Articles
By B1G T
Published: Mar. 4, 2007 11:31 AM
Take 2 Interactive returns with its next instalment of NHL action with NHL 2K6 for the Xbox 360, this time bringing you even closer to the NHL mayhem than ever before. To the die hard Hockey fans this game will make you feel right at home providing you with all the game modes you expect and than some, in addition with all the customisation you will ever need. NHL 2K6 comes pack with a heap of new features, loads of unlockables and easy to access controls which will warrant purchasing for both fans of hockey and general gaming enthusiasts.
2K Sports (Take 2 Interactive) has done great job to create an experience which will cater for several types of players and play styles. There are several game modes which best suits the hardcore Hockey fans one of these include the highly acclaimed Franchise Mode. This is where you manage your favourite team or even create your own to play with over several seasons. You take control of everything from selecting all your staff members to selling and trading players. In addition to this you must ensure your teams morale is positive at all times to ensure the best results out of your team as well as manage teams injuries through out each season. You are also kept in the loop of your progress and NHL news with regular emails that also notify you of who’s injured, who’s on the free market and who’s leaving the club. You can also keep a close eye on developing and future hockey stars with your minor league team.
For the less hardcore hockey fans who still want to go through a seasonal experience there is the Season Mode where you play as your favourite team or your own team in the NHL. This is a more simplistic version of franchise though still providing you with the same intense NHL experience only with out the hassle of politics. You are still given the options to trade players and manage injuries just to keep the season interesting. Another major option is that you are able to fully customise your season, from changing certain rules, length of the season as well as how many series you want to play.
2K Sports does not stop there they also provide an interesting experience for those casual gamers who lean to the more arcade style by providing fully customisable match ups and the creative party mode. The party mode consists of 12 hockey themed mini-games which never fails to provide an entertaining multiplayer experience with up to 4 players offline. There are also several other novelty games such as air hockey and shuffle board which can be found in the Skybox. The Skybox is your private haven which holds everything from your current records to all time records, your in game achievement status, all your stats, all your trophies, as well as your unlockables which include special teams you have unlocked through playing Dream Team Mode. The Dream Team Mode will no doubt keep anyone busy as you strive to defeat superior teams. As you defeat these All Star teams all of which were created by several NHL players as well as some of the 2K sports staff you unlock them for your use as well as unlocking new logos to use when creating yout own team.
2K Sports has yet again stepped it up a notch with the fully innovative online mode this time taking full advantage of Xbox Live. NHL Online mode is packed with all your usual game modes, such as quick match and custom match as well as a full stat tracking system and innovative ranking scheme. NHL online has adapted a similar style to how ea sports, where you have to join a preset lobby and from there you challenge any players in the lobby. This is all good but 2K sports is EA, this year you can participate in tournaments created by other users or even create your own, as well as create or join your own fully customisable online league. The online league is such an innovative feature for any sports title if it can be implemented correctly and sets the bench mark for all sports titles. To join the league you must select one of the NHL teams and from there you participate in regular matches against people from all over the world, you can also trade players with each other much like you would in a regular season. Though with having an online league it provides a lot of problems, such as what time matches will be played especially if you versus someone from a different time zone and if a player suddenly becomes inactive the progress of the league will be affected. Though this feature would work well with a group of friends who you know will play regularly. All in all this is a great feature to have and definitely adds another realistic aspect to sports gaming and the next generation.
Though to have a quality game, along with the game modes you need to have a solid game-play. As a first time player of a next generation NHL game I found the controls to be very user friendly making it easy to jump right in. At the same time as I got used to the controls I was able to do more advanced moves and combinations enabling me to play a more exciting brand of Hockey as well as pulling off some nifty tricks. By making the controls scheme easy to access they were able to implement some new features such as The On The Fly Coaching and Crease Control. ON the Fly Coaching enables you to order your team around the rink by simply pressing a direction on the d-pad. Another amazing feature is the Crease Control where by click the right thumb stick you can take control of the goalie when the puck is in your defensive position. From here you are closer to the action than ever bringing the NHL experience right to you, putting the match in your hands, literally.
NHL 2K6 or any hockey game for that matter would not be complete with the occasional ‘biff’ during the game. That’s right a sports title which actually lets you fight the opposition. To start a fight you have to check the same player numerous of times, eventually he will challenge you to a fight and you press back on the controller to start the fight. Once the fight has started get ready to take him on in a one on one bout to give your team the upper hand so to say. Along with the fighting feature 2K Sports successfully integrated the Enforcer and Intimidation feature where a player on the field is marked with and ‘E’, this player is the enforcer. He will be able to make big checks with the ref taking a blind to it, though he will be much slower on the ice. The enforcers are able to pick on a player eventually making that player intimidated (marked with a big ‘I’) and throw them off their game lowering the players skill rating. This makes the bigger more physical team mates play a big part in the outcome of the match not just leaving it to the goal scorers.
Overall NHL 2K6 sets the standards to not only Hockey titles but all sports titles available today, with user friendly game play and a large variety of game modes which suits a broad range of players and play styles. This game is definitely for the more die hard hockey fans as they will most likely put the game to better use and take advantage of all the great features that are on offer. Though in saying that for those who like sport in general or even a fun game which they can tune to their liking will definitely get the most out of their buck. With both in-depth online and offline game modes NHL 2K6 will provide you with endless hours of game play and entertainment for all to enjoy.
XboxZone Score: 8/10
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