‘NHL 26’ is a revamp and refresh. However, to me, it’s an incredibly hard game to justify buying from last year’s installment...I do feel like we are a goalie that’s been left out to dry in the third period late.
I can feel fall coming once again. Summer is basically in the rearview mirror, leaves are starting to fall off trees here where I live, and anxiety for the Philadelphia Phillies is spiking as they make their run into the postseason. That said, postseason run and my notice in some of my favorite hockey podcasts starting back up also mean something else…Hockey is almost back. Players are reporting to early training camps. As I write this, the Flyers Rookie Games are set to happen this weekend against the Rangers. This also follows with the return to the virtual ice in the latest installment of the NHL video game franchise with ‘NHL ‘26’. While last year’s edition was a solid showing all the way around, this year’s looked to come out fast and better than ever, but let’s just say the ice isn’t as smooth as hoped for.
Right out of the gate, the gameplay feels great. The skating model updates that we saw last season still hold, and honestly feel even better for this year. Pacing and playmaking feel so good. I think people forget that even just a few years ago, it felt like we were pushing around huge weights with the joysticks, and now it feels like you’re actually in an NHL arena watching the boys play. I will gladly sing the praises of better gameplay. It makes the experience go a long way. The new ‘ICE-Q 2.0’ setup and ‘NHL Edge’ bring new depth and additions to NHL stars as well. It feels like there was a concerted effort not only to learn more about the big names of the sport, but also to spread that depth to ALL teams. Seeing additions like Owen Tippett’s speed burst or Matvei Michkov’s puck handling skills get acknowledged with this year’s release makes it feel like each team has stars, and that’s a nice piece. Having real tendencies makes it all the more fun and keeps the superstars… well, superstars.
I also wanna tack on to the gameplay part. Goalie mode feels the best it’s felt in years to me. The revamp from a few years ago still feels a little foreign to me personally, but I think this feels great. Look, it’s never gonna be a perfect simulation of real life. However, this makes it feel way more in control, especially down in the butterfly and sliding in the crease on your knees.
OK, I’ve waited long enough. It’s time to talk about ‘Be A Pro’ and the changes here. My reactions here are mixed. On one hand, adding the World Juniors portion to kick off both makes sense from a narrative perspective, but then it just goes away after a few games, and you’re right back to picking a Canadian Juniors team and playing in the Memorial Cup. To me, it felt like there should have been more here. At least a little more. To make a comparison, I wish there were more to the process. Say like ‘The Show,’ where this past season, some college baseball was added. Maybe at some point, add in a few of the major college hockey programs and win the NCAA title. It could just be a pipe dream. To me, just adding World Juniors didn’t push the needed.
What pushed that needle for me was the ability to go back to the AHL once drafted post-camp. That’s something massive for me. I love that this feature was added back, and more depth was brought into the gamemode here. The new interactions with the press and presentation add some nice features visually. Getting to walk across the stage at the draft is cool to me. That’s just the thing to me. It’s just ‘cool’. It doesn’t really add anything to me besides a few seconds of interest. I do see what they have done here, though, and what they want to build. Be a Pro had truly become stagnant from years past. Everyone has been posting the ‘pricy pond hockey’ memes here. Depth needed to be added to this. More than just what had been seen for several years before, but calling it a full revamp also feels a little wrong, too. I think honestly it’s a good step in a better direction, but only time and change will tell if they continue to build on this, or we get several.
As for the online modes…it’s kind of the same.
Hockey Ultimate Team (HUT) now features an offline full-season mode called ‘HUT Cup Chase’, which makes it a little more user-friendly if you are someone like me who struggles with online gaming and getting schooled. HUT overall has added some more flexibility to how you create and build your all-star team. Just from the team aspect to the solo star in CHEL, and there really isn’t that much to say here. There have been a few new additions, and with ‘ICE Q 2.0’, it opens up some of your play, but that is really about it.
There are some nice quality of life things I also want to highlight. Adding the ‘Delta Center’ for the Utah Mammoth and making neck guards a wearable option for players are just really cool things to me.
‘NHL 26’ is a revamp and refresh. However, to me, it’s an incredibly hard game to justify buying from last year’s installment. In the game’s defense, I will argue this against those online who say ‘this is just a glorified roster update’ because I can tell there have been several little improvements to make things a better playing experience. ‘NHL 26’ is still a good game for me. Plus, I can see possible ways that modes like ‘Be A Pro’ can go in the future, especially with the updates to ‘Franchise Mode’ in ‘NHL 25’. I do feel like we are a goalie that’s been left out to dry in the third period late.
