NHL 12 first look video

[Jimmydeicide]

Its still got that dumb last minute fake desperation/excitement thing going on same as fifa. I understand the losing team piles on the pressure and winning teams get nervous but ea take it to far and its really noticeable in their hockey game.

[Aristo]

Its still got that dumb last minute fake desperation/excitement thing going on same as fifa. I understand the losing team piles on the pressure and winning teams get nervous but ea take it to far and its really noticeable in their hockey game.

I disagree. I absolutely love trying to hold on to a lead, dialing back my pressure and forecheck, and trying to find the right strategy to counteract the all out pressure and full forecheck the other team is bringing. I found that the more I played, the better I got at holding the lead, and the less I would panic and blow a turnover in my own end.

[MizzouRah]

First review: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/revie ... -12/720222

Can't wait until next Tuesday!!!

[Naples39]

Seems like a fair review.

It will be interesting to try the new HUT offline modes. I unexpectedly played a ton of HUT last year, pretty much exclusively online. Playing offline tournaments against real teams with my fantasy team was never very compelling to me, so maybe playing against the CPU with random user teams will be fun.

[10spro]

Here's another early review:

http://www.gamingexcellence.com/ps3/gam ... view.shtml

Can't wait to DL the sucker over the weekend.

[MizzouRah]

Here's another early review:

http://www.gamingexcellence.com/ps3/gam ... view.shtml

Can't wait to DL the sucker over the weekend.

Excellent review!

[toonarmy]

Here's another early review:

http://www.gamingexcellence.com/ps3/gam ... view.shtml

Can't wait to DL the sucker over the weekend.

9.2, which is what Gametrailers gives it as well. Dude did a good job with his review. I still haven't seen anyone address the shot totals for the CPU in offline games, which is the area that may be make or break for me. The past several NHL games have lost my interest eventually because the CPU vs. human shot differentials were too high and it was too easy to shut down the CPU. If this issue is fixed in NHL 12 then I will be a very happy boy.

[Aristo]

Here's another early review:

http://www.gamingexcellence.com/ps3/gam ... view.shtml

Can't wait to DL the sucker over the weekend.

9.2, which is what Gametrailers gives it as well. Dude did a good job with his review. I still haven't seen anyone address the shot totals for the CPU in offline games, which is the area that may be make or break for me. The past several NHL games have lost my interest eventually because the CPU vs. human shot differentials were too high and it was too easy to shut down the CPU. If this issue is fixed in NHL 12 then I will be a very happy boy.

Sliders are your best friend. Getting appropriate shot totals, along with goals per game are the first goals I have in sliders. I have never considered a problem.

[toonarmy]

Here's another early review:

http://www.gamingexcellence.com/ps3/gam ... view.shtml

Can't wait to DL the sucker over the weekend.

9.2, which is what Gametrailers gives it as well. Dude did a good job with his review. I still haven't seen anyone address the shot totals for the CPU in offline games, which is the area that may be make or break for me. The past several NHL games have lost my interest eventually because the CPU vs. human shot differentials were too high and it was too easy to shut down the CPU. If this issue is fixed in NHL 12 then I will be a very happy boy.

Sliders are your best friend. Getting appropriate shot totals, along with goals per game are the first goals I have in sliders. I have never considered a problem.

Yeah I've tried various slider sets and have never been able to come up with something that is realistic over the long haul. Somehow 2K was able to get shot totals down pretty well straight out of the box. It's really hard to get sliders to compensate for massive shot differential without creating other issues in the NHL series. I'll tinker with sliders in 12 if need be and see if a solution can be reached.

[Naples39]

I was just digging out my old comments from when I played NHL 11 a lot. Things I'm going to be looking out for...

My love/hate relationship with this game continues.

First, I have played pretty much exclusively online, so perhaps the experience differs for offline play.

