Looking for the official NHL 25 stadiums list? You've definitely come to the right place. There is no definitive list of arenas in-game, but GR has been granted access to it directly from developer EA Vancouver. Almost every real-life NHL arena is included, with four Swiss favourites also accurately recreated. Sample them all using the only official NHL 25 stadiums list.

NHL 25 real stadiums and arenas list

Below are all the authentic NHL 25 arenas, sorted by league and country – much like our FC 25 stadiums guide. There are four real stadiums from Switzerland, seven from Canada, and 24 official USA arenas. Happy hockey-ing.

National League (Switzerland)

• Bossard Arena (EV Zug)
• Corner Arena (HC Lugano)
• Eisstadion Davos (HC Davos)
• PostFinance Arena (SC Bern)

NHL (Canada)

• Bell Centre (Montreal Canadiens)
• Canada Life Centre (Winnipeg Jets)
• Canadian Tire Centre (Ottawa Senators)
• Scotiabank Arena (Toronto Maple Leafs)
• Scotiabank Saddledome (Calgary Flames)
• Rogers Arena (Vancouver Canucks)
• Rogers Place (Edmonton Oilers)

NHL (USA)

• Amalie Arena (Tampa Bay Lightning)
• Amerant Bank (Florida Panthers)
• Climate Pledge Arena (Seattle Kraken)
• American Airlines Center (Dallas Stars)
• Ball Arena (Colorado Avalanche)
• Bridgestone Arena (Nashville Predators)
• Crypto.com Arena (Los Angeles Kings)
• Enterprise Center (St. Louis Blues)
• Honda Center (Anaheim Ducks)
• Keybank Center (Buffalo Sabres)
• Lenovo Center (Carolina Hurricanes)
• Little Caesars Arena (Detroit Red Wings)
• Madison Square Garden (New York Rangers)
• Nationwide Arena (Columbus Blue Jackets)
• Capital One Arena (Washington Capitals)
• PPG Paints Arena (Pittsburgh Penguins)
• Prudential Center (New Jersey Devils)
• SAP Center at San Jose (San Jose Sharks)
• T-Mobile Arena Vegas (Golden Knights)
• TD Garden (Boston Bruins) 
• UBS Arena (New York Islanders)
• United Center (Chicago Blackhawks)
• Wells Fargo Center (Philadelphia Flyers)
• XCEL Energy Center (Minnesota Wild)

NHL 25 missing stadiums

The only authentic National Hockey League arena not in NHL 25 is the Delta Center, home of Utah Hockey Club. But that isn’t really the fault of EA. The team is new to the league this season, having taken the place of the Arizona Coyotes. It wasn’t even created until April 2024, giving EA Canada very little time to scan the arena for the game. Curiously, you can use that arena in NBA 2K25, with the Utah Jazz. If you prefer your treats basketball shaped, hit our NBA 2K25 locker codes guide.

More NHL 25 tips

Need additional NHL 25 tips now you’ve decided which stadiums to play in? Cool. Leap into our NHL 25 best teams and NHL 25 sliders guides to further enhance your ice hockey fun. The latter is particularly great, as it enables you make the game more realistic and challenging, in one swing of a digitised stick.

NHL 25 sliders follow the modern sports game trend of being able to tweak your personal experience for additional difficulty, authenticity, or just fun. By dipping into the Settings menu and editing bespoke parameters it's possible to change how often fights happen, penalty frequencies, and much more. Our recommended edits are focused on increasing realism – all is explained in your NHL 25 sliders guide.

How to input NHL 25 sliders

You’ll know how this works if you’ve sampled our guides to Madden 25 sliders and College Football 25 sliders. All you need in terms of applying NHL 25 sliders is found in the settings menus. Jump into the game, then scroll down to the small Settings square on the left of the screen. The two key tabs are Game Settings and Gameplay Sliders. Go into these, then match the headings on the list below to each respective entry. Be sure to press R3 once you’re done, in order to save these sliders as a preset.

If no value is listed here than leave that slider at the default level. Once you’ve made the necessary changes, play a few exhibition games to test out the new feel of the game. In this way you can further tweak the experience to your liking. Wondering who to use in those practice matches? Dip into our NHL 25 best teams guide. 

Best NHL 25 sliders for realism

Game Settings

• Period Length: 6 minutes
• Difficulty: All-Star
• Camera: Dynamic Medium
• Shootout Camera: Medium

Gameplay Sliders: General

• Gameplay Version: Latest
• Gameplay Presets: (Custom Preset)
• Broken Stick Frequency: 35*
• Game Speed: 3/6*
• Fatigue Effect: 60/50
• Fatigue Recovery: 50/50

Skating

• Back Skating: 75
• Puck Carrier Agility: 45
• Puck Carrier Skating: 50
• Player Acceleration: 40/40

Shooting

• One Timer Accuracy: 45/45
• Shot Accuracy: 50/50
• Slap Shot Power: 55/55

Passing

• Pass Assist: 65/65
• Min Pass Speed: 35/35
• Max Pass Speed: 65/65
• Saucer Pass Speed: 45/45
• Pass Accuracy: 10/51
• Pass Reception Ease: 30/30
• Puck Control Rating Effect: 70/70
• Puck Speed Reception Effect: 60/60
• Bouncing Puck Receptions: 40/40

Puck Control

• Puck Control: 20/20
• Deking Impact: 60/60
• Spin Deke Impact: 65/65

Goalies

• Goalie Cover Frequency: 70
• Goalie Passing: 48

Checking

• Board Effect Non-Puck Carrier: 50
• Board Effect Puck Carrier: 5
• Stumble Threshold: 70
• Agression: 45/45
• Hitting Power: 7/10
• Size Effect: 55/55
• Preparedness Effect: 55/55
• Incidental Contact Effect: 70/70
• Stick Lift Effectiveness: 80/80

Penalties

• CPU Penalties: 85
• CPU Teammate Penalties: 55
• Tripping: 30/30
• Slashing: 20/20
• Elbowing: 85/85
• High Sticking: 100/100
• Cross Checking: 90/90
• Boarding: 95/95
• Charging: 85/85
• Delay of Game: 60/60
• Holding: 70/70
• Hooking: 85/85
• Interference: 90/90

NHL 25 sliders credits

As with our previous sliders guides, we need to pay tribute to the guys and girls at Operation Sports. Their forums are full of fans experimenting with parameters that switch up sports sims, and these NHL ones were heavily influenced by Al_Tito13 and Pearly.

The NHL 25 best teams list is in – and the Dallas Stars are the early season victors in this year’s big puck off. The Texan squad hasn’t made the Stanley Cup final since 2020, but EA nonetheless ranks them as the top roster in NHL 25. It’s bad news for San Jose at the other end of the table, however. Scroll on for the top five NHL 25 best teams, and complete set of NHL 25 team rankings.

The top five NHL 25 best teams

Dallas spearhead the NHL 25 best teams list with an OVR of 274, and some blistering individual talent – such as Miro Heiskanen (LD, 92) and Jason Robertson (LW, 91). Vancouver run them a close second with the help of Quinn Hughes (LD, 94) and JT Miller (C, 92). Want to use these sides in the most realistic way possible? Our upcoming NHL 25 sliders guide will have everything you need.

• 1 Dallas Stars (274)
• 2 Vancouver Canucks (272)
• 3 Tampa Bay Lighting (272)
• 4 New York Rangers (272)
• 5 Nashville Predators (269)

Complete NHL 25 team ratings list

Need a little more detail than what’s on offer above? No worries. These are the full EA NHL 25 team rankings, correct as of the game’s Friday, October 4 release date.

• 1 Dallas Stars OFF 92 - DEF 92 - GOA 90 - Total 274
• 2 Vancouver Canucks OFF 92 - DEF 90 - GOA 90 - Total 272
• 3 Tampa Bay Lighting OFF 90 - DEF 91 - GOA 91 - Total 272
• 4 New York Rangers OFF 88 - DEF 92 - GOA 92 - Total 272
• 5 Nashville Predators OFF 89 - DEF 91 - GOA 89 - Total 269
• 6 Carolina Hurricanes OFF 89 - DEF 90 - GOA 90 - Total 269
• 7 Winnipeg Jets OFF 90 - DEF 87 - GOA 92 - Total 269
• 8 Florida Panthers OFF 89 - DEF 89 - GOA 90 - Total 268
• 9 Colorado Avalanche OFF 91 - DEF 92 - GOA 84 - Total 267
• 10 New Jersey Devils OFF 89 - DEF 91 - GOA 87 - Total 267
• 11 Buffalo Sabres OFF 88 - DEF 93 - GOA 85 - Total 266
• 12 Minnesota Wild OFF 89 - DEF 90 - GOA 86 - Total 265
• 13 Vegas Golden Knights OFF 87 - DEF 92 - GOA 86 - Total 265
• 14 New York Islanders OFF 84 - DEF 90 - GOA 91 - Total 265
• 15 Toronto Maple Leafs OFF 90 - DEF 89 - GOA 84 - Total 263
• 16 Seattle Kraken OFF 90 - DEF 88 - GOA 85 - Total 263
• 17 Utah Hockey Club OFF 89 - DEF 89 - GOA 85 - Total 263
• 18 Boston Bruins OFF 85 - DEF 89 - GOA 89 - Total 263
• 19 Edmonton Oilers OFF 91 - DEF 87 - GOA 84 - Total 262
• 20 Chicago Blackhawks OFF 89 - DEF 87 - GOA 85 - Total 261
• 21 St Louis Blues OFF OFF 88 - DEF 87 - GOA 86 - Total 261 
• 22 Washington Capitals OFF 85 - DEF 90 - GOA 86 - Total 261
• 23 Ottawa Senators OFF 87 - DEF 87 - GOA 87 - Total 261
• 24 Detroit Red Wings OFF 90 - DEF 85 - GOA 85 - Total 260
• 25 Pittsburgh Penguins OFF 86 - DEF 87 - GOA 86 - Total 259
• 26 Columbus Blue Jackets OFF 87 - DEF 89 - GOA 81 - Total 257
• 27 Montreal Canadiens OFF 89 - DEF 86 - GOA 82 - Total 257
• 28 Los Angeles Kings OFF 88 - DEF 86 - GOA 81 - Total 255
• 29 Philadelphia Flyers OFF 87 - DEF 86 - GOA 82 - Total 255
• 30 Anaheim Ducks OFF 85 - DEF 86 - GOA 84 - Total 255
• 31 Calgary Flames OFF 86 - DEF 86 - GOA 82 - Total 254
• 32 San Jose Sharks OFF 83 - DEF 85 - GOA 82 - Total 250

Sports games with annual releases often face the same problem of functioning more like an update to the previous year's installment rather than being a completely new experience. There are rare instances when an entry will give a significant overhaul to features or add something that breathes fresh life back into the series – such as the surprisingly fresh FIFA 23. Unfortunately, its studio-mate NHL 23 falls victim to the genre's yearly release cycle, and prioritizes small refinements over reinvention.

That's not to say that NHL 23 is bad, per se. The refinements have definitely made improvements to the on-ice gameplay, making this the most enjoyable installment in years. There's always been something zen-like about passing between teammates to set up a good one timer and deking around your opponent, but it's been made all the more engrossing with the new last-chance puck movements. 

Previously, taking contact momentarily stopped your character in their tracks, which rewarded strong defensive play but overall disrupted the game's flow in an unrealistic and frustrating way. Now you can keep control of the puck while stumbling on the ice after getting bumped and shoved. You're also able to dive after loose pucks, leading to white-knuckled moments where you just barely manage to bank a pass, or score a goal while slamming into the ice. These new animations help ensure that every match maintains both a proper sense of realism and momentum.

The feminine touch

The biggest change to NHL 23 is the inclusion of women players from the IIHF in Ultimate Team's roster of unlockable athletes. It's a long-overdue addition, but a welcomed one nonetheless, and being able to have mixed-gender lineups offers even more ways to customize your dream team and create tighter synergies between players. That, however, comes with the caveat of dealing with HUT's microtransactions. HUT isn't necessarily pay-to-win, and it does offer opportunities to earn packs through gameplay, but you stand a better chance against an opponent's team if you speed up the process using real money for pricey packs with increased odds of drawing strong hockey stars. 

Be A Pro continues to be a missed opportunity, especially when compared to the single-player campaigns offered by the FIFA or NBA games. The dialogue is stilted, cringey, and completely unvoiced. You're offered RPG-lite choices but cutscenes are disconnected from them. I angered a teammate for refusing to go bowling the night before a game because I didn't want to gorge on soda and hot dogs – which cost me likeability points with the rest of my team – yet we still fist bumped each other as if we just had a friendly interaction. 

I love the idea of starting as an underdog and working my way up over the years into becoming an iconic hockey star, but Be A Pro's weak structure dampens the fun. This is the third year in a row since Be A Pro's revamp and it's functionally identical yet again. There've been no improvements to the writing, mechanics, or presentation. The mode continues to come across as an afterthought rather than a main attraction and it's a real shame for anyone looking to live out their NHL fantasies.

World Of Chel is largely unchanged apart from the addition of cross-play which, while unavailable at launch, should hopefully shorten the lengthy matchmaking times. Curiously, cross-gen multiplayer is excluded; Xbox Series X players can only match against those on PS5, and vice versa for those on Xbox One and PS4. You also aren't able to team up with friends on other consoles and instead get restricted to playing against them. World Of Chel, frankly, has traditionally had something of a toxic player base, and not being able to play with friends on another console to avoid getting teamed up with aggressive randos is a huge sickener.

Pucking frustrations

Online play has been a mixed bag so far, with frequent failures to connect to servers and disconnects during matches. But the game's also a technical mess in its offline modes. There have been so many instances where I've loaded into a Be a Pro match only for the screen to suddenly turn completely black and force me to relaunch the game. I've had the entire game freeze after matches. Players still get stuck inside of each other and sometimes their legs decide to have intense spasms.

Bugs can always be squished with patches but the main crux of NHL 23's shortcomings is its familiarity. Last-chance puck movements and the much needed inclusion of women players in HUT are great but they don't change the core gameplay in a way that makes this significantly different from NHL 22  – especially since the new IIHF stars are completely missable for anyone that isn't interested in playing HUT. 

I'm torn on my feelings toward NHL 23 as a whole. The game is without a doubt a fun time, yet it's also one that feels just a bit too lacking. It's an easy recommendation for newcomers or those who've skipped the last few entries in the series but returning players won't really be missing anything by skipping it. We're now two years into the next generation of consoles and rather than taking a needed step forward, NHL has its skates planted firmly in the past.

NHL 23 was reviewed on PS5, with a code provided by the publisher.

You’re not just an NHL fan, you’re the NHL fan. You’re the one who shows up to the game to tailgate in the parking lot when it’s 20 below and snowing so hard you can’t see. You’re the one who knows all the random trivia about every team in the league who always puts everyone to shame when they try to act like they know. 

They know nothing Jon Snow.

Ah, the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It’s a good thing they come in the middle of the year cuz it’ll tide you over until Christmas, your second favorite holiday. You’re ready. You’ve followed the teams and know who’s injured, who’s favored, and who the underdog is. 

