NHL 26

Sweden's biggest winter team sport has slowly started with the CHL, but we are still waiting for the start of both the NHL and SHL. So what could be better than quenching your thirst with the digital version? This year's version is also the best in many years, but comes with problems that I find completely incomprehensible that they made it past the testing phase.

Ready for some hockey.

It seems that this year EA Sports has tried to make players feel special compared to others. I already mentioned it in my review of {Madden NFL 26} that quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson feel completely different to play as. In {NHL 26}, the developers have chosen to build on their ICE-Q system, in something that is now simply called ICE-Q 2.0. This is an AI system that pulls data from NHL Edge. If you don't know what this is, it can be described as a programme that collects various data from players, such as skating acceleration and top speed, shot placement and speed, reaction times, and so on. Data has been collected by 14 infrared cameras, puck sensors, and tags in players' jerseys. Three examples given by the developers are how Connor McDavid's first skate cuts are blisteringly fast, that Cale Makar plays controlled so he can avoid forecheckers, and that Leon Draisaitl often shoots from tight angles and takes those difficult shots instead of looking for passes or dribbling around. And of course there is the difference between controlling a quick centre like Sergei Fedorov versus a slower centre and playmaker like Joe Thornton.

The truth is, I haven't had this much fun on the ice in a hockey game in a long time. Sure, nothing can threaten that feeling of the NHL games of the mid-90s, but it's somehow a completely different kind of game. It feels fast, it feels responsive, and some of the goals and saves have gotten a resounding "ooh" from me. But pretty soon, the cracks in the pretty facade start to show. The players' sticks seem to be made of glass because they break absurdly. One game the sticks broke four shots in a row. Speaking of glass, they seem to have installed ordinary window glass behind the goals too as (what should be) plexiglass breaks way too often. These are of course small things that can be fixed with a patch, but they are there right now and thus should be talked about. Things I have less acceptance for are things like bad animations. I tackled an opponent who managed to get on my subs bench, but he mostly went through the side instead of flying over, and players seem to get stuck in each other here and there.

Different players have different playing styles, like Draisaitl likes to shoot from tight angles.

What has annoyed me the most, however, is that the goalkeepers can be so terribly stupid. EA has been patting themselves on the back for rebuilding the way goalies work, including a system for multiple saves in a row where goalies can break an animation to immediately react to something new. There should be new saves while the goalkeepers are standing up or that they can pounce on loose pucks immediately after a save attempt. They should also have better control of attempts through the kitchen door, i.e. behind the goal, shots from tight angles, and the like. Fantastic, if it had worked as well as they say. Going round the goal and then in front is still one of the easiest ways to score. I've also seen goalies literally throw the puck into their own goal, a goalie who let in a tee shot right from his own centre, and a few others who seem to be daydreaming and don't even react when a lobbed puck comes in. Sure, the new animations are noticeable, but they don't work nearly as well as the developers might have wanted. Some might think that this is a good thing, that they would have been way too overpowered otherwise. But the NHL series has had a very good system for this for a few years now. It's a gauge that goes down the more shots they get against them in a short period. Keep the pressure on and an easier puck has a better chance of going in. If the goalie is allowed to recover, the gauge slowly starts to rise again. The sustained pressure also affects the defending team, who tire more quickly and find it harder to get out of the zone. These two systems are some of the best the league has, but neither is new for this year.

The goalkeepers are improved, but also in some strange way deteriorated.

If we take a look at the game modes, I have both good and bad news. Perhaps the best is that Be a Pro, the game's career mode, has finally (FINALLY!) been updated. After years of basically the same setup, we finally get something new. There are two options for how you want to start your adventure. However, both start with you being selected in the squad for the Junior World Championships where we're sent straight into the semi-finals. Unfortunately, after spanking the Finnish team with the sauna brush, we lost to a strong American team in the final. After that, it's either the Champions Hockey League playoffs or the Canadian CHL Memorial Cup. If you want to skip this, you can jump straight into the NHL as well. After your four games played, you get a draft ranking depending on how well you did. But that can be changed in one of the new features: Press conferences. These have questions with voice-recorded dialogue and your answers can make you more or less popular with the supporters, coaches, and fans. Unfortunately, I didn't see any logic in answering the pre-draft questions and lost draft rankings in the process. 19-year-old Macklin Celebrini has also recorded dialogue for some phone messages in what may be the most lousy voice acting effort ever. On par with the efforts in {NBA 2K15} (google it, you'll see and hear). A bunch of cutscenes also help this feel, like the first time you enter the locker room or match entrances through the player tunnel. Plus, for the first time in years, you can be sent down to the AHL farm league if you play too poorly.

The Cup Hunt is a new offline season in Ultimate Team.

If we take a look at Ultimate Team, which I have long considered the worst version of this in the major sports games, we have also got ourselves some news. HUT seasons have been introduced and have brought something that has been in high demand. This is an offline season called the Cup Hunt. Take your earned or purchased squad and compete in an 18-game season against fictional computer-controlled teams to make it to the playoffs. Ranked offers a divisional ladder so you're always matched against players at your own level. What I like about NHL's Ultimate Team is the breadth of players available. There are of course big stars like Teemu Selläne and Mats Sundin, but also other old favourites like Uffe Samuelsson, Tony Granato, and Olaf Kolzig. On the whole, HUT is what you've come to recognise plus a little something new.

World of CHEL, the game's very good online hub, is back with basically the same setup from last year. For almost the entire review period, the arcade mode, with crazy powerups and more, introduced last year was available to play. But at the time of writing this review, it's been removed, so I can't say if it will be there at release or not. Unfortunately I haven't been able to test anything in CHEL as there hasn't been enough players online, but it's the same setup from last year. Play drop-in or with friends in 3-on-3 or 6-on-6. It is also possible to play 1-on-1.

If you're a Franchise player instead, I have bad news. Nothing has changed. When I played, I didn't notice any differences from last year and I also can't find any information from EA that there should be any news. If you are only looking to play this game mode where you are the GM of a team, you might as well keep playing {NHL 25}. Sad when there seems to have been time spent polishing other game modes.

Entertaining for the most part.

NHL 26 is a step in the right direction, absolutely, but I can't get over all the little problems that pop up during the games. It's also sad to see that the Franchise mode has exactly zero development. That the career mode has changed, however, must be seen as a godsend.