NHL 22 Review -apkrig

I don’t think it is necessary to open the topic of how difficult it is for sports games and their developers to do so several times. It is an extremely ungrateful job to prepare a game every year that is supposed to move somewhere, but in fact not so much that there are no changes to popular elements, regardless of the fact that no one is explicitly forcing developers from Electronic Arts, Konami or 2K to do so. Nevertheless, there are significant differences between the individual game series, and not all titles manage to fulfill the wishes of fans in the long run. Probably the most grumpy Cinderella in this regard is the NHL series, which tries to keep up with football, basketball or American football, but pays for the fact that it is not nearly as popular in North America as a European fan would probably think. The downward trend in sales caused a switch to maintenance several years ago, and in fact nothing – except for the passing years – indicated that a change would actually take place. But as you probably already know, it’s finally here – the NHL 22 gets a new engine and brings a lot of promise after the indistinct NHL 21.

It is here?!

If you watch Vortex regularly, you already know the answer to the unspoken question – the new engine for the hockey series from Electronic Arts is, of course, Frostbite. Before the NHL, he entered Battlefield, Battlefront, Mass Effect or Dragon Age, and its main features are well known. Lighting, reflections, the destructibility of the environment, but also the complex operation and many problems that the BioWare developers in particular faced. However, the EA Vancouver people in charge of the NHL have been able to tame Frostbite in a relatively satisfying way, delivering a game that is functional, innovative enough compared to previous NHL episodes, and yet you’ll find most of it in the right places. In other words, not much has changed, but in direct comparison to NHL 21 you will see some nice improvements and minor interventions that strengthen the presentation in particular and will probably force you to learn some basic things from again. However, don’t expect a massive leap, not even on the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series consoles, thanks to which we can count on a new era from the NHL 22, unfortunately the game is not so good.

If we were to start right on the ice, the developers really played with the lighting and the overall picture of the match looks more realistic compared to last year’s game. Although the appearance of the ice surface does not enter the playability, the reflections of the lights or the corresponding scratches from the skates look really good and stand out especially in repeated shots. They bring the camera’s shot even closer, which goes hand in hand with detailed textures that remain sharp even when zoomed in in manual replay. The quality of the models of individual hockey players has also improved, although they are not significantly more similar than in the last few years, but their faces have come to life so much that they no longer look like plastic shots. And yes, there was also a pre-announced eye movement, which you won’t notice during the match, and it’s just as useless for the playability as the quality of the ice workmanship, but it’s still a bit of a better view of the game in detail. To complete the list of new animations, I must also mention the small movement of players, for example before throwing in, when the center goes down to other players and exchanges a few words before dropping the stick in front of the opponent, which slightly adds to the believability and fluidity of the whole experience.

But it’s definitely not possible to say that the visual rendering is error-free, because in fact you will find a lot of them in the NHL 22 – at least in the tested PS5 version. The game definitely does not try to cover up the collisions of physics, the players come in, they even leave the ice surface during the celebrations and the guardrails fall, the hockey stick does not fit exactly in their hands during the breakneck creations and the shortcomings are known even when hitting the puck. It also often happens that when players get stuck together – which is fine at the beginning of a fight and the game teaches you to go around your opponents rather than break through – they stay in the clinch much longer than would be desirable, and yet you can take a pass in a tight embrace and even to score a goal. Such moments will freely freeze, and even if they probably do not directly decide on the results of the matches, they enter them unpleasantly and on the whole scale the NHL 22 does not give a completely clean impression. Personally, I’m also sorry for the laziness of the menu, not only those directly in the match, but in the basic menu, which makes everything in the new NHL take a very long time, and in addition, some places are unreadable by choosing colors.

The closer you are to the opponent’s goal, the more intense the endurance of the game, which you can extinguish on the other hand by piercing the puck, which no longer so often leads to elimination for tripping.

However, the expression of the game itself is completely different, which, with the exception of the described shortcomings with collisions, is one level higher than last year. The developers did not change the control of the players and their behavior from the ground up, but they significantly intervened in passes, punching and shooting. Moving the puck from player to player is now much more difficult if you want to do it dynamically and efficiently. Players controlled by artificial intelligence read the game better, push the stick of a hockey stick into the track or even catch the movement of your teammates, so that the pass does not reach them at all. The closer you are to the opponent’s goal, the more intense everything is, which you can extinguish on the other hand by piercing the puck, which no longer so often leads to elimination for tripping. But I honestly admit that it took me a while to get used to the new system, although after about 20 hours I have to appreciate that the developers found the courage to change something so significant. After all, most classic goals disappear – especially the goal from the first after a cross crossing the offensive zone – although even such goals can naturally occur.