There’s just one problem. Your crazy nephew ruined your authentic, officially-licensed, autographed jersey at Christmas last year (which is also why you haven’t spoken to the little bugger in 6 months).

Not to worry, eBay is the one-stop-shop for everything NHL fans need. Everything from team gear to rare autographed items and everything in between.

There are a lot of different stores that carry different types of gear, but the best part about eBay is that they bring together everything from across the wide reaches of the internet into one place. 

eBay literally has everything you could need as a fan. Sometimes it can be hard to find officially licensed items from Fanatics, and even harder to justify their prices, but eBay lets you shop around and find the best deal.

It’s also hard when new licensed inventory is dropped because almost every store sells out quickly. eBay has what you need, even the new stuff. 

You might be surprised as well at some of the rare, one-of-a-kind things you can find on eBay. In the days before the internet, you had to scour the country at antique stores and dealers to try to find the best rare, one-of-a-kind hockey memorabilia. 

Now, it’s all one click away.

I really like it too because it lets you shop from legitimate vendors and businesses and negotiate with people selling their old or unwanted items too. If you don’t like the price the business is charging, you can buy from the guy down the street. 

And because it’s an auction site, if you’re patient (and just a little bit lucky) you can often find a great deal on what you’re looking for. 

With the playoffs quickly approaching, there’s no better time to check out their vast collection of all the official NHL gear you need.

eBay: Home of NHL Gear

From licensed autograph jerseys to trading cards and everything in between, eBay has all the gear any NHL fan could want.

Keeping some top NHL 21 tips to hand will have you skating in the right direction throughout this unconventional season. EA's latest hockey sim offers plenty of bang for your puck, from carving out a solo career in Be A Pro, to steering a franchise-sized ship to annual glory, to NHL 21's excellent World Of CHEL online mode. Our NHL 21 tips span the game's modes and cover gameplay, management, and everything else to bear in mind, both on and off the ice.

1. Practice does make perfect

Dekes, shooting, passing, and more: there's plenty going on in NHL 21 that you have to control through a handful of buttons. As a result, it pays dividends to practice. This is emphasised from the comprehensive tutorials, helping you know the game inside out and getting your eye in across the ice. For example, I have put extra time into practicing the timing, skating, and momentum when going for a big hit. This isn't as easy as skating in the vicinity of another player: it comes via a mix of familiarity and instinct, fine-tuned by putting the extra hours in.

2. Master the dekes and skills

Dekes give you an edge in games, and add some flair to your plays, but some can be tricky to nail. Knowing how to pull off a one-handed deke can be the difference between scoring a one-on-one and missing, and thus winning a game or not. Plus, they're cool as heck – so why wouldn't you want to have these in your armoury? You can practice in the training camp tutorials, but to add a bit more realism, and jeopardy, spend time in HUT Rush which actively rewards you for being skilful – or in the more informal and spacious rinks of the World of CHEL mode.

3. Use all the shooting and passing tools

On top of the fancy skills, there's a multitude of passing and shooting 'types' to cram into your arsenal, and the sooner you do this the better. Alongside wrist and slap shots, one-timer shots are a sure-fire way to test any goalie and prove an incredibly effective way to score given the speed and surprise they offer. By passing the puck and pre-emptively executing the controls to perform a one-timer, you can turn any situation into a dangerous one. And in terms of passing, the underrated saucer pass is a quality move to use – enabling you to bypass defenders even if they, and their stick, are direct obstacles.

4. Keep an eye on defense

It's key to balance your offense with a solid defense. That's not to say defensemen shouldn't get involved in pressing for a goal, or that you should always have one of your forwards in defensive mode, but with the AI being more competent in NHL 21, each attack's threat is real. You can't just rely on your goalie.

A handy play I recommend is engaging your retreating players in backward skating relatively early when returning to your defensive zone so as to stay in front of the oncoming attack. This enables you to easily and safely engage in poke checks and stick lifts - as opposed to lunging at them hopelessly from behind, which is just asking for penalties.

5. Balance your answers in Be a Pro conversations

Speaking of balance, in Be a Pro, you need to tread the right line with what you say. Due to there being repercussions from the conversations - affecting your brand (you as a star), your team-mates' attitude toward you (which can lead to on ice advantages and increased pass rates), and management likability (which helps with keeping you in the bosses' good books ensuring ice time and so on) - taking time to consider your response is wise. You can also emphasise your own lifestyle and professional approach by answering in line with your priorities. Want to look after yourself following your life on the ice? Prioritise your brand with the Star answers. See the team as the most important factor? Boost your team likability rating with answers that are team-centric. You can then accentuate this by investing in the dialogue skills to open up different avenues of conversation which reveal more options.

6. Familiarise yourself with the intricacies of running a Franchise

The franchise mode's screens, menus, and options can be intimidatingly full and complex. The quicker you digest each of the facets of running a franchise and get on top, the quicker you can steer the ship in the right direction, and, more importantly, your direction. Break each chunk of the franchise down to singular factors to master one thing at a time. Then, be it rosters, the trade block, owner targets, or training, you'll soon be across everything.

7. Invest in scouting

A true highlight of the Franchise mode is the scouting. But if you want to build a quality, dynasty-owning team and franchise, you need the best scouts and to be clever in where you send them. As a result, it's always worth trying to squeeze in an extra salary's worth into the overall franchise budget if you can, and to ensure your pool of scouts are experts and are active across the world. The Fog of War setting is great for increasing realism, but also difficulty - in a good way. This requires players to be scouted multiple times in order to clear the 'fog' on their profiles, gradually revealing more information about them.

8. Be aware of franchise goals and targets

As well as managing the team, training, games, and fitness of the players - not to mention getting the right results on the ice - always be aware of the owner's demands and expectations. This isn't just about avoiding being in trouble though, as completing these challenges can result in welcome boosts in money, stature, and resources. From building more toilets and parking spaces to winning the first home game, it's all worth it. These also pleasingly fall in line with the dynasty-building approach that Franchise Mode encourages: a bigger and better team needs the best facilities and leadership too.

Like every sport, ice hockey is in a strange place right now, but NHL 21 arrives to try and plug the hole. It has a tough job in proving that it's a worthy swan song to hockey on PS4 and Xbox One, but there's nonetheless plenty contained within whether you're an annual veteran, returning fan, or brand-new player. Other sports veterans such as FIFA 21 and NBA 2K21 have had down years in 2020. Can NHL 21 break that cycle? Well… no. But it's not all disappointing news.

The hockey play is, on the whole, great fun. Skating is smoother than ever, the animations and movements are more refined, and scoring almost any goal is incredibly satisfying. However, the gameplay also demonstrates the annual-isms of sports games. NHL 21 does have the best hockey gameplay going (by virtue of being the series' newest offering) but also lacks innovation and real progress. 

For example, there is still a big emphasis on an arcade-centric, basketball flow of play: one team goes up the attacking end, then the other team goes up the attacking end, repeat. There's little finesse when a game gets into this pattern and, as a general way-of-play, it can get a bit monotonous. Still: when it sings, there's nothing more exciting and satisfying than using a well-timed bodycheck to get possession, stringing some smart passes together, and then hammering home a one-timer with a ping off the pipes.

The AI is better, too, which increases the tension of opposition teams racing toward your goalie, but also the confidence you can have in offense with skaters finding genuinely good positions and space without simply patrolling set areas or routes. As a result, the hockey experience is successfully translated onto your screen: there's fluid, smooth, exciting, and fast play, tough and physical battles, and dextrous and skilful stick-handling. All the ingredients to make it feel like lightning on ice.

Let it Pro

An NHL 21 highlight is the much improved Be A Pro mode, in which you live out the big-league dream: from the draft, the race for the Calder Trophy (for best rookie), to taking on a team's captaincy, and beyond. You start by customising your character and beginning your journey in Canada or Europe, which enhances the roleplaying nature and the concept of earning your place in the NHL. After this, the career journey is exciting, interesting and likably varied.

Chats with your agent, management, and individual teammates help to shape the role-playing journey through the career. These work well, with a few caveats. The addition of full voice acting with multiple teammates (not just the same one over and over) would be a great improvement. There could also be more jeopardy and tangible outcomes with the implications: for example, I can make a promise to a teammate, receive +25 in likability, fail in that challenge, and only lose that same 25 points in likability; there is no real consequence.

However, the conversations do set the tone for something deeper than just a hockey play sim, and in combination with multiple skill trees, salary perks, specialty skills, and more, form the foundations of a great role-playing journey with real-life immersion.

Building a dynasty

Amplifying the personal journey to a team journey, NHL 21's franchise mode is excellent. From the meta-scale of building a dynasty to the micro-scale of training, scouting, and how many toilets or car parking spaces the stadium has - I'm serious - it's deep, immersive, and rewarding. This is the one area where some prerequisite knowledge of the NHL, salary caps, staff rosters and trade blocks and so on would be really useful, but it's not essential to enjoying the systems and process.

The scouting system is a standout feature, with a greater emphasis on needing to widen your database through manual, targeted and repeated scouting. The 'Fog of War' setting is crucial to making the scouting better and more realistic, obscuring players' details that can only be revealed by monitoring them closely. The chaotic trade deadline day is fun too, and an underrated highlight is the ongoing challenges and demands and expectations given to you from the owners. These might not be massive ('win the opening home game') but can lead to welcome bonuses such as money or favour. They can also take the form of those stadium upgrades improvements too, but all help to give you things to focus on, and moving forward and add to immersion and the realism of running a franchise.

Skating online

The World of CHEL is home to NHL 21's online community and offers a great outlet for those looking for regular online play with leagues, seasons, and ranks. There's welcome variety to the modes on offer, with Ones and Threes being great for open styles of play. HUT Rush is a great idea too: the more style you demonstrate in the on the ice, the more you build up your score multiplier – while crazy rules like first-goal-wins ratchet up excitement and tension. 

Ultimate Team is inevitably back too, with a microtransactions model that feels far less cash-driven than found (and often criticised) in FIFA. The real meat and potatoes of NHL 21 is definitely its single-player modes, but there's plenty of online enjoyment here too.

Overall, NHL 21 suffers from identical troubles to its once-vaunted contemporaries as next-gen approaches. It's not much of an upgrade on last year's instalment, and features generation-wide frustrations – yet safely remains the best game of its kind you can play right now. Never a clean hit, then, but a solid and enjoyable one, that sets things up tidily for NHL 22 to be a PS5 and Xbox Series X smash.

Reviewed on PS4. Code provided by the publisher.

If you’re going to succeed in EA’s all-conquering hockey series, NHL 20 tips are as essential as knowing your team line-ups and individual players. Where do you start? How do you get the most out of it all? What’s the key to winning NHL 20 games with consistency? First up, don’t panic. Second: take heed of our top ten hints, which will fast-track you in the ways of all things virtual hockey. Master these NHL 20 tips and you’ll be yelling ‘nice ice baby’ while raising the Stanley Cup in no time at all.

1. Master the art of one-timers

There are loads of improvements to shooting in NHL 20, and one-timers benefit most. You can pull off highly creative pass-and-shoot maneuvers in the offensive zone, including rapid slapshots and devastating cross-crease plays. 

To perform these effectively, you want to pass sideways or diagonally to an open teammate, and then shoot before the puck reaches their stick. Try to use the right stick rather than hybrid shooting controls to give you more control of the shot, and widen your passing angles to reduce the goalie’s chances of making a show-stopping save. 

2. Rely on patience in Ones Eliminator

This enhanced World of Chel mode challenges you to win four consecutive games of 1v1v1 pond hockey to be crowned champion, but it’s not as easy as it sounds. To succeed, you need to blend outstanding puck control skills with a serious degree of patience. 

Try to avoid going for big hits too often. Instead, use smart stick-checking to force players away from the net, and when in control of the puck, focus on quick turns to fool opponents and create a path to goal. Bide your time and wait for the perfect opportunity, and when a path emerges, perform close-up dekes against the goalie for the best chance of scoring. 

3. Resist the urge to spam poke checks

When retreating into the defensive zone, players often resort to spamming the poke check button, but like last year, doing so often results in taking tripping penalties. Instead, it’s best to focus on getting a good balance of accurate timing and composed defense. 

Analyse the situation before going for the poke check. Is the puck within reach? Are you at significant risk of a trip? If the latter seems likely, it’s best to resort to simply playing your position and forcing the player to release the puck. A slight nudge or well-positioned block can do as effective a job as a poke check, and you avoid the penalty box in the process.

4. Pay attention to coaches in Franchise Mode

Coaches are the biggest new addition to Franchise Mode and they alter your team in a variety of ways. Their inclusion means you can no longer just focus on players with the highest overalls, but how effectively they fit into your strategies too. 

You want to check your current coaches’ profiles to see how well your players mesh with their schemes and specialities. It’s also important to see how your team’s line chemistries are affected, which can be identified in the Edit Lines screen. When signing new players, make sure they align with these requirements, or you might need to think about hiring new staff.

5. Focus on your defensive positioning

The new shooting enhancements in NHL 20 make defensive positioning more important than ever. Both CPU and online teams regularly look to play quick one-timers and let off deadly wristers, and if you’re not in position, you’re likely to concede. 

As a result, try to avoid over-committing on your hits, as this quickly becomes predictable and easy to avoid for skilled players. Instead, stay with forwards and encourage them into being forced out wide, or releasing the puck prematurely. It’s important to identify and cut out lethal passing lanes too, particularly in the case of cross-crease opportunities.  

6. Log into Ultimate Team daily for free rewards

There are lots of ways to play Hockey Ultimate Team this year, from Competitive Seasons to the new Squad Battles mode. But even if you don’t have time to play many games, it’s still worth logging into the mode once per-day for free pack rewards. 

These goodies can be collected as soon as you enter into HUT, and include things like coins, players, and consumables. You’ll also find collectables in them, and these can be traded in for sizable rewards in the Sets menu. For example, the current September collectibles offer heaps of different prizes based on how many you collect throughout the month.

7. Avoid asking for the pass too often

If there’s one thing people too often abuse in online drop-in games, it’s asking CPU-controlled players for the puck. You can do this by tapping the pass button when out of possession, but overusing it can prove detrimental to your chances of success. 

For the most part, the CPU tries to pass to human players if they’re in a good position, so asking for the puck often leads to intercepted plays. You might also be surprised by how effective the computer can prove when allowed to play freely, regularly contributing with goals. Play a more team-oriented game, and you benefit in the long run. 

8. Retain your stamina in Be a Pro and EASHL

When playing as a single player in the likes of Be a Pro and the popular EA Sports Hockey League, keep an eye on your stamina. Using the hustle button (L3/LS) too often sees it deplete entirely, resulting in negative effects for your player. 

You’ll notice your stamina meter in the bottom-left corner of the screen, indicated by a green bar (when full). While the obvious downside to depleting it is a loss of speed, you also temporarily lose out on any traits you’ve applied in World of Chel. As a result, try to limit your use of the hustle feature, and only activate it when you need an extra burst of pace. 

9. Use quick puck movement on power plays

It’s easier to take advantage of power plays this year due to the improved shooting tools at your disposal. To make full use of them, you need to set up in the offensive zone and cycle the puck, helping to create space and drag defensive players out of position.

