NHL 2K6 Review

It’s always nice to see new features being added to a next-gen game rather than seeing them being taken out. Unlike EA Sports, 2K Sports decided to give 360 fans a reason to purchase the more expensive next generation incarnation. I’m of course talking about NHL 2K6, a prettier copy of the game that, unlike every other sports title on the 360, is chock-full of game modes, updated rosters, and the 360-only goalie control system I was alluding to earlier. Though I’ll give 2K Sports credit for trying something new, it still isn’t enough to justify paying £49.99 for a game that you can get on current systems for a lot less. However, despite its steep price tag, 2K6 is by far the most solid hockey experience available.

If you’ve played any of the current-gen versions of NHL 2K6, then you’ll feel right at home with this one. You’ll still be greeted with 2K’s signature blue, ‘couldn’t be more generic’ menu system, and you can still choose from a large variety of game modes and mini-games, including franchise mode, with its rookie scouting, skill drills and the all important chemistry system, the excellent create-a-player option, and dream team ladder for starters. It’s good to see that the game includes all of the content from previous versions, but flashier menu designs to compliment the 360’s processing power wouldn’t have hurt.

It’s not really until you start playing that you realize it’s 360 game, and even then, it can be difficult to tell at times. The character models now sport a much higher poly count and, as a result, you can see the finer details, such as stitching in the jerseys, that you couldn’t possibly find in any other version, and the ice is so realistic looking that there were times when I was too busy gawking at it to notice that my friend had just stolen the puck and scored. On the other hand, there’s a strange gauze effect that covers each player and makes them look like a collection of plastic dolls, and the blur effect as well as the reflections from the boards during cutscenes are just a little on the overdone side.

While all of the visual upgrades beef up the game’s presentation, when you’re playing the game from the classic overhead perspective, you could swear you’re playing on the Xbox. The crowd appears to be taken directly from the current-gen versions as well, and most of the subtle details, such as the skate trail and the ice that cakes on the players’ equipment (which is hard to fully appreciate because of the gauze effect anyway) are lost unless you’re playing in High definition.

But then again, the graphics and presentation in the 2K series have always taken a backseat to the solid gameplay (not that 2K Sports don’t make good looking games). While EA Sports’ NHL 06 remains an arcade game at heart, 2K Sports has taken the more strategic approach to hockey, and has created a much more satisfying experience for those of us who prefer to play a game that doesn’t result in double digit scoring and hundreds of hits per period.

A perfect example of this is 2K’s excellent pacing. The game is anything but a quick rush to the net, and instead focuses on smart passing and play making to get the job done. You won’t find any exaggerated stats here either, as the game remains extremely close to its real-life counterpart, with most games, depending on your skill level, ending with only a one or two goal difference.

The on-the-fly play calling is another great example of why 2K plays better than its competitors. Using the D-pad, you can literally tell your team exactly where to go on the ice, and what to do. Tell your team to crash the net and they’ll do just that; tell your team-mate to screen the goalie and he’ll make a quick sprint to the net and either block him from seeing your shot, or deflect the said shot and hope for the best. The system is surprisingly effective and is by far one of the game’s best features.

As I mentioned earlier in the review, the chemistry system, borrowed heavily from one of EA’s earlier titles, continues to play a major role in how you choose your lines. Pairing up too many player types on one line results in a low chemistry rating and ultimately decreases your line’s stats. On the flip side, if you put say, a scorer, a skater and a utility player together, you’re line is going to receive a serious boost in performance. The only real setback here is that on occasion, what seems like a perfectly diverse line suddenly loses its performance boost without any real indication as to why.

Easily the biggest addition to the gameplay, however, is the ability to control your goalie with the blink of an eye. For the first time in virtual hockey history, you’ll be able to position the goalie yourself, and frankly I’m surprised no one has ever tried something like this before. The idea and mechanics are simple enough really: switch to goalie mode, align the cursor with the puck – it’ll turn from red to green indicating your chances of making the save – then finally, align the save target with the shot target that appears in slow motion after the shot has been taken, and voila, you’ve got yourself a save. The better the cursor is lined up with the puck, the more time you’ll be allotted to stop the puck. In theory it’s a grand idea, and I can only hope we’ll see more goalie control in the future, but after giving it a try, you’ll probably never want to control your goalie again.

Switching from the top-down perspective of the players to the behind the back view of the goalie can be a little disorientating, especially while playing with more than one player. Also, if you switch to goalie mode, you better be positive that your opponent is going to take the shot, because if he doesn’t, that leaves the game’s A.I. to do all of the work for you, which often results in a goal or missed opportunity for a breakaway. Lastly, no matter how good you are at playing as the goalie, goals will be scored, even if you are positive you should have made the save. There were times where I could have sworn the cursor and targets were aligned perfectly, but nevertheless, the puck somehow managed to trickle in.

When it all comes down to it, NHL 2K6 is by far the best hockey game on the market, but with the near identical current-gen versions already at bargain bin prices, it’s hard to justify forking over the extra cash for moderately improved graphics and a goalie system that still needs tweaking. For those of you with a hockey fetish, NHL 2K6 no doubt has all of the content you could ever dream about, but for the wise gamers out there, you might want to reconsider and pick up the Xbox or PlayStation 2 version. All three are practically the same.