Customer Reviews

NHL 2K6

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

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.

this developer has really made me mad. first they do not improve upon the graphics during gameplay from xbox1. second, the skybox is the exact same skybox used in all of their previous nhl titles. the gameplay is very slow to say the least. i feel like i am skating on sandpaper. i should have just bought the xbox1 version and saved 40.00. if you like hockey, DO NOT BUY THIS GAME !!!!! because you will soon hate it. i can't wait until E.A. comes out with nhl '07 for 360. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. 2k7 was amazing. 2k8 was okay and 2k9 and 2k10 was garbage.

WARNING: This is NOT a next-gen console game, far from it. Microsoft is busy creating patches to play "old" games from the original Xbox on the 360...Take2 Interactive beat them to the punch, packaged the game for the 360, and raised the price by $40.

By no means does this showcase any sort of graphic capabilities of the 360. In fact, it actually looks worse in high def. None of the interface graphics were developed for high def - they're all jaggy, aliased, and look like they were from a Sega Genesis.

The game plays well. The commentary is awful. Wait til next year or at least buy this for an older platform and save the money....it's almost a crime to charge $59.99 for this game.

While they may not have the ESPN logo from last year's NHL 2K5, this game still delivers next-gen graphics and more importantly...solid gameplay.

The puck control and motions are incredibly realistic and easy to get the hang of, and the animations are completely fluid and lifelike. The best part of this game is the ability to take total control of the goalie to block shots. Although it may sound awkward, 2K did an incredible job implementing this feature into the game. What you get is a fast paced hockey game that always has you on your toes...defense or offense. There's also the myriad of minigames, and the multiplayer is top notch as always.

If you're looking for a hockey game this season...this is IT!

Anyone that says that NHL2K6 is the same for the 360 as it is for the original XBOX is full of it!!Ive played both versions extensively on my 51 inch HDTV and there is no doubt the 360 version looks and plays a whole lot better.The players,the ice,the crowd,all have improved quite a bit.The players now actually feel like they are skating on ice,rather than moving seemingly effortlessly.Wraparounds are no longer a given,though the overall AI could still use some work.Any level below All Star is too easy for anyone who has played before.The player models look better overall,but some of the faces are some reason rather chubby,making some look kinda funny.The uniforms are no longer so shiney as well.Well the only addition to the game besides improved graphics is the crease control,at least 2K left the features intact unlike what EA did to its sports games.Yes there is a fair share left to be desired for 2K7,but the game is the best hockey title yet and all there is for diehard fans such as myself for the 360.Is it worth the $60?I guess that depends on how bad you want to play a hockey game for the 360.No its not at complete next gen status yet,but its good enough to hold me over until September.If youre picky,I would wait or look for a good deal on a copy used.If not,I think its worth it.

Maybe it's just me, but the AI on the player's team seems to be a couple notches lower than on the computer's. This is especially true for penalties and goalies. Most often, there seems to be 5-6 penalties against AI controlled players on the human's team in a game with 10 minute periods, and at most 1 on the computer's side. The goalie AI is just weak, like it's assumed that the player will use the rediculously easy goalie control feature.

Aside from these two issues, there is almost a complete lack of any franchise mode, aside from new drafts and some moderate skills excercises.

This game is terrible. I love hockey. I love this game. BUT there is a huge flaw in the game. The game has issues with saving to the hard drive. It cause it to freeze up after you play a game. You can't save or anything. You just have to reset it. I'm not the only one having issues with this game. Go check the 2K Sports forums. There are plenty of other people having the same problem. 2K Sports is failing to admit any fault. There only response has been to reformat the hard drive or to buy a memory card. They put out a faulty game and making money off of people not being able to play it. This game is TRASH.

I own a 360 and the original xbox. For the original xbox, I have EA sports NHL 2006, and for the 360, NHL 2K6. I can say without a doubt that not only does 2006 for the original xbox have better graphics than 2K6 for the 360, but is also 10 times better in terms of what you can actually do in the game. Also, the rosters in 2K6 are horribly updated, and I had to spend hours fixing them. Maybe that's not as much of a concern for other people, but for me, as a diehard hockey fan, it was quite annoying. The camera angles are horrible and the players look fat. If the shadow is not on, you cant see the puck. The new improved goalie stuff that they did with Marty Turco is worthless. Its still better on 2006. When I play 2K6 on the 360, I feel as if I am playing NHL 2001 on my old PS1. However, one thing that I do like about this game is the skill competition feature, although they got rid of the good parts of it from 2K5. 2K5 was overall much better, but without the ESPN license, 2K6 has horrible commentary. After 30 min of play, I had already heard all of the lines. That problem does not exist in 2006. If you have an original xbox get 2006. OR, if you can wait NHL 2007 comes out for 360 in september. That game promises to be awesome. Don't waste your time with this game. For the price, I guess its decent. If you really want a Hockey game, go ahead and buy it for 30 bucks, but I would suggest you wait 1 1/2 months and spend the extra $$. It will be well worth it.