You’ll find that a lot of online players lack patience on the penalty kill, playing aggressively to try and win back the puck. Use this to your advantage by releasing quick passes to open team-mates, and you soon benefit with goal scoring chances. Also, online players often commit too many bodies forward on the PK, so be ready to counter with fast breaks down the ice. 

10. Don’t forget World of Chel Challenges

There are heaps of new cosmetic items to collect in World of Chel, and by completing set challenges, you also get your hands on time-exclusive gear. The tasks and rewards differ from week-to-week, so it’s worth keeping a regular eye on them. 

The new challenges menu appears when you first jump into the mode, and includes tasks for Pro-AM, Ones Eliminator, Threes Eliminator, EASHL drop-ins, and EASHL clubs. You get specific rewards for completing certain challenges - such as XP for scoring multiple goals in Ones - and there’s a unique reward available to those who finish them all. 

NHL 20 is out now. Prefer your sports to involve balls rather than pucks? Then you need our NBA 2K20 tips, covering 7 essential things to know before you play.

EA’s ever-consistent hockey sim is back for another year of puck-smashing excellence, meaning NHL 20 ratings are finally in the wild. It’s great news for fans of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Boston Bruins, and Toronto Maple Leafs as all score multiple placings in NHL 20 key positions, while Conor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers is the best player in the game, beating out Pittsburgh Penguins favourite Sidney Crosby. All 50 of those listed below are solid additions to your franchise or Ultimate Team squad – so let’s dip our toes into the frozen waters of NHL 20 ratings.

NHL 20 ratings: Center

1. Conor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers), 94
2. Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins), 93
3. Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado Avalanche), 92
4=. Patrice Bergeron (Boston Bruins), 90
4=. John Tavares (Toronto Maple Leafs), 90
4=. Aleksander Barkov (Florida Panthers), 90
4=. Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh Penguins), 90
4=. Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay Lightning),90
4=. Auston Matthews (Toronto Maple Leafs), 90
10=. Mark Scheifele (Winnipeg Jets), 89
10=. Tyler Seguin (Dallas Stars), 89

It comes as no surprise that Connor McDavid is the highest rated player in NHL 20 with a 94 overall rating. He’s now had three consecutive seasons with 100 or more points, proving there’s nobody in the same class as the Edmonton Oilers center. Eight-time NHL All Star and Pittsburgh Penguins team MVP Sidney Crosby is second with 93, and Colorado Avalanche’s Nathan MacKinnon rightfully boasts a 92 OVR.

NHL 20 ratings: Left wing

1. Alex Ovechkin (Washington Capitals), 92
2=. Brad Marchand (Boston Bruins), 90
2=. Johnny Gaudreau (Calgary Flames), 90
4=. Taylor Hall (New Jersey Devils), 89
4=. Artemi Panarin (New York Rangers), 89
6=. Jamie Benn (Dallas Stars), 88
6=. Jonathan Huberdeau (Florida Panthers), 88
8. Gabriel Landeskog (Colorado Avalanche), 87
9=. Teuvo Teravainen (Carolina Hurricaines), 86
9=. Jake Guentzel (Pittsburgh Penguins), 86

Jamie Benn drops from second to joint sixth this year, giving the likes of Johnny Gaudreau and Brand Marchand the opportunity to show their excellence. Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals is first once again, and deserves to be after becoming the fastest player in NHL history to take 5,000 shots at goal. Unquestionably one of the best of all time, it’s only fair to see him reclaim the throne for another year. 

NHL 20 ratings: Right wing

1. Nikita Kucherov (Tampa Bay Lightning), 92
2. Patrick Kane (Chicago Blackhawks), 91
3=. David Pastrnak (Boston Bruins), 90
3=. Mikko Rantanen (Colorado Avalanche), 90
5=. Vladamir Tarasenko (St. Louis Blues), 89
5=. Mitchell Marner (Toronto Maple Leafs), 89
5=. Blake Wheeler (Winnipeg Jets), 89
8=. Phil Kessel (Arizona Coyotes), 88
8=. Mark Stone (Las Vegas Knights), 88
10=. Alexander Radulov (Dallas Stars), 87
10=. Jakub Voracek (Philadelphia Flyers), 87

Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning is rated the highest right winger in NHL 20 on the back of his Hart Trophy win. Playing every game in the 2018-19 season, Kucherov scored a career high 41 goals and gained an astonishing 87 assists. Vladamir Tarasenko drops to joint fifth this year. Despite losing out to St. Louis Blues in the Stanley Cup, David Pastrnak earns a 90 overall rating and shoots up the rankings to joint third. 

NHL 20 ratings: Defenceman

1=. Drew Doughty (Los Angeles Kings), 91
1=. Victor Hedman (Tampa Bay Lightning), 91
3=. Brent Burns (San Jose Sharks), 90
3=. Erik Karlsson (San Jose Sharks), 90
5=. John Carlson (Washington Capitals), 89
5=. Mark Giordano (Calgary Flames), 89
5=. Alex Pietrangelo (St. Louis Blues), 89
8=. Morgan Reilly (Toronto Maple Leafs), 88
8=. Ryan Sutter (Minnesota Wild), 88
8=. Roman Josi (Nashville Predators), 88
8=. P.K. Subban (New Jersey Devils), 88

Kings’ stalwart Drew Doughty had a rough season last year, so it’s a little surprising to see him top the defensive rankings. Stanley Cup winners St. Louis Blues have their defenceman Alex Pietrangelo coming in at joint fifth, tying with Giordano and Carlson. Last year’s cover athlete P.K. Subban sits in joint eighth alongside a plethora of other stars following his switch to New Jersey.

NHL 20 ratings: Goalie

1=. Carey Price (Montreal Canadiens), 91
1=. Andrei Vasilevskiy (Tampa Bay Lightning), 91
3=. John Gibson (Anaheim Ducks), 90
3=. Tuukka Rask (Boston Bruins), 90
3=. Sergei Bobrovsky (Florida Panthers), 90
6. Braden Holtby (Washington Capitals), 89
7=. Pekka Rime (Nashville Predators), 88
7=. Henrik Lundqvist (New York Rangers), 88
7=. Frederik Andersen (Toronto Maple Leafs), 88
10=. Ben Bishop (Dallas Stars), 87
10=. Devan Dubnyk (Minnesota Wild), 87

Carey Price had an outstanding previous campaign, and deservedly sits atop of the list of top netminders. With a .925 save percentage for the Tampa Bay Lightning during 2018-19, Andrei Vasilevskiy earns second spot. Henrik Lundqvist, Frederik Andersen, and Pekka Rime are all joint seventh earning an 88 overall, with Ben Bishop earning a higher rating this year, jumping from 85 to 87.

NHL 20 is out now. Prefer your sports games 2K, rather than EA, flavoured? Then you need GR’s NBA 2K20 ratings guide, again profiling the top 10 players at every position.

You’d have been forgiven for feeling slightly underwhelmed when the NHL 20 reveal trailer emerged back in June. It all but confirmed the series was to avoid EA’s Frostbite Engine for yet another year – something FIFA and Madden transitioned to years ago – while a perceived lack of major new features hinted at a potentially quiet outing for the series. 

Turns out all that worry was for nothing. NHL 20’s subtle new features and enhancements add up to another formidable effort from the most consistent series in sports gaming, boasting refined gameplay both on and off the ice, as well as an overhauled presentation suite that injects a renewed sense of identity. 

Eat my goal

The most prominent change this year relates to shooting. Everything from slapshots to one-timers benefit from a more responsive feel – the result of various new animations, as well as improvements to the game’s motion tech. There’s an increased focus on improving fluidity across the board, with aspects such as skating and puck pickups benefiting from increased smoothness, resulting in the potential for some seriously ambitious offensive plays.

These upgrades are even more evident when the NHL’s top stars get involved. The likes of Toronto’s Auston Matthews are consistent at pulling off sharp wristers with incredible accuracy, while Alex Ovechkin can fire booming slapshots by dropping to a knee. Various unique shooting animations are scattered throughout the game, helping to provide key players with a true sense of individuality, and making them more enjoyable to use on the whole.

Even goalies get an upgrade this year, although they remain prone to the odd blunder. It seems we’ll never get away from slow, looping deflections and awkward own goals, but the AI at least finds more ways to combat them this time around. This is largely due to hundreds of new animations, including fresh methods of covering the puck, along with better reactions to rebounds. There’s still more work to be done, but these are definite improvements.

When everything’s firing, NHL 20 brims with authenticity. You’re challenged to utilise smart, creative hockey in order to carve open space, and power plays feel more important than usual due to the new offensive tools at your disposal. Balance tweaks to both stick and body checking force you to apply a realistic brand of defense in which positioning takes precedence, while the ability to cut out shooting lanes proves more critical than ever.

Looking good

EA Canada’s puck-slapping series has been crying out for an overhauled presentation suite for years now, and finally receives some major changes in NHL 20. Replacing the old pairing of Doc Emerick and Eddie Olczyk in the announcer booth are James Cybulski and Ray Ferraro, with the two adopting an intense style of drama-filled commentary. Chemistry between the pair is reasonable, and Cybulski’s passionate delivery, though occasionally a bit excessive, helps to generate a big-game feel.

You can forget the NBC-style presentation of old, too – it’s been replaced with a more generic, but visually pleasing, set of colourful overlays. This includes a new dynamic scoreboard, which somewhat controversially sits at the bottom of the screen, but proves easy to get used to. The majority of these graphical tweaks simply prioritise an alternative style rather than offering any major new additions, but nevertheless do a worthy job of freshening up the series visually.

An exception to the rule is a brilliant new feature called Play of the Game (and Period), in which key goals, huge hits, and big saves are highlighted with an elegant super slo-mo replay. This might be a minor addition in the grand scheme of things, but it definitely gets the banter flowing, particularly when watching your teammate get clobbered with a huge bodycheck. It’s the sort of highlight reel feature NHL lacked for far too long, and proves a welcome side-attraction.

Back to full strength

As is traditional, you can take to the ice in an extensive number of ways. The World of Chel returns after successfully debuting in NHL 19, and proves a highlight once more, featuring new battle-royale style formats for its Ones and Threes modes. They’re still the same premise as last year - win four consecutive games to be crowned champ - but now feel like more of a competitive tournament, more effectively ramping up the tension of each round.

There are also upgrades to Hockey Ultimate Team, which benefits from FIFA’s popular Squad Battles mode for the first time, while Franchise Mode feels like a considerable upgrade, implementing various new features and tweaks. The game-changer among these is coaches, whose specific specialties and schemes now have a major impact on things like line chemistry, requiring you to think more carefully about the players you sign and staff you hire.

The odd disappointment still lingers, with Be a Pro’s continued stagnation proving the worst culprit. Even so, the significant amount of new and improved content is sure to keep series veterans busy. Casuals remain well catered to as well, with Ones Now finally enabling you to go offline with the popular pond hockey mode from last year. You can even suit up as the nightmare-inducing Philadelphia Flyers mascot Gritty in Threes, which almost merits a purchase on its own.

Not a milestone edition then, but even so this plays a more free-flowing style of hockey than ever before, bolstered by improvements to both skating and shooting – and the removal of the series’ dated NBC presentation feels like a breath of icy-fresh air. The looming presence of a new generation suggests more substantial changes must be on the way but until then, NHL 20 serves as a worthy culmination of the past few years.

Reviewed on PS4.

Hockey fans sent EA’s NHL series next-gen debut to the penalty box when it landed last year. Beloved modes were missing and gameplay was wanting, and the fans’ reaction was predictably cranky. EA Canada took notice, brushed themselves off after blistering fan and critical reactions, and spent the next year packing as much into this season’s version as possible. The results are immediately noticeable - and mostly positive. While the NHL series is not all the way back to its glory day levels, NHL 16 is a strong step forward and - most importantly - an enjoyable game to play.

The best parts of NHL 16 jump off the screen. Arenas are filled with raucous fans shouting team-specific chants, mascots mill about and react to the action on the ice, and a near-palpable electricity permeates the air. The sounds of skates pushing through ice, pucks clanking off goalposts, and players slamming into the boards are superb. Horns boom with an eardrum-bursting din when goals are scored, with spectators reacting instantaneously with ecstasy or agony, depending on their affiliation.

A number of key adjustments have been made to on-ice gameplay, yet some remains familiar. Checking is tuned way down, so the big, bone-crushing hits that were once the series’ hallmark have been replaced by more subtle shuffles. Fights, on the other hand, remain as rough-and-tumble as ever, with players skating away from a fracas bruised and bloodied. While NHL does a nice job offering a variety of ways to get a goal - stuffing in rebounds, deflecting passes in the slot, or blasting slapshots from the point - the tried-and-true methods for scoring remain. Unchallenged wraparounds or the famous “skate-across-the-slot-then-aim-top-shelf-opposite-direction” move, while not completely guaranteed, are still the best recipe for a point. Defensive AI is pretty good at running you off the puck, though, and bumping up the difficulty from Pro to All-Star will present a huge challenge to anyone that’s not an expert.

This is also the best NHL for newcomers. In standard single player modes, an ingenious system gives you visual cues to important info - open or blocked passing lanes, a good time to deke or shoot, whether to take a slap shot or wrister, for example - that even veteran players can appreciate. A solid set of tutorials will put you in a great position to understand the depth of the controls, which are significant.

No simulation-style sports game is better at multiplayer than NHL 16, either, whether you’re playing with or against friends. The combination of quick-playing games that last 20 minutes or less and a hectic, back-and-forth pace is a recipe for delight. Battling a pal at or around the same skill level is a sublime experience jammed with tense moments. Almost every game I played against friends came down to a single goal difference; you are rewarded for playing smart and punished for doing risky moves that don’t pay off. Whether it’s couch co-op or online, multiplayer is a blast.

NHL 16’s issues are numerous, though. In practice, there seems to be very little difference between teams other than their jerseys; individual player ratings are so relatively close to each other that they feel virtually irrelevant. Hockey has always been the toughest sport in which to represent specific athlete talents, and I’m as hard-pressed as ever to distinguish one player from another unless I’m looking at them close-up between shifts.

More than that, however, is the “been there-done that” feeling with the available modes. The obligatory franchise-running Be A GM and single-player Be A Pro (along with Ultimate Team) make up the core of the offerings, and while they are both deeper than last year’s versions, there’s really very little that is exciting about them. I understand that it’s a good idea to flesh out these tried-and-true ways to play before testing experimental new modes. However, the prospects of grinding through an 82-game campaign or multi-season career with my created player for the umpteenth straight year without much new to experience aren’t especially appealing. Even worse, there are no online leagues or tournaments, a sad remnant of the next-gen cuts that were made last season.

Luckily, the beloved EA Sports Hockey League mode that returns after a one-year hiatus makes up for much of that. The ability to play on your own club with your friends in organized monthly leagues is a joy - as long as the servers are working - and the new move to use player classes instead of leveling your guys up is wonderful. No longer will you see a bunch of 99-rated 7-foot monsters facing you; instead, you have to choose between snipers, tough guys, and a host of other archetypes to find the best combinations to suit your style. Hockey lends itself to cooperative play thanks to the relatively small number of people on the ice and the speed of the game. For many fans, EASHL is all they’ll really play this year (myself included).

