Last season’s NHL 2011 was as easily one of the most well-rounded hockey games ever released on a console. However, after a few play throughs of the NHL 2012 demo on the 360, it appears the best just got better.
Simply put, the tweaks to the physical game and the added goaltender animations and various other gameplay additions have made a world of difference. For the first time in the series’ history, goaltenders are no longer brick walls, unable to be barreled over. While this may not seem like a huge improvement for casual gamers, real hockey fans will appreciate the addition wholeheartedly.
For gamers who want realism, NHL 2012 is chock-full of it. The tighter AI also makes sure it’s tougher than ever to score cheap goals. At the same time, the new system for play in front of the net adds another layer to the excitement and makes grinders a valuable commodity.
All in all, the game feels enough like the fantastic game from last season to keep loyalists happy, while providing enough tweaks and extra content to make sure hardcore fans of the series don’t feel cheated when they upgrade.
Graphically, the game continues to get better, as everything from the stitching on numbers of jerseys is visible on a standard definition set. Between that and the plethora of new animations, it’s easily the best-looking hockey game on the console.
It’s easy to forget how far the NHL series has come over the last half decade, but make no mistake; it’s the best sports series in video games today.
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports.
Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders.
His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023.
Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief.
Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale.
Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.
Last season’s NHL 2011 was as easily one of the most well-rounded hockey games ever released on a console. However, after a few play throughs of the NHL 2012 demo on the 360, it appears the best just got better.
Leave a Reply