This should have been NHL 22’s coming-out party. Lastly, why the hell does the simulation between shifts take so freaking long? There were times where I would have been better off just waiting for the game to play out from the bench, because taking 3 minutes to simulate 45 seconds of gameplay feels both silly and excessive. The abrupt cut from the simulation screen back to the ice leads to a disorienting jerk of the camera almost every single time. Other weird quirks include the horrible animation in Be a Pro when a line change sends you back into the game. And trust me when I say that this was far from an isolated incident when it came to odd facial expressions on character models. On another occasion, I can only assume that Dylan Larkin had a seizure because his facial expression post-goal looked more like someone in agony than someone who had just lit the lamp. Numerous times I found myself trying to lead a pass, only to end up launching the puck down to the opposite side of the ice. Good lord are there a ton of technical issues that mar the overall experience. There was one other substantial issue that drove me up the wall this time around: bugs. Hopefully, this becomes a focus of attention next time around, because Chel has always been one of the modes that I thought helped differentiate the franchise from other annualized sports titles. While the character progression system was tweaked to account for X-Factors for each class, this isn’t exactly what I would consider the groundbreaking evolution that Chel has been desperately in need of for quite some time. Heck, even the intro to the mode itself seems like it was copied and pasted from 2020’s installment. In the case of World of Chel, much like Be a Pro, it plays suspiciously similar to the experience in previous years. And don’t even get me started Be a Pro’s piss-poor narrative structure. Otherwise, this plays damn-near identical to last year, which seems like a genuinely missed opportunity. Unfortunately, this seems to be the full extent of changes to the mode, aside from occasional dialog additions specifically related to your equipped X-Factor. As you upgrade your player, these key skills will become available to unlock across the categories of skating, hockey IQ, defense, shooting, and passing. In the case of Be a Pro, the progression system has been refactored from the ground up. A small sampling of these perks includes the ability to deke without any penalty to speed, being able to set up shots more quickly and at higher accuracy, or boosts for defensive abilities when facing down the opposition 1-on-1.īe A Pro, Franchise, and World of Chel modes have been recrafted around making use of these new and unique abilities. For those who haven’t already experienced X-Factor abilities from the last couple of installments of Madden, a select few players are blessed with a singular skill in which they are especially proficient. The one truly new mechanic for NHL 22 is the introduction of the X-Factor system. What’s even more remarkable is the fact that a majority of the action still “feels” the same, while still getting the very obvious presentation enhancements. That said, while it unequivocally is a visible improvement over the previous generation, it isn’t the kind of visual tectonic shift that we’ve grown accustomed to from new consoles. Thanks to the sheer amount of horsepower available on the PlayStation 5, not to mention a shiny new engine, the on-ice product has never looked better. The new-gen console transition was the perfect time to make the jump because it has traditionally acted as a reset in the past, at least as far as expectations are concerned. How they managed to do so without having to shave modes or features in the process is remarkable in its own right. Completely switching an engine is a herculean task even under the best of circumstances. While I’ve started this review bagging on the lack of innovation, to call it a barebones copy of last year isn’t necessarily fair to the development team, either. You’ll have the opportunity to partake in Be a Pro, Ultimate Team, World of CHEL, and the Franchise staples, but essentially nothing more. If you’ve had the chance to take the 2020 installment ( NHL 21) out for a spin, you’re likely not going to find many differences, at least as far as the standard battery of modes is concerned. In fact, it is so on the numbers that you’d be hard-pressed to find anything truly earthshattering this time around the horn. If you are going into NHL 22, expecting a similar product to last season, your assumption could not be more spot on.
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