NHL 2K6

It’s a good time to follow the NHL. After the first season-long cancellation in professional sports history, there were concerns that the sport would return with a limp. In reality, it proved to be far from it. Attendances were at an all-time high, the rule changes made the game faster and more exciting to watch, and goals were increased by an average of 1 per game.

Anticipation was high for the next in the series of 2K Sports’ NHL releases. Traditionally with a more arcade feel than its EA rival, the ESPN 2K series was always the favourite amongst the fans. As in real life, the link with ESPN was dropped and the first hockey game of the next generation was ready to hit the ice under the guise NHL 2K6.

There are some really nice touches in the presentation, such as cut away shots to celebrities in the corporate boxes, and shots (albeit poorly animated) of the players in the locker room in-between periods.

The game modes include a Franchise option which will run and run until you get bored, taking the role of GM. Here you will have hire and fire your coaching staff, and make decisions around player transactions such as trades and contract negotiations. The Season is a purely game-playing mode that guides through the 82-game regular season plus play-offs with minimal behind the scenes decision making. You can also take your game to a pond and go old skool, which is mainly played in a 2-on-2 scenario. This is fun for a while, but soon you’ll be yearning for the real thing.

The challenges are a nice touch, and you can use the points earned to unlock classic teams, although the ratings for those teams are rather strange. For example the current Ottawa Senators team is rated higher than the 90’s All-stars team that included Gretzky, Lemuix, Messier and Roy in their prime.

The menu’s are basic, and could do with a massive overhaul. You are prompted to pick your favourite team when loading the game up for the first time, but the only benefit of this is a rather innocuous logo in the background of the interface, and when playing an exhibition it will default to your favorite team as the home team.

A subtle difference to the EA series is that rookies and rule changes do make it into the game, so superstars Ovechkin and Crosby are in, and so are shootouts at the end of a tie-game.

The achievements are fairly simple to pick up. Split evenly between 5 achievements, each worth 250 points. Scoring a breakaway on amateur may rank right up there in the pantheon of easy achievements. Scoring a penalty shot on All-Star is very difficult to win from the referee, let alone score. In that respect, it’s a more balanced approach than that awarded by other sports games released.

The controls are simple enough, and after a game or two you should be looking to score goals in every game. They are extremely responsive with realistic player physics when players are skating. The slap-shot is fairly ineffective and takes an age to wind up. Overall everything has been smoothed out compared to previous versions, and you can pretty much pick up and start playing the game as soon as you load the disc. The more complex moves can be picked up as you go.

The game boasts a new feature called Crease Control, which was designed by current NHL goalie Marty Turco. Crease Control puts you in a third-person view behind the net and gives you full control of the goalie. By pressing in the right analogue stick down, you become in control of a cone shaped radar, and have a limited time to direct that cone towards the puck using your left stick. When your opponent shoots the puck, if you haven’t directed the cone towards the puck in time, the cone turns red and you will be in a tough position to make the save. It’s a nice touch, but if you intend to use it for the full game, it vastly slows down the experience.

The wraparound feature is a nice addition and is easy to pull off. When behind the goal, simply pressing your X button will see your player skate quickly to one side and attempt to stuff the puck under the goalies pads. If anything, it’s a little too easy and happens more than it would in real life.