Hockey is not a sport that gets much love this time of year, especially with College Football kicking off this week, but it’s been this way ever since the NHL went on strike and losing the 2004 season. As the NHL is starting to claw its way back into households nationwide, EA SPORTS gets ready to Blow the Doors Off with NHL 12 launching September 13th, 2011. Whether you’re a hockey nut or just a casual fan, EA SPORTS NHL 12 brings something for everyone to the table. For those of you new to the series or still stuck playing NHL 94, EA SPORTS has re-defined the true-to-life hockey game. This year NHL 12 features unprecedented presentation that will leave your mouth dragging the floor. All new Team Intros that feature Authentic Props and Effects such as the Shark Head in San Jose or the Oil Derrick in Edmonton give NHL 12 the broadcast presentation that you see on TV every week. The team at EA SPORTS also added in new Transitions and Overlays giving gamers the ability to save/track many more highlights this year. In and Out Wipes are used to seamlessly flow in and out of replays and dynamic overlays are used to showcase stats that are relevant to the current game.
Another new feature is the Action Tracker that comes up when users pauses the game. Now when you hit pause, the Action Tracker is now a live display of all the events that have occurred during the game. The Action Tracker allows gamers to track all of the action from the game at any point in time. From amazing saves to spectacular goals and bone crunching hits, the user has the ability to sort the events in any format of their choice. The Action Tracker also puts a new spin to replay packages, as it allows virtual broadcast booth to highlight stand out players from the game. Another cool new addition to the presentation is the Live Jumbotrons. All the Jumbotrons you see in the game are authentic to those seen in the real world venues. Now the in-game Jumbotrons will actively track the clock, goals, shots, and penalties in real-time. The extra polish that EA SPORTS put into NHL 12 will jump off the screen from the first time you pop in the disc, but what really defines the NHL Series is its Game Play.
The Game Play in NHL 12 takes another step forward this year with an All-New Balance Control system that accounts for the strength and balance of skaters. With this new system, the size and strength truly matter in the outcomes of skaters colliding. The outcomes are many and vary from half falls with one skater stumbling to his knees to helicopter hits causing a skater to spin in the air. Agility and positioning also play big part in the Balance Control system allowing smaller players to line up a big man and knock him to the ice. The new system also makes everything on the ice “live”, from the players to the environment, everything is interactive and in play. Whether it’s a big hit causing a players helmet to pop off to broken glass from hits and shots, the hockey arenas come to life just like you’re in the front row. NHL 12 brings back its stellar line of game modes this year with the only new edition being the new “Be a Legend” mode. Normally when I see this in an annual game release it is a negative, but this is not the case with the modes in NHL 12. The team at EA SPORTS has added even more depth to the “Be a Pro” mode this year.
This feature review continues on the next page, please click Page 2 below to read our final thoughts on EA Sports' NHL 12.
