NHL 2K6

Game Info

Publisher: 2K Games

Developer: Kush Games - Visual Concepts

Genre(s): Sports, Hockey

Players: 8

ESRB Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10 and Older)

Release Date: September 6, 2005

Summary

ProControl - Play like the pros with our revolutionary icon-based passing system. All-new combo passing and shooting controls let you queue up give-and-go attacks, tic-tac-toe passing, puck cycling, behind the net plays and more. PureMotion Animations - Hundreds of new NHL-caliber animations to feast your eyes on including spectacular saves in goal by Marty Turco. On-The-Fly Coaching - Play your style of hockey at both ends of the ice by calling team strategy during the action. Crash the net, screen the goalie and pinch defensemen on offense. Then, counter the attack by clearing the crease, clearing the zone, or setting up a break out for an offensive rush. Enforcer System - Throw opponents off their game by bringing out your checking line. Now, bigger and more aggressive players weigh into the outcome of a game as much as your leading goal scorers, as physical play will lower opponents’ performance ratings. Maximum Goaltending - Take matters into your own hands by utilizing your right analog stick to make quick, intuitive saves when it counts the most. [2K Games]

Also On Metacritic

GAMES: ESPN NHL 2K5 ESPN NHL Hockey NHL 2K3

Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central

Also On The Web: Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

What Our Users Said

Vote Now! The average user rating for this game is 5.4 (out of 10) based on 15 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Conrad A. gave it a1:
Too many bugs in the game, and too many to list here. Most center around the sound (announcers giving false information about the score and stats) and game freezes. Also, no matter what difficulty level you play on, you always outwork the computer, but their goalie gets harder to beat, i.e. on Easy you outshooted them 50-10, and win 10-0. On Hall of Famer you outshoot them 50-25 and lose 2-0. The whole system is built around the one-timer, to the degree that players are taking shots after the puck passes through four other players and the between their legs. The menus are unreadable. The injuries are too frequent, even when turned down to minimum, as is computer trading (by the time you get to the playoffs, every team is unrecognizable). And every team is rated to evenly. Why have ratings out of 100 when every team is between 80-83? The sound is awful (bad music, the crowd chanting non-stop). Very, very disappointing. 2K5 was better, though still buggy.

Brian S. gave it a7:
the goalies cant stop wraparounds unless uve scored 3 or more times doing it and half the star players are on free agents but for 20 bucks what more can u expect and why is there no goal or period sounds.

Steve gave it a4:
Never again will i buy a 2K6 offering over EA. This game is so dissapointing. AI often won't even shoot the puck on a breakaway, game freezes often once you're late into a season, player motion isn't fluid, commentator dialog is too repetitve, AI trades their players like crazy (you'll never play the same team twice in a season)... etc. The list goes on and on.

Joe H. gave it a9:
I think everybody here is on crack and there is nothing wrong with that but i've played the game a ton of times and the graphics are awesome and everything is cool.. the only thing is it is alittle to easy thats why i vote 9...definatly better than EA sports NHL 2006..My suggestion get this game..i also own nhl 2006 from ea sports and although my favorite game is madden 06 ea sports didn't succeed with this one. Maybe the lockdwon did themnsome damage.

Vid M. gave it a3:
Poor graphics and sound quality compared to EA's game. There are some fundamental flaws in design for roster management, not to mention some outright bugs. For instance, the stats the announcers cite often don't match the numbers displayed on screen. The game is also far too easy. I only played a few games before I had it on the hardest setting and was still winning most of the time. If you're looking for a hockey game this season, drop the extra $10 and go with EA's HNL 2006.

Kevin gave it a7:
For NHL 2K6, it felt way too much like NHL 2K5, but not taking anything away from 2K6, 2K5's gameplay was pretty good with all the customizeable sliders, but the players do look ugly. Franchise Mode is still the best out of the 3, and all that good stuff. But, it felt like 2K5 with freezes fixed and stuff, but it is worth buying for 20 Bucks.

Dennis V. gave it an8:
Back for another tour de force of hockey superstardom, 2K6 has made some tweaks to the gameplay brought to you by ESPN 2K5. No longer using the ESPN branding, Kush games has opted to use their own 2K Sports branding and the result has brought mixed reviews. On one hand, the presentation has been given more free reign over creativity because of the fact they aren't tied down by the branding (ie. having to use the same screen wipes 3 years in a row or using the same menu music). On the other hand, they have lost the seen-on-tv familiarity that I'm sure our American friends are surely used to. However, I find it funny that some people would rate a game a 1 or a 3 based on presentation alone because try as hard as you can, you can wiggle your joystick all you want and the presentation won't do anything that it wouldn't do otherwise. In my opinion, it's the gameplay that matters and NHL2K6 delivers in spades. The controls are spot on, the goalies are smooth like budda and the AI rewards cycling in the offensive zone and puck possession. Too often, a game like 2006 is all about the run and gun which was all fine and dandy when I was like 12 years old, but I find I have more use for a thinking man's game in my relative old age and that's why I prefer 2K6. So I gave the game a fairly conservative 8 out of 10 because although I do think it's the best hockey game released and prefer it to the arcadeyness of EA's offerings, I don't think it was as big a leap over 2K5 as it was over 2K4.

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