Stuck in a rebuild?
There’s that old saying, ‘Our greatness was built on the backs of giants.’ But with EA Sports’ NHL series, they took a ladder, climbed down the giant’s back, and decided to crawl their way back up – very, very slowly. There was a time when hearing the classic “EA Sports, it’s in the game” slogan brought excitement into the hearts of hockey playing gamers everywhere. That excitement has turned into a groan though as in recent years, sports titles have simply become yearly $89.99 revamps and roster updates. When looking at this game, it’s important to keep that price point in mind throughout, as this is truly a AAA priced game that really should be Free to Play with in game purchases… let’s take this down the ice.
Tape to Tape Gameplay
The gameplay of NHL 25 has improved over its previous iteration. The games feel a bit slower, and skating is precise which in turn makes it feel like you have more space and time to get creative. Some might not like the idea of ‘slower’ but it makes the game feel a bit more simulated, and a bit less arcade-like. Gone are the days of the speed burst, unless that happens to be a players X-Factor trait.
There is the addition of “skill based one timers.” An icon underneath a player will let you know they’re primed and ready for a one-timer. If you time the pass/shot input correctly, you’ll get a slight boost to power and accuracy. This was a pretty fun feature at first, as it gave me a new skill to master. That being said, after about the 10th one-timer goal from one knee, I started to get annoyed. It’s tuned just enough so it didn’t feel exploitable, but was something I could lean into and get goals from consistently. Not to mention I was sick of seeing my defenders score one-kneed one-timers from the point every time.
New Features in Gameplay
Let’s break down the features touted by EA on their website for NHL 25 and showcased in the games first opening graphics when players boot it up for the first time.
ICE-Q: “Built on an all-new logic-driven animation system, ICE-Q responds to contextual events on the ice with unprecedented authenticity and is the foundation of Chel’s gameplay overhaul.”
I think your mileage may vary with this one. 90% of the time all I could think of was “is this NHL 24?” The ICE-Q System must be for really hard core fans of the game because it was barely noticeable. There was the occasional animation that felt unique, with the opponent tripping over themselves to get back into position, but to say this feature gives the game ‘unprecedented authenticity’ is laughable. It’s NHL 24 with some added pizazz. To test this, I booted up NHL 24 and really didn’t see the “overhaul” mentioned in the explanation.
Franchise Mode: Franchise Mode gets a revamp in NHL 25. Starting with the Franchise hub, streamlined navigation gives players access to new, relevant, and easy-to-digest information.
Any improvements to offline modes are welcome. To no one’s surprise, the enhancements described by EA are a bit blown out of proportion, but there are some good steps in the right direction. Navigation is better, and the information you see on the screen is helpful and interesting. Going into each game, you can now see who the point leaders are for the team you’re playing (friendly reminder, this was a feature already showcased in NHL 14’s franchise mode), projected goalies, and other interesting stats. You have access to player game logs, split stats, award tracking, individual player conversations, game box scores, and an updated contract negotiation system.
It’s a nice haul of updates that will tickle the twine of all offline players. That being said, this isn’t going to make any player happy enough to shell out the full price of entry just to play Franchise mode.
HUT: Check out all the new ways you can build your dream roster in Hockey Ultimate Team, including Wildcard Mode that brings unique rulesets to keep players on their toes and ready to adapt with each and every cycle. Plus, all of the XP earned in Squad Battles, Rivals, and Wild Card are now combined into a single progression path.
To show this being a big overhauled change, HUT RUSH from 24 is gone – HUT Wildcard mode is the one in 25… however… It’s essentially the same thing but with different letters in the title. Truly, again, booting up the title from last year, it’s really difficult to see the differences between the two modes.
To make matters worse, the menu system for HUT is extremely slow. It’s a frustrating experience trying to navigate. The HUT RUSH name must have been overhauled because of how it implied fast movement of any sort. Yikes.
HUT, being the cash cow for EA, is surprisingly more grindy than ever. Player ratings are predictably lower than in previous years, making each overall increase of 1 more dramatic. I bought the deluxe edition for early access, and my HUT team capped out at 72 overall. The freebies you could expect from HUT are also more stingy. For example, remember how the exchange sets used to grant you some relief from all your garbage cards for a chance at better players? Nope, not this year. If you have garbage jerseys you’ll never use, you can exchange them for more untradable garbage jerseys you’ll never use. EA Sports – it’s in the game! This could be an early access thing, and perhaps there are more freebies to come at launch on Friday, but it really didn’t feel like I paid extra for anything special.
Be a Pro
Notice this one doesn’t start off with any updates. There isn’t any. When I say there isn’t any, I mean none at all. It’s is the exact same cutscene from last year and the year before.
Also, you cannot, in a year where AI is taking over the world, customize the face of your create-a-player. You can sort through a swath of pre-made abominations, but cannot customize a face. How is this even legal in the current video game generation? Where are the pitchforks? I will say as a reviewer, Be a Pro is one of my favorite modes, but this is the first year I may just not play it at all.
World of Chel
We’ll end the gameplay highlights on a fun note. If World of Chel was a standalone game, I would recommend this whole heartedly. This is a really fun mode for anyone looking for a hockey arcade experience. There’s fun jerseys, skins, and equipment that are really worth unlocking through the battle pass and players play 3 on 3 NHL Hitz style. It’s not quite as fun as the Hitz games of the past because it’s packaged in a hockey simulator game, NHL 25. I can’t help but think if World of Chel was a separate release, that it would be able to become something special. I would be happy to pay for a battle pass in this game if it was free to play… but it isn’t. I was trying to end on a fun note…
Presentation
Let’s start with another new feature exclusive for NHL 25.
