NHL 24’s new controls are a flashy mess

What makes for a highlight-reel second in sports activities? It’s not simply the uncooked athletic talent on show — a part of the how-did-they-do-that thrill comes from the problem and threat related to a low-percentage play. Making a spectacular diving catch can get you into the SportsHeart Top 10; touching grass together with your face because the ball rolls to the outfield fence is extra of an America’s Funniest Home Videos form of factor.

Flashy performs have all the time been troublesome to drag off in EA’s hockey video video games, and rightfully so. That modifications this yr in NHL 24, which is offered now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The recreation’s builders at EA Vancouver and EA Bucharest determined to revamp their long-running management scheme in an try to make these jaw-dropping strikes simpler to do. It’s a part of a multifaceted overhaul to the movement of the sport on the ice.

I’ve lengthy argued for extra accessible controls in simulation sports activities video games. Particularly in EA Sports NHL, a part of the expertise has been locked away behind a barrier of advanced button and stick inputs, regardless of the sequence’ wonderful tutorials. Here, the admirable objective of simplifying the finger gymnastics required for the talent strikes is undone by an implementation that prioritizes them over key controls and actions — even ones as important as capturing the puck.

Image: EA Vancouver, EA Bucharest/Electronic Arts

Known as Total Control, the new scheme places 4 fancy puck-handling choices entrance and middle. I can now convey the puck between my skater’s legs, do a toe drag, tuck the puck previous the goalie with one hand, and make use of lacrosse-style maneuvers like “The Michigan” simply by urgent one of many controller’s face buttons. This setup makes it extremely easy to drag off these highlight-reel strikes in NHL 24, however it doesn’t flip them into cheat codes. Even within the shootout observe mode, with me alone versus a netminder, these strategies didn’t assure any objectives.

Some of the face button features have modified on protection, too: Body checking is now mapped to circle/B (shoulder checks) and sq./X (hip checks). This dovetails with the sport’s up to date physics engine, whose new ragdoll animations achieve delivering a higher sense of the bone-crunching impression behind each collision. Icon passing, which lets you goal teammates instantly with passes (as a result of every individual is assigned a face button), is one other welcome addition that unlocks lovely tic-tac-toe performs.

Image: EA Vancouver, EA Bucharest/Electronic Arts

The philosophy of marrying new gameplay options to manage modifications is a wise one, and there are clear advantages right here. The motion on offense and protection in NHL 24 resembles real-life hockey greater than ever — and extra importantly, that enchancment is tangible as a result of the revised controls put extra energy instantly in my fingers to make it so. That is, the Total Control setup permits me to really feel answerable for producing a simulation that appears extra lifelike, and I really like that feeling.

Despite these upgrades, although, I ended up switching again to the outdated Skill Stick management scheme — which has remained largely untouched since 2008’s NHL 09, remarkably — after attempting to acclimate to the new setup for a few days.

My major concern with Total Control is that its deal with facilitating flashy strikes displaces very important features from the face buttons to a far much less handy place. In the Skill Stick controls, the circle/B and sq./X buttons make line modifications — a function that I’ll use dozens of occasions throughout a single recreation, exponentially extra usually than I would try a toe drag. Line modifications within the Total Control scheme are ruled by the D-pad, a way more clunky possibility as a result of it requires me to take my thumb off the left stick (and thus momentarily relinquish management of participant motion). I grew pissed off with this setup after simply a few cases of being knocked off the puck whereas attempting to swap strains.

Image: EA Vancouver, EA Bucharest/Electronic Arts

Unfortunately, reverting to Skill Stick controls isn’t a cure-all, due to a baffling second change that applies to each schemes in NHL 24. Clicking the best stick is now used to brace in opposition to an incoming physique test, which takes the type of my skater letting go of the puck as he does a little hop to soak up the contact. It’s not unusual that I inadvertently click on the stick whereas attempting to shoot — and you’ll think about how infuriating it’s to lose out on a golden scoring alternative as a result of your puck provider jumped as an alternative of taking a shot. It’s so unhealthy that I’ll be shocked if the builders don’t backtrack on this in a future patch.

It all jogs my memory of their try to overhaul the sequence’ beloved profession mode, Be a Pro, three years in the past: a promising replace torpedoed by confounding design selections. The Total Control setup is a extra profitable effort, and it might win the hearts of on-line gamers who can make the most of the newly accessible talent strikes to skate circles round their opponents. But trying these showy performs in a recreation all the time carries a threat of fumbling the puck away — and, within the course of, incomes the dreaded style-over-substance label.