NHL 06 – Review

After last year’s strike-induced lockout, and with a full season of NHL hockey now lost to the ether of time, EA attempt to reassert their once unbreakable grip on the mantle of simulated realism while wrestling The Stanley Cup of quality from Sega and its genre-leading 2K series.

Those blinded by a wealth of options, features stacked upon features, and a multitude of play modes will be thoroughly at ease with NHL 06. The game’s core Dynasty mode offers on and off the ice control as you guide your team of choice toward Hall of Fame styled hockey glory. Manage finances, upgrades, and player morale; initiate simulated games—and intervene with direct gameplay should events go against the grain; run postseason chances through the playoffs, and the off-season’s NHL draft and resultant scramble for free agents. In short, you’ve got almost every relevant hockey facet at your fingertips. And don’t forget to create your own star of the future—or an entire team—through the game’s Creation Zone; or even opt to manage a team in one of Europe’s premier hockey leagues. If that’s not enough to occupy your time, EA have also been kind enough to throw in NHL ’94 for your viewing pleasure. My, how times have changed.

However, though it’s jammed to the arena rafters with game modes, stat charts, roster updates, management opportunities, and multi-layered simulation, NHL 06 feels somewhat bland and stagnant in terms of franchise progression. Yes, the lauded analogue Skill Stick control method offers highlight reel goals to those lucky enough to score, yet the A.I. goaltenders are so unfailingly agile that scoring through tried and tested one-timers (skaters receiving a pass and shooting directly on goal without first controlling the puck) soon become the dull attack of reliance in the face of opponents who seemingly score amazing goals at will. The newly implemented Shot Aiming Target that appears at the net is an intuitive addition that fails to accommodate frantic game speed and the nanosecond time allowance between deciding to shoot and actually executing the opportunity while rabid opposition look to mash your face into the boards. And Classic Deking still exists for those players with superhuman reactions during those rare occasions that they’re able to break free of the defense and bear down on the goaltender. Everything ‘in the game’ is present and accounted for but, when you actually hit the ice, the action just doesn’t match the padding.

First and foremost, NHL 06 fails to draw gasps of appreciation visually. Everything from arena detail, player models and cut-scene bench reactions looks jagged and clipped, exuding a distinct air of semi-next generation evolution—a graphical issue becoming evermore prevalent as Xbox and GameCube push their hardware beyond the PS2’s capabilities. Skaters’ facial expressions have been captured to better convey emotion, yet this admirable attempt at furthering realism arrives as an almost comedic representation of Jack Nicholson’s Joker from Batman mixed with terrifying characters from an Aphex Twin music video.

The on-ice gameplay is immediate and action packed, but the sensation of absolute immersion through knife-edge tension and heart-pounding against-the-odds desperation is notably disjointed and never truly a tangible element within the player’s control. Likewise, skater control is often woolly, almost as though the A.I. were running the show regardless of your frantic attempts at intervention. For example, face-offs—an integral puck possession factor—are shamefully weak and physically ineffectual events where those vying for possession gently rub their sticks against the ice while waiting for the referee to drop the puck into play. Games are often won or lost on face-off percentage, it’s a massively important aspect of the hockey dynamic, but your influence, control, and interaction is all but removed in NHL 06.

Game sound and commentary is thoroughly accurate and respectable, though the laboriously dull exercise in musical mass marketing that is EA Trax is also ever-present during load screens and menus. Thankfully this can be swiftly turned off via the Options screen. Of course, bemoaning EA for the terrible musical accompaniment wouldn’t be at all necessary if said music—yes, you guessed it—wasn’t so terrible in the first place. If as much time were spent honing gameplay as it obviously is on appeasing marketing contract obligations EA might actually produce a game worthy of their own global hype. That said, colour commentary and play-by-play announcements are superbly implemented and lend an air of hitherto unfelt authenticity to proceedings. All the usual beefy hockey sounds are in full attendance. From the sharp ping of puck against post to the rallying cries of home crowds, the specific sound details further enhance the game, at least on an aural level. Of course, as a sports title, NHL 06 offers, nor requires, a subtitle feature for those gamers with hearing impairments—plus the naturally frenetic speed of the sport would surely invoke head implosion should commentary ever transfer to subtitle.

Girl gamers will find no solace from sexuality deprivation in the sweaty confines of NHL 06. It’s toothless men, sprawling mullets, and mass mauling from the opening cinematic to the eventual lofting of Lord Stanley’s historic trophy. Of course, a female hockey title is not a gaming impossibility. Women certainly play the sport—they receive TV coverage on World Cup events, etc.—yet it would be a brave, brave development and publishing team that transcended the wealth of guaranteed cash that the words ‘official licence’ offered.

With all the prerequisite EA attributes, such as updated stats and rosters, player creation tools, expansive game modes, and even old-school NHL ’94 bundled for good measure, NHL 06 fulfills basic player expectations. But yet, though it looks like hockey, sounds like hockey, and plays like hockey, somehow it doesn’t quite ‘feel’ like hockey. Its surprisingly grimy and unrefined visuals combined with noticeably pasty controls and oddly disconnected gameplay mean that Sega still retain bragging rights when it comes to slapping home the burnt biscuit.

Review by Stevie