NHL 25 will be released about a month from now, and we have finally seen our first glimpse of the gameplay tweaks made for this year’s version. Let’s dive into the improvements!
Next-Gen Vision Control
If one thing has been steadily improving in the NHL series, it’s the skating. This year in NHL 25, EA is touting Next-Gen Vision Control. This will help defenders walk the blueline better. This has been an issue in the series for a long time. I don’t feel like defenders have had enough ability to effectively create offense from the back end in past games. Now, they can pivot around players and perform crossovers at the line to keep the puck in and get into a better position for a pass or shot. When the vision control is active, it keeps the net as the player’s primary focus. This allows for a lot of creativity in the zone, as seen in the video, with the player cruising behind the net and coming out for a quick shot in the slot. When the player doesn’t have the puck, vision control focuses on the puck, not the net. This affects how well players can pick off passes and get into the lane of the puck. This is a massive addition at both ends of the ice if it works as well as it appears to be working in the trailer.
Skill-Based One-Timers
I’m excited to see this implemented in the game. If you’re a hockey fan, you know how vital one-timers are. If you play NHL, you know how frustratingly inconsistent they can be. Adding skill-based one-timers will add some variety to how they’re performed. They have to be timed correctly on the shooter’s part, which adds some difficulty that is sorely needed. If timed correctly, the shot will be hard and accurate. If timed poorly, the shot won’t be as hard and will likely miss the net. On the defensive side, the next-gen vision control allows better gap control to intercept some of these passes or even get in the shooting lane for a last-second block. This caters to skilled players, which should improve games overall. I would love to see the cheap goals cut out of the game, and this sets things on the right track to do that.
Empowered AI
If there is one thing every NHL player complains about year after year, it’s the AI. EA is listening, and in NHL 25, they’ve decided to revamp the AI completely. In the trailer, the AI players are in much better positions in all situations. The center hangs back in a 3-on-2 rush to get the pass in the slot instead of crashing into the crease. The AI also gets into better positioning when passing the puck around in the zone. This was an issue in the past as they would just run into the boards or follow your player around. Time will tell if this is improved, but this is one of the most significant issues in the game. If they can solve it, it’ll go a long way into making this a must-own version of the game. What does concern me is that they didn’t mention anything about goalie AI, which has been pretty abysmal.
Reactive Actions
This came as a bit of a surprise to me. An annoyance in NHL 24 is how often players bump each other, whether it’s just your teammate or an opposing player. EA shows off how you can swim past an opponent instead of getting tangled up. Depending on how it’s implemented, I could see this being a problem, but if players don’t figure out how to exploit it, it should be an excellent addition. The panic turns are so cool! Many times in a game, you might lose a step on another player. Making a quick turn to get your stick on the puck could be the difference between a win and a loss. I’m happy that players lose some momentum doing these actions. It makes it more of a risk versus reward type thing.
The gameplay for NHL 25 is shaping up nicely. They’re trying to improve the game as much as possible. I hope it doesn’t end up in a poor state like in 24.
