NHL 23 Reveals Details On Arena Atmosphere, Gameplay Improvements, And Cross-Platform Play
Each year, every NHL team strives to put the best squad it can on the ice. Sometimes, that means a full offseason overhaul. In other years, that means fine-tuning some lesser areas of an already solid team. NHL 22 was a good-looking game, but the gameplay felt long in the tooth and in need of changes. While NHL 23 doesn’t rebuild the gameplay from the ground up, it does offer several features, tweaks, and enhancements in hopes of being better than the last iteration.
NHL 23 represents the series’ second entry using EA’s Frostbite engine. As such, various refinements come online as the development team further familiarizes itself with the proprietary engine. EA Vancouver is also implementing several gameplay tweaks, including last-chance puck movement. This adds hundreds of new stumble animations triggered through any level of contact, plus additional plays that can turn any loose puck into either goal-scoring or goal-clearing plays. However, scoring won’t be easy, as goalies benefit from improved A.I. and more than 350 new save animations. Teams also have better power play and penalty kill strategies, with enhanced roles for specific players in the formations.
