NHL 22

A solid ice hockey simulator with very few true innovations. The new Frostbite engine is probably the most important one - not that it will blow you away, mind you. If you want your miracle on ice, look elsewhere.

It's odd that it took EA this long to bring their flagship Frostbite engine to their NHL franchise, but now that it's here in NHL 22, the wait was certainly worth it, as the game has never looked or played better.

NHL 22 makes a careful and mostly smooth transition to a new engine and the new console generation. The new ice looks great, and some gameplay tweaks are enjoyable, but beneath the surface the experience still feels very much the same.

I can’t see the NHL franchise reaching the heights of its mid-2000s glory years anytime soon, but at least we have the Frostbite engine in there to start building upon. It took far too long to arrive, though; it’s here now. And while I can see the potential for it to one day have this series feeling exciting again, I don’t see that happening for a long time. But, hey, it’s the only hockey game in town, so I guess I’ll see you on the ice.

Aside from minor changes, everything else is pretty much in the same state that it was last year, except you can now pay the next-gen premium price for it. NHL 22 is still the best hockey game you can buy (mostly due to the lack of other options), but I'd strongly advise against it if you have played any other NHL title in the past few years. The series has been stagnating, and NHL 22 doesn't indicate any will to make meaningful changes, which is a shame because this would've been the perfect cut-off point to do something new and interesting.

Making a debut on new hardware has its pros and cons, but for NHL 22, the overt emphasis on Superstar X-Factors was a huge gamble to take that did not pay off. If this is your first NHL game in a while, then there is a solid foundation in NHL 22 with various game modes that can appeal. For fans who are hoping for more, however, it is disappointing to find little to no improvements despite all the hype, just like a draft pick that turned out to be a lemon.

NHL 22 is enjoyable, but feels very similar to last year despite using a new game engine. Too much focus has been put on implementing Superstar X-Factor abilities and little else.

This should have been NHL 22’s coming-out party. Everything was in place for this to be a transformative season on a fresh new platform. Unfortunately, the next-generation jump feels more like a stop-gap solution than a proper evolution. If you already have last year’s installment, I would be hard-pressed to find a legitimate reason to make the jump. Hopefully, the next outing will focus on bringing a more innovative offering to the rink, because lord knows this time around isn’t going to set the stadium on fire.

The difference between a good or bad NHL game is often tiny. For the most part, moving the experience forward in any meaningful way is enough to get me to buy in. Maybe that’s a massive improvement to gameplay and AI, or a new mode that becomes a staple of the series. These wins are often enough to make the longstanding bugs or omissions tolerable. Problems arise when what’s on offer as the year’s shiny distraction falls flat. In NHL 22, improved visuals are there but are buggy at any given moment. Superstar X-Factor Abilities are cool but alone are not enough. NHL 22 doesn’t feel like the next leap forward for video game hockey. It barely feels like meaningful DLC.

NHL 22 puts a lot of energy into promoting Superstar X-Factors, but even giving big-name players unique special abilities doesn’t have the significant gameplay implications you’d expect. This is a strong year for out-of-the-box balancing, though, and the various arcade modes have their charms, even if they’re just limited sidebars. It’s an uneven jump into a new generation visually. Plus, the choppy commentary, inconsistent tone, and repetitive cut aways during stoppages make it harder to become immersed in the hockey than it’s been at the series’ peaks.

With NHL 22, EA's classic hockey game finally gets a new game engine, which gives us better physics, graphics, and animations. As usual, we also get a ton of different games modes that will make most hockey fans happy. What we do not get, however, is enough notable gameplay improvements. Even though the improved physics helps a fair amount, plenty of old shortcomings remains. That said, NHL 22 is a great hockey game, but there is still room for plenty of improvements.

NHL 22 delivers some good moment-to-moment hockey along with a needed visual upgrade, but the franchise feels tired and worn out.

If you’re completely new to EA’s NHL series, then by all means, this is a must-play and would be a 9/10 otherwise. For myself, however, I’ve been there and I’ve done this. In some cases many years ago. It’s time for something new.