So rather than simply slap a new number on the front of the box and update the rosters to match their real life counterparts, the creative minds over at EA Sports attempt to make the NHL series as true to life as possible with each passing season.
NHL '07 was the title that changed hockey video-games forever with the introduction of the 'Skill Stick', which gave full control of a player’s skates and stick to the controller’s left and right analog sticks, providing gamers with near limitless freedom and creative options.
Building on that groundbreaking technology, the series has seen plenty of upgrades in recent years including the introduction of real world physics as well as an unrivaled online community. For NHL 13, the development team over at EA claims they are introducing their biggest innovation since the Skill Stick back in 2007.
New to this year’s game is 'True Performance Skating', which implements real world physics one step farther and introduces thousands of new animations as skaters in NHL 13 will now match the explosiveness, momentum and top-end speed of their real life counterparts. Combined with the Skill Stick, True Performance Skating will finally give gamers access to the entire tool set of an NHL player. This will allow for an unprecedented amount of control and creativity yet to be seen in a hockey video-game and should certainly create some “wow” moments between friends and opponents alike.
Further more, 'EA Sports Hockey I.Q.' is an innovative artificial intelligence system that will govern and regulate the behavior of players, goalies and overall team play. Every player on the ice is now fully aware of all other players where in year’s past; they could only track those in their immediate vicinity. A wealth of further improvements and innovations will be released in detail on EA’s NHL website, culminating in the game’s release on September 11th.
In closing, NHL 13 has always simulated the real NHL playoffs. To relate to how correct the simulated outcomes have been in relation to the real life games, this year in an NHL '12 simulation, the game had Los Angeles beating New Jersey in 6 games, with Mr. Jonathan Quick taking home the Conn Smythe, interesting to say the least. NHL 13 is sure to wow the average fan as well as the hardcore gamers.
Look out for NHL 13 to hit the shelves September 11th, 2012.
For some NHL 13 screenshots brought to you by Operation Sports please click here!
Check out this great video as the EA Sports NHL 13 development team looks at some in-game shots, player awareness,hockey IQ, and overall improvement from last year's game.