NHL 16 is the game that traditional fans of the franchise can be happy with for the season, and it does a nice job of putting the series back in a positive place. After all, anyone can have a bad year. Now that the foundation has been rebuilt, it will be fascinating to see where the development team takes it next. NHL will need to continue to step up its game with fresh, exciting new experiences to keep its audience engaged moving forward.

This game was reviewed on PlayStation 4.

There are moments when NHL 15 is simply brilliant. The electricity of a raucous crowd reaction to an overtime, game-winning goal screams “next gen!” The agony--and instant stick slam to the ice--of a defenseman that accidentally tips the puck into their own net is palpable. The back-and-forth speed and intensity of a tight online match against a friend is unmatched by any other sports game. Yet these moments are fleeting. Despite a core experience that’s undeniably strong, NHL 15 is--in many ways--a major step back in modern sports gaming.

The reason for this is simple. Most of the ways that hockey fans have come to play EA’s well-regarded NHL series for the past several years have vanished in the leap to new-gen consoles. NHL 15 is not just a slimmed-down version of its former self; it is one that is utterly gutted. Not only are significant game modes missing--no online leagues, no EASHL, no Be A Legend, to name just a few--but those that remain are also so devoid of core features that they feel barren.

It's tragic, especially considering how strong the on-ice gameplay is. The processing power of the PS4 and Xbox One does wonders for skating and collisions, which sometimes match what you see in real NHL games. Checking someone into the boards no longer feels like a purely one-sided affair, as both bodies involved in the scrum take some punishment. Unless you completely nail the speed and angle of a hit, the attacker will need a moment or two to collect himself as well as the poor fellow that bore the brunt of the check. Goaltenders are finally intertwined in the pileups and action in front of the net as well, even to the point of their masks flying off when things get particularly violent.

Despite obvious improvements from previous-generation hockey games, though, there are problems. While the NBC Sports presentation layer is quite slick--the graphic overlays are as crisp and smooth as a television broadcast, while announcers Doc Emrick and Eddie Olczyk are nice choices to inhabit the new-gen commentary booth--rough edges abound as you peer more deeply into NHL 15. The puck will strangely hover near the stick of the players in possession, jerseys wave wildly as skaters move across the ice, and goal celebrations start and end awkwardly. All of these issues contribute to NHL15 feeling rushed and incomplete.

Many of these problems could be partially excused if there was more of NHL 15 to actually play. The Be a GM mode, for example, lets you take the reins of an NHL franchise for up to 25 seasons. In years past, you were able to truly control every aspect of the organization, playing as your minor league club and completely controlling your draft. NHL 15 offers none of this; you are unable to head down to the minors and, while you are able to send scouts across the world to look for players, the entire draft is controlled by AI. The intention is to streamline experience, making it more user-friendly to newcomers. The reality is that it offers little appeal to longtime NHL fans that have become used to managing their team at a deep level.

The single-player career mode Be A Pro is similarly stripped. Instead of proving yourself in the minors, getting feedback from coaches on how to improve, and fighting your way up the depth chart, you’re simply placed right on the top line, and play major minutes from Day 1 as a rookie with ordinary attributes. It’s utterly implausible. What’s worse, for some reason the ability to simulate the action between your shifts has been removed. When not on the ice, you’re forced to watch all the action from a lousy viewpoint on the bench. This nearly doubles the amount of time it takes to play a game, and it’s extremely boring.

NHL’s biggest shortcoming, however, is that it abandons modes that many fans have come to love while keeping one that earns extra revenue for EA. GM Connected, an online franchise mode that allows hundreds of individuals to play together in a common universe--or even just a couple of friends who love to be in the same league--has been eliminated. EASHL, the online team-up mode that spawned entire communities of tens of thousands of fans, is gone. These are not ‘extras’ that only the hardest of hardcore fans look for; they are basic, fundamental features that NHL games have offered for multiple seasons. Meanwhile, Hockey Ultimate Team, a revenue-generating mode that lets you buy (with real money or earned in-game currency) virtual player cards and assemble a fantasy team to take on others online, is present and accounted for.

NHL 15 is a shell of its former self. Despite some impressive work to bring the on-ice experience and game presentation up to a new-generation level, it is so devoid of modes and features that its appeal will be limited to fans that have been waiting for hockey on their new machines; after all, NHL skipped the launch of the latest console generation last fall. While most other sports games have made the transition to the PS4 and Xbox One quite nicely, NHL finds itself in a very different position; at the bottom of the pile, looking up.

This game was reviewed on PS4.

The NHL has seen some drastic changes since the end of the lockout. A conference re-alignment sees the Red Wings head east to resume old rivalries, the Dallas Stars have a new look, and Sidney Crosby is down eight or nine teeth. And of course, the Flyers have finally sorted out their goaltending probl...well okay, so maybe some things are destined never to change. But despite all this real-world upheaval, this year's video game installment is a safe, stay-at-home kind of update. This was to be expected to some degree; NHL 13 was something of a mini-revolution for the series, introducing a physics-based skating system that changed the flow of play significantly, and NHL 14 is concerned with refining than redefining. The good news is that it meets the cautious goals it sets for itself.

One of the main focal points is readdressing the imbalance between offense and defense. Effective defending in NHL 13 required discipline; since forwards on the rush had momentum on their side it was a cakewalk for them to breeze past disorganized defenses. Instead of hunting down attackers, the smart option was to concentrate on positioning yourself in-between the forward and the net to shut down their scoring opportunities. This is still the case in NHL 14, but quicker turning angles and faster lateral skating gives more room for error, and quicker pivots make it more viable to backskate with the puck and calmly play your way out of trouble.

The other method of empowering the defense employs less subtlety. The new Collision Physics (everything has to have a silly name in EA's world) feature makes it easier to serve up huge, crunching, open ice body checks. It's a change that comes at the expense of realism (big hits are now so common that you'll wonder if you've blundered into some kind of Dion Phaneuf cloning experiment), but it makes for a more enjoyable, more aggressive game. It also helps defenders deal with breakaways more effectively, cutting down on NHL 13's almost perverse number of short-handed goals.

NHL 13 nailed the offensive side of the game so NHL 14 largely leaves it alone, aside from the addition of a 'one-touch' deke option which we're not sure benefits the game in any way. The idea is that a tap of LB sees your player automatically bust out one of his tricks--it's context sensitive, so the one he performs is dependent on the distance between yourself and the other player and your skating speed. It comes in handy as a nuclear option if you're about to get body checked into Row Z, but we found the traditional manual deking system more reliable and more satisfying to pull off, too.

The single-player modes continue to stagnate, both in terms of structure and presentation. It's Be A Pro's turn to get some token improvements this year. Now rebranded 'Live The Life', it comes with the promise that you'll be able to live the life of a professional hockey player off the ice as much as you do on it--which sounds fantastic if you've ever fantasised about driving a boat punch-drunk, or smacking a taxi driver around. In-game however this manifests as a succession of multiple choice questions. You answer media questions in a variety of droll ways, or choose how to react to training day incidents, and your choices will affect either your standing with management, teammates and fans, or your stats in some way. (Partying, for example, will improve team chemistry but might leave you feeling a bit baggy-eyed during your next game).

It's an amusing twist on the Be A Pro formula which fleshes your own personal story out nicely and gives you the impression of added agency, but its eagerness to show its workings with immersion-breaking bar charts and numbers does require you to suspend your belief at times. Talking of suspension of belief, how good you are at it will likely determine how much mileage you squeeze from the new NHL 94 Anniversary Mode.

Taken at face value it's quite a nifty extra. Designed to replicate the oft-romantisied more carefree hockey of the series' earlier entries, Anniversary Mode turns off the rules and ramps up the speed, creating a pacier and more accessible brand of end-to-end hockey, where one-timers and slapshots from the blueline rule supreme.

It's a cracking addition which enables casual fans to join in the fun without having to make them sit through a 30-slide PowerPoint presentation first. It also serves as a refreshing counterpunch to the main course, which can get bogged down in its quest for realism. As a nostalgia trip for the hardcore fan, however it can't help but feel a little half-assed. It's full of neat visual touches--the blue ice, the retro player markers, the way NHL 94 footage plays on the big screens--and the feel is more-or-less right, but oversights come thick and fast. We found the presentation in particular to be disappointing--the HUD and pre-match sweeps have been cut and pasted from the main game rather than receiving a retro makeover, making it look and feel exactly like what it is – an NHL 14 reskin with the gameplay markers cranked to 'insane'.

The NHL series remains one of best sports series on the market and is heartily recommend to any newcomer with a love of hockey--but the sport's unique flow and fussy regulations mean that its appeal isn't as universal or instantaneous as, say, its sister FIFA series. However, we'd urge NHL 13 owners to think twice before laying their money on this one. NHL 14 is typical of the kind of annual updates you tend to get at this point in a console's life cycle. It's a confident entry in the series that makes tweaks in all the right places, but you feel that they're holding back--that they're saving their 1^st rounders for a next-gen debut.

This game was reviewed on Xbox 360.

What's old is new

As one of the most iconic sports games of all time, NHL 94 remains beloved in many circles. It did pretty much everything beautifully--simple gameplay, memorable sounds, colorful visuals, real NHL players and teams, and an undeniable charm that transcended the genre. For many, 94 remains the highlight of their sports gaming memory, as todays ultra-complex simulations cater to a hardcore crowd that simply didnt exist twenty years ago. So the makers of NHL 14 decided to bring it back.

Not an actual NHL 94 gameplay mode, mind you--they already did that a few years ago in NHL 06. That effort, as NHL producer Sean Ramjagsingh told me, was less than stellar. When people played the emulated NHL 94 on the PS2 disc, he said, the memories were actually better than that experience relative to what the current game delivered. With that in mind, the development team took their current gameplay engine and built an entirely new manner of play on top of it, paying homage to NHL 94 in a number of ways while leveraging much of what makes todays series so strong.

We asked ourselves what were the best parts about NHL 94, Ramjagsingh continued. Simple controls, a pick up and play experience, and replicating that experience where its just you and your buddy on a couch playing an accessible game. So with that in mind, I sat down in New York City on Tuesday at an EA Sports event to check it out--and came away feeling (mostly) excited for it.

Everybody can play

While the NHL series is arguably the easiest of all modern sports games to pick up and play, theres no denying that the combination of sticks, triggers, and buttons to control the action is intimidating to newcomers and old-schoolers. Much of that complexity has been removed; the only controls are buttons to pass, shoot, hit, and use turbo--and of course the left stick to move around the ice. Within a couple of minutes, youll be piling up goals and big hits without having to remember more than a few simple thumb presses.

When you look back in the day, it was easy to pick up any sports game, recalled Ramjagsingh. As weve become more authentic and added more depth, it makes that more difficult. The beauty of this mode is that a lot of people who havent played our game on the console recently are able to go back, pick this up, and have success quickly.

Scoring is actually easy

Its obvious to say, but scoring goals is fun. Thanks to the stripped-down controls and removal of much of the on-the-fly strategic adjustments and player fatigue, its much easier to light the lamp in the 94 mode than the standard gameplay. Even better, this translates into allowing all those moves you made back in the day--cross-ice one-timers, wraparounds, and left-right-left--to work again. Its not a complete goalfest, but youll definitely put pucks in the net.

You dont need to worry about whos on the ice, what strategy youre using, or how tired they are, said Ramjagsingh. You just have a fun pick-up-and-play experience with lots of goals.

Big hits aplenty

One of the biggest additions to NHL 14 proper is the introduction of a powerful collision physics engine that translates into more vicious hits than ever, and the NHL 94 mode gleefully takes advantage of that. Simply press the turbo and hit buttons and your player will annihilate your opponent--provided you match up the hit at the right angle, of course. Dishing out punishment along the boards or at center ice Scott Stevens-style has never been easier.

Lame penalties have been benched

Icing and penalties are non-existent in NHL 94 mode, so the game turns into a wide-open affair from the opening face-off. It will take veterans a few minutes to acclimate themselves to it--I waited for teammates to come back onside a couple of times before I realized it didnt matter--but quickly becomes second nature. Another benefit of the almost-no-rules mantra is that games are shorter, so blasting through a few matches in under an hour is easy.

Old school returns

When you remember NHL 94, chances are that blue ice, star icons for players with their number and position, organ music, and the "wheeeeeeeee" of the home teams goal horn are at the top of the list. All of those are part of the NHL 94 mode presentation, even though the standard games arenas, players, and announcers are present. Before the game starts, old-school NHL 94 highlights play on the arena jumbotrons, hearkening back to the games 16-bit roots. Its hard not to smile the first time you play.

The Stars are everywhere

Gretzky. Lemieux. Roenick. These are the names--along with Steve Larmer, who isnt exactly a Hall of Famer and isnt in the game--that people remember the most when they recall their favorite moments of NHL 94. Theyre all available to play with, adding just another element of nostalgia. Before you ask, though, you cant make Gretzkys head bleed a la Jon Favreau Swingers, as theres no blood in the game at all in any mode. Such a shame.

WAIT, WHAT? REASON 1 WHY ITS NOT AWESOME

The biggest surprise of all about the NHL 94 mode is that its not available for seasons, careers, or online play. Its meant strictly for couch co-op, further replicating the era of playing against your buddies seated right next to you and the comradery (and/or fisticuffs) that came from that. We talked about what made NHL 94 so special, said Ramjagsingh, and it was that social experience of sitting on the couch with your buddy, talking smack, punching him in the shoulder when he broke the house rules. 94 was about your friend coming over to the house and playing, not over the internet. We wanted to replicate that experience first and foremost.

However, based on user feedback, it is possible that we could see the NHL 94 mode opened up in new ways post-launch. No promises, but when I asked around, the window for that was not definitively closed.

Dropping the puck

Any nostalgia play feels fun for a few minutes, and the challenge NHL 14 has with the NHL 94 mode is its longer-term viability. Thats likely why the team chose to implement it on top of the current engine instead of simply putting the old game inside it; it feels fresh and exciting while looking old-school.

Will its higher accessibility translate to fans? Will more people play NHL 14 because of it? Will online and offline options be added? We wont know for sure for a while. However, theres no denying the development team made an interesting--and gutsy--choice to try and get their game appreciated by more fans during the wildly busy fall sports game avalanche. Well see how it pays off.

And if you're looking for more, check out The Top 7... Best years in gaming's history or The best video game stories ever.

Your controller should beware, because things are going to get a little nasty. Thanks to the introduction of True Performance Skating in NHL 13, most of the tactics for success you’ve used the past few years won’t work anymore. While the controls are the same--move with the left stick, shoot with the right--the way that players interact with the ice is dramatically different. The results are, too.

Check out the review for NHL 13

Gone are the days of speedy forwards and hulking defensemen matching each other stride for stride. Due to the new skating physics, the combination of player abilities, mass, momentum, and weight dictate that guys like Alex Ovechkin or Ilya Kovalchuk will blow by bigger, slower guys such as Zdeno Chara--so you’ll need to adjust how you defend your zone. If you’re letting slapshots loose in full stride like you used to, the puck will go flying off in different directions nowhere near the target. It makes complete sense, since real-life NHL players always come to a glide before shooting from the wings; you’ll have to do the same thing now in order to get the puck on net. However, it’s dramatically different than previous versions, and some training and patience are in order to learn how to be successful.

