It’s that time of year when the ice is freshly wiped, the standings are wiped clean and the new National Hockey League season begins. And, with the onset of a new season, EA Sports has delivered its annual NHL game to fans. The good news is that this year’s offering, NHL 23, feels like a solid improvement over its predecessors.
The franchise mode has been improved by a number of changes that make it feel fresh and more robust than ever before. The most significant change is the addition of X-Factor players. This is a concept that was borrowed from the Madden series and it allows players to have special abilities that can impact gameplay. This could be their ability to shoot a one-timer, deke out players, being able to create a breakaway or something else entirely. It’s an interesting way to make players feel more unique on the ice and it helps to add some additional depth to the game that isn’t always present in the EA Sports titles.
Another major update is the addition of a new exhaust engine, which helps to make the game feel more realistic. It’s an impressive feature that ties into the game’s physics engine and it does a good job of simulating the fatigue of the players on the ice. In the past, NHL games have struggled to mimic the frantic pace of real hockey and this is a nice touch that makes a difference in the overall experience.
Other improvements include the addition of a few extra animations to highlight momentum-shifting plays. The crowd also reacts more realistically to these types of moments, making the atmosphere feel more alive. The game’s Frostbite engine has also been enhanced, giving the player a more realistic and detailed view of the action on the ice.
For the first time in the series, NHL 23 is introducing intergender play to its microtransaction-based Ultimate Team mode. This will allow players to build teams with IIHF women’s players, including co-cover star Sarah Nurse of the Canada women’s team. It’s a welcome inclusion and hopefully it will spark some nonsense discussions on Twitter.
The other additions in NHL 23 are all standard fare and don’t really add much to the game. The career mode still rolls out exactly the same, and there are plenty of other modes including NHL Threes and One-on-One. Neither the graphical upgrades nor the new on-ice moves are enough to warrant purchasing this year’s edition for existing owners of previous entries in the franchise, especially considering that it’s been over two years since the last game launched.
This is an improvement over the previous game, and it’s clear that EA Vancouver has been working hard to give their NHL games some needed freshening up. The X-Factor players are an excellent addition, and the improved graphical and audio elements help to make this the best hockey xbox one of its kind in some time. However, the lack of some prior beloved features and a slightly less compelling overall story means that fans will likely be left wanting more.