[Yamer]

Played through the HUT tournament (after finally being able to sustain my connection to the servers) and I've changed my tune a bit.

I'm not a big fan of the new skating system. I like the momentum stuff, and how it's harder to turn when you're going fast. However, I don't like how the burst system is now. It seems a little too random. My guy will burst into full stride at unpredictable times. I would like the option to engage it somehow, like how the hustle feature was in NHL 12. So you could just click in the analog stick and you would engage full stride, and as soon as you stopped pushing forward on the stick it would disengage. And even though I mentioned that it's realistic with the turning, it feels like I am controlling a team full of mid-60s Buicks.

Puck control when within a few feet of an opposing player, checking/poke checking or not, is pretty bad. All an opposing player has to do is be in my vicinity and the puck will pop off my stick. The little nudges I get from the CPU seem to have too large of an impact on my players too, and I will lose the puck despite the smallest shove.

Skill stick seems to have taken a hit. It's harder to deke.

Hitting animations are kind of ridiculous. Ok, very ridiculous. Same goes for the overly frequent desperation saves by the goaltenders (which also seem to work with extreme effectiveness). Some of the player movement animations seem to jump, like players kind of teleport forward in some instances. Hopefully that's just demo production quality.

One-timers are absurdly hard to pull off, even on Pro difficulty.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I feel the AI is still underwhelming. The lack of attention to this area of the game suggests to me that EA has geared this game to be played online with at least 3-4 people on each team. Probably a smart move due to the popularity of online gaming, but it leaves us loner offliners frustrated and in the dust.


Bottom line ratings out of 10:

Graphics/Appearance: 9 (Seems like such a massive improvement in visual quality from last year. Love the player models and game faces and the limited presentation and broadcast overhauls I have seen)

Sound: 8 (Always a good soundtrack and the in-game sounds and crowd noise feel very immersive. Recycled commentary keeps this from being a 9.)

Replayability: 9 (Duh, it's a sports game. It's meant to be played from one iteration to the next.)

Fun Factor: 7 (Complex learning curve and features, unless you want to play on rookie with NHL 94 controls, may drive away the casual gamer. This rating may not be fair considering I haven't had the opportunity to play all the modes yet, but these are ratings based on the demo.)


As I play the demo more and more, I can already foresee how large of a learning curve this game will have. It will absolutely appeal to the realistic hungry and hardcore gamers. However, I'm a pretty casual gamer. I like to pick up the controller every now and again when I have a break from work/college and relax. I don't think I will get that experience with NHL 13. I think it will be a lot of work to learn, and will require more dedication than I may be able to give it in order to truly enjoy it. I understand this is the sort of trend good games are headed in these days as they become more realistic and complex. I just don't know whether I can be entertained by putting in more work when I have time off from paid work.

This is still the biggest step forward in hockey gaming that EA has made in years, and I'm sure it is going to sell like crazy. I wouldn't be surprised to see it get serious recognition in the gaming awards area. For me, based on the demo alone, it has quickly gone from a must-buy to a ponderable purchase.