Even when you get the new skating controls down, there are plenty of other controller-endangering changes afoot. Goaltenders are smarter than ever and their bodies are now fully animated, so those cross-ice passes for easy tap-in goals you’ve been doing this generation will hardly ever work. If you’re setting up shop in the crease, be prepared to be beaten into a pulp; countless attempts to feather a pass to an awaiting teammate were fruitless, as he’d usually wind up on his back or have the puck kicked away by a defenseman draped all over him.

While all this may sound like a complaint, it’s not. NHL 13 feels more realistic on the ice because the players can’t cut on a dime without taking a moment to wheel and recover, nor can they execute crisp passes and shots while skating at top speed. It takes a lot of getting used to--and some series vets are likely to get extremely frustrated--but the payoff in realism and flow is worth it. Bringing True Performance Skating to life was a winning move.

It’s a good thing, too, because NHL 13 is massive. There are a staggering amount of offline and online options, each aimed at different types of players and each with its own pluses and minuses. The most impressive mode is the all-new GM Connected. Long overdue, it’s an online league that allows potentially hundreds of people to compete together in a league as GMs and individual players. Traditionalists can have their own teams, but the opportunities for creativity are boundless, such as co-op seasons with groups of friends on the same team--something that’s never been done before. One big drawback has been the menu load times, though; they’re frightfully long.

Take a deeper look with our NHL 13 Developer Demo

The traditional GM and Be A Pro modes are back and, with the exception of a few new Legends such as Doug Gilmour and Dominik Hasek, are much the same as they’ve been for a few seasons. While Be A Pro felt fresh and exciting when it was introduced, it’s showing its age and could use a makeover to get players that’ve been through it all before excited again. A significantly updated Hockey Ultimate Team takes custom team-building in a different direction, giving players the ability to assemble their own squad by earning card packs from players spanning leagues across the world. Thanks to the elimination of individual player contracts--a set amount of games each person can play for your custom team--it’s eminently more accessible and fun to try out than in the past.

It’s also obvious that the emphasis on creating a new skating engine and online leagues prevented some freshening up in other spots. Gary Thorne and Bill Clement haven’t called an NHL game together in years but remain in the commentary booth; it’s long past time for new voices to liven up the action. In addition, the uninspiring fighting engine is back for another go-round. You’ll occasionally see brief framerate drops when the puck gets into the bottom corners as well as some glitchy visuals such as the close-ups when guys get on and off the bench.

It was risky for the NHL 13 dev team to reach under the hood and modify the core gameplay to the degree they did. It takes time to learn, and the smarter defenders and goaltenders will make scoring extremely difficult at the start. As we’ve recently seen with other stalwart franchises like FIFA Soccer and Madden NFL, though, getting the fundamentals oh-so-right can make something that’s already good spectacular. There may be a few rough edges, but the overall package delivers a heck of a punch.

This game was reviewed on the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3.

While LA Kings fans continue to regale in Stanley Cup victory, hockey fans around the rest of the world are gearing up to write history as they see fit with NHL 13. While weve covered certain elements of it and talked to the team behind the game in-depth, its only at EAs recent media event in Vancouver that we learned the depth and scope of NHL 13s GM Connected Mode.

Combining Be a GM and online team play, GM Connected will allow a sprawling number of players. As lead producer Andy Agostino pointed out during a demo, it was physically impossible to demo the mode in full force. With a commissioner, 30 GMs, and 24 players per team, youre staring down 750 players in total per virtual league. The NHL 13 team isnt lying when they make the claim that its the largest dynasty mode ever seen in a sports game.

Dont worry, though. You wont need all 750 online at once to make it work. Whether youre playing vs. AI, competitive online, co-op (vs. AI or against other online players), via Build Your AI (which lets you create a set of tendencies and strategies while youre away), or Coach Mode, youll be constantly contributing to the mode.

NHL 13 will also tout a mobile app to let you keep up with GM Connected, even if youre letting your AI toil away against other players. The mobile app works well for me, because I dont have access to my home TV and console more than maybe an hour or two a day, said Agostini, so this allows both myself and other gamers like me to stay connected to the mode, even if were not actively playing.

As ambitious projects go, EAs plans for NHL 13 and its GM Connected mode look poised to push the envelope for the massive quantity of interconnected players. Well have to see how it fares out in the wild when NHL 13 hits North America on September 11.

Rich sits down with Sean Ramjagsingh and Andy Agostini, two producers of NHL 13 with very different job responsibilities, about their upcoming hockey game. Eventually they get into tons of details about NHL 13, but along the way they also talk about their E3 experiences, what it’s like doing live webcasts in front of 100,000 people, how they made their way to their roles, and a whole lot more. It may be the hockey offseason, but our obsession with the NHL series never ends. Enjoy!

INFO BOX:

Post Date: 7/13/2012

Podcast length: 59:53

Follow Richard Grisham on: Twitter (@richgrisham)

Box Score is a weekly column that offers a look at sports games and the athletic side of the industry from the perspective of veteran reviewer and sports fan Richard Grisham.

“Play a game?”

“Let’s do it.”

With that, the two of us burst off of the sofa and headed up the stairs. My brother-in-law and I have long shared a passion for sports and their videogame counterparts, but opportunities like this have become very few and far between. Between the two of us are a combined three jobs, three young children and two wives, all of which bring a mountain of responsibilities. The ability to indulge in the frivolity of playing a videogame against each other has taken a back seat for half a decade.

Years ago, the two of us would regularly stage epic Madden battles whenever we got together. He won some and I won others, usually by the slimmest of margins. More recently, though, these matches have faded into memory as the realities of our newer lives took over. Wildly differing schedules make online games impossible, and when we’re in the same place, it typically involves making sure none of the little ones sit on the cat or burn down the house.

On this gray, wintry day, though, things felt different. For one, our oldest kids are four (my son) and three (his older daughter), and for the first time in their lives are able to entertain themselves for brief periods. The idea of the two of us sneaking off upstairs for an hour might just work.

As we walked up to my office, we were both probably mulling half a dozen things – Is my presentation ready for tomorrow morning? Do I have enough gas to get home? Did I pay the preschool tuition this month? When am I going to finish my review? – but by the time I leaned over the Xbox 360, there was only one question on our minds.

Which game to play?

My brother-in-law is a baseball man and a proud owner of a PS3; The Show is normally his go-to title. The prospects of getting in nine innings were dim, though; in a best-case scenario, that’d take at least 75 minutes. I remain hooked on NBA 2K12, but he’s never played, and no one should ever get introduced to that game in a trial by fire. The easy decision became NHL 12. Quickly, we got down to it.

Or so we tried.

As soon as we started choosing teams, reality set in. My son, who just the previous day had begun using a Mac mouse and keyboard to build on-screen mazes, was having issues downstairs. Instead of hoping he’d figure it out, I decided on a pre-emptive strike, and brought him and the computer upstairs with us. Naturally, his three-year old cousin (my brother-in-law’s daughter) wanted to know what was going on, and by face-off, the four of us were spread out across the room.

The initial matchup was the traditional one – his Flyers versus my Devils. While his daughter knew the “orange guys” were her Dad’s favorite team, my son continues to worry me by announcing he doesn’t like the “red guys.” I’ve been a New Jersey fan since the team arrived in the ‘80’s; clearly, I’ve got some work to do on him when it comes to hockey affiliation.

The game itself was fairly entertaining; the Devils got out to a 2-0 lead thanks to a lucky bounce and a slick goal by Zach Parise. It was interrupted a few times by my son’s occasional wails when he’d accidentally click on something wrong, while his cousin continually peppered her Dad with “did you win?” and “what are you doing”? Somewhere during the third period, though, she wandered back downstairs. By the time New Jersey had put the finishing touches on a 4-1 win at The Rock, it was just the guys upstairs with their games and the ladies downstairs.

Clearly, an opportunity for a second game was at hand.

We went for the Winter Classic with random teams. He drew the Penguins, while I snared the Calgary Flames. We both donned some classic old uniforms and pressed “A” as fast as we could; while it remained unsaid, we both knew the bonus game was existing on borrowed time.

This one was much closer, and significantly more physical. “I love how you can drop the gloves after the whistle,” he said at one point, which within minutes was followed by an impossible-in-real-life fight between my goaltender, Mikka Kiprusoff, and his forward, Kris Letang. It was among the few words either of us uttered the whole time; we were cherishing the relaxing moments.

“Is Crosby playing?” I asked, unaware if the tragically concussed NHL superstar had been erased from the game thanks to online roster updates. “He sure is,” he said; to my brother-in-law’s benefit, Sid The Kid remains active and very skilled in the digital universe, even as the NHL wonders if he’ll ever don the skates again.

The game seemed destined for overtime, but as luck would have it, I was able to force a turnover at the blue line, pass the puck in deep, and score a goal with just five seconds left to win 2-1. As the final horn sounded, my brother-in-law sighed. “I can’t believe I have to go back to work tomorrow.”

As I turned off the 360, I gathered a few PS3 games I knew he didn’t have and sent him home with an unexpected bounty. He left with the original Uncharted, Tiger Woods 12 and NBA 2K12 (I play my 360 version almost exclusively). The unstated expectation, of course, is that next time, his Sixers take on my Nets.

The three of us headed back down the stairs, two brothers-in-law with a world of thoughts spinning in our heads – jobs, families, friends – and one four-year-old who just loves being around his Dad and uncle. As luck would have it, we got to spend an hour together playing a great sports game, just like we did in the old days. Nothing much was said; nothing much needed to be. It was as good of a dreary winter afternoon as we could have had, even if we barely uttered a word about it.

Richard Grisham has been obsessed with sports and video games since childhood, when he'd routinely create and track MicroLeague Baseball seasons on paper. He currently lives in New Jersey with his wife and four-year old son, who he'll soon be training to be an NFL placekicker. As a freelance journalist and writer, his work has appeared in GamesRadar, NGamer, and 1UP.

The mechanics are pretty simple. The first part of the Challenge is a three-month, persistent qualifying tournament hooked into the Virgin Gaming platform; once you join, you can start anytime and get matched against other similar players that are online when you are. According to Virgin Gaming CEO Rob Segal, that’s one of the big advantages the Challenge Series has to anything that’s come before.

“People are able to join online and play their favorite game from the comfort of their own home on their own schedule,” Mr. Segal told us over the phone. “For the first time, we’ve got a platform that’s safe, secure, and automated, but doesn’t force people to play in a leaderboard or bracket model. You just win enough games against other qualifiers – whenever you feel like playing - and you’re moving on to the next round.”

“At its essence, the Challenge Series is a product for the masses,” explained Virgin Gaming’s CMO Joe Versace. “The technology allows anybody to come in and play. You can win 10 games and gain entry to the Finals through a free pass, or you can get there with 6 wins through our $10 pass. You don’t need to be the best gamer in the world, and you don’t have to make the sacrifice of traveling to a location playing in a live event. We’re doing all the pre-qualifiers through hundreds of thousands of matches online, then sending the best 1,000 people to the Finals in New York City.”

Losing a game in qualifying will end your run, but you can enter as many times as you like. The cockiest (and richest) players can bypass qualifying altogether; by plunking down $400, anyone can gain immediate access to the Finals. In addition, GameStop is offering trips to the Finals through their own tournaments for PowerUp Pro members. However you make it to Manhattan, you don’t have to win the grand prize to walk away with some cash.

“We want the Finals to be a real celebration of sports gaming,” continued Mr. Segal. “You don’t have to win the entire thing to have a great experience and make some money. If you win a couple of games, chances are you’re going to at least get your money back and have the experience of a lifetime.”

At first, the decision to go exclusively with PlayStation 3 seemed curious to us. The mechanics of such a large tournament actually made it an easy decision, according to Mr. Segal.

“When a program of this magnitude is concentrated on a single platform, it performs much better,” he said. “We thought long and hard about this, and made the decision to move forward with Sony. They recognize how important competitive gaming is and have been working with us very closely to make this happen. That’s not to say down the road it won’t be different – we’re in discussions with Microsoft and it’s our expectation to have something for Xbox players in the coming months – but in the past, the programs that have worked the best were those that were exclusive to a single platform.”

“We think this is the next big thing in sports gaming,” he concluded. “It’s the results of months and months of hard work, and it’s a great opportunity for the video game industry to take a step forward and move into the limelight.”

The specific prize pool is a cool $400,000 each for FIFA 12 and Madden 12, while NHL 12’s pool is at $200,000. For more information, and to sign up, check out www.easports.com/challengeseries.

Jeremy Roenick’s face is a disaster. Both eyes are sporting ugly shiners, and we’re pretty sure his nose isn’t pointing the same direction it was when the season started. Worst of all, it’s not even his fault – he’s been in ten fights in the first month of the season. This isn’t because J.R. is particularly prone to fisticuffs, although he mixed it up plenty during his Hall of Fame-worthy career. Rather, we’re so bored playing as him in NHL 12’s new Be A Legend mode that we can’t help but drop the gloves two or even three times a game; thanks to the new ability to sim through all the time he’s in the sin bin, it makes the games go faster. The fact we want that to happen is alarming – and a shame.

NHL 12 is a tremendous hockey game that’s sadly marketed around an abysmal new Legends mode. We cheered when we heard that a slew of legendary skaters would make an appearance this year, including names like Gretzky, Lemieux, Roy, and Howe. It’s too bad that the implementation of these guys is only through the Be A Pro mode. First off, if you’ve spent 50+ hours like us doing this in years past, Be A Pro has lost much of its luster. Secondly, there’s no discernable difference when you’re a Legend or a new person that you create; each historic player can be inserted onto any team with its current lineup and schedule. Lastly, you have to start with Roenick and slowly work your way up the ladder to unlock the other Legends. For $60, they should all be available right off the bat. In other words, there’s no magic, only grinding. Lots and lots of grinding.

After we stepped away from the legends on ice, though, our perspective changed for the better. NHL 12’s core 5-on-5 gameplay is as good as it gets, featuring a bevy of key improvements. The puck behaves more like, well, a real puck than ever. No longer will it magically glide along with you while you leisurely wind up for a slap shot; you’d better fire quickly, otherwise it skips away from you. Even better, the physicality of the game is more important. If you park a hulking power forward in front of the net, it’ll take someone of equal or greater strength to get him out of there. Gone are the days when a little sprite like Brian Gionta can have his way with a monster of Dustin Penner’s girth. Vicious battles in the crease are commonplace, and winning them more often than not will translate into goals.

Speaking of brutal confrontations in front of the net, goaltenders are now fair game (so to speak). You can crash into them and attempt to shove them out of the way to catch a lucky break, something that’s been sorely lacking in years past. Naturally, if you’re too obvious about it, you’ll be penalized for it. Even better, there’s plenty of post-whistle slashing you can to do anyone on the ice if you’re ticked off. That really helped us in our quest to make Roenick’s legend story move faster, even at the cost of getting his face rearranged.

