NHL 13

[Diablo25]

Just played my first HUT game and won 3-2 in OT! You can play online or offline. They match you up with someone else's HUT team if you play offline so I tried that. It was very fun. I really tried to focus on playing serious defense and it paid off. Very fun.

As far as the app mentioned above it can be used for HUT and CM. you need to log in with your EA profile that you use on the console you are using. I DL it but havent messed with it yet.

[10spro]

Just played my first HUT game and won 3-2 in OT! You can play online or offline. They match you up with someone else's HUT team if you play offline so I tried that. It was very fun. I really tried to focus on playing serious defense and it paid off. Very fun.

As far as the app mentioned above it can be used for HUT and CM. you need to log in with your EA profile that you use on the console you are using. I DL it but havent messed with it yet.

Good stuff. Will dig into HUT more over the weekend. Hope we can do some trades a among us too.

[MizzouRah]

This is the greatest sports game of all time.

Yes penalties need fixed, scoring a goal needs to have more of a team celebration on the ice and I saw a puck go through a player's knee Bring back the 3 stars of the game!

I'm just amazed at how great this game is, pro defaults, playing 5 minute periods, beat Tampa Bay 3-1 and lost in OT to Carolina 4-3. Scored the absolute GREATEST goal of my hockey gaming life to tie the game vs Carolina with 5 seconds left. Steen shoots one and it goes off a Carolina player's thigh, hits the ice, bounces back up and Backes back hands the puck in mid air into the goal. I made my whole family watch it over and over. This is what gaming is about!

Replays now make sense, crowd is really into it and the commentary now talks more about what's going on in the game. It's just a really well done game and quite the gaming experience.

You can also tell who's on the ice, great players play like great players, speed matters, who's in goal matters, the AI is outstanding.. I'm really in awe right now.

[Aristo]

Just played my first HUT game and won 3-2 in OT! You can play online or offline. They match you up with someone else's HUT team if you play offline so I tried that. It was very fun. I really tried to focus on playing serious defense and it paid off. Very fun.

As far as the app mentioned above it can be used for HUT and CM. you need to log in with your EA profile that you use on the console you are using. I DL it but havent messed with it yet.

If move over and select the HUT team it matches you with, you can go up and down to select one of four team they semi-randomly pick for you. One a little worse, one about the same, one a little better, and one ranked in the Top 100. Your team is also being matched up with others and you earn pucks based on how well it performs for you.

HUT does seem to have a lot more NHL players than the last two years when my teams were mostly minor and European league players. Along with no career limits, I suppose this will lead to more NHL dominated teams. The bummer about that is that one of the things I really liked about HUT was playing with and against teams with actual spreads in talent.

But the mode is still fun as hell. And I don't expect to have to spend any cash at all.I already picked up quite a few reward packs for various things, and the Season Ticket give you a Gold pack every week for 24 weeks. On top of that, I pre-ordered from Gamestop and will get another gold pack a week for 16 weeks.

One thing I did occasionally spend money on last year was consumable packs, which ran 75 cents, and which do not seem to be in the game any more. I mostly picked those up if I ran short of contract cards. They also had training and healing cards. I guess those will come more randomly now in Gold Packs.

I find HUT to be really addictive fun. I still love Season Mode, but HUT will drive that, "just one more game" feeling pretty heavily.

And if you are smart, you can pick up some good players and such in the auction house for your pucks. And by smart, I mean wait a month. I found a few good cheap forwards rated n the low 80's, but with 5 or more training slots. But they constantly ran into bidding wars as the clock ran down. Of course, guys like Perron and Oshie cost a ton, and not worth the investment at all.

If you really want certain favorites, your best bet is to earn some pucks, buy some cards and sell the NHL guys for way too much by timing the market to sell when yo would avoid buying.

[Naples39]

HUT is definitely much more NHL-heavy this year than in the past. Just with my initial packs I could field a team of almost all NHL-ers, whereas the last few years I'd have to add NHL talent slowly. They're mostly grinders, but still. I was even just checking the auctions, and it's hard to even find non-NHLers for sale.

I agree that you shouldn't be buying many players on auction right now though--the prices are terrible.

I also tried the NHL 13 iOS app, and it's neat to be able to browse the auctions from your phone. As of yesterday it wouldn't let me actually bid because it said I was still logged in to NHL 13 even though my xbox was off, but it let me bid this morning (not that I'm going to win those auctions).

I'll be doing some NHL moment challenges, as that gives you some pucks. I'm not crazy about the individual-based challenges as you have to play like a supreme puck hog, but it's fun playing short pieces of games, and quickly restarting to get it right.

[MizzouRah]

Pro defaults (max penalties) seem fine thus far.. I'm a little afraid to move up to AS.

