one 10/10 review when it launches. I cannot wait to tryout GM Mode with the new GM Brain and Hockey IQ! Only 2 1/2 weeks to go which seems so long. What makes it worse is the game is already manufactured and ready to play, it's just waiting to ship from their warehouse... haha

I agree Flames, the leap from '12' to '13' is large...very large.

I must admit, I was taking off guard by just how much different the game is in just one year. I'm just so used to the small upgrades that get pretty much lost in the shuffle after a few weeks or so. Imo...NHL '13' is far from the same ole same ole. And ya, I'm really looking forward to getting a GM mode started. [After some practice]

# 268 bigbob @ 08/24/12 04:02 PM

My biggest complaints are three things I noticed that are back from last year, even though one of the issues EA said they had taken out completely.

1. Computers still get an extra boost whenever there's a loose puck.

2. Every other hit seems to be over-exaggerated.

3. Players don't reach back for the puck, forcing you to stop and lose all momentum.

# 269 Steven547 @ 08/24/12 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigbob


	My biggest complaints are three things I noticed that are back from last year, even though one of the issues EA said they had taken out completely. 1. Computers still get an extra boost whenever there's a loose puck. 2. Every other hit seems to be over-exaggerated. 3. Players don't reach back for the puck, forcing you to stop and lose all momentum.

1: Don't think this will ever be fixed, but I'm hoping the sliders / attributes can adjust for this.

2: Remember, this is a DEMO. I believe the hitting slider is maxed out, so yes, you will get exaggerated hits.

3: Haven't see this too much.

Overall, decent DEMO, but the goalies still have a very weak AI. (Passing to the opposing team, or coming about 15 feet out of his net WHILE the opposing team is next to him...almost getting delay of game penalties again). I'm anxious for the game, but I don't think the goalie AI has been addressed very well, or not at all.

# 270 bigbob @ 08/24/12 04:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven547


	1: Don't think this will ever be fixed, but I'm hoping the sliders / attributes can adjust for this. 2: Remember, this is a DEMO. I believe the hitting slider is maxed out, so yes, you will get exaggerated hits.

1. EA said that they removed it for NHL 13, so it should have been fixed.

2. The hits are exactly how they are right now for NHL 12. You barely tap someone and it's like you swung a baseball bat at their head. They flop back like a fish. I'm not saying it's every single hit, but it happens too much.

Fortunately, they fixed the goalie hitting where you could hit a goal and he'd float 5-6 feet in the air at times. Seems like he's more of a brick house now, which is good.

# 271 plaidchuck @ 08/24/12 08:52 PM

Yeap the AI is pretty abysmal in general, this after using player lock and a some cpu-cpu games. So much for offline modes.

# 272 Keirik @ 08/24/12 10:19 PM

I like some things in the demo but there is still one thing I absolutely hate about this series. They make the computer reaction time too fast. Like there is just no delay in them reacting. If a goalie makes a save, they know exactly where to go way too early for the rebound.

Make it seem more human for the love of god. The cpu shouldn't be able to fire off a 90 mph slap shot and have a teammate know where exactly the rebound is going in .001 milliseconds. What happens is that the cpu will get a rebound and automatically put it in an open net regardless of the fact that the rebound came at him at a super high speed. The cpu will still react perfectly and one time it in without any hesitation/delay/whatever. Takes away from the immersion a lot IMO.

# 273 bwiggy33 @ 08/25/12 02:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keirik


	I like some things in the demo but there is still one thing I absolutely hate about this series. They make the computer reaction time too fast. Like there is just no delay in them reacting. If a goalie makes a save, they know exactly where to go way too early for the rebound. Make it seem more human for the love of god. The cpu shouldn't be able to fire off a 90 mph slap shot and have a teammate know where exactly the rebound is going in .001 milliseconds. What happens is that the cpu will get a rebound and automatically put it in an open net regardless of the fact that the rebound came at him at a super high speed. The cpu will still react perfectly and one time it in without any hesitation/delay/whatever. Takes away from the immersion a lot IMO.

Holy **** you have explained this perfectly. That's what I hate about the goalies. They react and move so unrealistically fast. They just predetermine where the puck is going and it takes away from the game completely. I have been trying to say this all along. The animations and what not are just way too fast. There isn't momentum and a sense of weight to the goalies. This year they finally added this weight and what not to the players, I'm really hoping at some point they will add this to the goalies. As of now the goalies just have nothing to their movement and just react at hyperspeed. Irritating as all hell, and yes I know I'm talking about the goalies once again. I just can't really stress how much they piss me off in this game.

