NHL 21 – the best EA’s hokey game in recent years?

If you’re a fan of EA sports, you’ll definitely love its hockey game for which EA is famous. It is an ice hockey simulation game that is currently very popular among EA fans around the world. The good news for all the fans is that a new season from EA called NHL 21 has just been released.

The first installment of the NHL series was published by EA Sports in 1991 under the title NHL Hockey, developed by EA Vancouver.
And with the release of the last installment, the NHL (National Hockey League) series has become one of the most enduring and professional video game franchises that EA has ever made in the gaming industry.
So, without further delay, let’s move on to our main article and learn more about NHL 21 in detail.

Release Date

All NHL series games were released at their exact same time without any delay or confusion. But due to Covid-19, the reveal and release date of the 30th installment of the series, which is NHL 21, was postponed.
The delay was a huge disappointment to all EA fans.
However, in a developer update on July 20, 2020, EA Vancouver announced that the game would be released sometime in October.
Then on October 13, 2020 (According to the EA’s official website), the game was successfully launched worldwide, and it gave fans a chance to take a new action before the end of 2020.

Gameplay

Every time developers try and implement some new features, one of them is the career or “Be a Pro” mode for NHL 21.
This time the mode has been extended, and many new things have been added to make it more interactive and cinematic, just like Madden NFL and NBA 2K.
The gameplay is very simple: you can easily create a custom hockey player according to your thoughts and ideas and choose it to start your career as a candidate in any league.
But if you don’t want to create one, you can choose to go with undrafted and sign the team of your choice as a free agent in the NHL.
Interestingly, when talking to a coach or in a media scrums or press, you can choose your player’s dialogue yourself.
One thing to keep in mind is that whatever dialogue you choose will profoundly affect the player’s ability in teammates, management, etc.
Several updates, such as “Be a Pro” central hub, have also been updated to match the revamped game. With this update, you can easily access all the crucial settings of your player on one screen.
Chel umbrella mode, a multiplayer-based World, has four different modes present in NHL 20, if you remember.

The new thing that has been introduced in the World of Chel is a progression system that allows you to get different rankings in all four sub-modes.

And these grades are of six types, which are as follows:

• Bronze
• Silver
• Gold
• Platinum
• Diamond
• Elite

At the end of the season, you also receive rewards according to your performance and rank in the game.

Platforms

When it comes to the platform through which any gamer can play NHL 21, the game shocks its fans very badly. EA has officially announced that the PC version will not be available, and gaming fans will only be able to play it on PS4 and Xbox One.
Many of you may be thinking that you have heard many rumors that the PC version is available. But this kind of confusion can be expected, as the GameStop mistaken page posted that a PC version of NHL 21 is available.
This gave some hope to PC gamers, but the reality is that no PC version is available yet.
Aside from the PC, it was also announced that NHL 21 would not be available for the Xbox Series X and PS5 for some time, another vague decision by the EA for almost everyone. But now, due to the forward compatibility technology, it is also available for these platforms.

Cover

Have you played the NHL 07 edition, and did you like the cover athlete of this edition? If so, be prepared because, in the NHL 21, Washington Capitals star Alexander Ovechkin will grace the cover too.
It was revealed in the August 24 premiere trailer of NHL 21 that Alexandre Ovechkin will fulfill his responsibilities as a Global Cover Athlete for the second time in his career. While the last year, Toronto Maple Leafs, Auston Matthews was the cover athlete.

Ovechkin’s thoughts:

• “It’s a huge honor to be on the cover of NHL 21 for the second cover in my career.”
• “More importantly, I’m glad I’m looking just as good on the cover this year as I did in 2007!!!”

NHL 21 Top 10 Players

As we know, the most talked about thing in any game is player rankings. Every player’s performance changes every year. That’s why this part of the game is talked about every year.
According to the EA’s official website, the top 10 players in the NHL 21 are:

• Connor McDavid
• Alex Ovechkin
• Sidney Crosby
• Nathan MacKinnon
• Leon Draisaitl
• Nikita Kucherov
• Victor Hedman
• Brad Marchand
• Patrice Bergeron
• John Carlson

How to Buy NHL 21

Since NHL 21 is not a free game, you need to buy it first to play it. The purchase process is very simple.
Just go to EA’s official website, select your platform, and then click on the Buy button. After that, you will be redirected to PlayStation or Microsoft stores for checkout, where you can buy and enjoy it.

Price:

• $59.99 (Standard Edition)
• $69.99 (Deluxe Edition)
• $79.99 (Great Eight Edition)

Pros and Cons

Here are some of the pros and cons of the NHL 21 game:

• Pros:
  A wide range of modes and content
  Many bugs have been fixed, and games have been improved.
  Updating of “Be A Pro” career mode is a significant change.
  The new HUT mode is full of fun and offers a lot of new things.
  Everything from animations, actions, and visuals has been improved.
  Better skill tricks to play with confidence.
  Smooth skating experience as usual
• Cons:
  Less improvement in the franchise mode
  There is not much development in the World of CHEL.
  You are not allowed to edit the existing players completely.