Without this target, I wouldn't have been able to score as many goals. A green circle target appears that gives you an idea when the best time to shoot is. What I like most about the game is that it shows an indicator on where you might be able to score a goal. If you're farther away, you can press the red B button to do a more powerful shot from long range. First, you can press the blue X button (on Xbox One) to shoot softly if you're really close to the goal. There are two ways you can shoot the puck in NHL 21. I opted to choose the ‘hybrid' setting that makes shooting via the face buttons much easier. I remember playing using the analogue sticks wasn't as difficult when I played NHL 13 all those years ago. I first tried to play the game using the right analogue stick, but my aiming was well off. You can map the controls so you can shoot using the face buttons, or you can strike the puck using the right analogue stick instead.

The first thing you can customise the controller to suit your own playing preference.

One other great thing about NHL 21 is the fact that the game caters for gamers of all skills. If the graphics look good this year, I cannot believe what they will look like next year. If you're one of these players, you might be better off waiting until NHL 22 comes out for the newer PS5 and Xbox Series X consoles next year.Įven though NHL 21 is only on PS4 and Xbox One, I thought the graphics of the game on Xbox One X looked pretty good on my 4KTV. That being said, gamers that have played the series annually for the past few years might feel some franchise fatigue. For a person like me, NHL 21 offers a lot of new content that wasn't available when NHL 13 came out.

NHL 21does not feel like a stale entry for a player like me mainly because I didn't play a hockey game for PS4 and Xbox One before. I even managed to beat my brother several times in the game, despite not knowing many of the rules about ice hockey at the time. I remember NHL 13 being fun at the time even though I was a newbie to the series. The last time I played a game from the franchise was NHL 13 back on the Xbox 360.

Much like FIFA and Madden, the series has been released annually for nearly the past three decades and it has no sign of slowing down.ĭespite the long history of the series, NHL 21is actually only the second time I have played the franchise. The NHL series from EA Sports has been going on for a long time now.

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