It’s once again time to put on the skates and pick up the hockey stick, as EA Sports NHL 24 is back for another year, and as much as we all keep saying we don’t need yearly releases, Electronic Arts always seems to pull out the big guns, making a game that feels so much better than the last. For those of you who don’t know what the NHL is, it’s the National Hockey League in North America, comprised of 32 teams, 25 of which are in the United States, and the other 7 are in Canada, and each team is fighting for their chance to win the Stanley Cup.

I’ve always loved the NHL games that EA Sports pumps out each year, and this time, there is even more attention to detail that makes for a more realistic feel, completely immersing you into the title. From the graphics under the ice to the stadium surrounding you, or the crowds screaming and the commentary team’s excitement, you feel like you are sitting on the couch with a beer in hand watching ice hockey at its finest. I grew up watching movies like The Mighty Ducks, and when I got older, movies like Goon, which is probably one of the biggest reasons I love the series so much. The game feels alive, and if you have never played before, I would highly recommend jumping into NHL 24.

It would not be an NHL game without Play Now, where you can jump straight into the action, selecting the Stanley Cup as the game, and just listen to the crowd roar to life when the ref drops the puck. It’s also an awesome way to learn little game tactics and hone in on becoming a sniper with the puck, which I’m still trying so hard to achieve.

I spent the most time in the Be A Pro game mode, where you can create your own hockey player, and the aim of the game is to one day lead your team to victory, but there is a long way to go. Once you have finished creating your character, which even includes selecting what colour eyeballs you want, you move on to choosing where you want to begin. There are three different stages where you can start your career, with the first being CHL’s Memorial Cup, before moving on to Europe, and then the big leagues in the NHL. I started in the Memorial Cup as the Red Deer Rebels, and it’s always great playing as your own character.

You don’t have to control the team, and it’s a great way to feel like you are actually part of the action. Because of who I am, the first thing I did was pick a fight with someone. I also learned that if you tackle someone hard enough into the wall you can shatter the glass, and this earned a one-way ticket to the Sin Bin. It’s a little boring watching from the side as the puck goes from one end to the other, but nevertheless, it was some awesome fun. I’ll let you all know when I make it to the big leagues of the NHL and win the Stanley Cup.

If you are the complete opposite of me, preferring to sit behind the desk and manage the club, Franchise Mode is for you. You can take your team from the bottom to the top, managing everything in between. I’m never good at these things, but it does offer a decent insight into the behind-the-scenes of the sport and a greater appreciation of just how difficult the job can be, especially when it comes to the finance side of things.

World of Chels is making its comeback with some awesome new features this year, helping you take the already wild customisation to the next level. The first big feature is the addition of the Battle Pass, which, like most battle passes, provides goals to unlock certain rewards, but if you’d rather get there faster, you have the option of paying for the Premium Pass, allowing you to skip levels and access rewards faster. The storefront is also packed to the brim with special-feature cosmetics and outfits, so we can see the wild player-created customized characters. You have the option of buying currency, or even better, you can just play games to earn it.

The Battle Pass seems like a much better idea than the Hockey Bag rewards we used to get, which I’m certain 99% of the community hated, and the best part about the pass is that anything you get or purchase will carry over to next year’s title – a nice bonus from the developers. There is also a new single-period game which is perfect if you’re short on time, and it offers a quick way to level up and get all those goodies.

A new fatigue system has been added to NHL 24, where the more aggressive you are on the defence, the quicker both teams get exhausted and burn out. You can’t just keep hammering away at their team the whole game, otherwise, you’ll exhaust your players. This is displayed by a nice little circle you will see around them once selected. The goalie can also become fatigued, resulting in them letting in simple goals through, so you need to make sure you are playing as a team so you are not exhausting your players.

Hockey Ultimate Team, or HUT, is back again for another year, and even though I don’t know many of the players, I always love opening those packs and seeing how lucky I am. I’m starting to see a recurring theme in sports games, with many bringing back memories or moments. HUT, this year, has got rid of the challenge mode, which was fun last year, but it’s been replaced with Live Moments. This lets you recreate some of the most iconic moments in NHL history, including more recent events, and these can take place anywhere on the ice – I completely and utterly failed at being a goalie. It’s definitely not one of my preferred positions.

The Auction House has opened up to all current generation consoles, further improving the economy and offering more chances of picking up one of those players you have always wanted. As I mentioned before, I don’t know enough about the players to know if I have a good squad or not on paper, but players now have the option to share their current lineup and season records with the all-new Social Sharing feature. If you are a hockey nut, you could get right behind this.

I sound a little bit like a broken record when I talk about online gameplay. While I love playing them, and I can have the hardest difficulty of AI versing me, I can never seem to score a win against players. Well, I finally won a game, but I feel like that was more of a fluke than anything. There are some insanely skilled people playing, forever slamming the puck into the goal, and while they’re doing that, I’m too busy trying to turn their players around to pick a fight or trying to work out what they are even doing in the first place. I’ve said this before, but if you ever want to be slightly humbled, jump online and let someone show you how to play the great game of Ice Hockey.

I’m going to put a big statement out with this next one – to date, this is the most immersive sports experience I have had while playing a game. The developers have gone above and beyond by making the crowd a huge part of this year’s release, but it had to be done. It made the whole experience unbelievably exciting. You could hear the crowd getting more and more engaged as they reacted to what was happening on the ice, and the music playing in the background only helped to drive this home. Even the way the commentary team reacted to the game amped you up. I loved how quickly the commentary team and fans changed their focus as I scored a goal, or when I had the character throw their gloves to the crowd.

The audio didn’t stop there, with what I would say is one of the best soundtracks I’ve heard in an NHL game to date. You have anything from Pendulum to Sum 41, or even the Chainsmokers playing as you scroll through the menu and loading screens, and it makes you excited for what followed. The developers need to give themselves a huge pat on the back for the audio selection because it’s unreal. Ray Ferraro has also been replaced with two-time Olympic gold medalist and six-time World Champion Cheryl Pounder, and she is joined by James Cybulski in the commentary booth, making for a nice little mix-up with this year’s title.

For me, NHL has always been a series where I end up remapping the controls a little. I feel like it gives me better control, but this year, it didn’t really feel completely necessary. They felt a lot better than before, but still, I didn’t quite feel like I was controlling the game as much as when I made them my own. The main thing I noticed was that input delay is almost non-existent now, with your player reacting as soon as you change the inputs, but otherwise, the default mapping is basically the same as in previous years.

I mentioned how beautiful this game looked earlier, but everything has come so far when it comes to graphical power and what developers can and can’t do. For example, the graphics under the ice look like they are actually under the ice, and the ice above them starts to scratch out the more you play the game, bringing even more realism to the rink. The stadium looks and feels alive, and everything is so finely detailed that if you were to sit down and just look at it, you’d almost think you were watching a live game. The only thing you’re missing is a beer, but unfortunately, you need two hands to play the game on the controller. I keep saying I can’t see graphics getting better, but the developers keep proving me wrong and making things almost cinematic.

Regardless of whether you follow hockey or not, or if you’ve played NHL before, you should jump into this game. There are hours of fun to be had, even if you do spend most of your time in the Sin Bin. I’m keen to see what the developers bring next year but until then can you win The Stanley Cup?

Written by: MKAU Gaming