I looked for a similar thread before posting this.
Anyway, any impressions so far?
I bought the game Saturday, downloaded the roster updates (9/19). It's a pretty cool simulation. The action seems a bit faster than 13. The after-play mischief and fights are cool, too. So far Kunitz, Niskanen, and Orpik have all beaten the snot out of Scott Hartnell.
So many things are great. In Be a GM though I'm 13-1 and the average score is a 5.6-1.1 win for me (superstar, hardcore simulation) which is a step back from last year. The hailed scoring variation is there to some degree but high glove side after gaining the slot has a too good success ratio.
Live the Life is awesome though. Not the new features, but the teammate AI. They finally play like the standard AI, it's no longer all up to you (though you can be the prominent scorer of course, but still).
Didn't feel it was a whole lot different from last year based on the demo. First one I didn't pick up on launch, and have no intentions of getting it unless it drops to 30$ or less. Much like Madden, the NHL series is just boring to me now.
I'm liking it a lot, but I skipped over '13, so I've been playing '12 for a bit. Love the skating and the checking - the little bumps and the fact that guys will react when they collide is huge. Goalies seem improved as well.