There’s so much to NHL 12 that it’s really like four games in one. Traditionalists get to lace up the skates in season, playoff, and franchise modes, online and off. Stat-obsessed general manager wannabes get an updated GM mode that is comparable to PC sport management simulators. Fantasy types get to build an Ultimate Team by purchasing online trading cards, train, heal and organize their team, then play against other user squads at their own pace thanks to smart download technology. Then of course there’s EA Sports Hockey League, a monthly online club-based competition that’s incredibly popular with its core users. Each of those will sustain plenty of gamers through the long winter ahead, even if few players will spend time in all of them.

The Winter Classic also makes an appearance, a welcome addition even if it’s ultimately a glorified exhibition. It also would have been nice to have this year’s game instead of last season’s, although we know it’s probably a legal issue preventing Citizen’s Bank Park (the Jan 2 2012 site) from appearing. Stinkin’ lawyers.

It would have taken the world’s lousiest miracle to make NHL 12 a bad game. After all, the core gameplay is so solid that their NHL 2K competition said “no mas” and got out of the business. Our only complaint is that EA should have let the Legends simmer for a season or two until a compelling, “holy crap this is awesome” way to integrate the greatest players in history could have been dreamed up. To be frank, the Legends detract from the game more than anything else. We’re much happier now that we’ve bagged our pursuit up that ladder; we’re more content gunning for a Stanley Cup.

Sep 13, 2011

EA's inclusion of a female alternative in NHL 12's character creation mode may sound trivial on paper, but for hockey fans like 14-year-old Lexi Peters, it's one of the most meaningful features in the entire series. And for good reason; it was her idea. Discouraged by her inability to create a woman player that didn't look like a man in a wig in past NHL versions, Peters successfully lobbied EA to add a gender option to its next NHL iteration, and was rewarded for her efforts with a starring role as the game's female default model.

Recounting her early back and forth with EA brass in a Globe and Mail interview, Peters recalled sending a typewritten letter to the studio imploring developers to add the ability to create women players to its upcoming NHL iteration, writing, “It is unfair to women and girl hockey players around the world, many of them who play and enjoy your game. I have created a character of myself, except I have to be represented by a male and that’s not fun.”

Initially, EA's response was a no, citing legal issues with the NHL. However, Peters' letter quickly found its way to NHL 12's lead producer David Littman, who took up the charge on Peters' behalf and soon acquired the resources and permission to make her request a reality.

“Lexi’s letter was a wake-up call,” admitted Littman to the Canadian news outlet, adding, “Here’s a growing audience playing our NHL game and we hadn’t done anything to capture them.”

In addition to taking her recommendation to heart, EA also asked Peters if they could use her likeness as the default female character model. Naturally, she said yes, recalling, “I was so excited,. My dad called my grandpa immediately, who called my Uncle Chris, like a chain reaction.”

Peters isn't the only female to appear in EA's NHL series. For instance, in NHL 09, Sabrina Ladha won the opportunity to be included as a goalie after her parents placed the top bid for an EA sponsored auction at The Gift of Time Gala charity event. Her addition – specifically, her inflated stats – irked a number of owners who felt it undermined the series fidelity. Who know if the same will be said of NHL 12's female options, but if anything it shows EA has a soft spot for passionate fans.

Sep 12, 2011

We love it when developers take risks, especially calculated ones. NHL Slapshot is the perfect example; a new franchise on with a gimmicky controller (risk!) built on a rock-solid engine that guarantees a smooth experience (calculated!). What’s more, Slapshot embraces its existence on the Wii with a playful attitude that’s a welcome change from your traditional sports sim. Who knows – it may even get the kids into hockey. Stranger things have happened.

Yes, NHL Slapshot comes with its own mini hockey stick controller and – despite the cheery producer instruction video on the disc – is a minor pain to put together. If you happen to own Motion Plus controllers, be sure to put them in a safe place after you dismantle ‘em to shove the Nunchuk and Remote into the stick (Motion Plus is not supported with the peripheral). Once together, though, it works pretty well; you rare back on the stick to take slapshots, flick it forward for wristers, and cross-check the air in front of you to lay the wood on your opponent. It may not be extremely comfortable, but we applaud the effort.

While you may be tempted to jump right into a season, the real charm of Slapshot lies in the Pee Wee to Pro mode. It’s the best way to learn the controls, and for our money it’s more fun than the NHL games. This extension of Be A Pro starts you off as a kid in Pee Wee 3-on-3 games, putting you on a path from backyard rink hockey to NHL arenas. While pond hockey has been a staple of NHL games for years, we had more fun playing it in Slapshot simply because it meant something this time – gaining valuable experience points to increase our player’s attributes.

To be sure, the action in Slapshot isn’t exactly hyper-realistic. Our energetic little Pee Wee dude had no trouble knocking down much bigger kids, just like NHL All Star (but decidedly small) Zach Parise took out the gargantuan Zdeno Chara with ease. Even so, it didn’t bother us at all – particularly because the comic book-style graphics that pop up when you smash into an opponent illustrate that Slapshot is more about arcadey fun than serious simulation.

Some may complain about a lack of modes or online play (other than roster downloads), but we won’t. After all, very few serious puckheads would look to the Wii for a multi-year franchise or online leagues. Between the options for an NHL Season, Pee Wee to Pro, and local multiplayer, Slapshot has plenty of ways for friends and family to have fun on the ice.

We didn’t expect a lot from NHL Slapshot, which may explain our delight at what we found. With the right audience, it’s a superb hockey game with its own unique charm and “this is all about having fun” vibe. There ain’t nothing wrong with that.

Sep 8, 2010

Watching a dynasty play at its peak is an amazing thing. During Gretzky’s heyday, his star-studded Edmonton Oilers went on championship rampages that were as much spectacle as sport, scoring goals at shocking rates and demolishing all in their path. EA’s current hockey franchise is operating on that same virtual plane. NHL 11 is a sublime symphony of pucks, checks, fights, and goals that’s so good its competition has gone into hiding.

It’s no surprise to anyone that’s been paying attention the past few seasons that NHL 11 is spectacular, as EA’s hockey game has been at the top of every sports gamer’s “best of” list for awhile now. The action on the ice has been fine-tuned to near perfection, sporting silky-smooth movement, immersive sound, and a seemingly endless supply of “oh cool!” moments. We scored overtime goals on pucks chopped at in mid-air, got chased after by stick-swinging opponents when we took cheap shots at prone defenders, and saw our goaltender desperately twist and spin to grab a puck that’d gotten behind him. No game ever felt exactly the same.

It’s also the least “video gamey” of the series, as we’ve discovered no guaranteed goal money moves yet. Even the most tried-and-true methods – such as skating in from the wing, stopping, then tossing the puck through the slot to a waiting forward on the other side of the net – get broken up by smart defenders almost all the time. In fact, you’ll likely suffer through plenty of scoring droughts; we sure did. You’ll work harder than ever to put the puck in the back of the net, but when you do, the satisfaction will be massive.

While the guts of the game received some polish and new additions, vets of the series will be instantly familiar with the action. That’s probably why EA decided to take the authenticity up a notch, adding in a bunch of the Canadian Junior teams and players that will appeal to the hardcore hockey fanatics like no video game has ever done. Now, whether you’re in GM mode, Be A Pro, or the all-new Ultimate Team, you’ll be dealing with an entirely new level of depth and realism with the NHL’s feeder systems. It’s truly nirvana for puckheads that know their stuff.

Speaking of the Ultimate Team, it’s a wildly deep online franchise/team-building/card-trading science experiment that has a unique appeal – some will love it and others will be baffled. Similar to (but much deeper than) the Ultimate Teams in FIFA and Madden, you create a team to participate in monthly online tournaments, constantly making adjustments to the lineup to find the best combinations. It’s massive, time-intensive, and extremely competitive, so be prepared if you’re planning on diving in.

NHL 11 continues to dominate the sports landscape. It’s a no-brainer must-have for any modern sports gamer, whether you can successfully discuss the nuances of the Left Wing Lock or can barely name a couple of players on your favorite team. There’s enough here for everyone to have a blast.

Sep 8, 2010

We lost a little piece of ourselves last season when 2K Sports announced that their long-running NHL 2K series was going on hiatus. Things are tough all around for sports-minded gamers, after all, with franchises dying (March Madness, College Hoops, and NASCAR) or being put on indefinite leave (The BIGS, All Pro Football). When it turned out that NHL 2K11 would actually exist this year as a Wii exclusive, it kept our hopes alive that maybe, just maybe, the once-proud 2K pucks name will be restored to glory.

While the gang at 2K has focused solely on the Wii this year, the bulk of 2K11 will be instantly familiar to veterans of the series. For the most part, this is a good thing; the on-ice gameplay is exceptionally strong and smooth. Skaters move across the surface realistically, chasing after pucks that careen off the boards with abandon. Visually, though, NHL 2K11 looks and sounds pretty ordinary, on par with its PS2 forebears. If you’re looking for next-generation presentation, it ain’t gonna do the trick.

One of the big additions this season is the extension of Wii Motion Plus controls. To be frank, they baffled us at the beginning – to the point that we could barely fire a shot at the net. After digging through the abysmal menus, we eventually stumbled across a desperately-needed tutorial. In no time, we were juggling the puck in mid-air while faking out goaltenders (at least in the practice mode). Even so, the new control scheme takes practice to master and never feels quite natural; luckily, there are other options in case you’re not feeling very adventurous.

NHL 2K11 offers an astounding amount of content - online, offline, and cooperative. There are loads of traditional options, including seasons, franchises, tournaments, last year’s Winter Classic, online leagues, and pond hockey; we could keep going but you get the drift. In addition, there are some fun new multiplayer modes featuring Miis that combine mini-games and trivia in a cross-continental battle for the Stanley Cup. Depending on your buddies, this could be a one-time diversion or something you come back to again and again.

In many ways, NHL 2K11 is the classic “if you haven’t played the series in a couple years, it’s totally worth your while” offering. There’s a boatload of game modes to keep you busy for months, whether you’re an online guy or prefer keeping to yourself. Have no doubt, though, that it’s very similar to its predecessor in most ways. Even so, we love the fact that the NHL 2K name continues to live; here’s hoping this ain’t its swan song.

Aug 26, 2010

There aren’t many remaining sports where there are two fully licensed major players in the market, but ice hockey remains defiantly committed to sowing its wild oats. The problem for 2K Sports’ effort is that EA’s competitor was leagues ahead in the gameplay stakes last year and has a much bigger online following. How can 2K10 compete?

The answer is by filling in some of the gaps EA still haven’t covered. Where EA’s NHL 10 rarely departs from its high ground as an ultra-realistic sim, NHL 2K10 lets you pelt around the ice at high speed, charge up shots even while your player is in the process of being flattened and score without having to work the defense anywhere near as hard as its super-serious cousin.

The controls are simple, allowing you to get by with just the joystick and a couple of buttons, but there’s enough flexibility to give you a wide range of tactical options once you get past the basics. Play somebody who knows what they’re actually doing, for example, and any button-mashing tendencies you have will be brutally exposed.

Given its arcade tendencies it’s surprising that NHL 2K10 doesn’t portray the physical side of the game quite as well as the EA title. Everything from the sound of a player being pounded into the board, to the accompanying animation is less visceral in 2K10, and fights are disappointingly weak.

That’s not to say it lacks any cool touches of its own. It looks great when players get their sticks tangled together, and the ice looks nicely cold and shiny. Plus there are the bonus modes, which are completely absent from the rival game.

Pond hockey puts you in a higher-scoring four-on-four game set outdoors. Mini rink shrinks the playing area and reduces the player count to two, which makes for something vaguely akin to the XBLA game that EA released separately. Also included is Zamboni mode, for anyone with a burning desire to drive the ice-polishing truck. Unfortunately you can’t do this during a proper game. Maybe next time…

Practically everything is in place for a long-lasting hockey experience, from franchise mode to player creation to all manner of custom online functionality, and if you’re looking for a game where you won’t have to practice for hours before even being able to score without AI assistance, this is the one. But once again we can’t help but be drawn back to the superior controls, visual polish and deep online team play of the EA game. All other things being more or less equal, 2K10 still comes off second best but the gap isn’t quite as big as last year.

Sep 17, 2009

Reviewing a sports game that people might spend the best part of a year with isn’t a precise science. Sometimes it takes a long while before a game’s problems become apparent. Take last year’s NHL – while it was the best implementation of hockey we’d seen at the time, the stat-tracking on our save file began creaking to a halt after the first full season of Be a Pro. That’s more than 80 games, at half an hour a pop.

After about 200 games it flipped all our top performers to a rating of -254, permanently botching the career mode. Cheap tricks in the online mode forced EA to introduce a patch that awarded punitive penalties every time you so much as looked at – let alone touched – an opposition player.

While long-term frustrations, such as the ones we’ve been waiting all this time to vent, can’t possibly be addressed here, the menus, options and stats in this year’s edition do look scarily similar to last time out. But as soon as we slid back on the ice, we fell head over heels (in love) all over again. NHL 10 is an absolutely storming hockey game – and the various tweaks and fixes they’ve added make it an even more enjoyable simulation of the sport.

Our favourite new feature is the ability to play the puck against the boards. You can sacrifice a player as a human shield, forcing the puck against a wall until you can kick it out with a skate. Defenders can use a similar tactic, squeezing their man up against the side of the rink to halt an attack.

Scrapping is also improved, with a first-person view making brawls more impressive to watch. Alongside the usual player categories you can become a ‘tough guy’, with objectives such as scoring a certain number of hits every game. Strangely, duffing people up isn’t one of the requirements. The referees are pitched somewhere between pre- and post-patch NHL 09. You don’t get penalised for breathing on somebody but you can’t get away with flattening everyone in open ice. Spoilsports.

Some people will have a problem with the new hockey store, which offers stat-boosting items at a price to players who can’t be bothered to earn them through normal play. We say you’re unlikely to notice much difference either way. Also, the commentators repeat a lot of the same phrases from last time out, which sounds a bit cheap(skate).

So while there’s nothing properly revolutionary here, NHL 10 remains not only the biggest and best hockey game but also one of the finest sports games of any type. Hope those bugs don’t rear their ugly heads this time.

Sep 17, 2009

In 2008, Visual Concepts found itself in the unenviable position of picking up the 2K hockey series in mid-development, with only five months to build and complete NHL 2K9. The critics assailed the game with an average Metacritic rating of 6.8. In response, the company took the beating, focused its new team and built a deep, impressive-looking follow-up that packs a massive array of visual upgrades, customizable options and online features. NHL 2K10 looks like the developer's most feature-rich game in years.

To begin with, Visual Concepts wanted to lock in distinct offensive and defensive moves so that gamers could feel like they had more control. On defense, using the Y button on the Xbox 360 (triangle on PS3), you can lift your opponent's stick in to get into the other player's space and flick the ball away from him.

On offense though, things have changed. One of the big complaints of the last game was that the defense regularly was able to knock shooters off their shot. That, coupled with long animations, prevented a realistic level of continuity and frustrated many fans. NHL 2K10's addition of a mechanic called the “stumble shot” prevents this issue from happening, while adding a new level of grit and determination to the gameplay.

