NHL 13: Grading the Realism

[pc21]

The early reviews on OS was that the game was awesome and much improved from NHL 12. I fork out 59.99 plus tax and all I get is a game with an improved staking engine. EA is so sub-par. There is no real fluidity to the game as there is in say MLB 12. Line changes look like cheap cartoon movements of an era gone by; players have the same mirror image movements on the bench and the game actually struggles to load from screen to screen. I thought I was purchasing a Ferrari but ended up with a lemon. I guess Sony is so far ahead in its MLB platform that it has ruined by ability to appreciate anything less.

[savoie2006]

Quote: Originally Posted by pc21

The early reviews on OS was that the game was awesome and much improved from NHL 12. I fork out 59.99 plus tax and all I get is a game with an improved staking engine. EA is so sub-par. There is no real fluidity to the game as there is in say MLB 12. Line changes look like cheap cartoon movements of an era gone by; players have the same mirror image movements on the bench and the game actually struggles to load from screen to screen. I thought I was purchasing a Ferrari but ended up with a lemon. I guess Sony is so far ahead in its MLB platform that it has ruined by ability to appreciate anything less.

In NHL's defense, it much easier to replicate the sport of baseball than it is hockey, which is probably the most difficult.

[Flyermania]

For me, the game has improved in a lot of area. Goaltending still needs a LOT of work. But with penalties lacking for yet another year, the best I can rate this game is a "C". Penalties are such a huge part of hockey, and this game just doesn't have enough of them. Plain and simple.

[xx19kilosoldier]

The penalty issue which has appeared for the third straight year in the NHL series rate this game a D in realism for me.

Power plays and penalty kills are an INTEGRAL part of hockey, so much so that having this aspect broken again is unacceptable. Its akin to having strikouts or base on balls not working properly in a baseball game.

So realism for NHL 13: D

[SA1NT401]

C+....penalty issues killing it for me again this year.

[cujomatty]

I really like the game but the goaltending is hurting the experience for me. Lately I've been messing with sliders in order to make the game more challenging and its become very apparent that EA relys heavily on goaltending to make the game harder instead of making the AI play better. I want to lose some games but I just can't stand losing 6-2 when I've outshot the computer 42-15 and my goalie is rated 90. I understand it happens but not every other game. I find it very hard to feel like I've really earned a loss which is such an important aspect of sports gaming. If I lose at madden or MLB or basically any other sports game I generally feel like it was deserved, not always but most of the time. In NHL however alot of the time it feels like im getting jipped

[Mikey88]

Great write up, pretty much sums up my feelings about the game.. I dont think offline versus CPU is even worth getting into. The AI is just not good enough. Online however seems like where this game comes alive.
I still like NHL 10 more than i have the last 3 years of NHL games combined in terms of game play. Obviously, 10 wasn't perfect but it was closer to the real thing and hey there were actual penalties being called regularly! wow what a concept! I have some random thoughts...

-Anyone else feel like the ice isn't big enough? They want to bring this game up to speed with realism, make the ice feel proportionate to the real thing.

-The hitting has also gotten progressively WORSE since 10.. in 10, if you lined up a guy properly you could send him flying.. in 13, no need. just bump him lightly and he'll hit the ice.

-There was a better tradeoff in 10. When you spammed poke check or stick lift too much, you risked getting high sticking or tripping penalties. Not this time around.. Hopefully they can fix it.

And the goalies - probably the worst thing about this game as mentioned in the article. Just plain unrealistic in the way they move, the way they can go post to post in a completely unrealistic way.. EA really needs to make this part of the game as realistic as possible IMO even before the hitting.

I have to commend them at least for getting the skating down pat. Great job by them but the rest of the game needs the same amount of attention to really bring this game to life.

[MetalCavs]

Good write up Jayson, while the skating tune up is a good bullet point for this years version of NHL , not addressing other legacy issues with this years title only will ensure that without any competition the hockey series is and will suffer the same fate as Madden. Good thing they'll always be customers that need to justify their yearly investment in the only game on the market and are willing to overlook such issues.

[canucksss]

nice write up. but i have to disagree with your overall rating for NHL 13. it does not deserve a B-, imho. its C- for me. it could have been a B+ or even A- if the penalty issue is non-existence. to be in higher rating, goalie fatigue must be included and netplay and boardplay must be at least improved.

[xcanadaman9x]

Would it be more realistic if you didn't play it until the lockout ends?