NHL 2006
Posted October 14, 2005
I'll admit that I haven't played an EA NHL game in a while and have been enamored with the 2k series in recent years, but this year I was excited to finally come back to EA's game with the rumors of it tilting back to the level of glory it had reached in the mid 1990s. For the most part, I found NHL 06 to be a quite solid entry into the NHL game market and with the season back in full swing I really was in the mood to play hockey, and a lot of it.
Gameplay:
This is really what it's all about, what can the developers put in the game to keep me buying a new version year after year. A couple of changes are here in this iteration of the series which helps bring back some of the control that we all craved, while removing a lot of the super-arcade feel that NHL games have all been leaning towards as of late. The number of massive hits has been toned down, and while you still can clobber someone (not quite like Bertuzzi's hit on Morris though), the power in the hit stems from your choice on whether or not to pound the Y button before the collision.
Another change was moving the deke option from the right analog stick to the left, requiring two quick flips of the stick to perform a deke. The right stick is now mapped to superstar moves for players who are capable of such feats, so don't expect guys like Tie Domi to be able to perform the same moves as stars like Mike Modano or Mats Sundin. These big moves vary depending on the position your player with the puck is, ranging from some nice looking wraparound attempts from behind the net to a nice kick-the-puck to your stick move when open at the top of the slot. While these moves can be used at any time, they (thankfully) do not always result in a goal, but when they do you'll be sure to see that play as part of the highlight reel at the end of the game.
The area where the majority of players will spend their time is in the Dynasty Mode, and there is a ton of things to keep you occupied in here even before you hit the ice. You start out selecting a team and naming your GM, from there you have all the standard hockey options like editing lines, calling up minor league players, and making trades with other franchises. Along with the standard options, you are also tasked with the minutia like ticket prices, and concession stand markup, all while trying to maintain a positive balance sheet and happy fans. To me this was a little much, the business aspect is best left to games like Aerobiz, and I�m just here to play some hockey. While the financials seem like a waste of time, they are important as you can use some of the profits to upgrade various things related to your team, both on and off the ice. Choose to upgrade your accountant, and he'll drop your tax percentage by 5%, upgrade the goalie coach and your goalies will improve that much sooner, and so on.
Some other neat features in helping to improve your team throughout the year are the addition of an assistant coach who will help with editing lines, judging the chemistry of the lines and choosing the best fit, and also the option to pick the practice type you want. Did your team dog it last game, well select the Bag Skate option for the next few practices to get them back into shape, or concentrate on finesse with the No Contact practice options.
Other play options aside from the Dynasty Mode are a Free-For-All mode, where up to four players each can pick their favorite superstar and go head to head and try to score the most goals. Sadly, this option is not available online.
In addition to the standard NHL teams, many teams from around the world are also included, so if you want to be the team from Belarus and take on the team from Italy, you definitely can do so, with international rules or NHL rules of course. All the world teams can be used in the World Tournament mode, which is pretty self explanatory in its name. However, even in Dynasty Mode the worldwide teams can be used, which adds a cool level of play to the game.
Of course, you can also play the game on Xbox Live with other puck heads from around the world, and keep your rosters up to date with the updates that EA hosts and allows you to download to try and keep your teams in sync with the real NHL. Online play is fairly standard with the usual option for sports games and the quality of the player varies greatly (both in terms of skill and maturity).
Alright, now so the modes aside, how does NHL 06 play you might ask. The game is fast paced, and controls generally are tight and quite responsive. Only when your player is fatigued do you notice that they aren't turning or stopping as quickly as they should be, so the level of realism is intact here. As mentioned earlier, the big hits have been toned down to a slightly more realistic level, but still the game seems to have a lot more contact in it than watching the games on TV. There are nice touches that are present, like pinning a player on the boards to slow the play down, and the ability to block shots and of course take the quick one-time shots from the top of the crease.
Overall I felt the game played very nicely, especially when compared to the disastrous NHL Rivals that was put out last year (of course, this is my opinion only).
Graphics:
NHL 06 looks pretty much like the other NHL games out there, and I was hard pressed to find any major differences in this version than my NHL 2k5, aside from slight graphical upgrades from the default camera mode. Of course, once you get down close to the players in replays and player highlights you can see that the players look very close to their human counterparts, down to the facial hair and equipment type.
Nice little touches help immerse the player into the game a little deeper like the shiny ice who's luster degrades as it's skated on, and the spray of snow as players make quick turns and stops. Also it's worth mentioning that each arena was very well reproduced here with all the little touches like flags and banners where they are actually located in each arena.
Audio:
One thing that gamers always complain about in sports games is the repetitive commentary and play-by-play. Honestly, I didn't find much to complain about here with regards to that topic, I'm about 1/4 through a season with a tournament under my belt and I still haven't found the urge to turn off the commentary. The music on the other hand leaves something to be desired. EA has limited the tune selection to their EA Trax for this release, and to be honest not one song on there really appealed to me with some bad new metal, and punk. I actually turned off the music as I'd rather listen to the organist play "Let's Go Leafs".
Conclusion:
Overall I think that NHL 06 is a solid entry in the near-simulation mode of hockey, and is a nice change from the breakneck pace and giant body checks of the NHL Hits series. But is it worth upgrading if you owned last years version, I can't say that it is; but I am sure that there are many people out there like me who tend to buy the game year after year regardless of major updates to the gameplay.
