NHL 23 Critic Reviews

NHL 23 is a vast improvement from last year's entry, featuring better control on the ice, the inclusion of women in HUT, and so much more.

NHL 23 completely revamps crowd reactions and adds women IIHF players and new desperation moves, and it all works splendidly to create not only the best hockey game in a generation -- but one of the best sports games ever.

NHL 23 is another solid outing of EA Sports Hockey-Series. The gameplay sees minor improvements, that actually makes NHL 23 surpass ist predecessor. But overall the lack of real innovation is missing and therefore experienced players may give this one a pass.

If you’re looking for something that makes you feel closer to the ice than ever before, NHL 23 is going to be your favorite game that you play this year. The electricity that oozes from this title is something that will bring me back to playing it over and over again, even if there are a few nagging problems that need to be addressed very shortly.

It’s overdue, but NHL 23 finally looks and feels like it belongs on these beefier consoles. The visual tech upgrade adds stellar reality to the on-ice play, which also benefits from players who are willing to dive for the puck to make a desperate goal or save. It gains new energy from crowds reacting to the action like real crowds would, bringing a definitive audio design that’s best-in-class for stadium effects. Franchise mode customization greatly expands, and seeing women in the fold for the first time feels right – and also overdue. At the same time there are several modes that are outright ignored, including the Be a Pro single-player campaign, and its microtransaction-driven Ultimate Team mode comes with the usual caveats about its predatory, profit-driven nature.

The NHL series really needs some competition. Once again, we get improvements in just one game mode while the others gather dust. This year, however, the amount of joy that has been added feels greater than usual.

It's getting harder and harder to find revolutionary elements without expanding the NHL itself. But despite these challenges, this year's edition of virtual hockey has something going for it and offers surprisingly great gameplay.

NHL 23 is a good if not revolutionary entry into an already commendable simulation sports game. It might not bring anything new to the ice, but it builds on the already pretty precise gameplay and its additions to the current modes make it a very solid entry to the series.

NHL 23 is a good step for the franchise this year, and there needs to be major praise for this. They have been great strides up the ice, but overall I just felt myself wanting something more.

Speaking purely in terms of content, NHL 23 feels more like a (modest) update to NHL 22 than a new chapter in the EA Games series. The changes made to the gameplay and game modes are very limited, and do not significantly affect the overall experience. On the other hand, positive steps forward in graphic/sound, which continues along the lines of last season showing further improvements. Skates on your feet and stick in hand, even with some issues in artificial intelligence, the games are quite fun, but the few innovations make it difficult to justify the purchase for those who already have NHL 22 in their collection. Or rather, they make it justifiable only for those players who focus on those modes that require extensive use of online (Ultimate Team and World of Chel above all).

Despite the addition of women players in HUT and tweaked mechanics like last-chance puck movements, NHL 23 barely feels it's changed from last year's offering. It's a fun but all too familiar hockey experience.

NHL 23 is an improved and refined version of last year's edition. EA Vancouver had declared that it had taken advantage of all the criticisms raised by its passionate community: so it was. Too bad that to improve the playing experience on ice and offer greater realism, the team sacrificed everything else. It is not enough to have cleaned up the audiovisual sector, improved the AI, retouched the Franchise mode or added the possibility of playing with the IIHF girls: everything else is more or less the same as seen in NHL 22 and given the premises it was it is reasonable to expect more.

Fun to play and beautiful to watch, NHL 23 has pretty much everything to be a little gem. Everything except the contents, which are exactly the same of the previous edition: a truly wasted opportunity.

NHL 23 is packed with modes and content that should impress almost any hockey fan, even if some of the technical elements could use a sprucing up. But in a world where NHL 22 exists, there are just far too few additions and improvements to recommend this year's game for returning players.

With so much good to build on, NHL 23 sadly remains mainly in place. Upgraded rosters, a few visual/audio tweaks and women's national teams are the only notable changes from last year.

As solid as NHL 23 is, it’s hardly a must-play game if you have any previous entries in the series. Given that year(s)-old sports games tend to be pretty inexpensive, that makes it hard to justify buying this one new when you’ll get basically the same experience buying a game from last year or the year before. Don’t get me wrong, you’ll get a very well-made game if you do decide you need all the latest rosters and draft classes, but it’s up to you to decide how badly you need those things.

NHL 23 isn't EA's best year, but it's not the worst either. Stumble actions and loose-puck plays help enhance gameplay, but they remain less than groundbreaking. The addition of IIHF Women's teams is long overdue and quite welcome, and the visual quality in this year over last is a noticeable step up. The expansion of franchise mode is the biggest improvement over last year, though it almost feels like the only mode that was actually worked on, while everything else was simply lifted from NHL 22, unchanged in their function. Disappointing, when there's still plenty of changes that could be made.

If you have never played NHL (or have a long time ago), getting NHL 23 can be a good idea. It’s a solid game, but not for the veterans of the series.

As harsh as this may sound, I’ve lost faith in the NHL franchise. My first game was NHL 93, and although they haven’t all been good, it’s clear that this franchise has settled into an annual loop of delivering the bare minimum. There is zero justification for a full-game price tag when you consider that other games offer free updates larger than what’s on offer as new in the entirety of NHL 23. It’s mind boggling.

When put up against Madden, NBA 2K, or FIFA, NHL 23 lacks the fundamental quality that makes those titles so fun - the close approximation of the simulation to the sport.