For one, I am totally addicted to HUT. I keep pouring tons of time into my team, and especially into the online marketplace, which seems a much more efficient way to get the cards you actually want. But, as fun as the mode is, none of it matters if you don't enjoy playing with your team.

I have played about 80% of HUT games online. While most of the games started out very good, they have become increasingly lopsided, and I find myself on both ends of that. The problem is, one team inevitably completely dominates; skating around in circles with the puck, and rampantly stick-lifting on defense.

It's overwhelmingly clear that the dominant strategy in this game is to get someone who's fast and quick and skate in circles, sometimes several in a row, ultimately you can create enough of an opening to do the whip-shot thingie, or if you're good, deke down low. Nobody wastes their time taking standard wrist shots.

Probably keeping my copy of 11, but unless the follow things are meaningfully addressed next year, I am out on this series for a while;
-stick-lifting is way too effective in the hands of a skilled player, especially from behind. Frankly I would remove this entirely because it's not working right.
-dive from behind is also overly effective, breaking up countless breakaways. I would remove this too for the same reason as above. Good idea, it's just not working right.
-Unless you are really in-close and actually deking the goalie, pre-shot stick moves should have little to no effect. There's something wrong when a 'deke' shot from the blue line is 10x as dangerous as a wide open wrister from the slot.
-Goalies go side-to-side too well
-Passing and stickhandling are totally out of balance. I can fully appreciate the new passing as it's fairly realistic in terms of accuracy and whatnot, but why are they trying so hard to tone down unrealistic ping-pong passing, when they are perfectly satisfied to leave even more unrealistic stickhandling intact? The best players basically never pass. Just get it to a good stickhandler in center ice, then he will dipsy-do, skating in several circles, inside-outing several times, and MAYBE pass for a one timer if the whole team chases. Usually just shoot. It's a very bad balance if you ask me.

Deking for all skaters needs to be seriously toned down. I have played this game a ton so I feel comfortable saying what does and doesn't work, and this game is all dangle. The most consistent offensive technique is to go straight up the middle and dangle in the face of two defenders.

Without getting into the minutiae of what to change, they need to make it much harder to stickhandle straight at defensemen, but make it harder to strip puck carriers from behind. As it is now, it is practically easier to defend if your a half step behind the puck carrier then face to face, which is silly of course.

The fact that puck carriers can do super tight 360s galore doesn't help any either. The radius for 360s should be much larger, and after doing a 360 or 180 the puck carrier should be basically dead in the water in terms of momentum and ability to accelerate.

But maybe it's just me who wants to play a more positional/passing game rather than the game's real target audience.

[Naples39]

I was just digging out my old comments from when I played NHL 11 a lot. Things I'm going to be looking out for...

My love/hate relationship with this game continues.

First, I have played pretty much exclusively online, so perhaps the experience differs for offline play.

For one, I am totally addicted to HUT. I keep pouring tons of time into my team, and especially into the online marketplace, which seems a much more efficient way to get the cards you actually want. But, as fun as the mode is, none of it matters if you don't enjoy playing with your team.

I have played about 80% of HUT games online. While most of the games started out very good, they have become increasingly lopsided, and I find myself on both ends of that. The problem is, one team inevitably completely dominates; skating around in circles with the puck, and rampantly stick-lifting on defense.

It's overwhelmingly clear that the dominant strategy in this game is to get someone who's fast and quick and skate in circles, sometimes several in a row, ultimately you can create enough of an opening to do the whip-shot thingie, or if you're good, deke down low. Nobody wastes their time taking standard wrist shots.

