When I give this game a six, I am going by the Gamespot definition of a six which is “Fair.” NHL 24 is not a necessarily bad game but things are holding it back from being anything special. The graphics are decent, but not where they should be for a PS5 game. My gripe, the graphics are not spectacular enough to make the game addictive to play. The presentation Is also lacking compared to other sports games that do presentation right. The announcer gets the job done but I find him annoying (subjective).
Here is the good. The controls are decent. I need to be able to “pin” in games and that is there. Also there is the “poke check” and you can move the stick left and right while holding poke check. There are a lot of deke moves to master but you will not need to use most of them. Playing the game relaxes me, although there is no save feature while in a hockey game, so you have to complete the game before you can save or you have to sim the remainder of the game and then save.
The goalies are pretty good, better than the games I have previously played in the EA NHL series, and they often stop cheese goals. Yet, somehow there are too many goals, especially for my low goal scoring liking in games. In my last four games the scores were: 8-6, 7-6, 7-6, and 6-3. I am playing as the Canucks on normal or maybe pro difficulty. I also do not like that supposedly you can make hard and soft passes but I can barely tell the difference—the unremarkable graphics strike again.
If you have the money, in my opinion, the game can be relaxing to play, but the average not spectacular graphics and weak presentation hold the game back. If you are on a budget, do not worry you are not missing out on that much.