NHL 21

 PlayStation 4
Metascore
72

Mixed or average reviews - based on 32 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 32
  3. Negative: 2 out of 32
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  1. PLAY! Zine
    Nov 4, 2020
    45
    NHL 21 is almost the same game like NHL 20, with few added additional features to few of its modes. Absolute cash-grab for a yearly roster update and another microtransaction filled unsatisfactory experience.
  2. Screen Rant
    Oct 18, 2020
    20
    While NHL 21 brings with it some exciting minor features, the game has not made any significant quality of life improvements with these new changes. In NHL 21, there is no soul, and the franchise needs to stop putting out features and create a new NHL game where changing the on-ice product is what sells the product. Dreams of making solid passes that are accurate, no more 55 minute games on the penalty kill, and no more glitch goals remain dreams - but that shouldn't be the case any long, and hopefully NHL 22 is a top-down restructuring of a series that sorely needs it.

Awards & Rankings

36
#36 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2020

User Reviews

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User Score
2.3

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 159 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 159
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 159
  3. Negative: 126 out of 159
  1. SunPraiser
    Oct 17, 2020
    0
    Same copy and paste as previous games, but still full priced game. The only real improvement is Be a Pro, but it gets old fast. BarelySame copy and paste as previous games, but still full priced game. The only real improvement is Be a Pro, but it gets old fast. Barely anything improved or added to CHEL. Not even worth my time writing anything more than that. If you want to play NHL 21 for dirt cheap, then buy NHL 20.… Full Review »
  2. ChuckB3430
    Oct 26, 2020
    2
    I have never felt compelled to write a review before. I have become the snob I hate. But this game is absolutely trash. The gameplay isI have never felt compelled to write a review before. I have become the snob I hate. But this game is absolutely trash. The gameplay is virtually the same with a few noticeable tweaks. Players still take passes while skating backwards, goalies are still the dumbest player on the ice(with the exception of defensemen in some situations), and coaching doesn't affect anything.

    I don't play HUT or EASHL because I don't want to pay money for packs and hopefully get a decent card that way. Micro-transactions are what is killing gaming and killing what makes them fun. EA Sports is the king of this crap, and it needs to stop. I mainly play offline modes like Franchise and Be A Pro. People like me get the short end of the stick every year because we don't want to spend more money than we already have buying the game. This review is mainly about franchise and be a pro, which again, come up short this year.

    Franchise:
    -Once again, the Stanley Cup presentation is the exact same thing as years past. Love seeing the Cup being passed to random 3rd liners that didn't contribute to anything. Let us actually lift the Cup, not see 3 people do it and call it a day. Please revamp this.
    -Trade values are off, I was able to trade a top 6 exact defenseman at 79 overall for a 1st round pick and a medium elite prospect. Trade values need to be fixed. Overall's need to be fixed to. Drew Doughty being a 91 overall player while Erik Cernak being a low top 6 78 overall player just proves that no one at EA watches hockey and goes off what they did last year. It's an incomplete roster update, which is the only thing new sports games are usually bought for.
    -The sim engine is terrible again. I love winning the presidents trophy 4 years in a row and losing in the first round every year. What is the point of building an unstoppable team for 82 games and then all of a sudden they don't know what goal is which.
    -Speaking of playoffs, can you make it seem like a bigger deal than currently presented?
    -Record book is bugged. 3 years in some random goalie(most of the time Jordan Binnington) becomes the all time leader is goalie games played as well as overall games played. Goalie stats are always terrible in the sim engine, and now the goalie stat bugs carry over into the record book.
    -Still no all star game. EA Sports makes a huge deal of NHL Three's and you can't add a 3-3 All-Star game? Joke.
    -Trade logic is still off. Teams still signing free agents and offering them to you in a trade 3 days later. Smart A.I.
    -Trade deadline is pretty cool. However, free agency is still the same. You can add a Free Agent Frenzy mode, copy and paste the trade deadline mini game and tweak it to free agency. Still not able to rescind offers or even see if the player is interested in signing with you. You just have to offer and hope. All other sports games show you player interest. Let us have a try-out option for some free agents as well. Something that happens in the real world that has never been added to a video game before. EA loves copying and pasting, why not do it for something actually cool.
    -The Draft is still the same. Make it seem like the draft is a bigger deal than it actually is.
    -Coaching and chemistry are the same and was an okay add last year.
    -Let us see other teams jersey's and captains. We could do that on old gen, but can't this time. An entire generation of console didn't have half the small features that made last gen fun.

    Be a Pro:
    -You all realize this is NHL14's Live the Life but this time with animations, right? It took EA an entire console generation to just get back to the last game used on old gen. It's a joke.
    -It gets repetitive, lack of things to do, same in-game situations over and over. It isn't fun anymore by the time you get to year 3.
    -Speaking of year 3, you get to become a free agent. Yay! It's the same thing as the last few years! You can be the best player since Gretzky, be a free agent and you'll get 2 teams offering you 1 or 2 year deals. Are you kidding me? Change it! Make it seem like you give a crap! And don't lecture me on how "they revamped the whole mode! of course they care!" They don't. Like I said, its the same as NHL14 but with animations. That's it.
    -You can buy a luxury car though and get a stat boost, that's cool I guess.
    -Still can't see any other team. Just yours. Can't see team jersey numbers or choose yours. It's just the same every single year and its disheartening.

    Random side note: soundtrack sucks. Again. NHL used to have the best soundtracks ever. Now on natural instinct I go to the settings and change it to the menu music.

    To close, sorry for ranting. But I needed to say it. EA Sports just takes and takes. When they "add" its only repackaged old game modes presented as new and revolutionary. Its just sad at this point. I don't have any faith in this game franchise or the company to give hockey fans a genuinely good product. I hope they prove us all wrong.    … Full Review »
  3. VlueStar
    Oct 19, 2020
    0
    The same terrible gameplay from nhl 19. I didn’t buy last year out of the hopes that they would’ve at least evolved a tiny bit but this isn’tThe same terrible gameplay from nhl 19. I didn’t buy last year out of the hopes that they would’ve at least evolved a tiny bit but this isn’t the case. Cross creases and point shots are still the easiest ways to score and online play is just people abusing the games poor gameplay mechanics. It’s kind of remarkable that a hockey game ceases to look anything like hockey, the people at ea once again proven how little of an effort they will put into this series and it shows. But then again, did I expect anything less at this point.… Full Review »
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