Probably keeping my copy of 11, but unless the follow things are meaningfully addressed next year, I am out on this series for a while;
-stick-lifting is way too effective in the hands of a skilled player, especially from behind. Frankly I would remove this entirely because it's not working right.
-dive from behind is also overly effective, breaking up countless breakaways. I would remove this too for the same reason as above. Good idea, it's just not working right.
-Unless you are really in-close and actually deking the goalie, pre-shot stick moves should have little to no effect. There's something wrong when a 'deke' shot from the blue line is 10x as dangerous as a wide open wrister from the slot.
-Goalies go side-to-side too well
-Passing and stickhandling are totally out of balance. I can fully appreciate the new passing as it's fairly realistic in terms of accuracy and whatnot, but why are they trying so hard to tone down unrealistic ping-pong passing, when they are perfectly satisfied to leave even more unrealistic stickhandling intact? The best players basically never pass. Just get it to a good stickhandler in center ice, then he will dipsy-do, skating in several circles, inside-outing several times, and MAYBE pass for a one timer if the whole team chases. Usually just shoot. It's a very bad balance if you ask me.

Deking for all skaters needs to be seriously toned down. I have played this game a ton so I feel comfortable saying what does and doesn't work, and this game is all dangle. The most consistent offensive technique is to go straight up the middle and dangle in the face of two defenders.

Without getting into the minutiae of what to change, they need to make it much harder to stickhandle straight at defensemen, but make it harder to strip puck carriers from behind. As it is now, it is practically easier to defend if your a half step behind the puck carrier then face to face, which is silly of course.

The fact that puck carriers can do super tight 360s galore doesn't help any either. The radius for 360s should be much larger, and after doing a 360 or 180 the puck carrier should be basically dead in the water in terms of momentum and ability to accelerate.

But maybe it's just me who wants to play a more positional/passing game rather than the game's real target audience.

[Gangrel]

Sigh. Ihave a feeling i'm getting the season pass this week.....

OS has a youtube video of a complete cpu vs cpu game.

[MizzouRah]

Sigh. Ihave a feeling i'm getting the season pass this week.....

OS has a youtube video of a complete cpu vs cpu game.

Yeah, the Rangers - Islanders game really shows off what they have done under the hood with NHL 12.

I'm not getting the pass, but I have release day shipping.

[Aristo]

One thing I absolutely love about HUT is the spread of talent. I had 5 NHLers among my 12 forwards, and he range in OVR went from 69 to 91. In this way, it is a much more realistic way to build your lines and try to hide weaknesses. While it is tempting to pile all of our studs into the top two lines, there are good reasons to spread the talent.

Not only do you want each line to have somebody that can generate positive plays, your lines get bonuses if they feature players from the same league, and even more if they are from the same team. You get a bonus for getting all of your LW's on the left and so on. You get another bonus for having three different player typed on each line.

It was also pretty cool trying to decide which players to play the training cards on. Do you train-up that 70 OVR C so he can hang on the 2nd line, or do you pile them on to Malkin so he can be a God?

I can't wait to have the full game so that contract cards and career games left come into play. If you have a Malkin or Crosby, and he is down to 20-30 games left, do you scratch him and try to earn some pucks with scrubs, allowing to bring in some talent to surround him? Or do you go whole hog and use him to maybe earn even more pucks, knowing you will be rebuilding from scratch.

It's like a fantastic board game in which you get to play games with, too. I love season mode and play now games, but there is something about the fluidity of the HUT rosters that compel me to just keep playing one more game. And it all proceeds from the fact that you have guys from the European leagues and assorted minor leagues playing with NHLers. It may not be realistic, but it produces a much more deep strategic game to manipulate your roster. And it is so much more fun to build around your weaknesses than to spend cash to have a team full of NHL talent.

And this doesn't even begin to touch on marketplace where you can buy and sell cards like you are playing the stock market. You can take a Malkin, and instead of playing him, earn even more pucks by selling him off to some kid that spending mommy and daddy's cash, so he is unable to understand a player's real value. At the same time, that leaves some middle tier talent available for cheap if you time the market well.

And finally, this year, you can now take that team that you have spent serious time crafting, and play your friends. The game will keep track of W-L records on your friends list. And while games against friends do not earn you pucks, they do not cost your players fames, either. So you can play HUT offline to build your team up just to play your friends.

