NHL 21

1. mikerich1

   Jan 10, 2021

   10

   DO NOT BUY THIS GAME. Its been the SAME GAME since nhl 16 and there are NO CHANGES that will be made in the FORESEEABLE FUTURE! I cannotDO NOT BUY THIS GAME. Its been the SAME GAME since nhl 16 and there are NO CHANGES that will be made in the FORESEEABLE FUTURE! I cannot stress this enough.… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
2. 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.… Expand

   • 13 of 15 users found this helpful
4. Lordpepsi777

   May 21, 2021

   5

   Wtf did they do to this franchise. Passing is the worst it has ever been, like ill be aiming to pass to my forwards and it will pass back toWtf did they do to this franchise. Passing is the worst it has ever been, like ill be aiming to pass to my forwards and it will pass back to my defense which 9 out of 10 times causes a breakaway for the opponent. Another thing is that this game takes no skill, all it is, is cross creases and snapshots from the blue line. EA please balance your game and fix passing, or make it like NBA 2ks.… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
5. JoseyWales81

   Mar 5, 2021

   1

   It's not easy being an NHL fan in the world of video games. Unfortunately, in the year 2021, you only have one option, and it's clear theIt's not easy being an NHL fan in the world of video games. Unfortunately, in the year 2021, you only have one option, and it's clear the publishing company is aware they have no competition. The EA NHL series is perhaps one of the most embarrassingly inept, apathetic video game series currently available on the market. Problems that have plagued the franchise since day one have still not been fixed twenty years later. the worst offender is the AI; Breakout passes that your defenseman watches as it glides under his stick, breakouts that die in the middle of the ice because your wingers don't know what an 'offside' rule is. You are encouraged to use the 'poke check' tool, only to have a penalty called everytime you press the button. It's clear there is very little attention to detail or, quite frankly, any care at all when it comes to the off-line product. Be a GM Mode is still the same as it's always been, there have been a few tepid changes to MyPro, and most of the attention is being focused on trying to pump as much money from 13 year olds as possible through the online format. I'm frankly ashamed at how bad this game is, considering EA has heaquarters in my home country. You can hold on to your NHL 20 copy and continue to play that, you will absolutely not notice a difference. Hell, you could continue playing NHL 2016 and you probably wouldn't notice many changes,, save for the players on the rosters.
   
   I give this game a 1, and that's with a heavy heart because it used to be my favorite franchise. It's appalling how fast it's fallen, and how much dust its now collecting on my shelf. Shame on you, EA.… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
6. Peteide

   Nov 22, 2020

   0

   I want a refund. I wonder how it is possible to make a worse game over and over and over again?! wtf! Yeah maybe that is has more be a proI want a refund. I wonder how it is possible to make a worse game over and over and over again?! wtf! Yeah maybe that is has more be a pro features but that does not make up for the bad **** and bugs that are on the ice! And how about talking to some real goalies and try to get an AI with somewhat of an IQ above room-temperature jezz!… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
7. Doog39

   Oct 28, 2020

   0

   Literally signed up for metacritic just to leave this review. EA almost never listens to consumer feedback. IF EA attempts to fix a problemLiterally signed up for metacritic just to leave this review. EA almost never listens to consumer feedback. IF EA attempts to fix a problem they go way overboard. This will be the last time I waste my money on these games.… Expand

   • 1 of 1 users found this helpful
8. Ruthkess_Luke

   Feb 2, 2021

   0

   Are you a huge fan of propaganda?
   Is the destruction of societal standards your favorite past time?
   Does the idea of singling out socialAre you a huge fan of propaganda?
   Is the destruction of societal standards your favorite past time?
   Does the idea of singling out social groups to persecute or worship make you giddy?
   Is your favorite aspect of athletic competition kneeling for the anthem of the nation which prospers you?
   If you answered no then skip this game.
   Currently celebrating the Chinese take over of our country while simultaneously championing inclusion of LGBT groups with rainbow rewards... but ensuring there is no option for crosses in your emblem and any text formatted as a bible verse [XXXX ##:##] is flagged as "hate speech".
   If they're so proud of it, they should just acknowledge they're not inclusive, they're selectively oppressive.
   Wait for a hockey game that isn't filled with such hate for America and believers if you're not one of the progressive social justice mask wearing tide pod eating culture lol fr… Expand

   • 1 of 1 users found this helpful

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