Lost in a shootout vs LA last night. Probably going to bump up to 6-7 min games as shot totals are pretty close to RL on 5 minutes believe it or not.

It definitely has that "one more game" feeling to it and once the season rosters come out, it's time to dive into franchise play.

For 5 minute periods, penalties actually seem ok to me right now. This version is the most organic of any NHL game in the past, I've seen so many different goals and if you get caught pinching in, have fun trying to get back when someone like Jordan Staal shoots down the ice.

[ZXLT]

The game is $49.99 at Amazon.

[MizzouRah]

There was a total of 4 penalties last game, 7 minute periods. One of them was a major. Seems within the realm to me.

The average shots per game last year was about 29, so I think 8 minute games should be about perfect. I had 21 and NJ had 27 with 7 minute periods.

I beat the Jets 4-1 and NJ kicked my butt 4-1, so Pro has been a great mix of scores.

This game is freaking awesome.

[ScoopBrady]

I couldn't get it Tuesday due to work demands but I picked it up last night and I am blown the f*** away. It was so refreshing to play a game on Pro and be scored on. One thing that always frustrated me was playing on All Star meant I would give up goals but struggled to score them while playing on Pro meant I could score goals but rarely get scored on. I played the Canucks and lost 4-3. They took a quick 2-0 lead, I stormed back to take a 3-2 lead. They tied it early in the 3rd and scored the game winner with 9 seconds left. The new skating is insane. The goal variety was outstanding as well. I even saw a defenseman lose his stick and a forward give him his.

[toonarmy]

I was a bit concerned about the game based on some of the comments of the negative Nellies over at the EA forums over the weekend, as well as at OS. I also was not overly thrilled with the demo, as I thought it was kind of mechanical and not exactly exciting. After reading how much some of the people here were enjoying the finished game I went ahead and got it yesterday and played for 7 or 8 hours in single-player modes. I'm sure glad I bought it.

About the only major criticism I have read that I agree with is the lack of penalties. At default there truly are a glaring lack of penalties. As much as EA likes to release tune files I have no worry about them fixing that aspect, or of course sliders can apparently remedy the situation some. I'm seeing a HUGE variety of goals from both myself and the CPU. I'm loving the fact that if I take a risk defensively with an ill-timed poke check or an attempt at a steal that goes wrong, the CPU will burn me and pot a goal much of the time. I also love that when the CPU enters the offensive zone I can no longer just skate into him and get him into the boards to break up the play. The CPU is making more moves on me than ever before and not following the same scripted skating line. The hitting is improved as well, which brings in the whole improvement in momentum in NHL 13. It is night and day compared to NHL 12. Skating speed, player strength, and mass seem to all have a factor in hitting and knocking players off the puck. Momentum also now plays a major role like never before in gaining speed on breakaways for both the offense and the defense.

As some on here have pointed out already, strategy now makes more of a difference. You are rewarded for adjusting strategies and following plays more closely. I have been frustrated in the past when I would set up a great play and work for a nice shot, only to be denied by some crap super goalie animation time after time. I leaned too heavily on cheese that I knew was unrealistic, but would net me some goals. There is still a little bit of that, but not nearly to the extent as before. I now try harder to set up real hockey plays because I do not feel like the goalie is cheating, rather when I score a goal or am denied a goal it is believable.

I have not even gotten into the GM modes, Be A Pro, etc. modes. I'll be checking those out today and over the weekend. So far I'm having a blast and getting the "just one more game" vibe like never before in an EA hockey game.

[Spooky]

You f**kers. Mine will be delivered tomorrow.

[Naples39]

There are definitely too few penalties. Sliders will help, but not much. Even if you increase the sensitivity of the calls, there just aren't many plays where something resembling a penalty takes place. Maybe you could see a lot of tripping calls, but not much else. Honestly, it's not a big deal to me and I just take it for what it is.

Actually come to think of it, online you poked and prodded from behind a little too much, so penalties would help there.

[toonarmy]

There are definitely too few penalties. Sliders will help, but not much. Even if you increase the sensitivity of the calls, there just aren't many plays where something resembling a penalty takes place. Maybe you could see a lot of tripping calls, but not much else. Honestly, it's not a big deal to me and I just take it for what it is.

Actually come to think of it, online you poked and prodded from behind a little too much, so penalties would help there.

I tend to agree with you about the lack of penalties. They do not make a huge difference to me in one-off single-player games or HUT games, although it would be nice to have a couple PPs per game. I enjoy 5 on 5 play more than special teams. Once I get into franchise mode hard and heavy I will want to see more penalties for the sake of realistic stats over the course of a season, but I'm pretty sure EA will have it fixed in due course since there is so much outrage on the forums about the penalties. Like you, I can easily overlook the penalty issue in light of the fact that there is so much right with this game and it's so much fun to play.

