NHL 2K6

Hockey is back in our world again, and NHL 2006 brings that ice-skating fun to your XBox 360. The realism in this game is really pretty impressive, and gameplay is fun.

The textures really shine when you watch this game. The soft reflections off the ice, the flashes of ice when a player skids to a stop, the shine off the protective glass, it all looks photo-realistic. You can see accurately "warbled" reflections of the ceiling banners down in the icy depths. You even get ice trails from fast skating players that highlight their moves.

The animations are smooth and believable. When players spin, dodge, or race to a goal, you really believe these are skilled hockey players working as a team. The quality of the face models in replays is pretty impressive. You do get a sense, when the skaters move, that these are massive, powerful guys carving through ice, and not an ice hockey puck just sailing monotonously on a bed of air.

They do a good job with highlighting the players and puck. Your current player has a yellow circle around him with a black arrow showing his direction. An inner arrow shows your boost, if you put on a kick of speed to get clear of nearby people.

Crowds in these games are usually cookie cutter people waving arms. In this case they do get more excited when their team is doing something interesting. It's not great - but it will be a while before we have a console system that can give unique movements to every character in the stands.

Gameplay itself is pretty fun. You have quick access to a variety of moves, plus you can take manual control to give that individual tweak to a situation. An Enforcer, marked with a big red E, is able to add some bashing power to your game.

The soundtrack is OK, but customizeable from your own library so it doesn't really matter. The commentary isn't stellar in "enthusiasm", but the comments do actually line up pretty well with the gameplay. The guys chime in with discussions about hat tricks, butterfly stances and other details when it's appropriate. Since you tend to tune out any discussion after playing a sports game for more than 15 minutes, it really doesn't matter much. The puck hits have a loud force to them that feel real.

We've had problems with other XBox 360 games freezing and crashing, but we didn't have any issues with this one. We are pretty lenient with brand new consoles and games that we test, because it's always hard with fresh releases to have all the kinks worked out.

Well recommended if you're a fan of hockey and want HD widescreen fun!

The game is fun but not much different than NHL 06 for x-box1. (I was dissapointed that the 360 could not play this game). I have heard about a saving problem on this game from a few people and it's not that the game has no save option, it's just that it's very dificult to figure out how to do it, and the instruction book doesn't help at all. The only cool thing they have added is the goalies "crease control" option.(My son is a goalie so, of course, he thinks that's awesome). Definetly not worth $60

Hockey and the NHL have never appealed to me but I've usually been able to enjoy a round of virtual hockey. Kush Games has created an enjoyable hockey game this season with NHL 2K6. The only problem is that on the Xbox 360, despite the entertaining gameplay, there aren't many improvements from the current-gen versions besides a new goalie interface.

NHL 2K6 features all of the gameplay modes from the current versions just like 2K Sports' other title, NBA 2K6. You can still take on an NHL Franchise or play different mini-games like Pond Hockey or Small Rink hockey. The biggest change to the Xbox 360 version, though, is with the new Crease Control system. With Crease Control, the player can take complete control over the goalie and defend against almost any shot, depending on the position of the goalie and whether or not the goalie can spot the puck in time. This system is implemented well into the fast-paced gameplay, which also controls smoothly and has a very realistic feeling.

The action on the rink, especially with this Crease Control system, is pretty frantic and always a good time. Setting up one-timers is a lot of fun, primarily on breakaways. It's always a huge feeling of accomplishment after the rush of the breakaway to confuse the goalie and slapshot the puck into the goal. Of course, I always found defense to be exciting because I'd oftentimes crowd the goal, trying my hardest to slap the puck in while avoiding stick checks and steals. The A.I. is smart enough to try its hardest to keep you out of the goal, and on harder difficulties, it becomes extremely difficult to outsmart the goalie. Anyway, I think that NHL 2K6 is quite a fun game to play, and it's even more so when you turn on another Xbox 360 controller and a friend skates onto the rink.

The biggest disappointments with NHL 2K6 come from the graphics and the commentary. In short, they're both pretty bland and unimpressive for an Xbox 360 title. The visuals are only slightly better than they are on the Xbox version, and from the faraway camera angles of NHL 2K6, it's almost impossible to notice much detail on the player models or the rink. Even in replays the game doens't look very impressive. The commentary is very cut-and-dry, and doesn't really do much but serve as background noise. What is nice, though, is the crowd. They'll react to whatever is going on during the game very realistically, whether it's a crucial goal, a big check that knocks a player off his skates, or a chant when the home team picks up momentum.

If you're looking for a hockey game this holiday season, NHL 2K6 is the one you'll want to pick up. It's a lot of fun to play an despite unimpressive graphics and boring commentary, the Crease Control, intelligent A.I., and highly entertaining multiplayer are worth the time. However, I wouldn't recommend buying the game at $60--wait until a price drop or a used copy of the game, because that price point is simply far too high.

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