NHL 12 News Post

NHL 12 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360, PS3)

05:52 AM - August 23, 2011 by Steve_OS

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NHL 12 demo is available now, please play a few games and post your impressions here. The demo weighs in at 1.34 GB. Available now for 360, later this afternoon for PS3.

UPDATE: PS3 demo is available now.

What's included in the demo? Check out the NHL 12 demo announcement blog.

Game: NHL 12Reader Score: 7.5/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS3 / Xbox 360Votes for game: 26 - View All

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Member Comments

# 141 The Amaizen Blue @ 08/23/11 05:51 PM

Am I the only one experiencing terrible framerate on the PS3? Takes away the fun of the game when the sound keeps spazzing out and players are skipping around.

# 142 Mikey88 @ 08/23/11 06:03 PM

Just had my 1st glass breaking hit!.. I had Chara and lined up Daniel Sedin into the corner glass.. CRUNCH!

# 143 thedudedominick @ 08/23/11 06:09 PM

I am loving the changes I am noticing in the demo. While there are a lot of subtle things that don't completely stand out, there are enough of them that I feel this game plays a lot better than NHL 11.

-New shot block animations that add to the realism of D men in front of the net as well as forwards blocking shots from the point.
-Puck physics are very much improved, no more bouncing in the air off the goalie and landing on his back.
-I am hoping the checking is just tuned up for the demo and will not have as many big hits as we do now.
-With the checking I have seen some things that just amazed me. I hit a guy who was coming by the net, it was a big hit where my player ended up on the ice pretty much on top of the guy he hit.
-Lot's of little bumps that knock the puck away or drop a guy to his knees. Players size and attributes come into play more in checking.
-The AI is much improved. CPU actually takes shots from different spots, and I have had to play much smarter on D or they will find an opening and take advantage of it. The toe drag to make a defender stop doesn't work anymore, which is amazing.
-The computer plays much better defense. They take away passing lanes in the neutral zone, and sometimes their forecheck seems suffocating. In the defensive end they play aggressive on the point, and when entering the zone they have active sticks to take away the cross crease and don't allow you to just deke by them.
-I would love to see more penalties called, I hope they just have them turned down for the demo. I checked Thomas behind the play and no penalty was called.
-The variety of goals I have seen is a breath of fresh air.

I think this is a much improved game. I have enjoyed the past versions of NHL, but they are finally adding to the "sloppy" and gritty parts of hockey that real hockey fans have been waiting to be translated into this game for years.

Edit: Forgot to mention I love the ability to throw the puck around the boards in the offensive zone with RB+shot stick

# 144 gopher_guy @ 08/23/11 06:11 PM

do we get anything for sharing the demo?

I seem to remember some games where you get extra little perks for sending it to x number of people.

If so, I will send it to a bunch of my friends who haven't been on XBL in like 6 months

# 145 thedudedominick @ 08/23/11 06:14 PM

Also want to mention the dekes have been slowed down a lot and your player loses speed while deking so hopefully it stays this way to really make it more of a team game online.

# 146 BaylorBearBryant @ 08/23/11 06:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Amaizen Blue


	Am I the only one experiencing terrible framerate on the PS3? Takes away the fun of the game when the sound keeps spazzing out and players are skipping around.

Not having an issue with this.

# 147 HARTSTOPPER @ 08/23/11 06:29 PM

The Demo for PS3 is out now. I had to go to Demo > New Releases to find it. Not sure if this has been passed around yet or not

# 148 Section_25 @ 08/23/11 06:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BaylorBearBryant


	Not having an issue with this.

I'm not having any problems like that either.....

As far as my impression, I like the polished (updated) look it has and yes I will probably be buying the game although it is somewhat disappointing how similar some of the features are to NHL 11.

I mean they used the same exact cut-scenes as last year? Just seems lazy on the part of the development team. Maybe the retail version will have other/extra stuff.

Guess we will find out next month.

# 149 SinisterAlex @ 08/23/11 06:36 PM

There are two things that are really annoying me and I know can be fixed.

1) A.I players, CHOOSE A SIDE AND STAY THERE! I've lost count of how many times I'll be skating down the ice, and my A.I teammate goes right in front of me, then I'm like "Fine, I'll go down the middle" then not even 5 seconds later, he follows me.... seriously.

2) For the love of god A.I team mates, If I get tied up on the faceoff, GO AND GET THE PUCK! Don't stand there and let me lose it....c'mon.

Aside from those two annoyances, this demo is awesome and I cannot wait until the retail game comes out!

