NHL 18

 PlayStation 4
User Score
3.8

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 106 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 106
  2. Mixed: 26 out of 106
  3. Negative: 58 out of 106
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  1. Ptrac
    Nov 3, 2017
    5
    The game takes NHL 17 and adds a Threes mode as well as a Challenge mode against the CPU. Challenge mode is similar to Maddens "Gauntlet" mode. Only a lot less fun, more of a grind and difficult to obtain decent rewards from. Three's mode is a nice novelty that gets pretty boring after a bit. Otherwise its the EXACT same game as NHL 17. The commentary has not changed. be a pro has notThe game takes NHL 17 and adds a Threes mode as well as a Challenge mode against the CPU. Challenge mode is similar to Maddens "Gauntlet" mode. Only a lot less fun, more of a grind and difficult to obtain decent rewards from. Three's mode is a nice novelty that gets pretty boring after a bit. Otherwise its the EXACT same game as NHL 17. The commentary has not changed. be a pro has not changed. EASHL has not changed, etc. etc. There are some new facial likenesses added but there is still a plethora of obvious ones missing. The online components are filled with bugs, crashes and issues. NHL needs a serious revamp at this point. While Threes mode comes across as a nice refreshing addition it isn't enough to garner positive reviews for this 80% rehash of NHL 17. Ultimate team mode is a fruitless grind that is simply a pay to play mode. If you want to build a good team, you simply have to pony up the real world cash needed to do so. Madden seems to balance this aspect much better. If EA isn't willing to put the money into this game they need to either stop making it altogether or turn it over to a new studio. Its been a yearly case of Deja Vu that is getting really tiresome.… Expand
  2. domingo00
    Sep 16, 2017
    6
    I understand the fanbois wanting to love the game, but overall its not even a lateral move here, they removed otp , instead of dealing with the issues. Im an NHL fan and though 17 was going in the right direction, but this game is mediocre at best.

    The game play is very glitchy at times, the 3's is fun if your new to the style, but reminds me too much of hit the ice. They attempted to    I understand the fanbois wanting to love the game, but overall its not even a lateral move here, they removed otp , instead of dealing with the issues. Im an NHL fan and though 17 was going in the right direction, but this game is mediocre at best.

    The game play is very glitchy at times, the 3's is fun if your new to the style, but reminds me too much of hit the ice. They attempted to create a better sim, but came up short. The defensive stick is a major plus, but now the poke check is just way too powerful and easy. Games turn into a poke marathon 1-0 games. The same glitch goals still work, and with the lack of decent ai goalies, the same deke works every time. NHL 17 had these but not as bad as this one. Wrist shots right under the crossbar go in 90% of the time... and the goalies don't adapt. It's almost like they don't understand hockey, and aimed to try and cash in heavily on eashl and hut micro transactions. I agree that maybe sticking with NHL 17 or waiting for this to hit the EA vault is he best bet.

