NHL 13 gets new skating engine, online GM mode

Major features outlined for the upcoming hockey sim

Posted on May 18, 2012 - 1:32pm EST

Electronic Arts announced today the key features for NHL 13, promising the biggest change to the franchise since the introduction of the Skill Stick in NHL 07.

“With our feature set in NHL 13, hockey fans and sports gamers have a lot to be excited about as we are again going to deliver major innovations that will change the way you play the game," says Dean Richards, General Manager, NHL, EA SPORTS.

True Performance Skating promises to be a game-changing innovation for the franchise that adds physics-driven skating and over 1000 new animations. Hockey I.Q. is a new A.I. system that governs the behaviors of players, goalies and team systems. In previous NHL games, players were only aware of skaters in their immediate proximity and goalies could only react to the player in control of the puck. With Hockey I.Q., all players are now fully aware of every other player on the ice, resulting in quicker, smarter and more true-to-life decision-making.

NHL 13 will also have new experiences that connect hockey fans to their friends and to NHL hockey. GM Connected takes the franchise’s Be a GM mode and allows you to play with and against your friends in your own 30-team NHL. The mode offers accessibility and depth by allowing players to manage, play or coach on the road to building your team’s legacy. NHL 13 evolves the concept introduced by other sports games with NHL Moments Live, introducing each scenario with real-world NHL footage to bring players closer to the intensity of the moment. Moments from the 2011-12 NHL season will ship on disc and new moments from the 2012-13 NHL season will be added as and when available throughout the season.

Fans of the franchise can expect several other improvements and innovations in NHL 13, such as Team-First Presentation, which customizes your NHL 13 experience based on your favorite NHL team; the addition of Customizable EA SPORTS Hockey IQ allowing players to create and record their own player and team strategies; and improvements to core offline and online modes, including Hockey Ultimate Team, Be a Pro, EA SPORTS Hockey League, a refined on-ice presentation, and more.

Also announced is the NHL 13 Stanley Cup Collector’s Edition, which will retail for $79.99 and includes an exclusive collectible Stanley Cup tin featuring an embossed Stanley Cup image; two Stanley Cup Theme Hockey Ultimate Team packs featuring randomized player items from the Western and Eastern Conference Champions; Gold Jumbo Hockey Ultimate Team Pack (Regular) featuring 24 randomized items, including an exclusive Wayne Gretzky Hockey Ultimate Team Legend and six other rare items; a CCM Boost Pack; a 10% discount on a one-time purchase at shop.NHL.com; and a copy of the game.

NHL 13 will be available on September 11, 2012 in North America and September 14, 2012 in Europe for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.