NHL 12 - hooray for more physics

[Scott_Arm]

My annual NHL thread, where I am, for the most part, the only participant.

This year will bring some more improvements to physics.

You can now hit the goalie, knock the net off its moorings, use your players size advantage to push people around. The puck will roll and bounce instead of always lying flat on the ice. There are now three player collisions, instead of only two-man, and sometimes the person throwing the hit will fall or bounce off the person being hit.

 

[Scott_Arm]

New info on the "Be A Pro" mode, for those that *gasp* play offline.


[gt]717644[/gt]

 

[AlphaWolf]

The question is can you hit other players as the goalie... and get them called for interference?

 

[Scott_Arm]

Some other info that I've heard about.

-For online play you can now create builds for left wing, right wing, center, defense and goalie, so you don't have to switch your points around if you're asked by your team to switch positions for a game.

-The "player card" system remains for earning points to spend on your player online, but there are now several stages of achievement for each card, so you get loss points more often. For example, there may be three steps to getting your superstar card, each awarding you a number of points, rather than having one larger lump of points when you earn the superstar.

-When leaving an EASHL team, you are subject to a cool-down timer before you can join a new team. This choice was made to prevent club hopping for win trading.

-There is a new physics/animation system where your player tries to maintain balance when hit.

-In Be A Pro mode you can now skip to your next shift if you're sitting on the bench.

-Play as hall of famers: Ray Bourque, Chris Chelios, Steve Yzerman, Patrick Roy , Jeremy Roenick & Wayne Gretzky

-NHL Winter Classic game (outdoor with snow/weather)

-goalie fights

-loose puck on slapshots

Demo on August 23rd

Now I just need to start harrassing repi to push EA Sports to use the Frostbite engine in their games. The graphics are starting to look pretty old and outdated.

 

[RobertR1]

Thanks for ruining Scott's streak Alpha.....

 

[jb]

Well since his streak is busted thanks Scott for all you do. Being a big fan of the game I look forward to it each year. However I am just not much into the on-line aspect (as I tend to play more co-op shooters only on line). So I see they have made a ton of improvements over there... Still should be fun

 

[Scott_Arm]

Demo is available on Xbox Live for Gold members. Not sure if Silver members got screwed for some reason. Going to try it out later and will post my impressions.

 

[AlphaWolf]

Tried the demo for a bit, seems decent enough. I haven't played the last 2 or 3 so not sure what all was really new. The checking seems a bit better (more realistic as in you don't always knock the other guy flying) than I remember.

 

[Scott_Arm]

It's fairly similar to 11, but there are some differences. The hitting seems more restrained and believable than NHL 11. Last years game had too many hits that either leveled the guy, or did nothing. This one seems to have more middle-ground hits that knock people into the boards, or make them stumble, but they stay on their skates. I also took a run at a much bigger player and knocked myself down. Contact with the goalie does not seem to be overdone. I did see one penalty for a guy basically checking the goalie for no reason. Haven't seen the net come off the moorings.

The mechanic for battling in front of the net is a mystery to me. According to the in-game manual (AWESOME), you use the right stick to initiate the "battle" and left stick to steer the player around. I'm not sure how it works, because if you click the right stick you do a hip check and if you push it in a direction, you check. Maybe it's supposed to be context sensitive, as in if you are both standing still it will "battle" instead of check, but I couldn't get it to work.

The skating animation looks a lot more realistic now. They've made some nice improvements so the players move more believably, even though they may be subtle at first. Stick-handling, deking and passing seem about the same.

AI felt better to me. In the offensive zone your D will not give up so many breakaways at the blue line by positioning themselves too aggressively. Should be a good improvement for the offline players. Haven't played enough to know if the goalies are more believable and less exploitable.

The addition of being able to sim until your next shift during Be A Pro is very cool. You no longer have to sit on the bench and wait for your turn to play again. You just press a button and it simulates for a few seconds and jumps into the game when you're on the ice.

Overall, I'm pleased, but I really won't know until I play online, which is really the only way I play.

 

[jb]

Thanks for the update Scott!!

 

[Scott_Arm]

I've noticed they've changed a number of shooting animations, so some of the shots look a lot more realistic, instead of having the puck come off the stick in weird directions.

 

[Scott_Arm]

Have to admit, seeing my friends list playing early with EA Season Ticket is almost making me crack. So far the reports from the high-end players I know are good.

 

[Scott_Arm]

Launch day in North America, so here's the launch trailer:

http://www.ea.com/nhl/videos/nhl12-launch-video

Will post my impressions later on tonight, after I've picked it up on my way home from work.

 

[Scott_Arm]

So far, it's real good.

Puck physics are the star of the show. The puck makes contact with everything, so it's a lot harder to deke through everyone. You're rewarded for playing real hockey, moving the puck around, keeping the puck in the offensive zone, getting rebounds, cycling on the boards and blasting shots from the point. This game really suits my play style. That said, we got absolutely demolished by the same team twice in a row because you have to be very organized on defense, and we weren't. AI goalies are a lot more realistic in that they'll let in a variety of goals, rather than seeing the same small number of glitch goals repeatedly. That means shooters can be dangerous from anywhere, so you have to be organized. We weren't and we got thumped very badly.

The goalie contact is a great addition to the game. I've seen defenders push their own goalie out of the net by accident, and I've seen players fall on top of the goalie so he can't get up. Playing as a goalie, it adds an extra element to the game. If you body check the goalie, you're automatically thrown into a fight. Oh, and you can play goalie in the overhead views again, which is great.

The lobbies are pretty much the same, but I think the matching options for goalie and team size actually work properly.

Being able to set up custom builds for each position is cool. You can pick different player types for center, left wing, right wing, defense and goalie, as well as being able to adjust height, weight, handedness, equipment and boosts for each one.

 

[Scott_Arm]

Just a quick update to say the team ranking in EASHL and the match making are much improved. You seem to match to teams of a more appropriate skill level more frequently. Also it does a much better job in matching team sizes/goalies. Overall the game is fantastic. The new puck physics, hitting and general balance of the game are improved and the end result is something that looks a lot more like real hockey. Also, I'm doing great, so that always makes it a lot more fun