Thankfully, the gameplay here is solid with a boatload of options to keep you entertained; if you get bored of actually playing hockey you can try your hand at only managing the team and simulating entire seasons, or picking it up for some quick free-for-all play. Recommended.
Gameplay:
This is really what it's all about, what can the developers put in the game to keep me buying a new version year after year. A couple of changes are here in this iteration of the series which helps bring back some of the control that we all craved, while removing a lot of the super-arcade feel that NHL games have all been leaning towards as of late. The number of massive hits has been toned down, and while you still can clobber someone (not quite like Bertuzzi's hit on Morris though), the power in the hit stems from your choice on whether or not to pound the Y button before the collision.
Another change was moving the deke option from the right analog stick to the left, requiring two quick flips of the stick to perform a deke. The right stick is now mapped to superstar moves for players who are capable of such feats, so don't expect guys like Tie Domi to be able to perform the same moves as stars like Mike Modano or Mats Sundin. These big moves vary depending on the position your player with the puck is, ranging from some nice looking wraparound attempts from behind the net to a nice kick-the-puck to your stick move when open at the top of the slot. While these moves can be used at any time, they (thankfully) do not always result in a goal, but when they do you'll be sure to see that play as part of the highlight reel at the end of the game.
The area where the majority of players will spend their time is in the Dynasty Mode, and there is a ton of things to keep you occupied in here even before you hit the ice. You start out selecting a team and naming your GM, from there you have all the standard hockey options like editing lines, calling up minor league players, and making trades with other franchises. Along with the standard options, you are also tasked with the minutia like ticket prices, and concession stand markup, all while trying to maintain a positive balance sheet and happy fans. To me this was a little much, the business aspect is best left to games like Aerobiz, and I�m just here to play some hockey. While the financials seem like a waste of time, they are important as you can use some of the profits to upgrade various things related to your team, both on and off the ice. Choose to upgrade your accountant, and he'll drop your tax percentage by 5%, upgrade the goalie coach and your goalies will improve that much sooner, and so on.
Some other neat features in helping to improve your team throughout the year are the addition of an assistant coach who will help with editing lines, judging the chemistry of the lines and choosing the best fit, and also the option to pick the practice type you want. Did your team dog it last game, well select the Bag Skate option for the next few practices to get them back into shape, or concentrate on finesse with the No Contact practice options.
Other play options aside from the Dynasty Mode are a Free-For-All mode, where up to four players each can pick their favorite superstar and go head to head and try to score the most goals. Sadly, this option is not available online.
In addition to the standard NHL teams, many teams from around the world are also included, so if you want to be the team from Belarus and take on the team from Italy, you definitely can do so, with international rules or NHL rules of course. All the world teams can be used in the World Tournament mode, which is pretty self explanatory in its name. However, even in Dynasty Mode the worldwide teams can be used, which adds a cool level of play to the game.
Of course, you can also play the game on Xbox Live with other puck heads from around the world, and keep your rosters up to date with the updates that EA hosts and allows you to download to try and keep your teams in sync with the real NHL. Online play is fairly standard with the usual option for sports games and the quality of the player varies greatly (both in terms of skill and maturity).
Alright, now so the modes aside, how does NHL 06 play you might ask. The game is fast paced, and controls generally are tight and quite responsive. Only when your player is fatigued do you notice that they aren't turning or stopping as quickly as they should be, so the level of realism is intact here. As mentioned earlier, the big hits have been toned down to a slightly more realistic level, but still the game seems to have a lot more contact in it than watching the games on TV. There are nice touches that are present, like pinning a player on the boards to slow the play down, and the ability to block shots and of course take the quick one-time shots from the top of the crease.
Overall I felt the game played very nicely, especially when compared to the disastrous NHL Rivals that was put out last year (of course, this is my opinion only).
Graphics:
NHL 06 looks pretty much like the other NHL games out there, and I was hard pressed to find any major differences in this version than my NHL 2k5, aside from slight graphical upgrades from the default camera mode. Of course, once you get down close to the players in replays and player highlights you can see that the players look very close to their human counterparts, down to the facial hair and equipment type.
Nice little touches help immerse the player into the game a little deeper like the shiny ice who's luster degrades as it's skated on, and the spray of snow as players make quick turns and stops. Also it's worth mentioning that each arena was very well reproduced here with all the little touches like flags and banners where they are actually located in each arena.
Audio:
One thing that gamers always complain about in sports games is the repetitive commentary and play-by-play. Honestly, I didn't find much to complain about here with regards to that topic, I'm about 1/4 through a season with a tournament under my belt and I still haven't found the urge to turn off the commentary. The music on the other hand leaves something to be desired. EA has limited the tune selection to their EA Trax for this release, and to be honest not one song on there really appealed to me with some bad new metal, and punk. I actually turned off the music as I'd rather listen to the organist play "Let's Go Leafs".
Conclusion:
Overall I think that NHL 06 is a solid entry in the near-simulation mode of hockey, and is a nice change from the breakneck pace and giant body checks of the NHL Hits series. But is it worth upgrading if you owned last years version, I can't say that it is; but I am sure that there are many people out there like me who tend to buy the game year after year regardless of major updates to the gameplay.
Thankfully, the gameplay here is solid with a boatload of options to keep you entertained; if you get bored of actually playing hockey you can try your hand at only managing the team and simulating entire seasons, or picking it up for some quick free-for-all play. Recommended.