# 274 FBeaule04 @ 08/25/12 08:27 AM

Played one game and didn't want to waste my time. Just picked RD on NJ and see how it was going.

Pro's :
- Skating engine is just plain spectacular. I can see the difference in skating between Mark Fayne, Adam Larsson and Marek Zidlicky. While try to cut with Zidlicky was pretty easy, I ran into to board a few times with Fayne!

- Systems are better. I could saw the Kings forechecking making me do silly things while the neutral zone trap by the Devils was nicely set up with my forwards.

- Cutscenes are well done, ice looks better, movements seems more natural, a few things are nice within this demo.

Con's
- Didn't they say the AI was suppose to be better? Just an exemple. On a 3 on 3, I pick up the LW, the C pick up the forward crashing the net (was the C) and Salvador backing, backing, backing, until reaching Brodeur, and then, went for the guy I was covering and guess what, Carter had an empty net on a rebound.

- One of the worse move for the goalies last year was the mid-air glove swipe. Shouldn't have been there to begin with since you see that 2-3 times a season in real life, they let it in and I saw it 7 times in my game (was playing Default - All-Star). I scored my only goal crashing the net after a shot we're Quick did this again. I can't believe they didn't got rid of that.

Overall, while the game is better skating wise, I'll have to see if the AI continues to make dumb decision like I saw in offensive and defensive zone. In the Demo, the game's too quick for my liking since I want to watch the play developp and see if the AI is playing with brain instead of his a**.

Like in real life, still going for the strike with NHL 13, but maybe I'll change my mind after playing the early release with the EA Pass.

# 275 ComaFaction @ 08/25/12 10:45 AM

It also appears that you can pause during a break in play and pull your goalie before the faceoff occurs, as opposed to having him break for the bench after the puck is dropped.

# 276 Revan30 @ 08/25/12 11:03 AM

For all of those people who have been saying that the NHL goalies are "too fast", let me explain something....

There's a reason that NHL goalies are considered some of the most talented athletes in the world, and they're frequently referred to as having "catlike reflexes". Goalies in this game's past series moved so unbelievably slow, it was just sad. Playing in goalie mode as a goalie like Henrik Lundqvist or Jonathan Quick it took several strides by my goaltender to move from one post to the other...the highest level I played goalie at was my high school's crappy JV team and I can easily go post-to-post with one small stride. And I suck. I'd probably allow 14 goals in 3 minutes to even a CHL team--hell, I'd probably give up 14 goals in 3 minutes to Team Japan. And according to the way that goalies moved before NHL 13, apparently I was a better skater than every single goalie in the NHL. Does that make sense? Not in the least bit.

Goalies are about as fast as they should be in real life this year. Granted in the HUT thing there are a lot of 70 ovr goalies that are moving like Jonathan Quick out there, but I think that's just because it's HUT, and HUT has weird ratings (and it sucks, but that's another rant for another time :P) in the demo. I feel like I remember people complaining in last year's demo that the HUT teams were too overpowered, too...but when we actually play CHL teams in the real game this year, I'm sure everything will change.

As for the guy complaining about CPU players always knowing where the puck is going to go--that's just another classic example of a pointless complaint. In hockey there's something called "angles", and contrary to myth, it's not just goalies that use them--players use them just as much, if not more. A good player--really almost any average to great NHL player--will be able to see exactly where the puck is going. For some of us that can be difficult as human players because there's so much going on in our screen at one given time that sometimes it can be difficult to track the puck's angles--and also EA's puck physics engine is kinda crappy and the puck tends to make unrealistic bounces (like in NHL 12 when a d-man would shoot a puck level on the ice, it would bounce off somebody's skate, go up in the air at a near-90 degrees angle and float over the goalie. Gotta love it when EA advertises a new puck physics engine and it's just absolutely terrible) so we as human players can't always use angles to judge where the puck is going--we just have to react as quickly as possible since with EA's fabulous puck physics engine the puck could end up just about anywhere on the ice after, say, a goalie makes a save. But in the real NHL players all over the ice are constantly aware of the angles that are being played at all times and will try their best to react based on the angles being represented in the play.