However, the increased difficulty naturally leads to the search for more creative endings, and I firmly hope that this will be reflected in competitive multiplayer, which largely defines the goal and determines how to play the NHL as successfully as possible. In the end, it is more difficult to finish or shoot in general, for which there is not much space, regardless of the slowdown of the game, and even here it is necessary to look for currently open holes and try to react quickly to what the opponent is doing. The last point is the goalkeepers, who got a lot of new animations in the ring and usually don’t just get caught on plums, but they don’t always thank them for their abilities. The NHL 22, like last year’s episodes, suffers from the indecision of artificial intelligence, which usually fails in the end and does not give you the opportunity, even after a quick switch or pass, to continue as offered in the beginning of the event.

In terms of game modes, the developers did not make any significant interventions. As I said in the introduction, everything is in place and, for example, I do not consider the more complete headquarters of the arcade World of Chel to be an innovation in the true sense of the word. It is just a matter of better organization of individual items, the functioning of which, however, does not differ significantly. Another very popular mode is Be-A-Pro, which is, except for one thing, essentially the same product as in previous years. This concerns the way you join a team of your choice, lengthy conversations with an agent or coach, the growing popularity among teammates, management or fans, and the gradual increase in the status of a legend. The change comes with the development of your player, which is divided into two – the first part is a classic in the form of gradually expanding ability trees, in which you invest the experience points gained. The second is perhaps the profane X-Factor in all places in the NHL 22 – special abilities that distinguish the stars from other players in the league. These are basically perks that run in a suitable constellation directly on the ice and include everything you could imagine from the abilities of hockey players. Faster skating, more subtle stance on the puck, more accurate shooting, harder shooting, faster shooting, passes, finishing, whatever.

Do you have an X-Factor?

You can get to perks by fulfilling story challenges, but it’s not a story underlined by cutscenes or real decision-making. The conditions for unlocking the perk are, for example, that the popularity of your teammates reaches the value of 2000. Or that you will spend five seasons in a specific team. Or that you collect a set number of points in one season. The condition and the result are usually unrelated, and you will have to wait a really long time for some perks if you want to play all the matches and not rely on the simulation. However, the use in matches is, from my point of view, beyond expectations and the effects of individual X-Factors do not seem so decisive to me. Don’t get me wrong – I’m happy to innovate, especially in the NHL – but considering how long the season is, how many goals are scored in it, and that the playoffs aren’t played in one game, run faster skating or more accurate shooting a few times a game – which, moreover, does not mean an automatic goal – is not such an advantage. But rely on the fact that X-Factor points also play a role in career and, of course, in fantasy mode HUT. It is in this mode that individual hockey players with X-Factor can be upgraded for play money from the first to the seventh level and unlock not only their own abilities, but also a second slot for connecting another perk. But the effect is, in my opinion, exactly the same as in Be-A-Pro or in any other match in which the star players enter.

As for his career, it is definitely worth mentioning the expansion of the league by another team – Seattle Kraken – which, however, does not affect the processing of this mode too much. In short, it is the 32nd team of the league, which you will either assemble in accordance with all the rules, such as your Vegas time, or you will include the 33rd team in the game, ie your own team. The choice is yours and the only thing that will determine is how authentic the experience you want to be. Of course, it is also possible to replace some existing teams with their historical ancestors and play in the league, for example in Hartford, but otherwise nothing changes at all and everything goes exactly the same as last year. This also applies to the regime of the season, in which you can participate in any team from 13 available competitions, including the Czech Extraliga, or play a tournament with national teams with really ugly fictitious jerseys. The music, the commentary, but also the very moody net-code for the online game also basically copies last year’s work, again raising the question of whether it is worth investing, or at least wait until December, when sharing your own lists in all modes will be available. in addition to multiplayer, for example to play a specific season in the history of the NHL or international tournaments. I can answer with reference to last year’s episode, which simply ran out of breath, so everything that comes after it can basically only be better. In addition, it seems to me that the news largely concerns the previous generation of consoles, but I must admit that I played a 10-hour trial on Xbox, which is available in an EA Play subscription, and I couldn’t appreciate the game with next-gene players because developers do not count on crossplay.

Nevertheless, NHL 22 plays the role of a part that finally pushes the quality and originality of workmanship higher, although it still remains burdened with mistakes and shortcomings from the past. Unfortunately, they prevent us from really rejoicing, so we need to get rid of the same celebrations, coach animations, pitches and myriad glitches first, and only then innovate even more. But EA Vancouver developers are well on their way.