NHL 18
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''NHL 18'' is an
ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
simulation video game Simulation video games are a diverse super-category of video games, generally designed to closely simulate real world activities. A simulation game attempts to copy various activities from real life in the form of a game for various purposes such ...
developed by
EA Canada EA Vancouver (formerly known as EA Burnaby, then EA Canada) is a Canadian video game developer located in Burnaby, British Columbia. The development studio opened as Distinctive Software in January 1983, and is also Electronic Arts's largest and ...
and published by
EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to imitate real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" ...
. It was released on
PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
and
Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
on September 15, 2017. It is the 27th installment in the ''NHL'' video game series and features
Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...
captain
Connor McDavid Connor Andrew McDavid (born January 13, 1997) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and captain of the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Oilers selected him first overall in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. McDavid spen ...
on the cover.


Gameplay

''NHL 18'' has several new features, highlighted by the brand new NHL Threes mode, which mimics NHL overtime rules with 3-on-3 hockey. The mode features a smaller rink, bigger hits, and even a different announcer as it offers a more arcade-like look at hockey. Mascots from NHL teams are also playable in this mode. ''NHL 18'' also features a brand new Defensive Skill Stick, allowing players more freedom in how they play defense by being able to manually target their stick to poke check the puck away from opponents or block passes. Additionally, new deke moves were added, giving players more opportunities to create flashy scoring chances. The computer AI was also upgraded to be able to perform more complex plays, including using the Defensive Skill Stick and Creative Attack Dekes. To further promote 3-on-3 gameplay, EASHL, one of ''NHL 18'''s online competitive game modes, now features a native 3-on-3 mode. Hockey Ultimate Team also features new HUT Challenges, giving players certain challenges to complete within three 2-minute periods, against AI of varying difficulties, for in-game rewards.


Teams and changes

Teams from
HockeyAllsvenskan HockeyAllsvenskan (previously Allsvenskan and SuperAllsvenskan) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league, and the second-highest league in the Sweden, Swedish ice hockey system (after the Swedish Hockey League, SHL). Since the 2009–10 ...
,
EBEL Ebel is a Swiss luxury watch company that was founded in 1911 at La Chaux-de-Fonds in the canton of Neuchâtel, Switzerland. History Ebel was established in 1911 by Eugène Blum and his wife, Alice (née Lévy). The brand name originates from th ...
and
Champions Hockey League The Champions Hockey League is a European first-level ice hockey tournament. Launched in the 2014–15 season by 26 clubs, 6 leagues and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), the tournament features top teams across Europe. Backgrou ...
make their first appearance. The expansion franchise
Vegas Golden Knights The Vegas Golden Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference. Founded in 2017 as an expan ...
from the
NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
are also playable. The player can also create their own players and simulate their NHL careers in Career mode, and may even create their own team and enter them into the NHL as either the 31st or 32nd slot, in the Franchise mode, complete with an authentic Expansion Draft experience. For the first time since
NHL 2005 ''NHL 2005'' is an ice hockey video game released in 2004, the successor to ''NHL 2004''. Features Improvements/flaws ''NHL 2005'' features ''Open Ice Control'', including moving players without the puck and also a complete World Cup mode where ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
and
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
are given fully licensed IIHF jerseys, with Canada being as part of an agreement with
Hockey Canada Hockey Canada (which merged with the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association in 1994) is the national governing body of ice hockey and ice sledge hockey in Canada. It is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation and controls the majority ...
as it also features a training camp sponsored by said governing body. A downloadable update brought the
Spengler Cup The Spengler Cup is an annual invitational ice hockey tournament held in Davos, Switzerland. First held in 1923, the Spengler Cup is often cited as the oldest invitational ice hockey tournament in the world. The event is hosted by the Swiss tea ...
into ''NHL 18'' as a playable tournament. Like the Champions Hockey League, this is the first time the Spengler Cup would be playable in an ice-hockey video game. ''NHL 18'' also revamped their ratings system, with the intention of bringing more parity between players of different skill levels. This is so that "better" players are considerably easier to play with than "worse" players. It was a common complaint among fans of the ''NHL'' series that in past games, most players played very similarly, if not exactly the same, in-game; this made any effort to build a great team in vain, as it took less effort to build a less skilled team and get similar results. ''NHL 18'' introduced a new Training Camp mode, sponsored by Hockey Canada, allowing users to learn the rules of hockey, and how to play the game through video tutorials. Tutorials include how to shoot; taking faceoffs; learning new dekes; playing defense; playing as a goalie; and several rules of hockey, including offside, icing, and
penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...
. The Training Camp videos are also available on the NHL 18 website, for both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.


Reception

''NHL 18'' received "generally favorable" reviews, according to
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
''
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
''. In their 7/10 review, ''
GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
'' wrote: "There's still a lot to love about ''NHL 18'', even if the core on-ice experience has only seen minor tweaks... New players are sure to feel welcome, but for any series veterans, ''NHL 18'' still has some room to improve." ''
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
'' gave the game a 7.4 out of 10, writing: "Those are positive strides, but the rest of the modes and features are starting to feel too familiar. If you're someone who's been following the ''NHL'' series for years, you aren't getting anything drastically new here to alter the balance or restore excitement." ''New Game Network'' gave it 75% saying that "Not all of NHL 18's additions are equally successful, with the expanded depth of Franchise Mode overshadowing the flashy but unrewarding NHL Threes. The series continues to offer a good hockey simulation, and while the hardcore and those who play online will be satisfied, there's probably not enough here to make it worth the upgrade for casual fans of last year's edition."


References


External links

* {{NHL series EA Sports games Electronic Arts games PlayStation 4 games 2017 video games Video games developed in Canada Video games set in 2017 Video games set in 2018 Xbox One games NHL (video game series) Xbox One X enhanced games