The flow that you feel breaking into the zone dies instantaneously while trying to set up a play. When playing on the All-Star difficulty, I still feel like I’m being suffocated by CPU defenders that can pickpocket me with the greatest of ease. An issue that has plagued this game for what feels like forever. Now, while getting into the zone has been improved upon, I still feel like keeping the puck in the zone and generating true offense seems to be the gameplay’s largest drawback. Other moves like the Sidney Crosby off-the-net reversal were great for starting breakouts or generating a surprise scoring chance in the offensive zone. This move is especially useful off of the boards on rushes, as it acts as a to yourself pass. Similarly, an open-ice deke has been added to where a player can push the puck one way around a defender while your player moves the opposite way around them before reconverging with the puck. In NHL 21, players can utilize slip dekes to squeeze past defenders up against the boards.
A welcome change to the flashy dekes that were designed for scoring.
In order to assist in the breakouts and moving from endboard to endboard, new dekes have been added into the game that really help with puck movement. The CPU will generally react pretty well to the user’s offensive rushes and will finally close down lanes that they should in order to limit potential damage in transition. With that being said, though, it finally feels like the AI that you’re playing against has something more inside their ones and zeros brains than just rocks. Power skating along the boards and looking for a cross-ice pass to your winger in front of an open net is still a surefire way to generate incredible scoring chances. Sticking with the theme of skating, everyone who has played a recent rendition of the NHL franchise knows just how powerful utilizing the rush is during the breakout. The addition was one that is needed, and is one that just helps the game feel a bit more “alive.” From back curve, to arm and stick swing, it’s all fair game.
NHL 21 WORLD OF CHEL PRO
Much in this same vein, the revamped Be A Pro mode allows you to edit just about every aspect to your player’s skating. Nathan MacKinnon didn’t look like Ryan Graves while skating up the ice. And by that, I mean skating finally felt like not every player was doing the same motions every time they moved their feet.
NHL 21 WORLD OF CHEL OFFLINE
However, if we’re saying that a game is taking baby steps year after year to become better As well as also saying this for an entire console generation, then maybe it’s time we reevaluate the way we look at this franchise and ask “Why?” Why isn’t this game at a better spot than where it is currently? Also, why do we accept these minor improvements so easily year after year? Why?įor me, one of the very first things I had noticed when I started playing in some of the offline modes was that skating felt more fluid. If you’re someone who wants a quick and to the point review, here it is: NHL 21 plays smoother than NHL 20 and feels like (like every year) that it takes the necessary baby steps to set itself up to be a true simulation based hockey game somewhere down the road.
But, while the return of hockey is yet again up in the air, the release of NHL 21 was right on time. Well, at least that’s what I would normally be saying had COVID-19 not taken a fat dump on the world. And with it, so too, is the return of EA Sports’ NHL series. Follow him 21 REVIEWĪh, yes, it’s that wonderful time of the year again. This review of NHL 21 was written by Colorado Hockey Now contributor Reagan Smith.
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