NHL 21

 Xbox One
Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 6 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 6
  3. Negative: 0 out of 6
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  1. GameSpot
    Oct 16, 2020
    90
    NHL 21 is a fantastic ice hockey game that pushes the series forward with an enjoyable, engaging story mode in Be A Pro and a flashy, arcade-style way to play with HUT Rush. The new skill moves are a welcome addition to the mix to give players new ways to be slippery and keep defenders guessing, but the best part of NHL 21 is its solid foundation thanks to its excellent controls and presentation package that is getting even closer to mirroring a TV broadcast.
  2. Stevivor
    Oct 15, 2020
    85
    NHL 21 is a tight little package -- years in the making -- but that's because EA Vancouver is doing everything it can to refine a polished hockey game year-on-year.
  3. God is a Geek
    Oct 25, 2020
    80
    Whilst the gameplay changes and additions to the game modes are welcomed, NHL 21 feels more like an update than a brand new game.
  5. GameCritics
    Dec 17, 2020
    75
    Users won’t see a true next-gen NHL title until late 2021 at the earliest, so it’s refreshing to see the developers making a concerted effort to deliver a strong experience for current gen fans — EA did an admirable job here.
  6. ZTGD
    Oct 21, 2020
    75
    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.
  7. TheXboxHub
    Oct 30, 2020
    70
    In recent years, EA Sports have added plenty of new modes across their licensed games, and NHL 21 on the Xbox One is no exception; there is a lot of ice hockey on offer. The variety will offer something for everyone, but there are issues with the gameplay on the rink that mean some modes work better than others.
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  1. Polygon
    Oct 22, 2020
    EA Vancouver had to start somewhere in its effort to make Be a Pro more dynamic and immersive, and this update indeed feels like a first effort. When the studio introduced Be a Pro in 2008’s NHL 09, it set a high bar for sports career modes. But others have eclipsed it in the years since, making this attempt feel dated rather than new. [Be a Pro review]

User Reviews

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User Score
3.2

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 55 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 55
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 55
  3. Negative: 36 out of 55
  1. Xbox_Alive
    Oct 25, 2020
    7
    NHL 21, EA reomoved it's career mode, to Be a Pro. But the long awaited refresh of fan-favorite mode ends up like a rookie created it. It’sNHL 21, EA reomoved it's career mode, to Be a Pro. But the long awaited refresh of fan-favorite mode ends up like a rookie created it. It’s impressive at first but for just a season stretch, and fizzles after the very 1st season. NHL 21's EA hasn’t fixed basics of Being a Pro. It’s still about playing through the NHL career of a rookie player and improving their stats over time. That’s fine, but this year’s changes as significant as they appear to be just don’t go far enough in making the experience feel both new and improved in the end. The studio has now grafted narrative components of a sort in the mode, using flashy presentation elements like cutscenes and a radio show. Yet the story, such as it is, ends up being limited almost entirely to your player’s rookie season in the NHL. And the more time I spent with the mode beyond that, the more it felt like the first year was an opulent facade on a creaky building. Be a Pro’s introductory cutscene leads right into a familiar disappointment. The NHL series’ player creation suite remains essentially unchanged this year, which means that it’s still impossible for me to create a player who truly looks like my Indian self. The mode may look more like a RPG in NHL 21, with its new dialogue choices, but it’s sorely missing a more robust character creator with basic options like the ability to tweak skin tones and facial features. These new role-playing choices are designed to let you shape the kind of player you want to be and live the life of an NHL athlete off the ice, although the range of outcomes is limited. Dialogue options (albeit without voice acting) will pop up in your player’s conversations with their coach or teammates, or interviews with the press, and all of them tend to be split into the two main paths that EA has set up. You can go a team route by choosing dialogue that follows your coach’s instructions to play within the system, or you can opt for the a star's path, putting your interests ahead of the team’s. Your dialogue choices open up chances to boost your character’s skills and attributes. EA has integrated this conversation structure into Be a Pro’s existing Coach Challenge system. Instead of just getting a pop-up saying that your coach wants you to defend a lead, you’ll see an in-game cutscene of the coach calling you over to the bench and actually giving you that instruction. It’s a smart way to liven up a long-running element of the Be a Pro experience and make it feel so much more immersive. The choices work far better for the in-game challenges than the other conversations. The team/star framework makes sense in the context of hockey, which is so dominated by a team-first mentality that endless column inches have been dedicated to the idea that the sport would be more popular if the NHL could figure out how to market its stars better. And in Be a Pro games, that dichotomy fits with the ethos of the mode, where you define what kind of player you are through your performance and play style on the ice. I’d wager that most Be a Pro fans, like me, tend to play aggressively in an effort to rack up gaudy stats. The challenges now also present a more conservative option that still feels like you’re contributing to the team. But using the same system for off-ice conversations falls flat because the choices don’t end up mattering all that much. Because they’re divorced from the NHL series’ existing in-game challenges, I quickly detected how tired the dialogue choices began to feel. A common situation is a cutscene in which a teammate invites you to a group outing. The team responses might be to say that yes, you’d be happy to go, or that no, you need to rest up for the next game. But many of the star responses are worded in such a ridiculously selfish way like, literally saying, What is in it for me? Well that it’s hard to imagine an actual NHL athlete mouthing off like that. A binary system where one of the options is actively be a bad sport makes for a poor RPG setup; it’s also been done to death in sports series like I’d love to see somebody move past it. The star path is really viable only for challenges on the ice. It tends to be more risky, with tougher objectives that offer greater rewards. The team path is safer, with missions that are more easily achievable. For example my coach might ask me to maintain a lead team an objective I’d fail only if our opponents tied the game. I could also respond with a guarantee that I’ll personally score a goal to put the game out of reach star quality. The outcomes of challenges don’t impact your player’s skills. Instead, they affect three different likability ratings. The brand rating which rises when you complete star goals and the one that matters most, since it controls your number of social media followers feels immersive. In the end one season is all you need to see what NHL21's changed in 2021 for fans on Xbox One.… Full Review »
  2. Hardo1k
    Nov 2, 2020
    0
    I wish EA would take me out on a date before they **** me in the ass this hard. Trash.
  3. plzcumbaknhl2k
    Oct 23, 2020
    4
    Game-play is slightly better. I decided to pay for early access this year. Big mistake. Game was un-usable due to server issues. Here weGame-play is slightly better. I decided to pay for early access this year. Big mistake. Game was un-usable due to server issues. Here we are less than a couple weeks later and an 8 hour and counting outage with their servers again. I'm certain this will be a recurring theme as it was last year. The game is never ready and that is unacceptable for a game that is merely tweaking the same game year after year and has a brutal reputation for asking for more money for upgrades constantly. I am finally seeing the light with all the history of the terrible angry fan reviews. This company develops games that feed on addictive casino like/ reward gameplay. There is a reason they are facing a class action lawsuit over loot boxes. We seriously need another company to make a fair priced fun game that doesn't promote spending the most money to be the best team. If I had to pick a Halloween costume for EA to dress in, it would be a vampire.… Full Review »
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