If a defender bumps you while you're in the middle of a shot, your skater will stumble, but then regain composure or maneuver around a defender to return and take the shot. Unless a defender has perfect placement or smartly times a “perfect” move, the offense will always be able to pull off the stumble shot, bringing a new intensity and realism into the goal-scoring aspect of the game.

Visual Concepts has also tweaked every official NHL player to be as close to their real-life appearances and skill sets as possible. The character models are loaded up with distinct equipment and gear, right down to displaying each player’s preferred skate laces. Visual Concepts calls these “signature styles,” and no other player demonstrates this improvement better than cover athlete Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals, who looks great. (Ryan Kesler of the Vancouver Canucks, who did the mo-cap work, looks great too.) If you're a Sharks fan, you'll also be pleased to know that play-by-play is handled by San Jose's Randy Hahn.

With the create-a-player function, you can dig into the attributes of every official NHL player and adjust their skills to best suit your needs. You can tweak 25 different attributes, ranging from speed, acceleration, discipline, stamina and shot power. If you wanted to, you could create a full team of created players…well, if you had a spare 50 hours on your hands, anyway. Going one step further, 2K10 enables players to show off players and rosters for the community using 2K Share. You can manage a blog for your team, or upload highlights and screens to the site for others to see, download and use. Gamers can label the rosters as everything from the most accurate to the most downloaded or even the most heinous, putting the community in charge and giving users a context for each roster.

If your urge for obsessive, addictive control isn't satisfied by creating players or rosters, you can tweak the game's settings using sliders to adjust up to 20 characteristics like skate speed, fatigue, recovery, goals and blocks for starters. The number of modes of play is also impressive – in addition to the standard Quick Game and Franchise choices, there is shootout, practice (which offers a full tutorial), online leagues, a distinct playoffs mode (so you can skip the main season if you want), Mini Rink, Pond Hockey, and Team Up. Mini Rink games are two-on-two games that take place in small (mini) rinks. Pond Hockey is a little different: Here you play four-on-four with no rules and larger rinks. Lastly, there is Team Up, which is a full-on 12 player, six-on-six online match.

For each of these modes, you have a few options. You can play every mode versus the game's AI, or you can contact a friend and play them online. A simple interface allows you to program this prompt to appear whenever you start a game. When you do go online, your buddy doesn't have to play against you, either; he can play cooperatively, which gives each mode a fully integrated co-op option.

Franchise mode – most players’ favorite mode – has also been enhanced with additional features. First, you can create your own team, using official NHL jerseys as templates to create your own special jerseys; you can just as easily create non-official jerseys as well. From there, you can select your roster, which can be made from scratch or, if you’re feeling lazy, downloaded from 2K Share. The franchise mode can be set to follow a full 82-game season to match and track your favorite NHL team, or it can be tweaked to a shorter 29-game season. And just like the rest of NHL 2K10, you can play the entire season either against the AI or online, giving those who pick the full 82-game season a real jolt of reality.

Finally, for those who enjoy fiddling around with fantasy leagues and management options, the fantasy draft option has returned from last year. The MGMT option has been balanced by giving the salary options to the team owner. A player that regularly picks tougher, defense-minded teams like the Ducks will tend to pick those types of skaters more often, and make financial decisions based on tracked wins and losses.

Normally, here would be where we’d explain in low, despondent tones that the Wii version of this game will have only half these features, or it will look like crap, or that it won’t be online. This time, cheerfully, we don’t have to. While the Wii version doesn't look as good as its PS3 and Xbox 360 counterparts shown here, it has every mode, feature and option its more powerful brothers have. Not only that, but you’ll be able to waggle away with the Wii Nunchuk and wand, use sideways controls, attach the Wii Plus for added accuracy or toss away the wiimote entirely and use the classic controller. And about 90% of the time, the game is running at 60 FPS. Not bad!

Aug 13, 2009

Several years back, the 2K Sports team built one of the finest hockey games ever – the sublime NHL 2K5. Sporting a silky smooth on-ice experience complemented by solid franchise and online modes, it stands out as the high watermark of the PS2/Xbox puck era. Ever since then, the PS2 iterations have slowly regressed; between a clear focus on next-generation titles and a hodge-podge of unnecessary bells and whistles tossed into the mix, each year’s version has just a bit less enjoyable.

Unfortunately, NHL 2K9 continues this unhappy tradition. The core gameplay has become noticeably choppier, as your skaters no longer glide seamlessly across the ice. Instead, the action is a herky-jerky mix of unnatural animations and stop-start motions that detract significantly from the overall presentation. Considering where this franchise was just a few seasons ago, it’s both shocking and sad.

Above: Image from Wii version

There is a bit of good news, though, as 2K hasn’t completely abandoned innovation on the PS2 in favor of just tossing a twenty-dollar roster update into the marketplace. NHL 2K9 has implemented Pro Stick control – or, for those of you who haven’t gone to PR school, a virtual copy of EA’s long-since-awesome Shot Stick. In this case, we’re big fans of outright plagiarism. By admitting that EA might be onto something and letting gamers use the same kind of control, 2K9 immediately becomes much better for it.

Everything else you’ve come to expect from 2K sports titles is still here, including the traditionally expansive online options. Unfortunately, more than 2 weeks after release, we were surprised to find virtually empty online lobbies and leagues. Surely there must still be legions of PS2 fans that haven’t made the move to next-generation systems?

Above: Image from Wii version

If it weren’t for the introduction of the Pro Stick, NHL 2K9 would be a rental at best; even with it, the creaky game engine and sub-par visual fidelity make it hard to recommend. At least the price is right, as you’ve spent a lot more money on items you could get a lot less enjoyment from. Between the just-right-amount-of-stuff-to-do-without-overwhelming-you franchise mode and nifty mini- and party games, there’s plenty to do this fall. While you’re at it, do yourself a favor and dig NHL 2K5 out of your library, just to be reminded how good things used to be.

Sep 23, 2008

That turned out to be the gang at 2K Sports, who made the admirable decision to translate a traditional puckfest onto the most untraditional console - by no means a simple task. To say we were dubious it could be done would be the understatement of the month.

Imagine our shock and surprise when we discovered that the decidedly different control scheme NHL 2K9 utilizes actually works pretty well. Sure, traditionalists will initially recoil in horror at the thought of waving the Wii Remote to shoot the puck or throw a punch, but once they get over the learning curve it becomes pretty easy to figure out how to make things happen. Our favorite moves involve shaking the Nunchuk – doing it while charging the net executes a Superstar move, while on defense it throws a nasty check. Either way, it’s very satisfying.

A decent season and franchise mode make up the bulk of what you’ll dig into, since the pond hockey and mini-rink games are a mild and temporary diversion at best. Curiously, no online play is available, which is especially surprising considering 2K’s long history of excellence in supporting internet-based gameplay and leagues. Next year, perhaps?

As the one and only hockey title available for the Wii, NHL 2K9 is a welcome sight; it’s just too bad that it looks so darned ugly. The controls are a breath of fresh air, though, so long as you give them a chance (which we have a feeling too many people won’t). Here’s hoping this is just a foundation for a franchise that will grow into its own and not just be a one-hit wonder.

Sep 15, 2008

We’ve all had it happen to us – you fall in love with a band who rips out a searing first album chock full of timeless classics, then follows that up with a more mature yet still-solid set of tunes you also love. As time goes on, though, the band starts to “experiment” and along the way loses some of its identity and mojo. There are still flashes of brilliance, and you remain a fan, but after each new release you find yourself heading back to the classics for another listen.

That’s the story of NHL 2K9. For years this franchise was the clear-cut winner in hockey circles, and more than a few of its past titles remain all-time classics. However, starting with last season’s effort, the franchise has seemed to be trying to find itself, holding its own as a good enough puckfest yet feeling a little bit lost (especially when compared with the suddenly awesome NHL series from EA).

The best decision the development team made was scrapping last year’s (too?) complicated control scheme for a streamlined series of options, including one that apes EA’s superb right stick/hockey stick mechanic. Sometimes imitation is the right thing to do, and there’s no shame in adopting features that clearly work well. There are plenty of little things that impress hockey aficionados, too, such as an undeniably fun Zamboni-driving minigame between periods, players sporting playoff beards in the postseason, and an impressive amount of online options that continue the series’ proud tradition.

Unfortunately, the action on the ice is less than stellar. At no point does the skating or speed of the game feel exceedingly realistic, nor do the player models look particularly good. Goal celebrations are strangely herky-jerky, too, and often feature the scorer standing alone while his teammates skate off in different directions. Strange.

Each game yields positives and negatives. While we love the fact that 2K9 is no longer the rock ‘em-sock ‘em human pinball game from last year (thanks to decidedly less powerful checking), the fact that you can consistently still score exactly the same way you always have is a little depressing. Skating into the corner and then throwing the puck in front of the net is by far the best way to put the biscuit in the basket. Yes, the arenas and crowds look tremendous, but there’s also no denying that players sometimes meld into each other or the net (all of which is exacerbated when seen in slow-motion replays).

All of this has us feeling fairly uninspired, yet our love for the series and appreciation for what’s gone into this season’s title means we’ll still skate our way to a Stanley Cup or two before we put 2K9 away for good. That may not be the best endorsement you’ve ever heard, but this sure ain’t the best hockey game we’ve ever played either.

Sep 12, 2008

That new system has been tweaked further to allow for easier shooting and the ability to stave off defenders by giving them the old stiff-arm in the face as you power towards the helpless goalie. Consequently a typical match rarely ends at 0-0 anymore, and it’s a much more exciting prospect for those of us who just want something pucking fast, violent and packed with goals. Fights kick off all the time, and commentators talk of a deathly hush descending on the crowd when a home player gets his arse handed to him in front of his fans. The glossy TV-style presentation is suitably glitzy, with shots of players psyching themselves up as they prepare to skate out and get their faces punched off.

And you can put yourself right in the middle of it all, to a certain extent, with this year’s major new feature – the FIFA-alike ‘Be a Pro’ mode. You design a custom player, or adopt one of the existing stars from the National Hockey League and beyond, then take him into the big time in your chosen position. Rather than control every player, you have to show the discipline of a real sportsman, and hold your place in the formation while the computer takes care of the rest of the team. Arrows show where you’re supposed to be skating, and you’re graded on how well you played your role. You even have to get subbed and watch from the bench during line changes.

This mode is also playable online, with other players teaming up for entire seasons of six-on-six league matches. Sounds like a fine idea, although we’re not sure what mileage you’ll get out of it. It’ll either be the best thing ever or a complete and utter organizational nightmare.

Finally, you can always reject the in-depth controls and switch to an old fashioned two-button cheat-o-scheme that, while completely unfair in multiplayer, proves NHL 09 always puts fun before pedantry.

Sep 9, 2008

Sept 21, 2007

We sports gamers live to complain. If the latest version of our favorite annual title isn't significantly different than last year's- except, of course, for every little existing detail that we already know and love- then we all moan that the developers are lazy and resting on their laurels. However, when the makers move forward with innovations to jar a mature series out of the doldrums, we writhe in loud agony on message boards around the world.

To that end, NHL 2K8 will tick off some and delight others. Although there are a few minor gameplay modifications here and there, for the most part it's exceedingly familiar to anyone who's been mixing it up in the series for the past couple of seasons. And that's not necessarily a bad thing, after all- the on-ice mayhem is perfectly smooth, big hits send skaters flying all over the ice, there are plenty of modes for single players and groups alike, and an in-depth franchise returns to suck up all kinds of disposable hours.

Above: The PS2 version doesn't look nearly as good as this, but it plays better

These days, though, the gaming hockey gods have been decidedly unkind to any concept of the "old way" of doing things. Between EA's Skill Stick implementation in all of their games this year and 2K's own earth-shattering (and controversial) remapping of their next-gen controls, the PS2 version of 2K8 is about the only puck title that you can sit down and play without teaching yourself a new way to do just about everything. Frankly, part of us really loves that.

Another old buddy, the Skybox, returns as well, stuffed with scads of unlockable teams, jerseys, rinks, and assorted old-time-hockey goodness, as well as a den of mini-games for your goofing-off pleasure. Sure, it's all been done before, but it's still an addictive treat to pile up the tokens and open up rinks on space stations or pit the 1980 Soviet and American squads against each other one more time. Who doesn't want to keep reliving the Miracle on Ice over and over again?

Sept 14, 2007

Hockey fans have had it rough these last few years, what with cancelled seasons, sagging TV ratings, and commissioner Garry Bettman's continuing reign of terror. However, there's one sure way to put a toothless grin on your favorite puckhead's face this season - hand him NHL 08 and get out of the way.

Simply put, NHL 08 is the best hockey game we've played in eons, and clearly the champion of its generation. It's been a long time coming, but Electronic Arts has hit almost all the right notes this season, packaging stellar controls, gorgeous visuals, and smooth gameplay into a stunner of a title.

The Skill Stick, an ingenious shotmaking feature introduced last season, returns intact with a couple of new tweaks to expand its usage. You still wind up and fire away on the right stick to generate blistering slapshots or seeing-eye wristers - no change there. However, a new deke mechanic adds to its depth by allowing you to slither past hapless defenders with a deft flick of the left stick and bumper. Naturally, it's easier to pull off these moves with Peter Forsberg than Derian Hatcher, but no matter who you're skating with it takes some time to perfect them. Chances are you'll end up turned the wrong way without the puck if you don't hit the practice ice first.

More than anything, ice hockey is a game of crazy bounces and wild caroms, and the Skill Stick delivers these in spades. Thankfully, there are few, if any, "money" plays to be found. If you're going to score, you'll need a combination of hard work and a dash of luck, as it takes real, live hockey smarts to put a puck in the back of the net. Working the biscuit around the perimeter, cycling down low, and grinding away along the boards will produce scoring chances. Even better, the AI uses these same methods and plays more realistically than we've ever seen before.

The other big difference this season is easy to spot, and that's the visuals. No longer chugging at an eye-aching 30 frames per second, NHL 08 runs like a well-oiled machine, from the hyper-realistic skating physics to the spectacular goaltending moves. Other than a few middling annoyances - way too many shots clang off the post and scads of Gary Thorne's phrases get spewed repeatedly - you'll be hard-pressed to find much that'll detract from a superb experience.

EA has even gone ahead and created online leagues to update their formerly no-frills multiplayer offerings, much to the joy of next-gen gamers across the land. We have had some issues with lag and connectivity, though, so until those get completely worked out we're not ready to give online functionality a complete thumbs up just yet.

Sept 14, 2007

We sports gamers live to complain. If the latest version of our favorite annual title isn't significantly different than last year's - except, of course, for every little existing detail that we already know and love - then we all moan that the developers are lazy and resting on their laurels. However, when the makers move forward with innovations to jar a mature series out of the doldrums, we writhe in loud agony on message boards around the world.

To that end, NHL 2K8 may be the most divisive sports game in years. There's no doubt that this season was the right time to shake up the series, as a simple update to last year's smooth but not-quite-next-generation effort wouldn't have cut it. And shake it up they did, by implementing a completely new set of controls that use - gasp! - bumpers to handle passing and shooting. There's a method to this madness, though, as moving the fundamentals off of the face buttons and triggers actually opens up a huge amount of gameplay variety that will (eventually) allow you to leave flatfooted defensemen on their backsides in a Gretzkian wake.

