NHL 13 Demo Impressions

Only got to play it for a bit this morning. The skating is going to take some getting used to, I like shooting but think passing needs a few tweaks. I hope human goalies have to come out and challenge or they get burned like the AI does when they sit deep in the net. One thing I want to see is more tripping penalties. With the improvements to the poke check there is no longer a reason to endlessly spam it while skating backwards.

 

Cant wait to play this tonight, as long as the gameplay is far more realistic and promotes team play I think I will like it. Cant wait to get walked over and over again but on a new game.

 

We can finally change control settings during a game.....

 

i love it so far, love the skating and everything. just hope they don't mess with sliders too much. as it is now i think it's really good. i don't even have to poke much. just play position on defense. i push them to the outside and cut off the passing lanes myself. i like how you can hit in front of the net and not get called for it.

 

Is it me or is skating backwards way too effective from almost anywhere in the offensive zone. especially when coming out of a corner, skating backwards toward the net then turn around and shoot farside... a goal on every shot pretty much... but all around. its good! no boost, more realistic player reactions, redifined AI etc...

 

Its broken already for me

 

It's tough to really judge against the AI because of how passive they are defensively. Backwards skating I think there just needs to be a loss of momentum and speed while you transition with the puck. I like the creativity you can do on breakaways with it, but it's going to be silly when some of the douchers start mastering instant spins and shit like that.

Other than that I hope they don't touch the shot power, accuracy could be toned down a bit but I'm definitely missing the net when skating hard and picking corners when the AI gives me time to shoot which to me is a reasonable balance. I also like that you can now disrupt shot animations with a poke check, combine that with the lack of lateral agility for both forwards and defenseman and now defenders are better equipped to negate wrist shots.

 

Ya I like the skater aspect but human goalies r glitchy

 

How so? I haven't played G yet

 

Played this last night and man is it different, the skating feels so real and players movements althought slower feel more realistic and passing is now so much more about finesse then hold RT and wait and then relaase a bomb to anyone on the ice, you have to pass to areas and use the fwds speed to determine bets option.

So far playing D, I have found ability to block shots, pick off passes, poke check far more rewarding, being in position rewards you so much more now, I think in 10games I gave up one cross crease pass but goalie saved it, wriost shots seem overpowered as every single goal socred on me was a wrist shot.

 

They aren't that over powered, you can't really shoot full speed but if you give a guy time to pick his spot he gets a good shot off. It's frustrating because the AI is money, but to me shot power has been seriously under powered for years. I think slap shots need some more power since the accuracy is reduced now.

 

I like it a lot. It's definitely more difficult, and it's going to be a new learning curve but after basically 3 straight years of playing an identical game, I'm really excited. Over the past two days I realized I haven't stopped gushing to my clubmates about the changes. I like the tweaks to poke checks, especially when you're just doing sweeps, they make your player pay better attention to the puck rather than doing the huge wide semi-circle sweeps.

Goalies are better, no question. Was playing the NHL Moments Live and Smith robbed two back to back crosscreases that IRL would have basically been empty netters on most NHL goalies. I'm okay with that. I think in 13 you'll see people learning that the extra pass makes all the difference, so like, RW streaks in, hits the open LW who immediately passes it back to RW for the one timer. I think the days of the one pass crosscrease might finally be over. I really like how some of the new goalie animations look more fast and raw, like they're actually making those split section reaction saves. Overall, goalies just visually look a lot more real and fluid.

I love the new skating speed. I know it will probably feel different Online but I like how you can jam past the defense and then you sorta lean back on them while you coast in and make your shot, it makes the breakaways look a lot more like real life scoring chances.

Checking animations are even more brutal this year, which I love, but I think it needs more feedback on the controller rumble. I feel like I wiped a guy out with a check that should have broken 3 of his ribs but my controller barely moves.

The new graphics upgrades look solid too. The new shading and lighting, it makes a big enough difference to make the game look a bit more realistic and smooth and fluid.

Can't wait for 13. I was skeptical after a few disappointing releases but this one has me legitimately excited again. I finally feel like they've put together a product that's almost worth a full retail price after a year.

I'll be douching it up by getting the EA Pass again. 12 is mostly just dead and I'd like to get back into playing decent OTP/EASHL games again, so I'll pay the stupid ass EA Pass shit again like a sucker, and probably going to take Wednesday off from work so I can just pay through all night on Tuesday like a boss.

 

Depending how many sports games you play, the EA pass is a steal.

 

I use it mostly to get a real chance to evaluate Madden and Fifa but yea the 20% alone is worth it if you play ultimate team across several games.

 

if you play defense and don't like playing offline like i do, the 20% off is good for the boosts also. i mean call me lame or a loser, but i buy most of my boost every year. no point in trying to score goals and stuff when i play straight defense.

i love the ways it plays though. the more i play the more i like it. clarke with the wristers stew nailed it. you can't give them time and space. they can't pick the corners at full speed. don't let them have the iniside lane, push them out to the boards and play your position, and you block some of them also just by being in the way. if you start to push them into the boards just after the red line, before hte blue line then dump it in anyway. so the stops most of the rush. then you have to get back infront of the net, because the wingers are good at picking up dumps this year.

 

Ive found it more difficult topick up the puck behind the net and move it quickly like prior games. It could be lack of playing though, Ive only had a chance to play a few games.

Gameplay feels a lot slower to me

 

and I am one of the lame ones but not from my pocket.I make it a point to let people know that I love getting pointsas a gift for bday and xmas etc. so I save them all year long and use them on NHL lol

 

Shooting feels good and goalies look good but holy shit the skating is a glitch fest. Turning slow as hell in center of the ice with a clumsy d man and then a magical boost with the same d man by the boards. The whole skating aspect just feels incomplete right now. It truly feels poorly executed in my opinion. 2k had a better sim skating feel to it years ago than this does currently.

This is my opinion. If you don't agree, I don't give a shit. If you do agree, I love you.

 

Part of the skating feels like they took the vision control + a glitch and made it an actual move. It feels more fluid in that mode that normal skating to me personally.


p.s. diving at the goalie and swinging the stick knocks the puck away again pretty effectively. good times.