The all-new Grudge Match System keeps track of the competitive history between teams and the introduction of SAPIEN Technology to the NHL franchise takes character likenesses to a whole other level.
For the Grudge Match component – this is a fun feature that adds a bit of depth to your Franchise mode (emphasis on ‘a bit’). These animations come up sporadically during specific games. For example, in my franchise mode session, I was the Calgary Flames. When I played the Edmonton Oilers, every time there was a transition from replays to gameplay, I would be reminded that it was a ‘grudge match’ by the massive “GRUDGE MATCH” swipe-away text. Innovative stuff. After I had scored a goal to make it 5 – 1, a new cutscene played showing the Edmonton coach looking a bit perturbed. That’s EA hockey, baby!
It must also be mentioned that the player likenesses are horrendous for anyone under 85 overall. The captain of the Calgary Flames, Mikael Backlund, who is no superstar, looks like a melted wax figure. Taking character likeness to a whole new level indeed. Honestly, the facial graphics of non-superstars reminded me of NHL 2k10 – which, to be fair, was an impressive graphical game at the time. If the SAPIEN technology is being toted so much here, it would be nice to see it more consistently. Or even better, overhaul player looks across the board.
I also want to give a shout-out to the “Infinite Camera System” – which EA says will “increase the variety and authenticity of angles (for replays).”
It’s infinitely inconsistent.
The replays that occurred during gameplay are a mixed bag of okay to awkward. Ever want to watch a 2-on-1 goal with the camera locked onto the puck, but positioned right at ice level? Yeah, neither have I.
This isn’t even to mention how poor the presentation is in general. To start a game you get a short cut away to the national anthems, and you’re off. After each goal, you’re forced to watch an unskippable fortnite dance party (even after scoring your second empty net goal – a man’s gotta show boat!), and the winning animation is as exhilarating as stale bread. Players get zoomed in on, with other players sometimes doing nothing in the background. Having this much celebrating deserves some sort of delay of game penalty.
After many games, I wanted to go back and see replays of some of the goals I scored. I was looking forward to seeing if any tech has improved.
It’s not possible.
In previous NHL games, you view each highlight individually at the end of the game. Another feature removed.
I guess we can hold our breaths for the inevitable NHL 26, when a newly marketed “Dynamically Enhanced Replay Playback (DERP)” is introduced, justifying its $90 price tag.
You miss 100% of the features you remove.
As someone who loves hockey, and has played every single iteration of NHL since 2001, I feel burnt out of these current generation NHL games. It’s gotten to the point where even EA knows they can market the addition of “easy-to-digest-player-stats” and expect a pat on the back. Real progress is halted for the sake of online cash grabs, and previous features have been gutted so they can be ‘remarketed’ at a later time.
I’m admittedly not an online player for NHL games. I feel like this is where a divide comes between EA NHL consumers. EASHL is an enjoyable game mode. You’re kind of required to buy the latest installment of EA NHL to keep up with your pals if you play this.
As an offline player, NHL 25 is not an impressive title. Call this the straw that broke the camel’s back, but I cannot recommend this game, and I am not sure how anyone could. If you own NHL 24 already, this is a 2/10. It has everything you already have, but $90 more expensive. The only reason it isn’t a 0/10 is becuase it is a functional title and has some minor improvements.
On the flip side, If you haven’t played an NHL game since 2017, maybe give it a whirl since the 8 years of minuscule improvements might make it worth your time…and that’s the thing. If NHL 25 is only going to get incrementally better, I think most gamers would rather wait a few years for a new Hockey Game, and simply release roster updates every season to the game. Graphic patches, SAPIEN technology patches, etc… if this still isn’t convincing you, maybe you could find a way to play NHL 14 instead and have a rip-roaring good time with a game filled with excellent content and features.
NHL 14 was peak Hockey gaming. Gone are the days of hockey games with depth. For example…
NHL 14 had “Create a play” – where you could make team plays for breakouts, rush plays, o-zone set ups for behind the net etc (seriously, look it up – it’s impressive). Why is that not in any NHL game since then?
NHL 14 had GM Connected, which was a fun way to go up against your buddies in an online franchise mode. Why doesn’t that exist anymore?
Even the widely panned NHL 15 had ‘NBC authentic broadcast.’ A presentation that made your hockey games feel like you’re watching a TV.
Summary
Marketing for NHL 25 didn’t start until just over a month before release. Even they knew there was nothing exciting on offer. This death by 1000 cuts has gone on too long. The reality is, EA is starting to catch on to how small of an effort they can pull off each year.
When compared to NHL 14, what I would consider the last taste of “greatness” – there is a baffling amount of content missing here. It is a wonder how NHL 25 and NHL 14 are even from the same game company.
If EA continues down this path they should either:
- Separate EASHL/World of Chel into a stand alone FTP game with in game transactions
- Release games every 2 years
- Release one big NHL game and provide annual ‘discounted’ DLC updates.
Skip this game if you can. Hockey fans deserve better.
NHL 25
Summary
In a vacuum, when compared to only NHL 24, there are some slight improvements. NHL 25 isn’t worth $90 compared to the previous game, but has enough improvements to make a 75% discount at least a bit enticing.
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