NHL 24 Review

The Exhaust Engine is the first change in years that alters how a shift actually plays. Sustained offensive zone pressure drains the defending team, so a long cycle produces visibly slower sticks and later closeouts, and forechecking becomes a strategy rather than a nuisance. Physical contact was rebuilt alongside it, with hits that resolve from speed and angle instead of a wrap up animation, and board battles that reward body position.

Vision passing lets you thread a puck through traffic to a spot rather than to a player, which unlocks the net front chaos the series had sanded away. Presentation is sharp, with a broadcast package that sells the moment. Where it stalls is everywhere off the ice. Franchise mode has barely changed in half a decade, Be A Pro remains a menu with a career attached and no story worth the name, and Hockey Ultimate Team drifts toward the same pack economy as its stablemates. The skating is excellent; the scaffolding is inherited.