# 277 bwiggy33 @ 08/25/12 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Revan30


	For all of those people who have been saying that the NHL goalies are "too fast", let me explain something.... There's a reason that NHL goalies are considered some of the most talented athletes in the world, and they're frequently referred to as having "catlike reflexes". Goalies in this game's past series moved so unbelievably slow, it was just sad. Playing in goalie mode as a goalie like Henrik Lundqvist or Jonathan Quick it took several strides by my goaltender to move from one post to the other...the highest level I played goalie at was my high school's crappy JV team and I can easily go post-to-post with one small stride. And I suck. I'd probably allow 14 goals in 3 minutes to even a CHL team--hell, I'd probably give up 14 goals in 3 minutes to Team Japan. And according to the way that goalies moved before NHL 13, apparently I was a better skater than every single goalie in the NHL. Does that make sense? Not in the least bit. Goalies are about as fast as they should be in real life this year. Granted in the HUT thing there are a lot of 70 ovr goalies that are moving like Jonathan Quick out there, but I think that's just because it's HUT, and HUT has weird ratings (and it sucks, but that's another rant for another time :P) in the demo. I feel like I remember people complaining in last year's demo that the HUT teams were too overpowered, too...but when we actually play CHL teams in the real game this year, I'm sure everything will change.

Sport Science actually did tests and it was proven that goalies have faster reflexes than a cat.

At any rate we all understand goalies are fast (I am myself), but in this game it looks so unnatural. There is nothing to them momentum or weight wise which makes the goalies look really bad. It's basically like they are being controlled by a rodeo bull machine and they have no limits on what they can and cannot do. Hell goalies in this game are able to move from one animation into another in less than a second and somehow magically fly across the crease to make a desperation save. It just looks absurd. The goalies just need to have weight and momentum added to them just like the players got with the new skating system this year. If EA can do that the goalies will basically spot on.

# 278 Weapon X @ 08/25/12 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bwiggy33


	Sport Science actually did tests and it was proven that goalies have faster reflexes than a cat. At any rate we all understand goalies are fast (I am myself), but in this game it looks so unnatural. There is nothing to them momentum or weight wise which makes the goalies look really bad. It's basically like they are being controlled by a rodeo bull machine and they have no limits on what they can and cannot do. Hell goalies in this game are able to move from one animation into another in less than a second and somehow magically fly across the crease to make a desperation save. It just looks absurd. The goalies just need to have weight and momentum added to them just like the players got with the new skating system this year. If EA can do that the goalies will basically spot on.

I just find all of this fascinating. Mainly because in all of your ranting and raving about the goalies Wiggy, I haven't seen you at least acknowledge the potential factor that both the Goalie Reaction Speed slider and Goalie Screen Effect slider could have on the 'tenders in the retail build. Especially when you look into said sliders in the demo and see that the former is locked at around four clicks or so if I recall correctly. Granted, I do tend to skim when there are a lot of posts that seem to be saying the same thing in a big thread, so forgive me if you did and I missed it.

WX

# 279 Fiddy @ 08/25/12 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ComaFaction


	It also appears that you can pause during a break in play and pull your goalie before the faceoff occurs, as opposed to having him break for the bench after the puck is dropped.

during cut scene you can just pull the goalie this year with LB and select. no need to pause at all.

# 280 bwiggy33 @ 08/25/12 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Weapon X


	I just find all of this fascinating. Mainly because in all of your ranting and raving about the goalies Wiggy, I haven't seen you at least acknowledge the potential factor that both the Goalie Reaction Speed slider and Goalie Screen Effect slider could have on the 'tenders in the retail build. Especially when you look into said sliders in the demo and see that the former is locked at around four clicks or so if I recall correctly. Granted, I do tend to skim when there are a lot of posts that seem to be saying the same thing in a big thread, so forgive me if you did and I missed it. WX

I understand there are sliders. Those sliders don't do anything with what I'm talking about at all. I'm talking about foot planting and sliding across the crease in a realistic fashion ala 2k8. Go on youtube and search 2k8 goalies if you don't know about them. They footplant and move with weight and momentum like a real goalie should. In NHL they just warp across the crease and move at 100 mph. It's been the exact same since 07. To me they just look unnatural, to others they are completely fine. We all have parts we like and dislike. The goalies happen to be my most hated part.

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