[pk500]

You f**kers. Mine will be delivered tomorrow.

F*ckers, indeed. I think I'm putting work aside tonight and rushing to Best Buy after attending Curriculum Night at Marcellus Central School.

[MizzouRah]

I'm still seeing a few each game and with 8 minute periods, I'm fine with that.

I am amazed at how well Pro is playing out of the box. I'm like 3-3-2-1 or something like that so far just playing play now games.

Player separation is HUGE as well as each team plays just like you would expect them to. Also, goalie separation seems better this year.

Game is a f***in blast and that's all that matters to me.

[Gangrel]

Pro? What a effing wuss.

All Star is where it's at!!!!!


I'm not getting many penalties either. I may try raising hitting power up one from the default on hardcore and see if that increases the elbowing and/or boarding calls without making the game into pinball with guys laid out on the ice by Hemsky.

[MizzouRah]

Pro? What a effing wuss.

All Star is where it's at!!!!!


I'm not getting many penalties either. I may try raising hitting power up one from the default on hardcore and see if that increases the elbowing and/or boarding calls without making the game into pinball with guys laid out on the ice by Hemsky.

I have always played on AS, but right now I'm just getting so much variety in scores and actual goes, I don't want to ruin it.

[Jimmydeicide]

Pro? What a effing wuss.

All Star is where it's at!!!!!


I'm not getting many penalties either. I may try raising hitting power up one from the default on hardcore and see if that increases the elbowing and/or boarding calls without making the game into pinball with guys laid out on the ice by Hemsky.

I have always played on AS, but right now I'm just getting so much variety in scores and actual goes, I don't want to ruin it.

Yeh if pro is competitive or can make it so with sliders its the way to go i feel same with Fifa, just seems less "funny stuff" going on.

[Zeppo]

Diablo, Vader: please check your PMs.

[LAking]

I've played about half a dozen games so far. I've been on All-Star exclusively with a modified hardcore slider set. I lost the first game but I've won every game since then. I feel the difficulty is about the same as last year. If i'm not focused and make stupid mistakes I can lose games on All-Star. If i stay focused I'm very competitive.

I was playing 10 minute periods but that was a tad too long so now I'm on 9 minute periods and I'm getting good shot totals and goals. I bumped the face-off difficulty down two notches from max because I was getting killed thus resulting in many more shots for the CPU. Now i'm winning a bit too much. I think i'll bump it one notch and see how that goes.

At first I noticed that I was getting too many goals from my dman on shots from the point. This has been a problem with the NHL series for a little while now. Dmen could too easily pick the corners on slap shots and beat unscreened goalies. When I'm consistently getting these goals from guys like Scuderi and Mitchell something is wrong. I turned down slap shot accuracy one notch and after a couple games it appears to be a little better.

I've also noticed that I have a hard time holding big leads. Perhaps it's me just slacking off or maybe it's the CPU getting more aggressive offensively when down by 2 or more goals. It's kind of annoying when you are dominating a team and when you go up by 2 or more goals they all of a sudden can score at will. I had a 3 goal lead vs the coyotes after just over one period and they came back from that. I then scored two more goals and they came back from that also. I ended up winning in OT.

I definitely like the "organic" feel of the game this year. Playing as my Kings is nice because I can actually play their real life hard forechecking style. It feels so great to relentlessly pressure the dmen in their own zone, often leading to turnovers and scoring chances.

Had a nice five hole breakaway goal you would have never seen before.

[toonarmy]

I've also noticed that I have a hard time holding big leads. Perhaps it's me just slacking off or maybe it's the CPU getting more aggressive offensively when down by 2 or more goals. It's kind of annoying when you are dominating a team and when you go up by 2 or more goals they all of a sudden can score at will. I had a 3 goal lead vs the coyotes after just over one period and they came back from that. I then scored two more goals and they came back from that also. I ended up winning in OT.

I agree that the cpu goes into offensive frenzy mode when they get down by a couple or few goals. What I have been doing when this happens is change my defensive strategy to protect the net. That has helped. You can tell when the cpu is about to score because the cpu players start buzzing and it gets damn hard to get the puck away from them. I was playing into their hands when they did that by trying to chase the puck and the players with the puck, and they were taking advantage of that with what seemed like a boost in speed and accurate passing on their part. When I started just sitting back and trying to protect the net and put myself between the puck and the net I began getting better results.

[Spooky]

I've also noticed that I have a hard time holding big leads. Perhaps it's me just slacking off or maybe it's the CPU getting more aggressive offensively when down by 2 or more goals. It's kind of annoying when you are dominating a team and when you go up by 2 or more goals they all of a sudden can score at will. I had a 3 goal lead vs the coyotes after just over one period and they came back from that. I then scored two more goals and they came back from that also. I ended up winning in OT.

