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In the hockey world, the arrival of September has become synonymous with the release of NHL '13 on all of the major gaming consoles. EA Sports has made a concerted effort to push NHL '13 to the top of the sports gaming hierarchy, but once again, it has fallen short of the mark.
A popular entertainment and gaming web site at IGN reviews a bunch of these games by focusing on the five most important qualities: Presentation, graphics, sound, gameplay, and lasting appeal. Largely, I think this makes sense. In sports gaming, I'd probably add a six category -- realism. No one wants to play a game that's wildly unrealistic, but in fairness, I'm assuming that for sports gaming, this sub-element is addressed in the gameplay section.
Sports gaming really has become another animal over the years. Games like NFL Blitz -- a popular, yet farcical presentation of football -- have waned in relevance, paving the way for the games that are equal parts enjoyable and realistic.
It's the second-half of the above -- the reality factor -- where NHL '13 really missed the mark. For those who refuse to play a game that's not comparable to the real-life version -- well, buyer beware.
Much to my surprise, there isn't any semblance of a lockout mode on the game. I find this puzzling, considering it's one of the most common fixtures of the National Hockey League. Sure, the gameplay is mesmerizing, the graphics enthralling, and Gary Thorne's voice calling all sixty-minutes captivating.
But, shouldn't the game at least try and resemble what happens in the
actual National Hockey League? Why won't EA Sports give the fans what they want?
The possibilities are endless. Consider dynasty mode as a starting point. You're owning and operating a business, finally crafting a team that can compete for a Stanley Cup in year three. Then, boom! An error message. "The ____ -- _____ season has been cancelled. Simulate to the next year?" This message would appear and reappear exhaustively.
Here's an alternative: What if the game gives you a chance to negotiate the next collective bargaining agreement to avoid a potential lockout? The difficulty is always set to max, and any offer you tender to the opposing side is automatically met with a smug grin and sharp rhetoric. There's even a media mode and simulated Twitter feed -- much like we've seen in
Madden this year -- where various writers can bitch and complain about how side x or side y is getting the raw end of the deal.
I'd imagine a morale attribute would have to be established for the individual player and collective players association. Naturally, it'd be pretty high, until it randomly plummeted in the summer to the point where negotiations are a complete waste of time.
The same can be said for other owners in dynasty mode, too. If you're a small market team, you'll be back-alley'd by guys like Ed Snider and Craig Leipold to accepting an offer, even if it means your team will be financially bust in two years time. If you're a big market team -- well, nothing happens. You simply sit there and wait for the game to pass a year's time until you get the deal you want anyway.
That's going to lead to another interesting element of dynasty mode -- contractions and relocations of franchises. Twenty-nine of the thirty teams are capable of moving every year, save the Phoenix Coyotes, who must maintain permanent residency in Glendale. If your team runs red in consecutive years, the rumor mill function begins firing up. All of the rumors point to a potential move to Quebec City, but that never comes to fruition. Instead, the teams are cycled through Seattle, Kansas City, and Las Vegas to keep Gary Bettman's American Dream alive.
Let's step out of dynasty mode for a minute. Another intriguing game mode is Be a Pro, where a player tries to come out of the junior ranks and establish himself as an elite National Hockey League player in a lengthy career.
The focus will shift from actual gameplay to trying to earn the best possible contract every time you're up for free agency or an extension from your current franchise. I'd say that's pretty realistic -- the goal of every player is to get paid as much as possible in any sport.
There's a twist, though. If you sign a contract that's deemed too large, the owners can ask you to scale it back by -- I don't know, 24%. If you complain, the NHL and NHLPA automatically threaten one another over a
potential probable lockout. You're greeted by Donald Fehr, who ensures you that the players won't make a recession.
The same error message that manifests in dynasty mode usually hits right here, your contract is scaled back one year later, your relationships crumble,
Latrell Sprewell still can't feed his family, and so on. The good news: You can return to play, a year older, a year further from your natural playing prime.
There's another option for this Be a Pro mode, though. Instead of creating and developing a player, you can idle in a lobby, staring at the mindless void of a black screen. As a season simulates, you're hit with a message: Scab player, we need you!
It's certainly encouraging. Finally, a shot in the NHL, and a day or two away from bagging purchases at a convenient store. You play for peanuts obviously, and the game -- against fellow scab players -- is incredibly slowed down and low in the talent/skill department. But, it's a shot at playing on national television in front of
thousands hundreds of fans.
When you leave the arena each night, though, you must find a safe way home. The locked-out players are looking to tune your ass up for taking their jobs, so I'm imaging some sort of a Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas feel here. Steal a car, gun down some hostiles, use the wanted level cheat, lock your doors and pray that tomorrow comes.
At the end of the year, your job is cut for the more talented player that's now accepted a monstrous rollback. Again, you stare into the mindless void of a black screen, idle for three years time, and wait to do it again.
Of course, I know that not everything is about collective bargaining agreements and what not. How NHL '13 and EA Sports haven't delivered a Raffi Torres mode is beyond me. Imagine playing a game where the only goal is to decapitate another player as he unsuspectingly crosses center ice?
Admittedly, I do like the NHL Moments Live idea, where players can re-play and re-live the greatest moments of the 2011-2012 season, but I think it's going to get a bit repetitive. How many times can a person enjoy skating off the bench in a Matt Carkner jersey, grabbing Brian Boyle against the end boards, and going all
Mike Tyson on Michael Spinks for thirty seconds?
In the end, the casual gamer may receive NHL '13 well, but the more dedicated fans of the series will be sorely disappointed at how inaccurate and falsified the game plays and feels.
The good news? There's always next year. Funny -- that's another line we've grown accustomed to saying.
Ottawa Senators Blogger • 
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