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STAFF REVIEW of NHL 22 (Xbox One)


Tuesday, October 26, 2021.
by Heather Webster

NHL 22 Box art Hold onto your hockey sticks folks because here comes what I think might be the best of the best of the NHL franchise from EA Sports. NHL 22 is the 31st installment in the series and I am so extremely excited about it! Built using the Frostbite Engine, NHL 22 brings its in-game graphics to an unreal, or should I say, hyper-realistic level. There are many upgrades that happened in the development, the most noticeable is the updated likeness and animation of the characters faces and movements. The eyes move in response to whatever is happening, and the micro detailing that went into the reproduction of arenas and uniforms. It feels like I am at a real hockey game, something I've missed for years now. You can even play on the brand-new franchise team, The Seattle Kraken!

New in NHL 22 is the inclusion of superstar X-Factor. What does this mean you ask? Well, this is the new way that EA created for you as you play your created player to progress through the game like never before. EA Games took real life hockey player skills and abilities and then used that inspiration to integrate them into the game. There are two tiers to assign twenty-nine different X-Factor abilities to, Premier and secondary zones and have been separated into six categories: Shooting, Skating, Passing, Hockey IQ, Defense and Goaltending.This means your created player will have the ability to play as such hockey stars like Crosby with his “beautiful backhand” or Marchand’s “make it snappy”. This makes playing NHL 22 far more realistic to play than any other game in franchise history.


There has also been a massive update to in-game physics! Created to simulate more accurate and real reactions in real-life stick-on-stick or stick-on-body action to create more realistic puck battles. This helps with more actuate penalty call and less frustration when all you were trying to do was a poke check.

I am really impressed with the upgrades to the play by play calling in the game to be more accurate and less generalized calls on the play as it happens, and highlighting the X-Factor plays giving better understanding of how that play has affected the overall outcome of the game. In past versions of the NHL franchise you used to have to pause your game and change your gameplay strategies. Now you can do it without pausing the game, giving you more on-the-fly changes and strategy adjustments to help you win each game.


There have been many great improvements to the World of Chel as well, including, but not limited to, a reimagined user interface, new ways to upgrade and improve your custom player including adding boosts and the ability to adjust attributes and abilities. With a new navigation menu that has made the World of Chel so much easier to understand and maneuver that I find myself taking more time doing the challenges there and working on my created player equal to, if not more than, I play the main game.

Gameplay in Chel and the ability to create a custom loadout for several types of areas and modes. Chel also no gives you the ability to explore freely and with up to twelve friends in online play, evaluate your game skills in a variety of challenges to unlock prize duffle bags packed with boosts, gear, casual clothes, goal celebrations and many more options to really portray your personal style in your online hockey presence. There is so much to explore within the Chel that I cannot even lay it all out here for you as much as I would love to, as it is far better experienced than read about.


Ok, lets take a look at the wonder of NHL 22, which is its graphics! Before NHL 22 I wasn't familiar with EA's Frostbite engine that is used in other games, so I did a little research so that I knew a little bit of what I was talking about. The Wiki description states, “Frostbite is a game engine developed by DICE, designed for cross-platform use on Microsoft Windows, seventh generation game consoles.”. This is the technology that gives you that new, vibrant, super realistic look of the game where the jersey looks like you could feel the texture. The eyes of the players move when something happens in the play during the replay and the ice splash recreation has also seen a major facelift during replays.

This years entry has brought the EA NHL series to a whole new level and it makes me excited to see what comes in future iterations. I have been playing EA's NHL series for many years, and over the years I have seen the minor and major upgrades and improvements that have come yearly. I am extremely impressed with this year's entry, making NHL 22 easier to navigate with more options for gameplay modes, all without taking away from the experience that has continued through the years. Same game with massive improvements and I love it!

**NHL 22 was provided by the publisher and reviewed on an Xbox Series S**





Overall: 9.6 / 10
Gameplay: 9.5 / 10
Visuals: 10.0 / 10
Sound: 9.4 / 10

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