[10spro]

The broadcast camera on that video is pretty cool. I wished I could play the game from that angle as well as it looks but I have been pleasantly surprised with the custom 3 camera in the demo so far.

[MizzouRah]

Sounds like BaGM still has issues with good player FA's not being signed in the offseason.. quite a disappointment.


Be a GM review:

The franchise-style Be A GM mode also aims for the net but ends up shattering the Plexiglas. For the second year in a row, trades, free agency, and drafting all need major overhauls. AI-controlled GMs still propose boneheaded trades, above-average players in their prime still get stowed away on minor league rosters, restricted free agents (like 2011 number one overall draft pick Ryan Nugent-Hopkins) sit out entire seasons, and some teams even let their highly rated prospects enter free agency rather than signing them.

The biggest problem with the mode may be the top-heavy player ratings. When even below average fourth-liners like James Sheppard are rated above 80, you have too large a grouping at the top of the skill spectrum. It gets even more overpopulated when young players improve as years go by and aging players don’t receive a commensurate drop-off. By the fifth year of my career as GM, it wasn’t uncommon to go against teams that had 100 ratings in offense, defense, or both. These mistakes take away from an experience I would otherwise enjoy thanks to its spot-on player development, farm system management, revamped injury system that includes more short-term injuries (which forces you to juggle your lineup just like a real club would), and improved sim results.

Source:

http://www.gameinformer.com/games/nh...-has-eyes.aspx

[Aristo]

Oh, BaGM is dorked, for sure. But I have never played a second season in any franchise mode. I might get there in football games sometimes, but every sports game has some really dumb issues with CPU AI. I finished one season of NHL 10. If i wanted to do another 82 game season, I'd rather pick a new team and give it another go than deal with dumb GM AI.

But every baseball game, football game, and basketball game has weak franchise modes. There is not a one that you can't pick to death for all of their flaws. Hell, OOTP has a completely retarded AI that is only saved by having human control every team. And sure, it would be nice if they just implemented the ability for any user to control all teams in any sports game. But I sure as hell am not going to dork around with setting every team just to create my own illusion of realism. And I imagine 99% of other gamers won't either. If you tell me that it needs to be done, then just tell me that franchise mode is broke.

But I have found that turning off trades and just playing through the season with teams set up as they are is interesting enough. Teams will still dork up injuries and stuff, but generally, you can get challenging games when you sit down to play. And that goes for all decent sports games, not just NHL.

Unfortunately, the masses that buy sports games are idiots. They buy games based on bullet points. So most developers would be smart to scale back and eliminate most modes of play. But they sell more games if they add modes that don't work right. People here, and a subset of folks at OS are informed enough to play the modes that work and avoid the ones that don't.

There is also a subset that love to show how smart they are by pitching a fit every year, for ever game. they forgot how to just play the game and have fun. They will talk about the glory days of Blades of Steel or RBI Baseball without batting an eye, even though those games had crap AI.

The thing is, explaining what works and doesn't work in sports games is a good thing. But it should inform our expectations rather than fuel our rage.
Games that get stuff right deserve kudos even when they get other stuff wrong.

Madden 12 is a perfect example. It is a good solid game that people are clearly enjoying. But you can spend time picking it to death. And you can be sure in a month or two, it will be viewed as a flawed POS an another example of how EA doesn't know how to make games.

NHL 12 seems like it is going to be another great iteration of the same game. And that's okay. It's also okay to buy every other year because of how they develop it. But they gameplay has improved every year in really smart ways. I'll liv with the same presentation and feel of the game. In fact, I love that they don't change too much. Most of the time, when a sports game gets something just right, thy change it and lose it the next year. I love that can pick up NHL 12 and feel at home.

[MizzouRah]

Great post Aristo and you just made me keep my NHL 12 preorder.

It's disappointing, because I know Madden's franchise mode was worked on quite a bit this year and I definitely plan on playing more than one season. That's the great thing about NCAA FB, you don't have to worry about trading and contracts.

