EA earlier this morning had just released the reveal trailer of NHL 22 as well as the cover. Auston Matthews is once again the cover athlete. (Yes he was also the athlete two years ago in NHL 20). Along with the trailer and cover, EA has revealed some new features that may make this game the turnaround of this franchise and the beginning of a new era with the “Next-Gen” Consoles. Let’s dive in.
As you could see at the start. EA has introduced the “Frostbite” engine to the NHL world. Making this game the “Biggest Leap Forward” in the franchise via EA. The Engine will be accessible from both Current-Gen Consoles and Next-Gen Consoles. Frostbite’s Engine is known to enhance graphics down to the littlest stitch on a jersey.
With the introduction of Frostbite, NHL gamers will experience the first taste of “Superstar X-Factors” which are originally seen in EA’s Madden series (NFL Football). X-Factors are meant to distinguish superstars’ abilities in the game from their real-life attributes. EA’s NHL Community Manager “Clappy” had gone in-depth about the addition of X-Factors on his Twitter saying “One of the biggest goals was adding true player differentiation.” Stars will be able to express specific animations that apply to the star.
In the trailer, two players X-Factors were revealed. Auston Matthews’s special ability is called “Shock and Awe”. The second player who had his ability revealed was Lightning netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy. His factor is called “Contortionist” as you could see in the trailer he was able to contortion his body to make a glove save. Similar to saves he’s made in that position. X-Factors will be seen in Franchise Mode, Be a Pro, Hockey Ultimate Team, and World of Chel game modes.
Along with what little was revealed today, EA is rumored to reveal some highly requested community-based features in the coming days along with more on what game modes are returning and what to expect. If you ask me what I want to see if this rumor is to be true is the return of GM Connected, which was last seen in NHL 14 and a highly requested game mode for eight years.
Any other questions that have been left unanswered by this article can look to this link below. It also includes purchase information.
https://www.ea.com/games/nhl/nhl-22/buy/nhl-22-dual-entitlement-faq