And while carrying your team to glory over and over again sounds like it might be fun, it’s far from realistic and gets boring fast.Ī collection of men with icons above their heads, otherwise known as Superstar X-Factors. You can shout for a pass from your teammates, but when they do occasionally complete a successful pass you have to do it all yourself. And then you have to retrace your on-ice steps back to defence. When your team has the puck, they skate up the ice and often end up either passing the puck to the other team or taking an ill-advised shot. Because you only control your player, you notice the questionable decisions made by the AI when it controls your teammates.
NHL 22 TRAILER PRO
The dodgy AI is most noticeable when you play Be a Pro mode, where you create and play as your own hockey player. This breaks immersion and takes the shine off all the surface-level improvements. The AI reacts in ways entirely unrepresentative of real-life hockey. All of my frustrations from previous games remain in NHL 22. Superficial improvements may have been enough if the existing product was a convincing and enjoyable sports sim. While superficial graphical advancements were clear to see, trailer coverage of actual gameplay improvements was worryingly thin. When trailers released for NHL 22, I remember thinking “oh no”. And I can’t tell you that NHL 22‘s gameplay feels noticeably different than it did 3 games and a whole console generation ago. I haven’t played an NHL game since NHL 19. It’s when you stop gazing at NHL 22 and start actually playing it that a sense of unwanted familiarity begins to set in. That’s where the “great leap forward” ends. When you have time to really look at NHL 22 without distraction, you’ll feel as though you’ve entered a whole new era of sports gaming. Coupled with how the ice itself looks, the effect is spectacular. The new in-game UI additions are smartly done, with graphics overlaying the ice to show key stats in the build up to a big face-off.
NHL 22 TRAILER TV
I couldn’t help but look at my TV in the same way I would a greasy kebab on the way home from a night out (or my partner, just in case she reads this). And that’s a big statement in the era of 4K TVs and games like The Last of Us Part II. Honestly, NHL 22 looks about as close to reality as I’ve experienced in gaming. The new physics-based dynamic lighting system creates mind-blowingly realistic reflections on surfaces (including the ice or the blades of a players skate!). At the start of a period, when the ice is freshly zambonied, your jaw will drop. In some ways, yes! NHL 22‘s graphics can be jaw-dropping at times. Does all of this truly evolve the series? For example, Connor McDavid’s X-Factor is aptly named ‘Wheels’ and reflects his super-human skating ability. And Superstar X-Factors add an additional layer of identity to the NHL’s greatest players.
Overhauled player likenesses means that the NHL’s biggest stars look more true-to-life than ever. Augmented reality UI adds a real-life broadcast feel to gameplay. Physics-based dynamic lighting creates sumptuous and realistic reflections on the ice. Thanks to the introduction of the Frostbite Engine, NHL 22 has received a remarkable facelift compared to previous releases. And, to top it off, EA were calling NHL 22 “the greatest leap forward the franchise has ever seen”. Several other significant improvements were shown, too.
NHL 22 TRAILER SERIES
And when a series of trailers were released, players were excited to hear that the rumours of a switch to the Frostbite Engine were true. This left some fans crossing their fingers that delays indicated a game-changing revolution was coming. Whether it’s intentional or not, trailers for NHL 22 were released later than many expected. Can NHL 22 – the series’ first attempt at next-gen ice-hockey – rekindle my adoration? Let’s find out….
It’s also lumbered with the “same game every year” reputation like so many other sports titles. But, in more recent years, the series has become stale. As a long-time hockey fan, there was a time I’d be as excited for the latest EA Sports release as I was for the real-life season to begin. This NHL 22 review is based on our experience of the PS5 version.
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