EA Sports NHL 25 Review

EA Sports NHL 25

Release: October 4, 2024
Publisher: EA Sports
Developer: EA Sports
Genre: Sport, XBox One Reviews, Xbox Series X Reviews
PEGI: 12
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Another year, another NHL season where inevitably my favourite team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, let me down and disappoint me. One positive to a new NHL season is a brand new EA Sports hockey title to dive into. The question each years is always the same, it seems – is it worth upgrading to the latest version of NHL? Or will last years entry tide you over until the 2025-2026 NHL season. Let’s dive in and check it out!

Love sports games? Check out our review of EA Sports FC 25 here!

A big focal point for NHL 25 is an overhaul of things that don’t impact gameplay, but do elevate the NHL 25 experience. More reactions from coaches, more variety from the fans in the stands, better character animations on the ice, and an revamped replay mode that, while it doesn’t matter, is making me watch more replays than I probably should!

Presentation in a sports video game has never been better – the team behind NHL 25 have done a great job revamping how the game is presented to you, giving you a much more realistic viewing experience. Again, this isn’t game changing, but for someone who has played every iteration of the NHL franchise since I remember, all of these graphical / animation changes are very much welcomed! Minor, but important, in my opinion.

But what about on the ice – what has changed this year that makes longtime fans of the franchise say, “I need to invest again this year.” NHL 25 is brining new things to the table, and they are very much welcomed. Skill based one-timers are brand new, and an enjoyable addition that makes wiring home pucks a bit more difficult, but incredibly satisfying when done correctly. The better the player, the more likely a well timed slap shot one-timer is going to occur.

Setting up Auston Matthews on the side wall isn’t going to be overly difficult. But having Ryan Reaves hammer home the same type of shot? Not so easy, and skill is actually required to get these things setup properly. This new skill based one-timer system has actually made me pay WAY more attention to how I setup my teams, especially in Hockey Ultimate Team (HUT). Generally, I’ve always taken the approach that the best players need to fill the top six spots on my defense; now, I’m looking for right-handed shot experts and left handed shot experts to make sure I can pull of fantastic skill based one-timers.

Next Gen Vision Control is also brand new this year, and this change is pretty massive. I’ve always wanted the opportunity to walk the blue-line as a defender in an NHL game, but that’s not really been possible without sacrificing something else (puck positioning, mostly). Power-plays, especially, take on a new life of their own.

Moving the puck around the offensive zone is now easier than ever, but also more realistic. Again, the skill of the player and their skating ability will have a major impact on how successful this puck moving will be. But I love having it, both for power-play work and when I’ve put a lot of pressure on the opposing team and have my pressure meter at the max. More often than not, I’ve been putting pucks in the back of the net in these situations, which actually is more realistic to how games play out in real life.

One of the less talked about new features that I’ve been really enjoying is the new grudge match system. Although I think the benefits and mechanics of this new system will get ironed out with new releases in the future, the idea behind aspects of a rivalry carrying over from game-to-game is pretty enticing. Earlier this (actual) preseason, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens had a spirited affair that resulted in multiple fights, key players getting injured, and so much more.

Despite it being a preseasons hockey game, everyone knows that when Toronto and Montreal meet on opening night of the 2024-2025 NHL season, there is going to be some bad blood. Not just because of the historical rivalry, but because of what transpired just a week ago.

The idea that this kind of emotion could carry over game-to-game in EA Sports NHL 25 is pretty enticing. I don’t think I’ve felt it as much as EA has perhaps promised you will, but with a few years in the cooker, and time to experiment with what works and what doesn’t, this could be one of the marque features in future EA Sports NHL releases.

This is one of those improvements that might not work in this iteration of the game as intended, but I’m glad to see it none-the-less because it proves one thing to me – EA Sports continues to try and innovate, even if we don’t see it when comparing one year to the next.

At this point you’ll notice this review if void of discussing all the various modes of NHL 25. And that’s because not much has changed. You have your standard Franchise mode, Chel, HUT, etc. And they are all back and available much as they were last year.

HUT has moved to an almost season-pass style of XP system which I really enjoy – past iterations of HUT had too many tracks to follow, rewards to try and scoop up, which often left me fairly frustrated. With things a bit more streamlined, it’s a better experience in my opinion.

The new Wildcard Mode is a nice bonus this year as well, tasking you with drafting a team (which can include your own players) but adhering to a specific constraint, such as a salary cap. This is a fun and alternative way to play when you’ve become a bit tired of Squad Battles, and further proof that EA Sports is devoting more and more time to their HUT mode, which again I love to see as an avid HUT player.

Overall, NHL 25 is doing a few small things differently than NHL 24, and whether or not you decide to go all in on this years game is coming down to a personal decision. There is enough here to make me want to upgrade, but I could see why more casual players might just opt to play NHL 24 for one more year. Either way, it’s money well spent if you enjoy EA Sports NHL titles!

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