- It's a whole lot more NHL than you got on the tube, last year
- New puck and player physics bring NHL realism to the ice
- NHL 06 gets the 'Skill Stick' treatment, all sorts of new moves with the right analog stick
- New character creation system is simply unreal, create any NHL player you can imagine
- Perhaps too much a hockey simulation, it's quite tough
- Graphics are sharp, but showing the need for the next gen of consoles
- Graphics: 4 Great on-ice graphics, but the audience stadium are stuck in the pixel-era
- Sound: 4 Great licensed music, the puck rings true when smacking into people and objects
- Concept: 3 Hockey is a fast game, the level of detail in this game may slow it down a bit
- Control: 3.5 The Skill Stick adds a lot of moves, but they aren't intuitive and take time to learn
- Difficulty: 4.5 The gameplay is more difficult, but more rewarding than NHL 05
- Replay: 4.5 Lots of game to be played, and more details than you will have time to get through
- Rated: Everyone 10+, in reality, I'm sure the 8-9 year old hockey fans won't be too offended
The three biggest changes in NHL 06 all add to making the game a more realistic hockey sim than any other title out there. The new R.P.M. (Realistic Puck Momentum) makes the puck a cold black disk of death, as 100 mile per hour shots can now injure defense-men and stun goalies. It moves far more unpredictably, much to the chagrin of button-mashers. The same is true for players. Player speed and size has a noticeable effect on turning and stopping. My favorite tweak, though, is the new Creation Zone where you can adjust every minor detail of a player's face. Nothing like creating annoying coworkers and slapping the puck at them
In the end, the addition of the Skill Stick, like so many EA Sports games, adds a new repertoire of shots and tricks. The game itself seems to be full of new tricks. Some work, some need work. When the buzzer sounds, NHL 06 is a brilliant, if not difficult, hockey sim.
