NHL 23 Review

Another year, another NHL game from EA. While the core game doesn’t change drastically from year to year, EA always manages to do some subtle or bigger changes to make each iteration as fresh as the previous entry in the long-running series of NHL games from Electronic Arts. So how did EA freshen up the recipe this year? Let’s find out!

When launching the game, you’re treated to a nifty menu where players can configure their gaming experience based on their skills with NHL games. Given that unfortunately, 2K hasn’t created an NHL game in years, EA adapted their games for the more casual crowds in order to reach a broader experience. While I love(d) 2K’s more arcade-y feel, EA and EA Vancouver have done a great job of offering very diverse difficulty and accessibility settings. Returning players however will need to adapt to the new “physics” of the puck as passing and shooting feel a bit more controllable and realistic than in previous iterations. Furthermore, players feel a bit “heavier” and move a bit slower.

And of course, EA provides a plethora of gaming modes for gamers to bite in. For those who prefer playing online, NHL 23 offers Hockey Ultimate Team, World of CHEL (compete in arcade-like modes), Online Versus, HUT Rush, and NHL Threes Online. But if you’d rather play solo or experience some good old couch gaming, players can jump into Play Now, Be a Pro Career, Franchise Mode, Tournaments, IIHF Tournaments, Ones Now, Season Mode, and Playoff mode. For hardcore hockey fans, gamers can create and share their roster while newcomers can get acclimated with Training and Practice modes.

As with every year, EA added a few new bells and whistles to improve the overall gameplay. First up is the Last Chance Puck Movements which are three abilities: Stumble action giving players a chance to shoot or pass after a hit; Loose Puck Plays giving players a last-ditch hope for a pass or clear their zone with a loose puck; And finally Enhanced Goalie A.I. where goalers now have access to 50 more Human Desperation Save moves. EA also added new assisted strategies where you can assign three different roles on powerplays and new special strategy skills such as The Wedge (1-1-2) and the 1-3-1 powerplay are now in your arsenal. Franchise mode also got a small rehaul and now gamers are able to play as the IIHF Women’s National teams and HUT rivals have been updated with ten different game modes. And these are just a handful of the improvements EA has made.

Since EA’s NHL 22 has dropped on GamePass, I played a lot of it and just fiddle around with Season mode and Play Now modes; one of the things I did notice was your A.I. teammates were somehow overly aggressive. In the first game of Play Now I played, my teammates amassed 8 penalties out of 9… in the first period alone on Semi-Pro difficulty. But even on the Rookie difficulty setting, it feels too easy to get penalties. Also, EA is still finding ways to alienate gamers with microtransactions given that Hockey Ultimate Team relies heavily on them.

There should be no surprise here as the presentation is spot on. I reviewed this game on Xbox Series X and EA Vancouver and they somehow managed to surpass last year’s visuals as players look even more detailed and more representative of their real-life counterparts. The commentary team does a solid job to give that live tv hockey game feel and the developer also improved the audience, and commentators, reactions to the on-ice action for an extra layer of emotion and competition. The menu-ing soundtrack is a mix of rock, metal, and hip-hop/rap featuring known artists (Panic! At The Disco for example) and some lesser-known ones (Sueco comes to mind). It’s a good mix, but nobody buys NHL games for the soundtrack, but given its diversity, it’s a great way to discover new stuff.

NHL 23 is more of the same (not always a bad thing!) with additional perks that will keep hardcore hockey game players hooked until next year. The game has something for all players; either hardcore gamers who buy the game every year or newcomers wanting to give the series a shot. Given the vast improvements across the board, NHL 23 is the ideal starting point for newcomers whereas returning players will have to adapt to a few physics tweaks while having a blast exploring the new features.