# 150 exposedaking @ 08/23/11 06:37 PM

to me, this game plays really stiff...seems like the players are skating in sand....its pretty slow, but this is the best crowd i seen in any sport game to date

# 151 The Amaizen Blue @ 08/23/11 06:41 PM

Guess I'm the only one who thinks it's terrible. It's like playing against a mirror. The CPU just mirrors whatever you do. I stop, the CPU is already stopped. There's almost no way for teammates to get open whatsoever and they're extremely dumb. It's too difficult to find open space because the defense is like a blanket and clutters you up. I might as well go Bobby Orr on the other team and strictly do end-to-end rushes because passing appears to be useless. Shooting seems unresponsive at times (did they take snapshots out of the game when I wasn't looking???). Animations are too slow and the framerate is unbearable with players skipping and the sound cutting in and out. I even destroyed Chara with Alex Burrows. What a joke.

# 152 BaylorBearBryant @ 08/23/11 06:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AtomicLegend


	There are two things that are really annoying me and I know can be fixed. 1) A.I players, CHOOSE A SIDE AND STAY THERE! I've lost count of how many times I'll be skating down the ice, and my A.I teammate goes right in front of me, then I'm like "Fine, I'll go down the middle" then not even 5 seconds later, he follows me.... seriously.

This kills me. It's I tend to play club or OTP. If you can find a good team, you don't have these issues.

A couple impressions:

Got checked into the opponents bench. Very nice.

Also I definitely was getting pinned out of the crease area as Sedin against Charra. So maybe the net presence does work.

# 153 gopher_guy @ 08/23/11 06:49 PM

I'm REALLY enjoying it.

The puck physics and goal variety are great, maybe it's because I wasn't really expecting that part of the game to be that much better, but it has me very satisfied. Sure, presentation is not where it should be in this day and age, but this is going to be a great game.

# 154 stew514 @ 08/23/11 06:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thedudedominick


	Also want to mention the dekes have been slowed down a lot and your player loses speed while deking so hopefully it stays this way to really make it more of a team game online.

I disagree with you, the deking is terrible because you go backhand forehand and you have lost all momentum. If you have someone like Datsyuk or Zetterberg who are great stick handlers they should lose almost 0 speed while deking.

# 155 BaylorBearBryant @ 08/23/11 06:56 PM

Just reiterating, can really notice the net presence against Charra.

# 156 Qb @ 08/23/11 07:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thedudedominick


	Also want to mention the dekes have been slowed down a lot and your player loses speed while deking so hopefully it stays this way to really make it more of a team game online.

Quote:

Originally Posted by stew514


	I disagree with you, the deking is terrible because you go backhand forehand and you have lost all momentum. If you have someone like Datsyuk or Zetterberg who are great stick handlers they should lose almost 0 speed while deking.

I suspect this is something they will be looking closely for feedback on for further tuning. I can see a lot complaining from those used to the old style, so hopefully they don't go too far back the other way. It sounds like a promising change if balanced properly.

# 157 SinisterAlex @ 08/23/11 07:10 PM

I'm playing on All-Star Normal and I think the A.I is just fine. It's aggressive when it needs to be and sits back when it needs too.

I'm also loving the variety from the A.I in terms of passing. They don't just skate and never pass, if they're about to lose room in the neutral zone, they'll pass it off a few times before eventually gaining the blue line or dumping it.

Also don't get me started on their shots... purely amazing. I've never seen the CPU take the amount of shots that they are in this demo. Most of their shots aren't just shots, they're legitimate good scoring chances.

The puck physics are superb and the way the goalies react and control rebounds is astonishing. Seeing Luongo and Thomas deflect rebounds to the corners and make these nice pad saves is a nice thing to see.

Gosh... I'm in love.

# 158 gopher_guy @ 08/23/11 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RealmK


	BTW is the action tracker disabled in the demo?

If you play BAP, you can see it in action as you sim to your next shift.

# 159 SinisterAlex @ 08/23/11 07:31 PM

Just saw something cool while playing. It seems they have added highlight package for certain players. They first showed a cut scene of Luongo in his net, Bill then talks about Luongo and says "watch these replays" an graphic comes up with "Roberto Luongo" on it and they then show some of his saves that he had made that period.

Now that's pretty cool.

# 160 mazinkaiser @ 08/23/11 07:33 PM

I like it better than nhl 11. Still need to tone down the puck sticking to the stick like a magnet with sliders. It looks like nhl 12 and bf3 are the two ea games I'll be buying this year. I really wanted to get madden, but I really hate the demo and I don't feel like playing the eagles every other game online.

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