Oct. 4 will be a big day for hockey fans. The regular season begins at 1 p.m. when the New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres play the first of two games at O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic.
But a different type of hockey also returns that day — the virtual type. The trailer and first information release for NHL 25, the annual hockey video game released by EA Sports (and the only officially licensed hockey video game series since the last NHL 2K game in 2010), came out on Thursday. The cover features Jack, Luke and Quinn Hughes (the deluxe edition also features a small nod to their parents), and, you guessed it, the game comes out on Oct. 4.
However, you can play as of Sept. 27 if you pre-order the deluxe edition or start a 10-hour trial if you subscribe to EA Play (which you should do if you’re buying the game since the 10% discount on EA purchases that comes with the service saves you money on either edition, even with the one-month subscription price accounted for).
None of that tells you much about the game itself, though. The series hasn’t earned rave reviews in recent years. The last game in the series to earn a user score above five out of 10 on Metacritic was NHL 19. Even the critic score has been below 75 every year since NHL 21 after exceeding that mark every release between NHL 16 and NHL 20. However, NHL 25 is a new game, and several new features could put the franchise on solid ground.
EA NHL 25 Gameplay Changes
There’s usually at least one buzzword or phrase that EA titles have to summarize their main gameplay changes, and for NHL 25, it’s ICE-Q. This is the only feature EA has gotten into extensive detail on its website, so there’s much to discuss here.
A key component of the system is vision control, which is surprising since NHL 24 took the opposite approach. Holding L2 (PlayStation) or LT (Xbox) to skate backward had become overpowered, as it was nearly impossible to defend players without taking a penalty. Also, the improvements to pivoting and skating will be used by AI as well. In previous titles, the computer would not always use new gameplay improvements effectively, allowing human players to control the game too easily. So, it’s good that EA is on top of things here.
Speaking of AI, there are a lot of changes made to that as well, with a focus on awareness and situational play. One example shown in the trailer and included on the website is a 5-on-3 power-play situation. Though EA’s expansion of special teams systems in NHL 23 helped this, running a 1-3-1 power play in-game doesn’t feel as structured as it looks in real life – don’t get series veterans started with the perenially over-aggressive penalty killers. It would be nice if those issues were addressed.
According to the trailer, over 250 animations were added, which will hopefully help on that front. In addition to situational urgency, EA is introducing skill-based one-timers, a new tweak to the mechanic that is more synonymous with goal-scoring in the series than any other. EA significantly expanded its shot animations and customization a few years ago, which made for some awkward animations but is a positive change overall. One-timers are already a go-to scoring method, so hopefully, this doesn’t make them too overpowered. It would be nice if this further differentiates star players, though.
EA NHL 25 Game Modes
Typically, it feels like one mode gets a lot of attention each development cycle, a couple that receives moderate improvements and some that are essentially the same as before. It’s understandable, given the constraints of the yearly release schedule that sports video games operate under, but still frustrating.
This year, franchise mode is getting most of the love, which feels overdue. It’s been a few years since the mode has seen significant changes, but that won’t be the case this year. The tweaks seem to be being made from the front out, with the mode’s hub page mentioned as the biggest improvement. Now, you can see your next game and upcoming schedule, leading scorer, division standings, and links to basic tasks such as making trades and editing lines. A new look sounds promising, but improved functionality is what would make the most meaningful difference. The menus in Chel move much slower than many other sports games, which is especially cumbersome in franchise mode, where there’s so much of a focus on micro-managing.
The two main online modes, World of Chel and Hockey Ultimate Team, are also getting updates. Last year’s game introduced a battle pass to WOC, which will be returning as a boost for it is included in the deluxe edition pre-order incentives. However, a brand new live events structure is mentioned for the mode on EA’s website. Whether that means the battle pass, seasonal content and customization events, or something else is unclear.
You probably either love or hate HUT at this point, with very little in between. A new Wildcard mode is being introduced that sounds like it could be some type of restricted lineup option where only certain types of cards can be used, although the specifics are still unclear. Merging the XP from this mode with the main head-to-head online (Rivals) and single-player (Squad Battles) is a good quality-of-life decision and sounds similar to the XP Reward Path in MLB The Show that was lauded when introduced in 2019. The draft-focused HUT Rush mode is not mentioned here, so perhaps Wildcard is replacing that option. Again, we’ll have to wait and see.
Meanwhile, no major changes appear to have been made to Be a Pro or any of the other smaller modes. Be a Pro hasn’t been touched since NHL 21 and is still light years behind the NBA 2K franchise, which has long been considered the gold standard for sports career modes. It would also be disappointing if the basic rating systems for Play Now Online and Online Shootout remain rather than the seasonal progression systems other EA titles such as Madden and College Football have. Crossplay between PlayStation and Xbox users also won’t be included in these modes again, which is confounding since it’s in WOC and HUT. And no, the long-awaited returns of GM Connected and a PC release are not coming this year, either.
EA NHL 25 Presentation
It’s been a while since this area of the game got a massive facelift, too. It’s largely been the status quo since James Chybulski became the play-by-play voice in NHL 20, which also included a new graphics package after a four-year partnership with Mike Emrick and Eddie Olczyk as announcers with the NHL on NBC graphics package. There have been some adjustments, like the dynamic in-game stats menus that can be hit or miss or the switch from Ray Ferraro to Cheryl Pounder as the color announcer.
It seems that this year’s adjustments are probably more in the minor improvements category. The graphics have been enhanced, and while the game didn’t look mind-blowingly different in the trailer, the head-to-head comparison shows promise.
However, the most intriguing addition to this part of the game is the new Grudge Match System. While this will surely affect presentation in the form of graphics and probably commentary lines, NHL.com reported that the system will also introduce special X-Factor abilities and cover offline and online modes. It sounds like the system is mostly focused on in-game results, but it could be cool if this amplified the importance of real-life team and player rivalries, especially ones that could develop during the real-life 2024-25 season.
What’s Next?
EA Sports also released a road map of when we should get a more extensive deep-dive into these new features and changes.
As of now, no beta has been announced yet, which would be a departure from previous years. It’s still possible that will come at some point, though.
Related: EA Sports NHL 25 Wishlist
Overall, this feature release doesn’t sound dramatically different than what we’ve seen in past years in terms of depth or how the changes are spread throughout the different areas of the game. That’s not necessarily a bad thing — making the right adjustments and doing them well is what matters most. Those deep dives in the next month or so should give us a better idea of whether this year’s Chel can get the series in a groove.