OOTP 12 is near perfect though and with baseball I can always find a reason why the AI made a move.

I'll just turn trades off and play a season with my Blues, the bad thing is, I NEED to be able to trade and play multiple seasons because that team needs a MAJOR overhaul.

It just pisses me off we get goalie fights, but the BeaGM part of the game is still broken.

[Aristo]

Great post Aristo and you just made me keep my NHL 12 preorder.

Thanks!

It just pisses me off we get goalie fights, but the BeaGM part of the game is still broken.

I know! I usualy just avoid fights altogether. I know fights are part of the game, but it never feels right, the result is kind of screwy, and it just takes me out of the flow of the game. Heck, that's what I don't like about fights in real life!

But fighting does have some impact on momentum and such. I usually just make fighting as easy as I can in the sliders, and then avoid them as much as a I can. I wish I could just hit the drop gloves button and get a sim result and move on.

But goalie fighting? Maybe next year we can get fans fighting each other, too! Or when I chuck a player through the glass and into the stands I can have fans jump on him!

The stuff I like is when they improved boardplay by letting me kick the puck free and use the RT when a player is in front of the net trying to knock in a rebound. I like that this year they worked on having more front of the net battles and improved teammate AI with anticipation. I also like that they continued to work on the physics engine so that bigger players have more of an effect on hits, and are less likely to get knocked down.

I don't like that the ratings are still so top heavy. There has to be a better way to spread the talent level among so many levels of play. How does FIFA and PES do it? But there just doesn't seem to be enough of a drop off to the forth lines. I don't mind if the checking lines have higher OVR's if the ratings boosting them up are in their ability to check and defensive awareness. But getting stuck using the fourth line a lot should be more dramatic than it is (It sure is in HUT play!)

BTW, I saw some of the video overat OS, and it looks like the Blues have a team OVR of 92! I wonder if they have Perron on the team. But they should be a blast to play this year.

[MizzouRah]

Great post Aristo and you just made me keep my NHL 12 preorder.

Thanks!

It just pisses me off we get goalie fights, but the BeaGM part of the game is still broken.

I know! I usualy just avoid fights altogether. I know fights are part of the game, but it never feels right, the result is kind of screwy, and it just takes me out of the flow of the game. Heck, that's what I don't like about fights in real life!

But fighting does have some impact on momentum and such. I usually just make fighting as easy as I can in the sliders, and then avoid them as much as a I can. I wish I could just hit the drop gloves button and get a sim result and move on.

But goalie fighting? Maybe next year we can get fans fighting each other, too! Or when I chuck a player through the glass and into the stands I can have fans jump on him!

The stuff I like is when they improved boardplay by letting me kick the puck free and use the RT when a player is in front of the net trying to knock in a rebound. I like that this year they worked on having more front of the net battles and improved teammate AI with anticipation. I also like that they continued to work on the physics engine so that bigger players have more of an effect on hits, and are less likely to get knocked down.

I don't like that the ratings are still so top heavy. There has to be a better way to spread the talent level among so many levels of play. How does FIFA and PES do it? But there just doesn't seem to be enough of a drop off to the forth lines. I don't mind if the checking lines have higher OVR's if the ratings boosting them up are in their ability to check and defensive awareness. But getting stuck using the fourth line a lot should be more dramatic than it is (It sure is in HUT play!)

BTW, I saw some of the video overat OS, and it looks like the Blues have a team OVR of 92! I wonder if they have Perron on the team. But they should be a blast to play this year.

Agreed on all points, I'm not sure who thinks of things like goalie fighting.. but I don't make the decisions.

Blues a 92 overall??? Now we know how screwed up the ratings actually are!

[Rodster]

I'm debating on ordering it but have 2 questions.

1) Does it appear to be a nice step up from NHL 11?

2) Does the AI aggressively defend it's own net area? It kind of takes the fun out of playing when I can put one of my guys untouched and alone in front of their goalie.

