[bwiggy33]

The presentation looks very much improved which will make this game feel more fresh. I'm absolutely loving the front end menu. It looks really really solid. I'm just hoping it won't be laggy. Other than that concern I'm really digging it.

As far as commentary, I like that they've improved it. It will definitely sound better and hopefully make the game more entertaining. The only problem for me is that I'm just so over Thorne and Clement (my favorite announcing duo in hockey history) announcing that I'm just ready for some fresh voices. That's the only reason I'm not very excited on that front. If this new commentary would have happened a few years ago I would have been absolutely pumped. It's just that Thorne doesn't do the NHL at all anymore and Clement very rarely does for the Flyers, so it's hard for me to dig them announcing in a video game. Just my opinion on it, but I'm not trying to start this into a "who should be the next annoucer thread"

Overall though it looks so much better on every front. It finally seems like NHL has finally upgraded as a whole instead of stupid gimmick items being added that don't mean a dang thing to how the game actually plays (ex: breaking glass and fighting goalies). The core of the game finally looks like it's going in the right direction. Hopefully 13 will live up to what they're saying, and then they can take what they have with 13 and continue to just upgrade, upgrade, upgrade from here on out without getting too comfortable.

Can't wait for the demo!