It’s that time of year again when we start talking about hockey. I know, NHL playoffs are barely over, draft and the Free Agency frenzy are off too, BUT, this is the time to talk about the upcoming EA Sports yearly title: NHL 12! Every year, my friends and I are spending ALOT of our free time on this crazy game. Every year, we have issues with the game, but we keep playing it, over and over until the new version comes out.

This time around, NHL 12 will include alot of features that have been good additions to games like Madden and Fifa, already tested… Here’s a list of different features that will be part of next version of the NHL franchise:

• Full Contact Physics Engine
• Full Balance Control
• Deeper Be a GM mode
• Be a Pro Revamped
• All-New Dynamic Goalies
• All-New Goalie Fights
• Anticipation A.I.
• Presentation (Winter Classic)
• EA Sports Action Tracker
• Better Ultimate Team version
• Online Communities

Full contact physics engine is alot similar to what we’ve been used to in Fifa. Body collisions are alot better than in previous versions, screen the goalie with some physical (but legal) play in front of the net, knock rivals over the boards, shatter the glass, etc. Another very sweet addition is the full balance control. Powerful skaters will be able to recover from those little glancing hits and use their size and strength to gain the advantage over smaller opponents. Let’s hope this will make the game feel more realistic.

Be a Pro revamped is also something that I’m really looking forward too. Looks like your player will have generic tasks in the game to accomplish, but also, this is brand new, tasks assigned directly to your player, on a particular play. For example, if you’re playing center and there’s a whistle for a penalty call and your team will be on the penalty kill, the coach may ask you things like; “I want you to dominate the faceoff circle” and “This is a big PK, let’s get in the shooting lanes”. A quicker way to play the game will also be introduce. Instead of going on the bench for a changeup and have to wait and watch the game go, you’ll be able to simulate the action directly to your next shift on the ice. It will feel like you’re never off the ice. Personally, that’s not the way I want to play the game, but I guess to some people, this feature is pretty interesting. Again, something that you can see in Madden.

Another awesome feature for next season will be the goalies. All about the goalie position will change. You can now get into a collision with a goalie, screen a goalie so he has to look around you to see the action in front of him, fight and you’ll be able to see amazing saves.

A better A.I. never hurts in a game. Better A.I. in NHL means, anticipation. Computer will try to position himself for a long breakaway pass, when the time is proper to do so, drag their skates behind the blue line to stay on side on a rush in the offensive zone, etc.

All-in-all, this looks like the best NHL so far, which is, I guess, a good thing. The game is scheduled for a September 13, 2011 release.