[Diablo25]

Oh, BaGM is dorked, for sure. But I have never played a second season in any franchise mode. I might get there in football games sometimes, but every sports game has some really dumb issues with CPU AI. I finished one season of NHL 10. If i wanted to do another 82 game season, I'd rather pick a new team and give it another go than deal with dumb GM AI.

But every baseball game, football game, and basketball game has weak franchise modes. There is not a one that you can't pick to death for all of their flaws. Hell, OOTP has a completely retarded AI that is only saved by having human control every team. And sure, it would be nice if they just implemented the ability for any user to control all teams in any sports game. But I sure as hell am not going to dork around with setting every team just to create my own illusion of realism. And I imagine 99% of other gamers won't either. If you tell me that it needs to be done, then just tell me that franchise mode is broke.

But I have found that turning off trades and just playing through the season with teams set up as they are is interesting enough. Teams will still dork up injuries and stuff, but generally, you can get challenging games when you sit down to play. And that goes for all decent sports games, not just NHL.

Unfortunately, the masses that buy sports games are idiots. They buy games based on bullet points. So most developers would be smart to scale back and eliminate most modes of play. But they sell more games if they add modes that don't work right. People here, and a subset of folks at OS are informed enough to play the modes that work and avoid the ones that don't.

There is also a subset that love to show how smart they are by pitching a fit every year, for ever game. they forgot how to just play the game and have fun. They will talk about the glory days of Blades of Steel or RBI Baseball without batting an eye, even though those games had crap AI.

The thing is, explaining what works and doesn't work in sports games is a good thing. But it should inform our expectations rather than fuel our rage.
Games that get stuff right deserve kudos even when they get other stuff wrong.

Madden 12 is a perfect example. It is a good solid game that people are clearly enjoying. But you can spend time picking it to death. And you can be sure in a month or two, it will be viewed as a flawed POS an another example of how EA doesn't know how to make games.

NHL 12 seems like it is going to be another great iteration of the same game. And that's okay. It's also okay to buy every other year because of how they develop it. But they gameplay has improved every year in really smart ways. I'll liv with the same presentation and feel of the game. In fact, I love that they don't change too much. Most of the time, when a sports game gets something just right, thy change it and lose it the next year. I love that can pick up NHL 12 and feel at home.

As Mizzou said, great post Aristo. I am in the same boat with franchise modes in games. I rarely get through an entire season...and if I do I am looking to switch it up. Played well over 600 online games with NHL11. There were nights I wanted to kick my 360 thru the wall but for the most part it was the most enjoyable online sports experience I have had since NFL2k5 league I played in (that was awesome ). I'm really anxious to get the game this Saturday. Should be fun.

[Lancer]

I am the same way. I avoid franchise modes because they're more broken than correct and I like to play games on the field/ice. If I wanted to do drafts and salaries etc... I'd go by a sim on the pc.

NHL EA is the only series in the last 3-4 years I've played online games for. I average around 200 online games a year with each NHL game. Games go by quick and for the most part, in NHL you don't have cheaters like you do w/ Madden.

[Naples39]

I've been lamenting a lack of a plain old season mode in these games for years. No franchise mode, just give me adjustable season lengths with trades, no other frills. I'd be much more interested in making a few trades and playing a 30 game season than trying to slog through a franchise mode, simming a bunch of games, and dealing with "features" like buying a new team bus or whatever else they've thrown in there to level up your club.

[Jimmydeicide]

I'm debating on ordering it but have 2 questions.

1) Does it appear to be a nice step up from NHL 11?

2) Does the AI aggressively defend it's own net area? It kind of takes the fun out of playing when I can put one of my guys untouched and alone in front of their goalie.

1. I'd say a VERY small step but in the right direction.

2. Its not much different than 11 except when the defenseman jostle with you. A new feature"NET BATTLES" not as big as they made out.