PlayStation 4
Released in 2020 by EA Sports
Grade: A+
A reader emailed me to ask why I hadn’t written anything new in a while. One reason was that I was enjoying the hell out of this game, this friggin’ awesome game, which until further notice, I’m declaring as the best hockey video game of all time!
Where it falls in the series
It’s the fifth edition on PS4, following the almost-as-awesome NHL 20. I couldn’t quite pull the A+ trigger on that installment, but NHL 21, mostly a “roster update,” packs some very slight gameplay improvements to put it over the top.
Praises and gripes
EA had been excelling at simulation hockey for 10 straight years by the time this came out, and this game inherits everything good about its predecessors. It moves naturally, it looks pristine, it’s intuitive to control, it’s deep with hockey’s actions and strategy, and it’s got all the options you need to dial in the ideal game.
One of its fine-touched improvements over NHL 20 is that defensemen clutter the front of the net more than before, stopping the trusty pass across the goalie for a one-timer (at least on the higher difficulty settings). This tactic still makes up a lot of goals, but there’s a more realistic balance. Other goal-scoring methods are fairly distributed, such as breakaways, sniper shots in traffic, tip-ins from the point, and rebounds.
Offsetting the high-skilled offense this game offers is the tenacity of defenders, who clog passing lanes, instinctively clear pucks into the corners, and punish forwards any chance they get. I like how much control I have over my defense, using the R1 poke check or the thumbstick body checks in the right moments. The hockey logic is just right, with skaters contorting themselves naturally and a very handy “skate backwards” control with L2. This game captures both the finesse and grit of pro hockey. It’s consistent, yet there’s still the “chaos factor” that facilitates low-scoring nail-biters as well as fast-paced goal-fests.
If you want to nitpick, EA hasn’t improved some minor atmosphere elements. The home crowd might sit on their hands in the closing moments of a win, only to erupt once the buzzer sounds. In a playoff series, a game feels just like any other game, without the standard series score on the scoreboard (such as “DAL leads 2-1”).
The menus are still a bit sluggish, making it a bit of a grind to do stuff like create teams, customize rosters, and handle in-season transactions. (I recently learned that in modern times, gamers call these types of things “quality of life features,” which is a subtly depressing term if I’ve ever heard one.)
Anyway, on the bright side of this game’s finer points, there are legacy teams for every franchise (including defunct teams like the Hartford Whalers and Minnesota North Stars), packed with players from the past. The create-a-team feature is expansive (see my embarrassingly nerdy article Meet the Teams of the BTNHLHL), and there are many minor league teams from around the world. The fun-focused 3-on-3 mode is back again too.
All in all, the gameplay is what matters, and EA has seemingly mastered it this time around. NHL 21 is great!
Published July 18, 2023