    Online team play is one of the features missed the most. Now it's very difficult to get people together to play a game, only your friends can join an "otp" style game, don't know about you but getting 12 friends online at one time is a hell of a task. They seemed to have played this down for the kids and microtransactions crowd... I feel like I wasted $80 on this one. Hope this helps some one save some cash.    … Expand
  3. djh11001
    Sep 18, 2017
    7
    My feelings are a bit of a mixed bag on NHL '18. I so badly want to love this game, but I feel as though the developers are focusing too much on the fluff and fillers than on the actual game itself. For example: there are little nuances in the game of hockey that make it, well you know... hockey. Such as: If you are overly aggressive in the face-off circle, in real life, the officialMy feelings are a bit of a mixed bag on NHL '18. I so badly want to love this game, but I feel as though the developers are focusing too much on the fluff and fillers than on the actual game itself. For example: there are little nuances in the game of hockey that make it, well you know... hockey. Such as: If you are overly aggressive in the face-off circle, in real life, the official would toss you out, but not here. Pucks do not go into the stands nearly enough in this game. You can jab away at a goalie freezing a puck, with little to no response from his teammates. This physics engine needs to go. The puck physics are pretty solid, but the physics that govern how the players interact with each other is really starting to get stale. We still have no real excitement surrounding the on ice players when you score a goal. Meaning, still NO 5 MAN GOAL CELEBRATIONS!!! I cannot figure out how the FIFA developers can pull off goal celebrations like they do, but it seems to be of no importance to the NHL developers. Seems crazy, considering that this is supposed to be a true hockey simulation, but we still are left with the awkward 2 man canned animations after a goal is scored, while the other on ice teammates skate away like the puck just got shot out of play. So weird that this continues to be ignored by the dev team. Like most sports games, the atmosphere is the key to creating that illusion of realism. But since there hasn't been much emphasis placed on the subtleties of the sport, that realism factor really suffers. Sure, the new 3's mode is fun, but I really feel like that is something that could have been added down the road or even as a DLC option, so that more time could have been spent on improving the overall simulation package. Don't get me wrong. NHL '18 does have better gameplay than NHL '17. However, so far, 18 feels more like NHL 17.2. I am starting to feel as though the NHL dev team might benefit more from doing what the NBA LIVE team just did, and take a season off. The annual installments are beginning to feel more like $60 patches than completely new versions. Unfortunately, without a competitor title being produced, this will most likely never change. Although, as consumers, we deserve more for our hard earned money. In closing, here are a few bullet points to help improve the series:
    -we need a real time physics engine, no more canned animation BS.
    -post whistle scrums in the crease
    -kick players out of the faceoff circles if they are overly aggressive.
    -more loose pucks please
    -more pucks getting deflected out of play
    -too many men on the ice penalties
    -player suspensions for illegal hits and game misconducts.
    -players losing an edge when trying to make quick turns
    -goalie mask customizations, along with putting the actual goalie masks for all the star goalies in the game.

    Overall, I scored NHL '18 a 7 out of 10. Is this game better than NHL '17? Yes, but just slightly, Graphics: looks the same as previous years '16 & '17.
    Gameplay: slightly improved (still missing basic nuances of the game)
    Sound: about the same
    Replayability: Moderately High.
    Buy/Rent/Wait for Sale or Take a pass?: I almost took a pass this year after I played the BETA, however, I sold my copy of NHL '17 and needed a Hockey game to play, so I reluctantly picked it up.
    I would rent this if you can, or hold off for the Black Friday doorbusters, as the EA titles usually are close to half price during that time. I hope this review helped.    … Expand
  4. TatsMcGee
    Sep 8, 2018
    6
    EA is not a very popular company among gamers right now. With the Battlefront debacle, everyone is finally getting on board that EA is a **** company. This is something I realized 5 years ago after they eliminated their competition in hockey video games. After 2K stopped making NHK 2K, the EA NHL series has either stagnated or just gotten worse.

    My two greatest passions in life are    EA is not a very popular company among gamers right now. With the Battlefront debacle, everyone is finally getting on board that EA is a **** company. This is something I realized 5 years ago after they eliminated their competition in hockey video games. After 2K stopped making NHK 2K, the EA NHL series has either stagnated or just gotten worse.

    My two greatest passions in life are video games and hockey but when they’re combined together I just hate it. It’s so frustrating to watch a company year after year put out the same product with the same issues. They make little changes but for the most part, the game is plagued by issues that have been there for the last 10 years. The game is too slow, you’re too reliant on the games poorly written AI and there are times where the game feels more random than Mario Party. Every time I sit down to play the game, I have the same reaction. At first its fun but after an hour, I need a break from the game.

    Where the game does truly shine is the offline component of the game. Specifically the franchise mode, they have improved the mode and even added to it. Right at the start, you have three options, you can take control of an existing team, you can take control of the Vegas Golden Knights at the expansion draft or you can create a brand new team and do an expansion for them. Personally, I had a lot of fun doing the expansion for a new franchise. Where I have the most fun with these games are building from the draft and drafting has been getting better every year. Now in later rounds, you can occasionally find a gem. Most people buy these games for the online, I buy this game for the franchise mode and it doesn’t disappoint.

    Another new mode EA has introduced is 3’s which is an arcadey 3 on 3 game mode. Its fun but the announcer is bad. It’s trying too hard and its kind of like Kevin James, its “cringey”, awkward, not funny but really trying to be.

