NHL 21

What to Know

Critics Recommend

Average Score

Total Reviews: 34

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EA Vancouver has made strides in addressing long-running issues, but this feels like an incremental step forward, and the game remains hampered by AI and identify shortcomings.

Skip It

Critics Recommend

Critic Reviews: 34

Critics Consensus

# Reviews: 34

EA Vancouver has made strides in addressing long-running issues, but this feels like an incremental step forward, and the game remains hampered by AI and identify shortcomings.

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Critic Reviews for NHL 21

Reviews

High Score - 91/100

Low Score - 50/100

Kat Bailey (USgamer)

2.5/5 stars

“NHL 21 tries to end the current generation on a high note, but legacy issues continue to hold it back. Its revamped Be a Pro mode is particularly disappointing, proving to be a disjointed, somewhat sloppy experience. It has its usual strengths, with online team play being a definite highlight, but longtime fans of the series will likely find this year’s entry eminently skippable.”

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Andrew McMahon (Twinfinite)

3.5/5 stars

“NHL 21 lives up to the same quality of work it’s known for in previous generations for better or worse. While it does attempt to push the series forward, anything it does to elevate it to the next line falls short of scoring any significant points.”

Read full review

John Cantees (GamingBolt)

7/10

“I appreciate the shots that NHL 21 takes at improving the formula, but at the end of the day, most of those shots are too little too late, and end up making the overall experience just barely better than mediocre.”

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Read the Reviews (34 total)

