Sound positional play has never been more important than it is now, as it’s easier than in NHL 21 to poke the puck off someone’s stick or use a well-timed bump to keep a player from entering prime scoring territory providing you’re in the right place. Hockey is obviously a team sport and NHL 22 has made a lot of effort to have all of the poke checks, collisions and bone-shattering body checks that occur when players come together on the ice translated to the game with more authenticity. This causes the game to feel more unpredictable like real hockey, capturing the way a puck can seem to have a mind of its own and be tricky to corral when making and receiving passes or trying to pick it up on the fly. It’s become a little harder to control the disc compared to how it often felt glued to a stick in the past. The physics updates are felt even more when players are handling the puck.

Aside from now using the same engine as Madden, NHL 22 has also followed in the footsteps of its video game brother by implementing the same kinds of X-Factors that Madden has used to set apart those with elite abilities from others who aren’t quite as skilled. Perhaps trying to shake off its reputation as the black sheep of the EA Sports family next to Madden and FIFA, NHL 22 has made the jump to the Frostbite engine on next-gen consoles, and consequently raised hopes even further for the game to play significantly better than NHL 21. The series made strides last year as it relates to Be A Pro mode improvements, but legacy gameplay issues had the game feeling a big stagnant on the ice as the generation came to an end. The start of the season has naturally been accompanied by the release of the newest EA hockey game, NHL 22, enticing you as always to strap on the virtual skates and hit the ice.

With crowds back to filling arenas and divisions returning to their natural alignments after the pandemic shake-up last season (welcome to the NHL, Seattle Kraken), excitement is high as a sense of normalcy returns to the league.

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