NHL 20 Xbox One Review – Worth Buying?

MOVES THE PUCK. HE SCORES! THAT’S A SHORT-HANDED MARKER. Fred Richani TSC, your home for sports game reviews, interviews, and more. If you’re new here, please consider subscribing. I’m here to give you guys my thoughts on NHL 20 on Xbox One. This game is also available on PS4 and as a 10-hour trial for EA Access subscribers. Full disclosure, we received a free copy of this game from EA for the purpose of this review. Oh, I also haven’t played an NHL game regularly since Rock the Rink on PS1, so I’m definitely reviewing this from a noob’s perspective. I play a lot of sports games, including Madden, which I wish changed more year to year.

But when I opened up NHL 20, holy doodle squat, did you see a whole lot of options, an insane amount of options. Here’s all the options you get from NHL 20. Three different controller settings, skill stick, NHL 94, and hybrid. Personally, I found hybrid to work best for my play style, but feel free to try all the options and see which one fits yours. From there, you have a variety of difficulty settings. And then it’s on to the different game modes. You have play now that lets you play a quick exhibition, franchise mode that has you build a dynasty from the ground up, and meticulously manage your rosters, hockey ultimate team and draft champions, which are practically the same as what you get in Madden if you’re into packs and microtransactions.

Not really my cup of tea, but there is enough free content here and challenges to keep you busy as you acquire packs and build the ultimate NHL team. You have tournament mode where you can play with international teams in Champions Hockey League or in the Spengler Cup. Creation Zone lets you customize players and teams to your liking, and in comparison to other EA Sports games, I’d say NHL’s creation options are better than most. Certainly Madden. There’s also NHL 3s, which is the fun three-on-three mode you can play offline or online. Be a pro that lets you create the ultimate NHL player over time. World of Chel features challenges to improve your created character.

Playoff mode where you can skip the regular season straight into the to the Stanley Cup. NHL Ones became my favorite mode with one-on-one action featuring various pros and even special players like Snoop Dogg and Toronto Raptors great Kyle Lowry. Another one of my favorite modes is shootout, which is exactly what it sounds like. Similar to EA UFC’s knockout mode, shootout mode cuts away from the pleasantries straight to the thrill and chase of the action, but it certainly can be more challenging than it looks. Of course, if you’re new like me, there are plenty of informative and helpful tutorials to sharpen your skills especially before you test yourself in online versus.

In terms of gameplay, I had very few frame rate issues, good synergy with my AI teammates, and found each game to be a fun challenge. I absolutely love the TV presentation and commentary as well, but just a reminder, refs can be annoying both in real life and in the game. Referee signaling for a penalty. Looks like we got a hooking call coming up. Here comes the call. Hooking’s the call. This is what they kind of call the lazy penalty these days, right? But it but really the problem is you’re beat and you panic. Okay, fine. I’ll get in the damn penalty box. Ugh. So, what’s the verdict?

Graphically, I give NHL 20 an eight. One of the best-looking sports games on Xbox One featuring nice player models, good frame rate, sleek TV presentations, and some unique-looking arenas to keep things fresh. Gameplay, I give NHL 20 a nine. For someone that was intimidated to pick up and play a hockey game, I got to say, no issues getting the hang of it once I settled into my preferred controller scheme. You know a sports game is good when it makes defensive stops just as, if not more satisfying than offensive plays. Content, I give NHL 20 a nine and a half. I barely have any complaints here.

More of a suggestion that perhaps there should be some type of cinematic aspect to the story mode similar to Madden or FIFA. Not that I’m a huge story mode guy or anything, but considering other EA Sports titles have it wouldn’t hurt to add it to NHL. Other than that, very few complaints about all the different modes to choose from because there is something for everyone. Whether you’re a hardcore fan or a new NHL gamer like myself. Overall, TSC gives EA NHL 20 on Xbox One a 9 out of 10. If you’d like to buy this game, please feel free to click the links in our description.

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