It’s mind-boggling to write these words: NHL 25 will mark the 32nd consecutive year that I’ve played EA’s hockey video game. I missed the first iteration (NHL Hockey, released in 1991) and began playing the series in 1992 (NHLPA ’93). The first game in the series had only the NHL license (no player names, only jersey numbers) while the second had only the NHLPA license (no NHL teams, only cities). The seminal NHL ’94 game was the first to have both NHL team and NHLPA player licenses, and the game has featured both ever since.
Those early games were critical ingredients to the NHL’s growth and development. With popularity that – believe it or not – exceeded Madden’s, the NHL series delivered graphics and gameplay that pushed the limits of the 16-bit Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo game consoles, offering improved AI and graphics along with updated rosters on platforms that couldn’t accommodate regular online updates (that took another 10-15 years). Because the ratings/skills of the video game avatars were reasonably accurate representations of the actual NHL players, gamers became enamored with the dynamic playmaking of North American superstars like Mario Lemieux, Steve Yzerman and Wayne Gretzky as well as a new generation of dynamic European players like Pavel Bure, Alexander Mogilny and Teemu Selanne.
Without question, the NHL video game played a huge role in building those European players’ popularity, serving as a positive contrast to the persistent xenophobia served up by the likes of Don Cherry. And it remains an important player in the inclusion front. By making it possible to play the game with avatars of Natalie Spooner or Sarah Nurse, young girls can see what’s possible, the surging success of the WNBA providing exactly the spark needed to help the PWHL develop a generation of players like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers to capture the public’s attention. With that in mind, here’s hoping that one of my pet peeves is finally addressed by NHL 25 this year. In the HUT mode, it’s possible to choose your coach from a wide range of options. But while you might select Jadzia Sisko (see photo at right) to be your coach, your bench in the game will still be comprised entirely of white men. It’d be great for the extra step to be taken so that your chosen coach is actually behind the bench for your team in the game, providing an additional level of authenticity and dedication to an important effort.
Looking back at those earlier days playing the NHL game on the Sega Genesis and PS1, much of the game experience involved tinkering with rosters and player lines, because as correct as the rosters might’ve been in early October when the video game cartridge was released, things looked vastly different by March. At around the same time, a bunch of college friends and I ran a fantasy hockey league where we needed to enter each week’s stats (copied from the latest print edition of The Hockey News) into an Apple Macintosh running Microsoft Excel. To give you an idea of the technological limits at play…
Today, many players instead spend that “tinkering” time in the Hockey Ultimate Team mode (HUT), where they can put together a fantasy team of players (NHL, AHL, juniors, women) to compete in a wide range of online and offline contests. Success in those contests (whether by winning outright or achieving specific team/player goals) delivers rewards in the form of coins, “packs” of cards containing players, jerseys, coaches, team logos, arenas and collectibles for use within the HUT game environment. The environment also offers plenty of opportunities to spend money to purchase packs that meaningfully accelerate the superteam-building process.
As I still participate in a descendant of that early fantasy hockey league mentioned earlier, my objective within HUT is generally to assemble my fantasy team line-for-line. In general, it’s pretty easy to tell by February whether my fantasy team has performed to hopes/expectations by looking at the OVR (overall rating) for my HUT team. If my players have earned upgrades throughout the season based upon their strong play in real life, it’s a good bet that fantasy team is near the top of the standings. But if it’s hard for me to upgrade my team’s OVR by exclusively using my fantasy team’s roster, it’s likely that talk of “trusting processes” has come to the forefront.
Franchise Mode has also gotten significant attention in this year’s game. It’s a mode that I haven’t explored much in the past, but I intend to dive deeper on it this year (perhaps dialing back my HUT participation). The mode has a substantial fanbase, and EA’s developers have clearly made it a top priority to respond to user feedback with this year’s iteration:
While all of the tinkering (whether then or now) is fun, the success or failure of NHL 25 will come down to its gameplay. The reason NHLPA ’93 and NHL 94 took off like meteors and left Madden in the dust (initially) was because the gameplay was so fluid and dynamic. It didn’t take more than a minute playing a game to immediately be able to see which players stood out as superstars (often European forwards) and which were on the verge of getting phased out of the game completely (slow-footed North American defensemen). That is true to a much greater degree today, where the details come down to specific skating and stick-handling styles along with all of the various equipment that each player uses on the ice in real life.
The early indications are definitely positive where gameplay is concerned. Some core functions and features that were lost over the years have been reclaimed, and I can’t wait to get over my PTSD (so many breakaways ruined by what looked like an untimely shoulder shrug of indifference) and take advantage of the elimination of the “reverse hit” from the right stick. That the developers are solely focused on current-generation systems (PS5 and Xbox Series X/S) should mean a leap in gameplay stability and consistency, and early buzz suggests that to be the case.
We’re looking forward to playing NHL 25 and diving deep into the gameplay… look for our review in around one week’s time.