Outlet	Author	Score	Date	Quote	Read
Attack of the Fanboy	Kenny Keelan	3.5 / 5 stars	11-02-2020	NHL 21 is an exercise in consistency, providing the usual improvements to graphics, sound, gameplay, and features while having the usual hindrances. Be A Pro is the real All-Star of this game but like every pro on the ice, there was still room for improvement and falls short in some very easy to notice ways.	Read review
COGconnected	Rhett Waselenchuk	65 / 100	10-16-2020	I stand by that it plays as well as it ever has. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a proper representation of the sport. If EA Vancouver ever hopes to stand alongside the giants of the genre – NBA 2K and MLB The Show – they’ll need to rethink what simulation hockey really means.	Read review
Digital Chumps	Benjamine Branscum	9.1 / 10	09-28-2017	While it holds up some similarities to NHL 20, there is enough to go into the rink, lace up your skates, and hit the ice.	Read review
DualShockers	Michael Ruiz	7.5 / 10	10-16-2020	Just another season.	Read review
Expansive	Jay Jones	Recommended	11-07-2020	There were some pretty bad frame rate drops at times when the camera pans from the crowd to the ice, and there’s definitely a sharp learning curve on doing some of the shots and a level of complexity in the way they’re controlled which will be frustrating at first, but NHL 21 is the best Ice Hockey game I’ve played to date and it’s one sports franchise I’ll certainly be dipping in and out of in the months ahead.	Read review
Forbes	Brian Mazique	8 / 10	10-17-2020	NHL 21 is another strong entry into the series’ history. It delivers a new strand of flavor with Be a Pro, maintains quality on the ice, and makes franchise mode more enjoyable. However, the limitations in customization and the subtractions to HUT keep NHL 21 from being the series’ ultimate edition.	Read review
Game Informer	Kimberley Wallace	7.5 / 10	10-16-2020	NHL 21 doesn’t feel like a huge leap from last year, but EA Vancouver makes strides in addressing long-known issues and sets a better foundation for the next generation	Read review
Gamerheadquarters	Jason Stettner	8.2 / 10	10-20-2020	EA Sports NHL 21 delivers a well rounded package with a great selection of modes and various enhancements to core mechanics.	Read review
GameSkinny	Robert Ingram	8 / 10	10-21-2020	NHL 21 provides more of the same, and with the uncertainty of the real world season, even less of what few changes fans come to expect of yearly releases.	Read review
GameSpot	Eddie Makuch	9 / 10	10-16-2020	EA’s NHL 21 is a success thanks to its improved story mode, exciting new skill moves, and excellent controls.	Read review
GamesRadar+	Rob Dwiar	3.5 / 5 stars	10-27-2020	NHL 21 is the best hockey game around by default – but it seldom genuinely stands out from this generation’s pack.	Read review
GamingBolt	John Cantees	7 / 10	10-22-2020	I appreciate the shots that NHL 21 takes at improving the formula, but at the end of the day, most of those shots are too little too late, and end up making the overall experience just barely better than mediocre.	Read review
God is a Geek	Chris White	8 / 10	10-25-2020	Whilst the gameplay changes and additions to the game modes are welcomed, NHL 21 feels more like an update than a brand new game.	Read review
Hardcore Gamer	Cory Wells	4 / 5 stars	10-16-2020	NHL 21 has taken the best of what has been offered this generation in the series and sprinkled goodness on top.	Read review
IGN	Chase Becotte	6 / 10	10-16-2020	Arcade goodies are mashed together with NHL 21’s legacy issues that span an entire console generation.	Read review
Impulsegamer	Paul Stuart	3.75 / 5 stars	10-20-2020	The best of the series but with little improvements over its predecessors, NHL 21 is a respectable hockey send-off for modern consoles. Per prior, NHL still looks and sounds great, but remains hampered by AI and identity shortcomings.	Read review
INDIANTVCZ	Jakub Kadlus	4 / 10	12-05-2020	NHL 21 is a big knife in the back for fans and players from EA. The full price and the vision of a new game is just a well-disguised fact more than a new year it can be considered more like a DLC. Yes, you can definitely kill a lot of time in a game, but for the owners of some last year’s NHL games is NHL 21 completely useless game in the library.	Read review
New Game Network	Alex Varankou	70 / 100	10-23-2020	As the final entry on the current console generation, NHL 21 underwhelms. It plays a decent game of hockey, but with very few changes on the ice, and the new Be a Pro leaving something to be desired, it doesn’t offer much to be excited about for returning fans.	Read review
Operation Sports	Ryan	Recommended	10-18-2020	NHL 21 has taken strides forward in some areas that lagged in the past. Be A Pro received much-needed changes and is the first innovative offline mode in the series since the implementation of the expansion draft. It may still end up feeling repetitive, but it feels fresh and could rejuvenate that aspect of the game. Franchise mode’s new coaching options are a good update, but they’re only a superficial change. However, the new interactions on trade deadline day are enough to satisfy me.	Read review
PlayStation LifeStyle	Staff Reviewer	8 / 10	10-22-2020	In a year that likely not see any more hockey at the NHL level, it’s nice to see that NHL 21 is allowing us to indulge our inner superstar. There may not be a ton of other huge innovations, but the enhanced take on Be A Pro alone makes this installment worth investing in. If you’re looking to only dive into the season mode, this may be more of an off-year, but for everybody else, it’s high-time to return to the ice with vengeance!	Read review
PlayStation Universe	David Carcasole	7 / 10	10-20-2020	NHL 21 brings much-needed improvements and depth to the variety of game modes available, though does nothing to fix the same issues that make the fun arcade style gameplay feel out of place in the more sim-focused modes. There is enough content thankfully that you can just keep having fun in the arcade modes and HUT Rush will actually keep you coming back for more high intensity action.	Read review
Polygon	Samit Sarkar	Not Recommended	10-22-2020	By the start of my second year, I was somehow named the New York Rangers’ captain, a rare honor traditionally reserved for a respected veteran and locker-room leader. I had managed to reach a 76 overall rating	Read review
