If you haven’t picked up an NHL game in years or play mainly for the online experience, you will really like NHL 19.
While these iterative new offline features make sense and do polish the game further, it doesn’t cover up the fact that you’ve mostly played it before. Even if not much has changed about it mode, it’s still a great addictive outlet for more visceral and fast-paced matches. Threes still remains one of my favorite modes in the game and features an addictive Threes Circuit 2.0 mode to boot. Most offline modes also let you play games outside occasionally, which gives these annualized modes a tiny bit of new visual flair. That improvement should definitely be enticing for the simulation die-hards, though more casual fans probably won’t notice much of a difference. NHL 19 plays better than previous hockey games this generation, so you may find some enjoyment picking this game up for that if you haven’t played an EA NHL game in years.Īs for other improvements offline, Franchise Mode has deeper scouting tools that let you hire either the scouts you’d like and features a fog-of-war like system for the stats of players you do not scout enough. Collisions and body checks have seen the biggest improvements, and look way better than they have in the past. While the game may not be without an occasional visual oddity, just skating around feels tighter due to better animation and the improved gameplay and puck physics, which are improved every year. EA is rolling out more advanced Real Player Motion (RPM) technology across most on the titles, which has removed a lot of the animation jank that is associated with sports games. Hoping into modes like Be A Player and Shootout are present in top form and help highlight the new animations. NHL 19 includes every mode present in NHL 18, so no one has to worry about cut content. While I understand that EA wanted some new, headlining modes for World of Chel and that hub turned out great, it leaves NHL 19 feeling lacking offline. Ones especially would be fun offline locally with friends, and the tiers could even be reworked into a challenge mode or something like Threes Circuit. Something like EASHL is entwined with the online experience, but Ones and Pro-Am wouldn’t be that restrained offline. Like I mentioned in my review-in-progress, it’s quite baffling that these modes, or at least variations of them don’t appear offline. These new modes show the game at its best, adding new things that take advantage of the NHL liscene and the culture surrounding it. Both NHL Ones and Pro-Am represent are really fun and surprisingly addictive, which kept me returning to World of Chel, I just wish they were available offline. When it comes to NHL Pro-Am, NHL 19 takes advantage of the vast number of famous players, both current and alumni, and has players compete in challenges either with or against them for rewards like XP or new gear. Each tier has a unique outdoor court, which the developers have gone an added quite a few of in NHL 19.
There are four different tiers that players can get into each day, with one winner being crowned at the end of the day. The headlining new mode is NHL Ones, a 1v1v1 modes where individual players can duke it out on outdoor rinks. The two other new modes are also really interesting and fun. While matchmaking could be a bit slow, the games themselves have run super smoothly since launch. EASHL and Online Threes both work just as well as they did in previous games, so both players who liked the simulation aspect of the game and ones who would like to play something a bit more visceral and arcadey have something they can enjoy online.
The customization depth is definitely appreciated, even if the game did glitch when I tried to give myself a beard.įour modes are included within World of Chel: EASHL, Online Threes, NHL Pro-Am, and Ones.
Like most EA Sports games, the NHL series has a really dedicated online community, and the developers tried their hardest to cater to this crowd with a brand new multiplayer hub that should also do a good job at enticing more casual players to hop online. Customization is a huge part of World of Chel, with tons of casual and official outfits and features to choose from.