Eddie MakuchĮA was supposed to release NHL 21 during this year's Stanley Cup playoffs, but complications due to COVID-19 led to a delay. It appears hockey fans will need to wait until next year for the first true next-gen NHL game.

All of this is to be expected, as EA as a company is focusing on Madden NFL 21 and FIFA 21 for next-gen right now in its sports catalogs. The quality of player models, and specifically facial hair, appears to be more lifelike, but it's not such a big jump. In terms of presentation, my eye can't make out any significant improvements. I said in my initial NHL 21 review for Xbox One X-which you can read below after the break-that the game offers a smooth and reliable experience, and this continues to be the case with NHL 21 on Xbox Series X. While EA says frame rates are improved, I can't say that I noticed much of a jump in terms of smoothness. The load times in NHL 21 were never long and painful, but this improvement is enjoyable all the same. However, once you've loaded into a mode, booting into a game is so fast that the loading progress bar doesn't even reach the end before it starts. Following the initial load, NHL 21 connects to the server, so how long it takes to get to the main menu depends on the speed of your internet, just as it did on current-gen consoles. After that, it gets a little more complicated. Speaking to the loading times on Xbox Series X, the game boots from the system in about 15 seconds. I reviewed NHL 21 originally for Xbox One X, and this note reflects the comparisons against the Xbox Series X edition I have not tried the game on PlayStation 5. After playing a few hours of NHL 21 on Xbox Series X, this does seem to be the case. On Xbox Series X, EA told fans to expect the game to look as if it was running on Xbox One X, albeit with faster load times and better frame rates.

Because of that, while NHL 21 is playable on the new machines through backwards compatibility, you should not expect much in the way of significant improvements. Update 11/12/20: NHL 21 is among the catalog of EA Sports titles that is available to play on Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5, but unlike Madden NFL 21 and FIFA 21, the developer is not creating a bespoke new version of the game for the new consoles.

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