Push Square	Graham Banas	7 / 10	10-22-2020	NHL 21 is absolutely a step forward. We won’t be able to see if this improvement is a one-time thing until next year, but as it stands, this final release of the generation is also its best in that span. With a long-overdue update to the Be a Pro mode, alongside the pretty fun HUT Rush and the changes to Franchise, the series took a bigger step forward than it normally does. Sure, there’s a give and take quality to many of the alterations, but the overall product is a net positive. It won’t be scooping up an endless stream of awards any time soon, but this series has been in far worse shape in the past.	Read review
Reno Gazette-Journal	Jason Hidalgo	7 / 10	10-21-2020	Despite not being as big a fan of sports games like I used to be, EA’s NHL series is the one I still have a soft spot for among the ongoing crop of sports titles. I just like its balance of fun gameplay and how it doesn’t shamelessly abuse microtransactions like other more popular sports games out there. For NHL 21, the series brings in a more fleshed out Be A Pro mode as well as more intuitive movement on the ice. The minimal improvements to franchise mode, however, combined with the lack of key fan-requested features such as shared rosters make NHL 21 feel incomplete. All in all, it’s still one of the better, more consumer-friendly sports games out there. At the same time, I also feel that it could still be much better.	Read review
SECTOR.sk	Decain	8 / 10	11-10-2020	The last game of the NHL series on the current generation of consoles is, from the point of view of a newcomer to the series, very high-quality entertainment	Read review
Shacknews	Bill Lavoy	8 / 10	10-16-2020	I’m not old school like the coaches and GMs that still make up a large part of the NHL, but I’m old school in that I grew up in the 80s and 90s and value hard hockey played the right way over flashy dekes you might see once a season. I love dekes as much as the next person, but not at the expense of solid core gameplay. EA Vancouver tried to sell dekes, cosmetics, and the idea of being a superstar, but what resonated with me, an old-school hockey guy, were the core gameplay improvements.	Read review
SomHráč.sk	René Blanárik	70 / 100	11-30-2020	Sadly, NHL 21 doesn’t offer anything new. However, it remains the best ice hockey video game out there by default.	Read review
Sports Gamers Online	Michael Straw	6 / 10	11-05-2020	NHL 21 isn’t a Stanley Cup contender just yet, but it’s definitely a game that’s showing contendership potential	Read review
Stevivor	Steve Wright	8.5 / 10	10-16-2020	There’s no denying NHL 21 is a tight little package — in fact, it’s been years in the making (click that and thank me later) — but that’s because EA Vancouver is doing everything it can to refine a polished hockey game year-on-year. NHL 20 introduced or improved most of the items that feature inside this, so unless you’re super into single-player modes like Be a Pro, you could get away with buying it instead of this. If you’re into multiplayer, well, you have to upgrade; I don’t need to convince you. I’m ultimately rather pleased with NHL 21, but still have to throw some shade at EA for choosing not to support this on next-gen consoles in any way. Boo.	Read review
Twinfinite	Andrew McMahon	3.5 / 5 stars	10-20-2020	NHL 21 lives up to the same quality of work it’s known for in previous generations for better or worse. While it does attempt to push the series forward, anything it does to elevate it to the next line falls short of scoring any significant points.	Read review
USgamer	Kat Bailey	2.5 / 5 stars	10-21-2020	NHL 21 tries to end the current generation on a high note, but legacy issues continue to hold it back. Its revamped Be a Pro mode is particularly disappointing, proving to be a disjointed, somewhat sloppy experience. It has its usual strengths, with online team play being a definite highlight, but longtime fans of the series will likely find this year’s entry eminently skippable.	Read review
We Got This Covered	Jon Hueber	4 / 5 stars	10-16-2020	The added physicality on both ends of the ice and the demand for skill-based gameplay makes NHL 21 the closest thing to real hockey in series history.	Read review
Worth Playing	Andreas Salmen	6.8 / 10	10-16-2020	Adding up all of the changes between NHL 20 and NHL 21, it’s still hard to justify the full-price release in comparison to what’s new this year. I appreciate the focus on the Be A Pro mode, but there is still a lot of work to be done to improve its consistency and reduce frustrating and demotivating moments and bugs across the entire experience. The gameplay feels like it did a small leap forward with some basic AI and animation improvements, making NHL 21 very fun and smooth to play, but it’s not enough to hide its aging foundation. I sincerely hope the franchise can make up ground with its next entry and, hopefully, an improved engine. If you are a dedicated fan or have skipped several of the previous entries, NHL 21 is a solid purchase, but otherwise, there isn’t enough here to justify the price tag.	Read review
ZTGD	Ken McKown	7.5 / 10	10-21-2020	NHL 21 feels like an incremental step up from last year’s game. What I enjoyed is that even with my limited knowledge of the sport I could hop in and have a great time. I really will come back once the NHL 94 mode drops into the game. Those classic games were great even if I had no clue what icing was. For those looking to upgrade it might not be revolutionary, but this year’s game sure is a lot of fun once you get past its shortcomings.	Read review

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Game Info

Game Description / Storyline:

Gameplay in NHL 21 has gotten smarter, faster and a whole lot flashier. With innovative moves and massive improvements on both sides of the puck, players have more options than ever before to take control of the game and impose their playstyle on opponents. Recognize Revolutionary with Gameplay in NHL 21. A brand new Be A Pro experience gives you the chance to live the life of an NHL player, on and off the ice. Impress the front office, go early on draft day, and chase greatness as you earn your spot on the first line, compete for the Stanley Cup, and become the league’s next best. Recognize Future with Be A Pro in NHL 21. World of Chel makes it easier than ever to jump in, and play solo or connect with friends on your way to wins and rewards. This year, we’re introducing Ranked Seasons — where you’ll compete across each of the four modes to earn rewards and play in the new EASHL Club Finals.

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