EA Sports NHL 26 Review
EA Sports NHL 26
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: EA Vancouve
Genre:
PEGI: 12
Comments:
When it comes to EA Sports titles you’d be forgiven if you thought they updated the rosters, added a new idea or two, and slapped a full price tag on the product and bled you for another year. There have been years like that, and as we always say in these reviews, it’s not always a bad idea to stagger your sports game purchases by a few years. That said, after playing a ton of NHL 26 over the past week, we noticed small changes that are really going to matter to hardcore players. Casual players? They are likely to miss out on anything feeling drastically new here.
Electronic Arts has been collecting data for their video games for a number of years, and have used that data to begin sculpting NHL into a more realistic, user friendly experience. If the decade between 2010 and 2020 was spent improving the games mechanics – skill stick, hit stick, decking, etc. you can categorize the last 4 to 5 years as sculpting the game into something more realistic.
Every year NHL video game fans clamour for an experience that feels like the real thing, and generally they leave hopeful, but perhaps still disappointed. NHL 26 might be the release that finally has people believing in what EA Sports is doing.
WHat makes NHL 26 different is that it’s powered by ICE-Q 2.0 and NHL EDGE data which is technical jargon for “we are combing through data and tendencies to make the game more realistic. And ultimately, as someone who dives deeper into NHL games, I think their years of data collection is paying off. With all this data, the development team has been able to hone key aspects of the game based on real world experiences. Players are a bit more explosive when closing in on goal, and superstars are finally feeling like true superstars on the ice.
Those crazy little quick plays close in that Auston Matthews does in real life? That Connor McDavid speed through the neutral zone? That’s going to be more obvious, not only for those stars, but all of the NHL’s brightest lights.
They’ve done a good job balancing that power. These aren’t cheat codes that don’t need an actual code. Strong defensive play can still stop Connor’s speed, or a quick well timed stick-lift will stop Auston from sneaking in a goal. But on the flipside, you can count on your own superstars doing superstar things, and that’s been missing from many of EA Sports’ franchises in the past.
Oh, and the goalie system has been improved, yet again. Of everything I saw so far, this is probably the one area that, yes, has seen improvements, but still has a ways to go. I still found my goalies doing weird things from time-to-time that didn’t make a lot of sense. We could chalk that up to regular goalie errors as happens in real life, but it’s still frustrating none-the-less.
Your favorite modes are back, and tweaked like always. Ultimate Team is still my go-to mode to play as I enjoy the thrill of opening packs, and if you’ve played Ultimate Team on NHL or any other EA Sports franchise in the past, you know exactly what to expect.
HUT Seasons is new this year, which allows you to tailor a group for a short season of games within HUT. I think this will be great for more casual HUT players who don’t like taking their talents online as much. EA has promised some great rewards and cards throughout, so I’m excited to see where this goes. It’s nothing crazy or innovative in NHL 26, but it is still one of the game’s best modes in my opinion.
Be a Pro has been overhauled more so this year than in years past. You’ll begin your quest for superstardom at the World Jr. Championship, and build yourself up to the pros. At the time of writing, this is a mode I’ve only dabbled in briefly, but it appears to offer up compelling story lines, better cutscenes, and what I assume is a more realistic road to the big league. Nothing like hearing your name called on draft day, right?
There is still a lot for me to dive into for NHL 26, and ultimately whether or not you should purchase the game probably depends on what you hope to get out of it. History has proven that EA Sports does a fantastic job of supporting their games through the real-world season, so expect a ton of great HUT content at the very least.
NHL 26 feels like the largest step the franchise has taken towards creating a realistic NHL experience in a long time, and that enough might be worth the purchase for you. I’ll be playing NHL 26 long into 2026, and if you like hockey, you should too!
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Article By Adam Roffel