I agree that the cpu goes into offensive frenzy mode when they get down by a couple or few goals. What I have been doing when this happens is change my defensive strategy to protect the net. That has helped. You can tell when the cpu is about to score because the cpu players start buzzing and it gets damn hard to get the puck away from them. I was playing into their hands when they did that by trying to chase the puck and the players with the puck, and they were taking advantage of that with what seemed like a boost in speed and accurate passing on their part. When I started just sitting back and trying to protect the net and put myself between the puck and the net I began getting better results.

Isn't this kinda of how it is in reality though? Don't teams go into more of an offensive "panic mode" when they are down big. Pull out all the stops at the risk of getting scored on to try and gain some ground back?

But if it really just feels more like Mario Kart 'catch-up logic' then that kinda stinks.

[LAking]

I've also noticed that I have a hard time holding big leads. Perhaps it's me just slacking off or maybe it's the CPU getting more aggressive offensively when down by 2 or more goals. It's kind of annoying when you are dominating a team and when you go up by 2 or more goals they all of a sudden can score at will. I had a 3 goal lead vs the coyotes after just over one period and they came back from that. I then scored two more goals and they came back from that also. I ended up winning in OT.

I agree that the cpu goes into offensive frenzy mode when they get down by a couple or few goals. What I have been doing when this happens is change my defensive strategy to protect the net. That has helped. You can tell when the cpu is about to score because the cpu players start buzzing and it gets damn hard to get the puck away from them. I was playing into their hands when they did that by trying to chase the puck and the players with the puck, and they were taking advantage of that with what seemed like a boost in speed and accurate passing on their part. When I started just sitting back and trying to protect the net and put myself between the puck and the net I began getting better results.

Isn't this kinda of how it is in reality though? Don't teams go into more of an offensive "panic mode" when they are down big. Pull out all the stops at the risk of getting scored on to try and gain some ground back?

But if it really just feels more like Mario Kart 'catch-up logic' then that kinda stinks.

Yeah but how often does that work? It's more like all of a sudden they know how to keep the puck in your zone and make better passes and shots. It's a small sample size but I never feel like they are exposing themselves in a desperate attempt to get back into the game, they just get smarter.

[Aristo]

Yeah but how often does that work? It's more like all of a sudden they know how to keep the puck in your zone and make better passes and shots. It's a small sample size but I never feel like they are exposing themselves in a desperate attempt to get back into the game, they just get smarter.

It works all the freakin' time if teams don't get more conservative on their breakout and forecheck as well their defensive strategies.

If this is a problem for you, you set the CPU tendency to change strategies to 0. Then you can play the same ol' way the whole game.

[toonarmy]

I've also noticed that I have a hard time holding big leads. Perhaps it's me just slacking off or maybe it's the CPU getting more aggressive offensively when down by 2 or more goals. It's kind of annoying when you are dominating a team and when you go up by 2 or more goals they all of a sudden can score at will. I had a 3 goal lead vs the coyotes after just over one period and they came back from that. I then scored two more goals and they came back from that also. I ended up winning in OT.

I agree that the cpu goes into offensive frenzy mode when they get down by a couple or few goals. What I have been doing when this happens is change my defensive strategy to protect the net. That has helped. You can tell when the cpu is about to score because the cpu players start buzzing and it gets damn hard to get the puck away from them. I was playing into their hands when they did that by trying to chase the puck and the players with the puck, and they were taking advantage of that with what seemed like a boost in speed and accurate passing on their part. When I started just sitting back and trying to protect the net and put myself between the puck and the net I began getting better results.

Isn't this kinda of how it is in reality though? Don't teams go into more of an offensive "panic mode" when they are down big. Pull out all the stops at the risk of getting scored on to try and gain some ground back?

But if it really just feels more like Mario Kart 'catch-up logic' then that kinda stinks.

Absolutely, and that's why I decided to go into protect the net mode. Teams generally do that in real life as well. So, yeah, it's realistic that the cpu tries hard to catch up. I think the game is fair when you change up strategies and I am not getting a Mario Kart feel. Something I should point out is that better teams tend to be more successful in scoring goals when trying to mount a comeback, while bad teams do not find much success most of the time. For example, last night I was up 4-2 on the Caps. Washington went into stud mode in trying to score and I fell back on defense in the third pd. Ovi scored on me once with a sick move to open up a scoring opportunity, but I ended up winning 4-3 by just defending and countering. The next game I went up by a couple early in the second vs. the Oilers. They mounted a frenzied attack, but didn't score, and in the end I countered and scored a few more to win 6-2.