NHL 2006 Impressions

[JackB1]

i love the fact that if i mess up and leave somebody open at the net that it usually costs me. i've had to concentrate playing defense much more on this game than any other hockey game i've ever played and that for the most part keeps my head in the game at all times. In 2K5 I could slack off because I knew the cpu wasn't going to score. You make a mistake in NHL06 and you pay for it most of the time. I gave up well over 40 goals total in the time i played it and I didn't feel cheated on any one goal.

This is perhaps the best aspect of the NHL 06 game. You have to play positionally sound defense or you'll give up a lot of goals. Also, you can't simply run around trying to hit people all day if you have the right slider settings. If you do you'll end up getting out of position and the puck will be in your net.

There are some other gameplay deficiencies but this is the one area that is done very well.

Hoser......can u post your sliders so I can try them? thanks

[Jimmydeicide]

I agree there it is done very well.

[PadresFan104]

At the risk of alienating myself from the sim-heads on the board, I have to tap my stick for NHL 06 over NHL2K6 this year.

I may be 36, but I still prefer the NHL 94 style of arcade hockey that NHL06 represents. I bought both games this week and have played around with both of them for about 5 games each. To me, EA's effort has the edge in fluid controls, presentation and atmosphere. On the other hand, it's clear that 2K6 plays a more realistic brand of hockey.

I spent countless minutes in the neutral zone in my last game of 2K6, battling for control of the puck, with each team struggling to mount an efficient attack. I can see why purists like 2K6 better, but to my lazy instant-gratification ass, it's too much work!

NHL06 on the other hand is up-down-up-down-up-down... and I like it that way. The action keeps me in the game, and I never find myself getting bored. Yep, it's too easy to waltz into the attacking zone. Yes, it takes a couple of seconds for defenders to come after you. Yes, many 5-5 possessions will feel like a power play. But it's still fun.

I love the replays and the highlights at the end of each period. They did a great job there. The crowd sounds better than 2K6 and the PbP is marginally better.

As for the "money-goal", I am not good enough to exploit it I guess, so it's not much of a concern to me. I spent the last two games trying to skate back and forth in front of the net, but I was only able to do it once or twice (yes, probably two times too many!) before getting hit by a defenseman, and I never saw the goalie drop down while I was doing it.

Anyway, I ended up buying a second copy of NHL06 today for the PS2 upstairs, mainly for the ability to play a game of NHL94 from time to time.

As for my background, I never played the game past the age of 14 when my buddies and I would slide around the frozen creek behind our homes. I love to watch the game live, and go to a few San Diego Gulls game every year. I also love catching games on TV. Lived in Pittsgurgh for a few years, and the Pens have been my NHL team ever since. Don't really follow the players at all though, so roster issues are never going to bother me.

Anyway, just thought I'd add another unsolicted opinion.

Al

[pk500]

Great post, Al!

Take care,
PK

[Boom]

I'm not the biggest hockey nut. I enjoy a little game from time to time, but don't know much about it. I couldn't critique a hockey game the way I could a football game and would never pretend to be able to.

NHL 06 seems ok to me but something does really strike me odd. The way the computer passes the puck is insanely fast. I don't mean the speed of the pass from player A to player B.

I'm talkin from player A to B then C then D. I'm not even sure that would be physically possible without a defense on the ice, let alone with it.

They pass the puck from the lower corner, up top, to the wing and then back down into the opposite low corner is like 2 seconds. The puck never stops at a player sometimes.

I don't know if that's realistic or not, but it sure doesn't seem it.

That's all I know. Need to play some more to see if I have fun with it. Hockey games tend not to hold my attention very long mainly because I do not know much about the sport.

[pk500]

I don't know if that's realistic or not, but it sure doesn't seem it.

It's not, Boom. Give yourself more credit -- you know more about hockey than you think!

Take care,
PK

[hoserthehorrible]

Hoser its "horses for courses" and i respect the fact you like 06 but the jabs on 2k are weak ,have you played it and witnessed them ?if so ok but i havnt had a warp goal, wrap arounds are far from easy and not one game freeze , i may have had 1 the whole year in 2k5.

