Today’s post includes my own official review of EA Sports NHL 2012. The realities of hockey are gruesomely amazing — honor, violence, teamwork, blood, and lasting scars. I love hockey — I love watching it, playing it on the ice, and playing it off the ice (enter the only video games worth playing — the EA Sports Hockey Franchise).
Is NHL 2012 Better than NHL 2011?
This is really the only question worth asking about video games within the series — is the latest installment an improvement over the previous edition? And, was it actually worth it to create the latest installment? And, finally, was it worth the investment?
To all of these questions, I answer a general “yes.” Although, I must admit, NHL 2012 was not as much of an improvement as I had hoped. The critics seem to agree. According to the Official XBox Magazine’s review, the game implemented several improvements, but nothing that would be considered incredibly innovative, creative, or original.
One exceptional improvement that I’ve already experienced is the life-like graphic display of hockey as a blood-ridden, battle-oriented sport. Never before has EA Sports presented a hockey video game that represents this violent struggle in a realistic way. The game has gotten progressively smarter in its representations of hockey players and the ways in which their bodies react to this level of professional play on the ice.
The game’s amped up artificial intelligence makes it much more difficult to score, which as a seasoned EA Sports NHL fan, I appreciate. You have to really work to get a goal, and the creators’ grasp of physics is astounding.
NHL 2012, overall, is certainly an improvement, and I do enjoy playing it more than NHL 2011. It is absolutely the best hockey video game on the market, hands down, and in my opinion, the only video game worth playing. Is it vastly different or inventive in comparison to NHL 2011? No. But it is an improvement, nonetheless.
