The NHL season has started, with preseason games across the nation. EA Sports is back for nearly the twentieth consecutive year with another entry into its increasingly popular NHL franchise. NHL 12 brings with it several obvious new features, and plenty of subtle changes that only the hardcore followers of the series will notice. Casual fan or veteran, NHL 12 has a tremendous amount of quality content to offer, not to mention 2K’s NHL series is MIA this year.
The Best Got Better
I’m compelled to divulge at the outset that I am not an avid NHL fan, nor am I very familiar with the NHL video games from EA and 2K. My heyday in NHL gaming took place at the turn of the century and again briefly in 2006-2007, but I have not committed to any hockey game since then.
NHL 12 is complete and well-rounded enough that I may find myself lacing up the virtual skates more this year than in previous ones. For a casual fan, which I would consider myself, the depth and breadth of NHL 12 is just shy of overwhelming. From detailed customization options to obscure tournaments, to a huge online mode to more than one career mode, NHL 12 is stacked (pad stacked no less) with content. Where a casual fan may be overwhelmed or discouraged by the amount of options, hardcore NHL fans will quite likely find dozens of hours of satisfying content.
Available modes of play include previously available ones and new ones. You’ve got Be A GM, Playoffs, Season, Tournament, Practice, Shootout, Create A Play, Be A Pro, the online EA Sports Hockey League with the Hockey Ultimate Team, and now also the Winter Classic and Be A Legend modes. Note that the career modes, like Be A Pro or Legend, can run for many, many virtual years. Be A Pro allows you to create your own character and work him through the ranks of amateur on to a superstar in the CHL and NHL. The new Be A Legend mode lets you play as nine legends from NHL history, starting with Jeremy Roenick and then you eventually unlock: Gretzky, Howe, Patrick Roy, Bourque, Steve Yzerman, Borj Salming, and Lemieux. Be A Legend mode is not a free ride; periods are hard set at twenty minutes and there are goals and milestones that you must earn to keep the coaches happy, such as scoring x number of goals in a season. It’s a hockey fans mode done up proper.
This may have been in a previous version of NHL, but I thought the ‘timed shift’ gameplay element in Be A Pro was interesting. Timed shifts mean that your character will be on the bench for realistic amounts of time. During these moments you can watch the action or view what the coach would like to see out of you. You can additional sim up to your next shift, but for anyone looking for a heavily authentic experience, actually partaking in time on the bench is unusually realistic for a videogame.
Realism is another major reason why NHL 12 excels. No, I have never played hockey, much less in the NHL, but I have seen a few hundred hours of NHL action on TV in my years, so I feel somewhat capable of judging the physics experienced in NHL 12. While you’re certainly able to tweak settings with My NHL, the default settings in 12 felt very grounded in reality. Several months ago, EA touted their new ‘Full Contact Physics Engine’ for 12, which would feature more accurate bodycheck physics for heavier players, loose helmets and pucks flying every which way, partial falls, etc., and sure, that is all here. Honestly, it’s felt like, to this casual fan anyway, that that stuff has already been included in NHL for at least a couple of years now, but that goes to show the level of attention I paid to the arguably minor details in the physics engine.
AI was another area that EA focused on this year. Known as Anticipation AI, this new system makes each player more independent and just plain smarter when it comes to playing the puck. Again I’m not sure how much of this was missing from the previous NHL games, but in my experience with NHL 12, the AI is balanced and behaves realistically.
Offline and local modes offer a tremendous amount of content, but the complete package involves enabling your online pass and joining the ranks in the EA Ultimate Hockey League. Featuring preseason, regular season, and playoffs for varying skill levels, the Ultimate Hockey League is a massive, shared dynasty mode that anyone can join. Additionally, you can share photos of replays and get updates, including balance tweaks. I thought it was really cool of EA Sports that you can always choose to play with the latest balance tweak update or use any older versions that you have downloaded.
Online or not, NHL 12 looks and sounds great, although the soundtrack didn’t impress me (the soundtrack from NHL 99 has yet to be topped as far as I’m concerned!). Graphically, details are abound, and the crowd looks better than ever, even if just slightly, too. I never experience any framerate issues and animations were smooth as were player facial expressions. With Gary Thorne and Bill Clement making the call, you get two of the best commentators in any sports league which amps up the authentic feel.
Ultimately, NHL 12 is not only the best hockey sim I have ever played, but it’s also the biggest, and deepest. This is like the Oblivion of sports games as far as I’m concerned; a stunning amount of quality content that can appeal to casual fans of the series, and satisfy the most hardcore players, too.
To the summary…