It is 1994 and the Mike Keenan coached New York Rangers are looking to end their 54-year championship drought. The level of excitement is at an all-time high. Madison Square Garden is packed for a game that shouldn't exist. The underdog Canucks have forced the deciding match after trailing 3-2 in the best-of-seven series.
The Rangers have a brave and bold captain in Mr. June Mark Messier, who predicted victory for a team that had been jinxed for generations. He became a lionized idol in the eyes of the Rangers faithful. He would lead the Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Canucks in the deciding game. "The waiting is over! The New York Rangers are the Stanley Cup champions! And this one will last a lifetime," uttered the team's play-by-play voice Sam Rosen.
Days later the team would be showered in a sea of confetti in lower Broadway's Canyon of Heroes. This is my favorite hockey memory. Why am I bringing this up in a review of EA Sports' NHL '13? Because I know every other reviewer is bringing up the leagues' second lockout in the last 10 years.
Yeah right about now those other reviewers are writing about how video game hockey will ease your pain. I can't argue that point, but I do wish that EA Sports had taken the lockout to finish improving their computer's artificial intelligence in the game's franchise mode.
Irrational decisions still plague NHL 13's, and they are prevalent enough to make the New GM Brain seem like a failure. A few seasons into the game and star players are still displaced or wind up free agents in the prime of their career. Is it less often than in previous titles? Yes it is, but it still drives me crazy when I see Henrik Lundqvist wind up on the same team as Jonathan Quick, especially when both player end up on the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The game's AHL system is flawed and lifetime minor league players are giving playing time over prospects. It is also hard to resign veteran player without them sitting out after proposing ridiculous contracts.
But complaints aside this game is still great where it really counts. On the ice skating is realistic, speed and positioning have become grounded. Players no longer fly across the ice and make hairpin turns. The control system takes some practice and the new Vision Control allows player to simply skate backwards, which comes in handy.
The in-game ability to hustle for the puck and setup hard shots on the goaltender is almost perfect. After playing many games in a short span of time I noticed that passing is a little bit funky. I'm not saying that every pass should be perfect, but not every pass by the player should be crappy. Also as I mentioned in the review of the demo, the computer does have the unfair advantage of being able to skate circles around you. I suggest practicing with the free skate mode in order to improve your skating.
Another flaw is that I rarely saw the game's AI commit penalties; this definitely takes away from the game's realism. Basically, every team in the NHL makes mistakes and the game should reflect that naturally. But NHL '13 is still great on the ice. You will have some intense battles in this game whether playing against the computer or your best friend.
Gary Thorne's play-by-play is a bit off and rarely captures the excitement of the game or the speed. He is pretty good but the commentary and game play could be synced a little bit better.This is not Thorne's fault but the fault of the developer. Also like other EA Sports titles the commentary gets repetitive quickly.
NHL Moments Live, allows gamers to relive moments from hockey's past, except it uses current player to recreate these iconic moments, which is a big fail. You get to play as the said player of that particular moment, but are surrounded by current rosters.
In closing the game is a lot of fun despite these flaws. With sports games we often nitpick at features or lack of features. There isn't anything in this game that will make you hate your experience, but there are things that could have really improved your overall experience. With that said there is a lot of fun to be had in this game, and you and your best hockey loving friends will have an exceptionally good time. I give the game 8.75-out-of-10. This could have been the great one but instead wound up being a great game.
Watch the games trailer below and take a look at our picks for the greatest hockey games of all-time here.
