In retrospect, I think NHL Hitz 2003 was probably the last hockey game that completely absorbed my attention like few games have and it stands out in my mind as the premier hockey video game. It was the arcade trappings that did it for me. EA's own NHL 3-on-3 Arcade was a solid attempt at recapturing that flavor -- and it did, for a brief time -- but was quickly replaced by other games.
With NHL 13 my overall opinion might not change but with the shadow of a lockout looming on the 2012-13 NHL season, this might be the only fix for hockey fans, especially the hardcore fans.
NHL 13 does what every annualized series should do: use the word "revamped" and "improved" a lot.
Besides some minor things like being able to demand a trade or simply retire in the "Be A Pro" mode, there are changes that will have an impact on the way the game plays, specifically with "True Performance Skating" where physics plays a major role and the series again skirts with being too realistic. For example, skating fast does things like decrease shot accuracy, increase turning radius, slows the ability to turn quickly, and momentum means that every screw up will have a price attached to it because it takes longer to recover.There has also been much time and effort put into creating an AI opponent that feels more like a human (though multiplayer is still the way to play an NHL game in this writer's estimation). AI solutions will rarely -- forget it, never -- match the kind of heavy expectations harboured by the enthusiast press or the hardcore fans. It will be a punch in the gut to the programmers and designers when video reviews start going up showing instances of the AI performing brain-dead manoeuvres or write about the revamped trade logic of the "GM Brain." Admittedly, the NHL games have started to run together in my memory, but I've always thought the AI performed pretty well. Besides which, NHL games are the uncrowned kings of adjustable sliders for just about everything in the game so if something doesn't feel right it can be tweaked.
The Hockey Ultimate Team (HUT) and player rating system also get appropriately upgraded. Again, I don't think EA Canada will ever satisfy the player base with the rating system. Tweaks or full-on rebuilding the system for ratings won't satisfy everyone, and like previous iterations, I'd expect to see some stat modification over the year, especially if the season is scrapped.
There's a demo going up on PSN and Xbox Live Marketplace on August 21, 2012 so people can get a taste of the full-on NHL meal when it launches September 11, 2012.
- Aaron Simmer