Being the angry old gamers that we are, we couldn't stand these controls at first. After basically tripping over our own two skates for the first few matches, we were about ready to switch to the "classic" control scheme, a welcome option. But then a funny thing happened - we got used to the new way of doing things, and actually fell in love with them. It wasn't too long before wicked slapshots and twisted wristers were flying all over the ice in the directions we actually intended.

Gone are the days of sprinting down the wing and flicking the puck in front for a simple one-timer for a near-guaranteed score. The goaltenders step it up big time this year which, coupled with more realistic puck behavior off the stick, will have you working harder than ever to develop a consistent way to set up scoring chances. The defense is particularly gritty and hitting is ferocious, which will have fists flying in no time.

Away from the ice, the franchise mode shines, even allowing you to replace existing teams with historic ones from days gone by. We got positively giddy reestablishing the Winnipeg Jets, complete with legit jerseys and logo, and bringing Teemu Selanne and Teppo Numminen back home to win a Stanley Cup. Kicking the Phoenix Coyotes out of the NHL to make room made our old-school revenge even sweeter.

Last year's solid current-gen release and tacked-on 360 port of NHL 2K6 proved that next-gen games aren't better just for being next-gen. This year, however, the attention shifted heavily from the Xbox and PS2 to the 360 and PS3, leaving the current-gen entries with that "tacked-on" feeling.

However, while current-gen gamers will miss out on some of the fancy graphics and presentation options that the 360 offers, the gameplay won't disappoint, especially if you're new to the series. Old fans will probably notice that the Xbox and PS2 versions (as with EA’s NHL 07) feel more like add-ons than new games, but there's no attempt to hide it- at $19.99 it's a bargain game.

The player AI's have been adapted to play by the new rules, and on the harder difficulty levels they are a challenge to beat. As usual, the easier levels are a little too easy, and the score racks up accordingly. Even ratcheted up to the highest difficulty level, one timers are still too easy to perform to realistically portray the NHL, where they're an uncommon scoring technique. For the most part, however, with the difficulty set high, the simulation is convincing.

In Franchise mode, a new rivalry feature gives each team three major and three minor rivals. Games against rivals are more physical and intense, and rivalries change based on your interactions with teams. As with every other hockey game this year, the salary cap has been implemented, although some of the more complicated repercussions of the CBA didn't make it to the current-gen versions.

The most notable new gameplay feature is Pressure Control, which allows you to instruct your teammates to apply varying levels of pressure to specific opponents. The more pressure you assert, the more intensely your teammates will check the guy who's troubling you.

Pro Control, On-the-fly Coaching and the whole parade of old features are back as well, so prepare for some multi-tasking. These strategic features may be too much for casual gamers, but make 2K hockey the deepest hockey series out there (granted that it only has one real competitor).

The animations have been improved with new motion captures, but the game looks basically the same as NHL 2K6. The most noticeable change is the new parametric camera, which was the most successful aspect of the 360’s new Cinemotion presentation style. The camera follows the action excellently, zooming in and out and keeping you close to the ice without obscuring the bigger picture.

You'll miss out on some of the other Cinemotion features introduced on the 360, but we weren't entirely sold on them anyway. You also won't see Crease Control, which is fun occasionally, but gets old after too long. Manual shot aiming is the same as last year, and gives you a lot of control if you know what you're doing, but isn't as solid as the bulls eye system in EA's current-gen titles. As usual, 2K surpasses EA in several other areas with comprehensive online modes, mini-games, and extras.

Last year's solid current-gen release and tacked-on 360 port of NHL 2K6 proved that next-gen games aren't better just for being next-gen. This year, however, the attention shifted heavily from the Xbox and PS2 to the 360 and PS3, leaving the current-gen entries with that "tacked-on" feeling.

However, while current-gen gamers will miss out on some of the fancy graphics and presentation options that the 360 offers, the gameplay won't disappoint, especially if you're new to the series. Old fans will probably notice that the Xbox and PS2 versions (as with EA’s NHL 07) feel more like add-ons than new games, but there's no attempt to hide it- at $19.99 it's a bargain game.

The player AI's have been adapted to play by the new rules, and on the harder difficulty levels they are a challenge to beat. As usual, the easier levels are a little too easy, and the score racks up accordingly. Even ratcheted up to the highest difficulty level, one timers are still too easy to perform to realistically portray the NHL, where they're an uncommon scoring technique. For the most part, however, with the difficulty set high, the simulation is convincing.

In Franchise mode, a new rivalry feature gives each team three major and three minor rivals. Games against rivals are more physical and intense, and rivalries change based on your interactions with teams. As with every other hockey game this year, the salary cap has been implemented, although some of the more complicated repercussions of the CBA didn't make it to the current-gen versions.

The most notable new gameplay feature is Pressure Control, which allows you to instruct your teammates to apply varying levels of pressure to specific opponents. The more pressure you assert, the more intensely your teammates will check the guy who's troubling you.

Pro Control, On-the-fly Coaching and the whole parade of old features are back as well, so prepare for some multi-tasking. These strategic features may be too much for casual gamers, but make 2K hockey the deepest hockey series out there (granted that it only has one real competitor).

The animations have been improved with new motion captures, but the game looks basically the same as NHL 2K6. The most noticeable change is the new parametric camera, which was the most successful aspect of the 360’s new Cinemotion presentation style. The camera follows the action excellently, zooming in and out and keeping you close to the ice without obscuring the bigger picture.

You'll miss out on some of the other Cinemotion features introduced on the 360, but we weren't entirely sold on them anyway. You also won't see Crease Control, which is fun occasionally, but gets old after too long. Manual shot aiming is the same as last year, and gives you a lot of control if you know what you're doing, but isn't as solid as the bulls eye system in EA's current-gen titles. As usual, 2K surpasses EA in several other areas with comprehensive online modes, mini-games, and extras.

The only game in the next-gen hockey line-up last year was NHL 2K6, but EA Sports jumps into the fray this year with NHL 07 - and they didn't spend two years developing it for nothing. Don't be deceived by the sleek presentation: NHL 07 is full of complexity, but it's all been honed into an experience that looks and feels as close to actual hockey as ever.

The wonderfully detailed player models may not be the spitting images of their real-life counterparts, but a lot of effort has been made to be accurate. The reflections in the glass, ice, and player's visors are fantastic - these are the best graphics from any hockey game to date. Our only critique is that the sheen on the ice is a little too perfect - it looks more like glass than ice.

The biggest gameplay change is the new "Skill Stick" control. The left analog stick can be thought of as the player's skates and the right functions as the player's stick. Trace a circle with the right stick and your player will perform dekes and spins. Flicking it forward performs a wrist shot, and drawing it back raises the stick for a slapshot.

It all feels very intuitive and it's much more gratifying to score on a shot that you actively controlled as opposed to one defined by a button press and canned animation. The only button you really need is the right bumper for passing, which feels like a hassle once you're used to the analog controls. But it's either that or a third analog stick...

The controls do take a while to get used to, but the first time you run the game you'll see a little tutorial and be thrown directly into a shootout. You may be robbed quite a few times before you hit the back of the net, but once you do it'll feel good.

The improved goalies do their best to frustrate. With improved puck physics, however, it won't be lame scripted saves that frustrate you. The puck is an unpredictable little creature, and will often trickle past the goalie and over the line even after the commentators have called the save.

Another new addition is player roles - each player has a specific designation such as sniper, power forward or defensive defenseman. You'll obviously want to use your snipers to fire those long range lasers; meanwhile, your power forwards may be more apt at muscling away the puck, crashing the net and putting in those sloppier goals. In Dynasty mode, players who see lots of ice-time and have success will improve and change roles as the season progresses.

The player-roles are completely invisible on the ice - in fact, the only thing marking your selected player is a red icon that floats above him. We like the look of this stripped-down design, but wonder if we're expected to have every team's roster memorized.

The 2K Team's last NHL entry on the 360 left us a little wanting. While NHL 2K6 introduced a snazzy new feature, Crease Control, the game didn't do much else to separate itself from its current-gen counterparts. NHL 2K7 steps back onto the ice after an intensive overhaul - it sports all-new animations and a host of new presentation and gameplay features. It's all great stuff in principle, but how does it all hold up on the ice?

There are hundreds of new animations - not only have old animations been replaced, but new transitional animations have been added to smooth out those quick turns and fast stops. The physics have been modified to more realistically simulate the skaters' momentum - no more spinning on a dime - it takes a moment to slow down and start moving in another direction. The more weighted players add a nice touch of realism, giving you more to think about when you try to turn into an opponent to deliver a big hip check.

Despite the new animations, the graphics still don't seem as good as they could be. Take, for example, the cheering fans; they all appear to have had their fingers chopped in half. But we can forgive the sideline shortcomings - during gameplay the new athlete animations look great, and an array of little graphical details, from the dynamic snow that builds up on the ice to the players' frosty breath, come together to complete the experience. It's only when the close-up cut scenes play that things feel lacking.

The 2K Team didn't just upgrade the animations; they wanted to invent a whole new way to experience hockey games, and they've dubbed it "Cinemotion." Cinemotion refers to everything related to their new presentation - camera angles, cutscenes, music, and sound effects.

The new camera dynamically follows the puck down the ice, keeping you close to the action without ever obscuring the bigger picture, so you'll still be able to see open players to target passes. It never hinders gameplay, and helps make some of the little graphical flares more apparent as you play. We never felt like flipping over to one of the old ¾ or overhead views - the new camera felt just right.

"Cinemotion Music" refers to dynamic music which changes in intensity and volume to reflect what's happening on the ice. In overtime, for example, the music crescendos and picks up pace, while during lulls in the game it fades into the background. We wouldn't blame you for turning off the dynamic music - while it's an interesting idea, the orchestral vibe makes the game feel more like a battle from The Lord of the Rings than hockey. It's another reason we're glad we can mix and match commentary, existing music or a custom soundtrack. Meanwhile, players, coaches, and even fans can be heard shouting across the rink in various accents as they react to events on the ice. It's especially effective in surround sound.

Also considered a part of Cinemotion is the overall presentation of the games. The idea is to get you pumped up - the game begins with the coach addressing his players in the locker room, and then follows them out to the ice where lasers fire and lights flash. Unfortunately, the whole thing feels more embarrassing than exciting, especially since the generic coach looks more frightening than he does compelling.

Last year's Crease Control feature put you between the pipes to make those big saves by matching up targets in slow-mo. Crease Control is back, of course, along with a couple of new features. Pressure Control allows you to select an opponent during gameplay and sic your teammates on him. As you increase the pressure, your teammates will check your targeted opponent more vigorously. You can also execute drop passes with the right bumper, sliding the puck between your legs and on to the stick of a trailing skater.

With the return of all the old features, such as On-the-Fly coaching and Pro Control, we hardly felt like we had time to pay attention to Pressure Control. Serious strategists, however, may enjoy the added complexity. For the clueless, there is a series of tutorials designed to familiarize you with all these features.

All of the old game modes are back, including three new mini-games for quick and accessible multi-player challenges. Franchise mode has been updated to reflect the changes made to the NHL by the CBA. Also new in Franchise mode are rivalries. Each team has three major and three minor rivals. Games against your team's rivals are more intense - the fans are more pumped up and the players are more physical. Beating your rivals ups you're team chemistry, so it's worthwhile to focus on those games. Rivalries will change throughout the season, or throughout multiple seasons, as tensions either increase or decrease.

Two years. EA Canada spent two whole years locked away in an undisclosed ice fishing shanty, drinking beer and dreaming up the next generation in the NHL franchise. Hockey fans are getting a little tired of the waiting game, but after this year's crazy playoff season, our pitchforks and torches have been hushed momentarily. EA's Summer Showcase brought a little cool to the hot days of July in the form of a very playable NHL 07. From what we witnessed, we may need to relocate our rusty skates.

Innovating the entire control scheme fronts the "wow" factor for 07. Those wacky Canadians did away with the whole button thing. For the next generation of hockey, the thumbs will be shakin' and bakin'. With the left stick, you control the lower half of your player on the ice. With the right, you now control the top half of your skater. It takes some getting used to, but if you've ever played hockey, or watched enough to feel the flow; then you'll soon appreciate how brilliant and akin the new controls are to the actual sport.

No longer will gamers be stuck in the confines of scripted hockey hell. You can pull the puck back, stretch out, find the angle, and then rip one by pushing forward. Slappers work a la Tiger Woods; pulling the stick back, then bashing it forward. Pass with the trigger button. For the first time, controlling a skater feels as if the face buttons have disappeared. Hockey players designing a hockey game seems to be working out.

Two years and a horse trailer of Pabst Ice later, EA Canada hasstunning visuals. On the 360, it matched or beat anything that's been published to date. Each player is detailed to the very way they wear their socks. The facial resemblance is uncanny. The stadiums are brilliant, the ice is etched real-time, and the goalies… oh, the goalies.

Physically, the goalies have come to life. EA has implemented new puck physics, so the biscuit is unpredictable. The goalies had to be redesigned to compensate the play. We witnessed a puck hit a blocker, drop to the ice, be kicked by a defensive player trying to close the gap, and our eyes popped at the reaction of the goal keep. To save the puck, the goalie sidestepped and lunged backwards with his glove open.

There are some things still to be cleaned up. However, if the game content matches the gameplay and visuals, there may be a true revolution in sports gaming headed our way this fall.

EA Sports dropped dual videos on us today featuring more puck play from NHL 07. Each teaser focuses on a team, either the St. Louis Blues or the Florida Panthers, and you can clearly make out #12 Olli Jokinen in the Florida video. Whether or not you'll be able to bury the business end of your hockey stick in an opponent's neck remains to be seen, but watch the videos (by clicking on the movies tab above) and decide for yourself if anything qualifies as high sticking.

June 29, 2006

You've heard of pitchers in baseball or linemen in football who show up to training camp too fat - usually they get benched or put on a brutal regimen until their overpaid butts can cut it. That's exactly what went down with the hockey game NHL 2K6. The PS2 and Xbox versions that came out in September suffered from all kinds of problems, but the Xbox 360 version (a launch title) makes a solid return to form and even - get this, EA - adds a dazzling, innovative new feature.

If you played the Xbox or PS2 versions, you'll notice right away that Visual Concepts responded quickly to the feedback. Wraparound goals are no longer money shots, skating has been tightened down, and the AI plays better defense. All of these small tweaks have a huge impact on the ice, restoring the sense of authenticity and realism. A roster of other strong returning features backs that up, including icon passing, useful quick-coaching options, and a sturdy franchise mode.

Even more impressively (especially if you've played a scaled-down EA Sports 360 game), this version of NHL 2K6 adds an innovative and downright fun new feature: playing goalie. In "crease control," you sweep a cone of vision around the ice from a behind-the-goalie view, tracking the puck. When a shot comes in, time slows, and you line up two targets to make the save or flick the stick for a desperation attempt if you're out of position. It's a lot of fun and often a welcome change of pace.