NHL 22 Review: A Fresh But Familiar Feeling

A new year brings with it another EA Sports-developed hockey title, with the latest entry being NHL 22. The long-running ice hockey franchise often gets caught in the same development rut that accompanies annual game releases, drawing ire from fans looking for major changes year-over-year. However, this iteration marks the first time that the NHL series has made the jump to current-gen platforms like PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X – and the changes that accompany that are noticeable.

The first thing that’ll jump out to seasoned NHL veterans out is the new engine. EA Sports has rolled in the Frostbite Engine for NHL 22, which drastically improves things such as lighting. That may not sound like a huge step up, but it adds depth to the atmosphere of every arena. The player models have also been significantly improved, with each digital athlete resembling their real-life counterparts. For example, NHL 22 cover athlete Auston Matthews has made the transition into the game spectacularly with his signature moustache intact. That same attention to detail isn’t applied to every player (as there are a lot to incorporate between the various hockey leagues), but the NHL-caliber superstars have never looked better.

To add strategic depth to some of the superstars and teams this time around, EA Sports has also implemented the new X-Factor feature in NHL 22. These grant certain players unique abilities that make them stand out amongst a sea of other athletes. Depending on their real-world characteristics, these abilities can range from being better at passing, to having a deadly-fast slapshot, to any other number of on-ice specialties. X-Factors act as a nice identifier for the crème de la crème of the NHL, but they aren’t necessarily a selling point either. Instead, they offer a unique element that highlights what it means to be a superstar in the National Hockey League.

The gameplay has also seen a few revisions, largely in NHL 22‘s puck movement. One of the better adjustments has been to the poke check, which no longer draws penalties as frequently. This makes defending a zone or regaining the puck in a competitor’s end a bit more reasonable, and keeps the flow of the game moving at a solid pace. Passing is also a little trickier, which aligns NHL 22 more closely to real-world hockey. All in all, these are some worthwhile tweaks that refine what came before and open up the possibility for more errors or opportunities in the play.

It’s clear that refining the core gameplay of the NHL series is a point of priority in NHL 22. In doing so, however, it has left players without much in terms of new modes. There’s no Madden-inspired ‘Face Of The Franchise’ story mode or the long-requested return of GM Connected. Instead, the changes are found largely in the gameplay and visuals, which are nice but do little to give returning players a major element to look forward to.

At this point, consumers are likely well aware of whether EA Sports’ NHL franchise is something that appeals to them, and NHL 22 won’t change that. With that said, for the series faithful or someone that skipped out on NHL 21, there’s a lot to enjoy in the current-gen polish that the Frostbite Engine and the more powerful hardware bring with them. At the end of the day, NHL 22 is the de facto hockey gaming experience and the energy that went into refining the current product was not spent in vain.

NHL 22 is now available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Screen Rant was provided with a PlayStation 5 digital download code for the purpose of this review.

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