NHL 21 Reviews

NHL 21 is ranked in the 56th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
8.5 / 10.0
Oct 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.

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7 / 10.0
Oct 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.

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76%
Oct 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.

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Operation Sports
Ryan
Top Critic
Unscored
Oct 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.

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4 / 5.0
Oct 16, 2020

NHL 21 has taken the best of what has been offered this generation in the series and sprinkled goodness on top.

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8 / 10.0
Nov 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

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6 / 10.0
Nov 5, 2020

NHL 21 isn’t a Stanley Cup contender just yet, but it’s definitely a game that’s showing contendership potential

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70 / 100
Oct 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.

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Oct 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.

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6.8 / 10.0
Oct 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.

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Prima Games
Top Critic
5 / 10.0
Oct 23, 2020

If you’re heavily gameplay-driven, you’ll probably have a love/hate relationship with World of Chel and Hockey Ultimate Team that’ll leave you scratching your head. And with no next-gen version of the game coming later on like Madden 21 and FIFA 21, it might be a good time to take a year off from “Chel.”

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Nov 3, 2020

For many NHL franchise players, the career mode has never been the reason to pick up the game, so it's easy to live with this lackluster story. The other game modes in NHL 21 are as good as ever. You may not be a big hockey fan, but if you enjoy sports games, it's hard to do better than this.

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8 / 10.0
Aug 18, 2021

There is no doubt that this is a good game.

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INDIANTVCZ
Jakub Kadlus
4 / 10
Dec 5, 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.

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70%
Nov 30, 2020

Sadly, NHL 21 doesn't offer anything new. However, it remains the best ice hockey video game out there by default.

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Expansive
Jay Jones
Liked-a-lot
Nov 7, 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.

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8 / 10.0
Oct 21, 2020

The choices that you make can have an effect on how you look to your teammates, upper management, and to your fans. Before long you will be drafted to the NHL where you start seeing the big bucks come your way. Money in NHL21 is used to buy temporary amenities for your character which boost your stats or give you ability points. Ability points are used to boost stats such as Top Speed and Endurance permanently.

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8.2 / 10.0
Oct 20, 2020

EA Sports NHL 21 delivers a well rounded package with a great selection of modes and various enhancements to core mechanics.

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