NHL 25 gameplay reveal highlights Ice-Q and quality improvements

No more crashing into each other, yay

EA Sports

EA Sports pulled the curtain back on NHL 25 in a press conference GLHF recently attended and showed off a little bit about what makes this year’s sports game different. This first reveal was all about the new system EA built NHL 25 in and the broad improvements it makes to on-puck and defensive action.

Producer Chris Haluke said EA built NHL 25 in the studio’s new “Ice-Q” system, a twee name for a network of changes that, despite sounding minor, have the potential to make on-ice play deeper and more enjoyable. Haluke also said family, rivalry, and connections were the guiding ideas behind NHL 25, though aside from having a trio of brothers as NHL 25’s cover stars, he and game designer Mike Inglehart didn’t go into much detail about that particular concept.

What they did cover were the “pillars” of Ice-Q, the first of which is vision control. Vision control does what it says on the label – gives you more control over what you’re seeing on the ice and how you see it. Camera focus stays on the net when you have the puck and on the puck when you don’t. 

That’s a broad description, but Inghleheart showed a few brief examples of how it works in practice, including an offense situation where the player loops around behind the net in a bid to set up a more advantageous shot. Unlike in some previous NHL games, where the camera follows the player, the vision control camera zoomed out so you have a full view of the defense zone and can plan your next move instead of just hoping for the best. It’s a pretty big deal, and I’m surprised it took this long to make sure you don’t just pass in the dark and hope someone’s there to take the puck. 

Improved player positioning and better camera angles mean a higher chance of pulling your play off right / EA Sports

Another example saw the camera angle shift so the player could take advantage of a small gap in the opposing team’s defense, a gap that probably would have remained unnoticeable in NHL 24, and slip through to get a clear shot at the net.

These small features potentially open the way for deeper strategy and some memorable spontaneous plays, though I’m less sure how helpful it is on defense. Inghleheart showed a very short comparison gif between NHL 25 and NHL 24, but the two looked almost identical to me. The opposing player seemed to stay in focus more, but he was also moving more slowly.

CPU AI is the Ice-Q system’s second major focus point, a similar collection of small changes with big implications. Inglehart spent a bit less time on this, but the gist of it is that all skaters who you aren’t controlling move with greater agility and foresight. You can count on a teammate to be there when you need them – barring legitimate interference from the opposing team, of course – and they play like they’re actually part of the team and know what’s going on. That’s certainly a welcome change.

The third pillar is a close offshoot of the second one: reactive animations. CPU-controlled characters react more appropriately,  like real-life players would, in “critical situations.” Such situations range from recovering more quickly after collisions to having the artificial foresight not to crash into each other on the ice without intending to.

He actually looks like a human! / EA Sports

Haluke and Inglehart closed out with two unrelated new features in NHL 25. The first is a new skill-based one-timer shot, where, under certain circumstances when the offensive player has a clean view, you get a brief window of input opportunity that improves your chance of scoring, assuming the defense doesn’t stop you first. It sounds like it has more potential for memorable clashes if you’re playing with other people, though Inglehart said NHL 25’s new AI behavior means you should get some tense moments playing against the computer as well.

On the completely opposite end of the spectrum, Haluke showed off NHL 25’s upgraded character models and their swish new hair – in the character screen, anyway. We didn’t get to see the models in action, but when you’re viewing them outside gameplay, the uncanny valley effect is gone. In its place is what seems like a model of a normal person that you could reasonably say resembles their real-life counterpart, including hair that looks like hair. That probably sounds weird if you’ve never played an NHL game before, but if you have, then you know why it’s a pretty big deal.

There’s much more to come from EA about NHL 25 in the lead-up to the game’s October 2024 launch, including a deep-dive into this year’s Hockey Ultimate Team.