How 'NHL 24' is changing its game to 'feel like hockey'

NHL 24, the newest iteration of EA Sports’ venerable hockey simulation video game, wants to “feel like hockey.”

A common complaint over the past little while is that each year's new game has felt an awful lot like the previous year's version.

Sure, there have been presentation upgrades with the advent of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S era, but the poke check has remained the most powerful, most reliable defensive tool. Going for a big hit often leads to a bad situation for the player making the attempt, and the style of game more often resembles the on-the-rush play seen more prominently during the times when Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux were the game’s greatest stars.

The game was hockey, but it was certainly more video game hockey as opposed to a facsimile of the real thing.

NHL 24 is hoping to change all that.

With Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar on the cover this year, the EA Sports NHL development team took some cues from the way the star changed the D-man spot and are looking to reinvent how their game plays and feels.

Here’s a closer look at what to expect from NHL 24.

A whole new game

Of the new systems that have been put in place for this year’s game, the most obvious looking one will be the new Exhaust Engine.

When players are in the attacking zone with the puck, they’ll notice a circular image in the middle of the zone with their team’s logo inside and the word “Pressure” underneath. The circular image will gradually fill up the longer they’re in the zone controlling the puck and, when it fills up entirely, the image will change to red and say “Full Pressure.” The defending team’s attributes will lower, making it easier to make passes and get a more threatening cycle going.

To better help fuel this pressure system and to get into the “Sustained Pressure” mode quicker, players should be looking to take shots on net and land big hits in the offensive zone. Putting pressure on also impacts the opposing goalie, causing him/her to fatigue quicker and potentially bust out some new desperation saves that have not been seen before.

This is probably the biggest gameplay change, and is a big differentiator from years past.

“Sustained pressure or longer shifts in hockey, it’s a part of the game,” said Mike Ingleheart, senior creative director of NHL 24, in a recent interview with Yahoo Sports Canada. “We’ve all watched our favorite teams get pinned or pinning another team in, and whether it’s the expectation that ‘We’re almost going to get a goal here,’ or, ‘My goodness, we’re going to have to survive this storm or we’re getting scored on,’ that’s a moment that wasn’t in the game. …

“It’s not about just getting in the zone and trying to work for a set of five or six ways that you’ve expected to score in years gone by. … People are having to relearn the game in a positive way.

“So, people expect this game to change year over year and we feel this year that gameplay expectation has finally been met.”

Additionally, to help fuel this pressure system, the impact of hits and the way you can hit has been given an overhaul.

Having seemingly heard the complaint of the poke check’s power in the game, hitting this year looks like it’ll be a more viable defensive option with the ability to more safely shove opponents off pucks or go for a big hit to really sap them of their stamina and create a turnover. Of the big hits you can go for, you can attempt to hip check people in the open ice or over the boards, and even smash people through the glass.

“I think people were not using hitting because it didn’t provide a ton of utility,” Ingleheart said. “But hitting does play a part [in real hockey]. It can really wear out a player and fatigue them massively. There’s a relationship to stamina here with the hitting system. We wanted to create a reason why to hit.”

Between the new Exhaust Engine pressure system and the revamp of hitting, it looks like NHL 24 is trying to be a more true-to-life hockey simulation experience, much closer to the game we see in NHL arenas and on TV.

“[The NHL] is no longer up and down, up and down, up and down,” said Ingleheart. “Now it’s about can you be up and establish. We feel like those parts are authentically hockey and they weren’t in the game before. So, the idea is every gameplay change that we want to bring we want to try to see if we can add new parts of the game story, of real life, into the experience.”

Why Makar was selected as the cover star

On Monday, Makar was unveiled as the cover star for this year’s iteration.

Makar grew up playing the EA Sports NHL franchise as a kid, holding Christmas Day tournaments with his brothers and extended family. When he got word that he was being selected as the cover star, he was quite excited.

“I feel like it’s kind of a no-brainer,” said Makar. “I feel like I can’t turn down an opportunity to have this honor. It’d be a little different if I feel like I didn’t play the game growing up as much but I played it so much it’s definitely just cool to be asked to do this.”

At only 24 years old, Makar has accomplished just about everything in the sport, having won a Stanley Cup, a Conn Smythe Trophy, a Norris Trophy, and a Calder Trophy.

He obviously isn’t done yet – nor is he completely satisfied with his accolades – but the rapid success the Calgary native has enjoyed thus far in his career made him an easy fit to be slotted in as the cover star.

It’s not just that Makar is a young star seeing success, he’s doing all that while also acting as something of the poster child of what the new-age NHL defenseman looks like — perfect for the refresh of the gameplay that NHL 24 is going for this year.

“Cale absolutely embodies everything that we’ve been talking about,” said Chris Haluke, senior producer of NHL 24. “He’s young, he’s physical … he just felt like a natural fit when we were thinking about our feature set and everything that we were trying to accomplish and get across with this game.”

Other new features and notes

A few quick-hitters about some other new features and things of note about NHL 24:

• The game comes out on Oct. 6 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One

• There will be crossplay for online modes, but only between same-generation consoles. So, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S players can play with each other, but a PlayStation 5 player can’t play with a PlayStation 4 player. The PlayStation 4 player will be able to play with an Xbox One player, however.

• Though they haven’t been promoted as heavily as they were last year, the female players are returning this year. And in another win for women’s hockey, Cheryl Pounder will be joining the virtual booth this year as the new color commentator.

• It’ll be easier to execute dekes this year than before, plus passing will be made easier by re-mapping passing targets to the face buttons on the controller.

• If you play goalie in EA Sports Hockey League, the controls have been tweaked. It’s now easier to slide around your crease and not lose positioning with an auto-return back to a centred position. Additionally, there’s something called the Instinct System that allows players to make a guess as to what side a shot might be coming from in order to gain a bonus. Guess wrong, however, and the bonus will go to the shooter instead.

• There’s a new mode being added to the popular Hockey Ultimate Team (HUT) mode called HUT Moments, where you will be tasked with recreating legendary moments from the history of the NHL.

• The team is boasting 75 new goal celebrations to enjoy this year, with new camera angles, lighting effects and the ability to give players the option to map their favourite celebration to a button on their controller.