    My recommendation, if you’re a hockey fan. Just wait, get it on sale for $20 and avoid the offline. It’s more headaches than its worth. If you don’t like hockey then don’t bother.    … Expand
  5. Iggyshow4351
    Nov 23, 2017
    6
    Thumbs in the middle. The game was more fun in the ps3Thumbs in the middle. The game was more fun in the ps3 days.666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666… Expand
  6. DaveCoyote442
    Aug 20, 2018
    7
    This game really didn't do much to expand on NHL 17, besides adding the Vegas Golden Knights. The 3 on 3 mode grew old pretty quick. They really should have just named it Arcade mode instead. The gameplay is pretty similar to an arcade game with nothing else really special about it. Even NHL 19 is looking more promising with its pond hockey mode. I sure hope it delivers on making sure itThis game really didn't do much to expand on NHL 17, besides adding the Vegas Golden Knights. The 3 on 3 mode grew old pretty quick. They really should have just named it Arcade mode instead. The gameplay is pretty similar to an arcade game with nothing else really special about it. Even NHL 19 is looking more promising with its pond hockey mode. I sure hope it delivers on making sure it feels like its own game and not what is essentially a carbon copy.… Expand
  7. superpyro296
    Aug 11, 2018
    6
    J'ai des sentiments assez mixtes par rapport à ce jeu mais ça resterait injuste de donner moins que 6/10. Objectivement, le jeu est "correct" et l'expérience est en général assez plaisante. Toutefois, je peux nommer ici plusieurs aspects négatifs:
    1. Pour pouvoir gagner régulièrement des matchs, je n'ai pas eu le choix de modifier beaucoup de paramètres si je voulais conserver la    J'ai des sentiments assez mixtes par rapport à ce jeu mais ça resterait injuste de donner moins que 6/10. Objectivement, le jeu est "correct" et l'expérience est en général assez plaisante. Toutefois, je peux nommer ici plusieurs aspects négatifs:
    1. Pour pouvoir gagner régulièrement des matchs, je n'ai pas eu le choix de modifier beaucoup de paramètres si je voulais conserver la difficulté "Pro". Avec les paramètres originaux, c'était hyper difficile pour moi (j'ai un niveau intermédiaire). Je m'attendais pas à ce que "Pro" soit difficile comme ça. Je pense que les joueurs expérimentés, de leur côté, se sont plaints de la difficulté "All Star"

    2. Le jeu est parfois très frustrant et j'ai souvent eu l'impression que mon gardien de but n'arrêtait pas beaucoup de tirs et ce, même si c'était Carey Price qui avait des stats assez élevées...

    3. Les graphiques, pour un jeu conçu en 2017, ne sont pas du tout impressionnants. J'avais joué à Nhl2009 à la Xbox 360 avant et j'ai vu peu de différence. On dirait que le jeu n'a pas beaucoup évolué graphiquement avec les années contrairement au début des années 2000 où l'évolution était beaucoup plus marquée.

    En guise de conclusion, je dois avouer que j'ai passé beaucoup d'heures sur ce jeu et que l'expérience reste plaisante malgré le côté assez frustrant du jeu.    … Expand
  8. CDannyZ
    Nov 22, 2019
    5
    One of the worst NHL. Missing international championships. The only new thing Is NHL trees, but Its not As long as we can expect
  9. rurtu
    Jul 15, 2022
    6
    it's too much of a grind and time spent for some decent stuff. kinda disappointing

Awards & Rankings

72
#72 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2017

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 27 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 27
  3. Negative: 0 out of 27
  1. Games Master UK
    Nov 2, 2017
    77
    New dekes, revamped defence, and a breezy Threes mode - lots to enjoy, but the clock's ticking for a revamp. [Nov 2017, p.70]
  2. New York Daily News
    Oct 14, 2017
    60
    NHL 18 isn’t destined to go down as one of the greatest sports games you’ve ever played, but make no mistake about this: It is solid fun.
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  3. 4P.de
    Oct 13, 2017
    79
    I hope that EA prepares something big for next years’ ice hockey. Because otherwise I cannot really understand why the improvements and charges are just very marginal.
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