From developers EA Vancouver, NHL 27 is the newest addition to this well-established series. Whilst I am the type of player who enjoys sports games, growing up in England means that I am not exposed to the likes of American Football and Hockey. However, because I am just a simple girl, TV shows such as Heated Riverly and Off Campus have introduced me to the world of hockey. Therefore, when NHL 27 was released, I wanted to experience playing hockey myself (within reason).
Skating on thin ice
Having been released on 11/09/2026, NHL 27 is available to buy now on both PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Whilst I was extremely lucky to be given the Deluxe Edition (which comes in at a whopping £99.99), the Standard Edition is currently available for £69.99. As stated above, NHL 27 is my first hockey game, so do not take my review as gospel. However, I’ll share my experience, along with research on previous instalments in the series. That said, let’s see what NHL 27 is all about!
Gameplay
As I have stated, this is my first experience with a hockey game. I thought it would be relatively simple to learn, but boy, I was wrong! My biggest issue was trying to learn the controls whilst playing. If you’ve ever played a game of hockey, you would know how fast-paced the game is. Now, trying to learn how to play whilst playing a fast-paced game – well, that was a bad idea. After being thumped 8-0 in my opening quick play game, I thought I would make my way over to the Be a Pro mode.
The Be a Pro mode is largely unchanged from the previous year. It has the same structure, with some minor tweaks to attribute balance and scheduling lengths. The journey begins in the World Juniors Medal Round, where you have the opportunity to win your first trophy. Afterwards, you have two options for how the beginning of your career starts. The first route is through the Memorial Cup, and the second route is through the Champions Hockey League, which takes you to Europe. Regardless of your choice, the end goal is the same: enter the NHL Draft and start your career in the NHL.
There are a number of different factors that help your progression during your career. It is shaped by your performances, with playing well equaling more game time. Completing challenges is also a bonus, as it provides the player with trait points. These allow the player to upgrade their attributes and X Factor abilities, contributing to becoming a better player. Further to this, your responses in press conferences can influence your team, management and brand deals. There are several different influential factors that the player needs to consider when making their way to world number 1.
Brutality
One of the newest additions to NHL 27 is Team Playbooks. Powered by NHL EDGE data, all 32 teams have unique playbooks that reflect their real-life strategies. This makes NHL 27 the most authentic game to date, increasing the difficulty slightly as you need a game plan for each team. This goes hand-in-hand with the introduction of Contextual Strategy Shifts, which is also new for NHL 27. Again, making the game more authentic by forcing you to adapt based on what is happening throughout the game. A prime example of this is when the CPU scores a late lead, and the team falls back into defence to ensure that they protect their lead.
One of my favourite things to do within NHL 27 is to just wipe people out. As a lover of EA SPORTS FC (it’s FIFA really, let’s be honest), you are used to being penalised for the slightest of fouls. Well, that isn’t the case in hockey. You are praised for body-slamming the opposition into the boards, and there is even a button configuration to start a fight right on the ice. Who wouldn’t want to have some fun by slamming players into the boards? Because I am not a pro when it comes to NHL games, it means I cannot comment too harshly on gameplay mechanics, as I have nothing to compare it to. However, it must be noted that hockey is one of the hardest sports to emulate, when there is consideration for multiple factors/physics/maths to calculate.
My friend Gritty
NHL 27 was easily the most fun I have had trying a new game and not having absolutely any idea of how to play it. With how fast-paced the game is, you have no time to think about what has just happened. You just crack on. While I never considered myself a fan of hockey, having played NHL 27, I am looking forward to learning more.
While Be a Pro mode is usually my favourite game mode when it comes to these types of games, there is plenty to get your stick into. There is, of course, Ultimate Team where you are able to create, build and manage a custom team. There are several different ways to upgrade your team, and having the deluxe edition certainly gives you a leg up. The deluxe edition comes with a number of additional packs, which can be used to improve your Ultimate Team. However, if the standard edition is your go-to, upgrading is done by completing objectives, bidding through the Auction House or opening packs. Like with any sports game, the more money you put into the game, the more successful you are likely to be. Equally, the more you grind the objectives, you are increasing your likelihood of becoming successful without sinking too much money into the game.
There is also the Franchise game mode; however, I want to talk about the additions to this game mode a little later in the review.
Graphics & Audio
One thing that EA Vancouver has succeeded in is bringing authenticity to the game. The team have done this by updating all 32 NHL teams to replicate real life. This is through team-specific goal songs, pregame entrances, dynamic jumbotrons and responsive crowds. Just don’t comment on how the crowds actually look, because they resemble the PS2 people that look like bricks. Staying on the topic of how the crowds look, face scans have also had a bit of an issue. Whilst some face scans generally seem to be ok, there has been some discourse amongst the hockey community. A prime example of this is Cole Caufield, who plays for the Montreal Canadiens. He has spoken openly about how his face scan has become a ‘meme’ within his friendship group. Often opening his phone to have a friend send him a picture of his face scan.
While the face scan graphics seem to be a bit of a laughing matter, I don’t think this is something we can say about how the gameplay actually looks. The ice itself is sharp and is reactive to the game. It can deteriorate as the game progresses, authentic to real life.
NHL 27 has also overhauled its commentary team, with the introduction of ESPN’s John Buccigross and Darren Pang. Whilst this seems to be a welcome addition, the way in which the commentary team is used is not always akin to what is happening on the screen. Sometimes the commentary can seem almost bizarre in comparison to what is actually happening. One thing I have enjoyed, however, is the official playlist for NHL 27. The likes of Blur, Nickelback and Pitbull all feature. And, in all honesty, having Pitbull alone is a 10/10.
Longevity
As I stated above within the gameplay section, there is also the Franchise game mode. The reason I wanted to speak about this within the longevity section is the newest addition to this section. The heavily requested single online league where 32 human-controlled teams can be used. Now, friends are able to have one league where they can play against each other. I can see this increasing the amount of time that some individuals will spend on the game. Often with sports games, there is a cycle where there will be players sinking hours and hours into the game within the first couple of months. But then, we see a drop-off due to becoming bored with the repetitiveness of the game. However, with this new online league, I can certainly see some players continuing a lot longer into the cycle.
Final Thoughts
NHL 27 has provided me with a lot of fun, especially when you consider I was not really a hockey fan. It took me some time to figure out what the hell was going on and multiple ‘icing’ fouls before actually understanding what it meant. However, when I did eventually figure out how to play the game and realised the button configuration was similar to EA SPORTS FC, it became fun. As I’ve said multiple times throughout this review, I am not a seasoned veteran when it comes to the NHL franchise. Therefore, this review may lack a bit of detail when trying to compare it with it predeccessors. However, I do sometimes think a review from someone who is ‘not in the inside’ is just as valuable!
With that being said, I will be awarding NHL 27 with the Thumb Culture Gold Award.
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
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