Difficulty:

Hard

Time Spent:

40 to 100 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Innovative"

Ok, so I have not purchased NHL in a few years for whatever reason, but as a huge Hockey fan, I can speak to this matter. NHL 13 is Great. The new skating is fantastic. The touchy controls make complete sense if you are looking for realism. Being that most action comes from the 2 analog sticks your hand fatigue is minimal. That alone makes not having to press a million buttons priceless. Once you adjust to the simple but new controls you should love them. The presentation and graphics are a perfect 10. The play by play is solid but the color commentary is a bit blah.

The modes, and gameplay options are deep and extrememly interesting. There is one major flaw I see which does not take away from my rating. The computer AI is ridiculous. As far as the goaltending it is not, but the Defense systems and reaction time is crazy. From rookie level to pro level there is a huge difference. I cant imagine what superstar is like. For me, pro is fine. I am not sure how the time counts down but for some reason if you adjust the period length, the in game clock still starts from 20 minutes. I cant figure this out yet, so feedback would be great on this.

The controls take some getting used to but this years NHL to me has it all plus makes it as real feel as you can get. With a lockout going on and no NHL Hockey until possibly Dec, you must pick this up to keep you busy. I hope this helps.

By the way, huge Devils fan and Marty plays like a 40 year old in this game. : )