NHL 2K6

"Its an assist"

For a launch title is OK if you like hockey games. I do, so my score reflects my liking of hockey games.

Graphics: 5
For an Xbox 360 game its not so good…it's a slight one up on the Xbox version of this game (which I also have, but I packed it away so I figured getting this one was easier that always unpacking my Xbox, plus I wanted to see the real difference between the two). The players look…mediocre, and they seem like they are slightly super-imposed on the ice. The audience members are just plain ugly upon close ups, but who really cares about the audience?

Gameplay: 8
It's still a great hockey game with realistic physics. By realistic I mean it looks real enough to me when a guy stumbles and loses the puck, or when he tries to move in a directly opposite direction he slows down and skids appropriately do that. Also passing and shooting seem to flow nicely in a real life kind of way, which is what I prefer (as compared to NHL06, which seems to have super-human players the way they control the puck, which can also be fun).

Sound/Music: 8
Um I don't really care much for sound, but its still nice for a hockey game, the dun dun dah, dun dun dah is a nice pump up beat to hear now and again, and plus the audience cheering your home town goals is nice. In short, for hockey its good and what you expect.

Controls: 7.5
A little weary to get used to, but after a while you can master them. Controlling on the fly with the d-pad can take some real time to really master, as you have to use your primary skating thumb to press the analog (at least that easiest for me), but you can change them around. A cool feature is controlling the goalie by (default) clicking the left analog and you take a zoomed view and control over the goalie. When someone shoots a puck during this view you have a few seconds to line up the marker on the target to block the shot, pretty cool.

Multiplayer: A+
It's a great multiplayer game; it can get your uncles swearing and your friends yelling they have a handicapped team, which is what I like. Once you get good at this game, its quite easy brutalize your friends and family which is always nice for the self-esteem (unless you're playing your 4 year old niece, then its just mean and you should let her win!)

Overall: 7
The graphics didn't wow me too much, and I was a little disappointed with that. The gameplay is nice though, and it plays smoothly enough for me. I recommend to non-hockey fans to rent it, but if you're a hockey maniac you'll probably be happy with the purchase on this one. There aren't many launch titles that are amazing, but of all of them this is one of my top 4 (Perfect Dark, NBA Live 2K6, Kameo, NHL2K6).

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 11/30/05