Keep us updated tho especially if the mod community can sort out the lack of hitting and the pass acuracy maybe the goalie flop.

Yes, I have played NHL2K6. I bought NHL 06 for the PC and NHL2K6 for the Xbox.

I saw the mystery goal from behind the net a couple times. I also got a couple freezes that caused me to have to reboot my Xbox. I returned the game today. I just didn't spend countless hours pissing and moaning endlessly about it for half a day.

Like I've said elsewhere, both games have their strengths and weaknesses. I happen to like NHL 06 on the PC a little better than NHL2K6 on the Xbox. Perhaps it's because NHL2K6 is a little too boring or the glitches make it feel second rate. Perhaps it's just because I like to play sports video games on a computer more than on an Xbox.

[hoserthehorrible]

I'm not the biggest hockey nut. I enjoy a little game from time to time, but don't know much about it. I couldn't critique a hockey game the way I could a football game and would never pretend to be able to.

NHL 06 seems ok to me but something does really strike me odd. The way the computer passes the puck is insanely fast. I don't mean the speed of the pass from player A to player B.

I'm talkin from player A to B then C then D. I'm not even sure that would be physically possible without a defense on the ice, let alone with it.

They pass the puck from the lower corner, up top, to the wing and then back down into the opposite low corner is like 2 seconds. The puck never stops at a player sometimes.

I don't know if that's realistic or not, but it sure doesn't seem it.

That's all I know. Need to play some more to see if I have fun with it. Hockey games tend not to hold my attention very long mainly because I do not know much about the sport.

I don't know if you have a chance or not but go to the Olympic training camp down at the World Arena in Colorado Springs and watch the USA Olympic hockey hopefuls practice. The puck is rarely on their stick for more than a second. They pass the puck tic, tac, toe all practice long and are unbelievable at it.

The NHL 06 passing is faster than what the real life elite players can do of course however tic, tac, toe passing is most definitely part of hockey at the highest levels. You won't find it at the lower levels (mens leagues, youth hockey and a lot of colleges) but it defitely happens at the highest level. Just not quite as fast as NHL 06.

[JackB1]

Hoser.......can u post your settings?

[hoserthehorrible]

Hoser.......can u post your settings?

Sure, sorry it took a while to respond, I just got back from coaching a hockey practice.

I'm still messing around with these and I'll probably be tweaking these over the next few days as I play more games and expirement more. In particular I'm not sure whether to have hitting power way up to help the CPU hit more or to have it way down so I can't go around hammering people.

This is for NHL 06 PC and the numbers represent how many clicks from the left. I haven't played the PS2 or XBox version so the slider variables might be a lot different on those systems. Anyway here they are as of right now.

Difficulty: Medium
Period Length: 5 minutes
Penalties: 4
Fighting: 3

Game speed: 1
Puck control: 3
Fight difficulty: 4
Fatigue effect: 5
Injuries: 4
Speed burst: 2
Fatigue recovery: 2
Player acceleration: 2
Hit power: 0
Hit difficulty: 5
Aggression: 5
Poke check effectiveness: 5
Pass assist: 1
Pass speed: 0
Saucer pass speed: 0
Pass interceptions: 6
AI pass frequency: 4
Goalie passing: 0
Shot accuracy: 5
Shot power: 2
Dump speed: 1
Dump height: 2
Soft dump speed: 0
Soft dump height: 4
AI dump frequency: 6
Shot block: 5
Hook effectiveness: 5
Penalty shot frequency: 1
Goalie cover puck frequency: 5

Let me know if you find a significant change in gameplay, for the better of course, by adjusting any of these settings.

[JackB1]

thanks Hoser! I'll give these a shot.

[dbdynsty25]

Wow...fun game, but if I see another shot hit the goalies pads and bounce out to center ice, I'm going to scream. What did they say about realistic puck physics? I hope they said they don't exist because every guy has a cannon and every bounce is exaggerated. I'm sticking with 2k6...but I'll probably end keeping '06 just for a change of pace and so I can remember what an awesome game 2k6 is.

I can see that there is potential...it's far closer to 2004 (which had the cannon shots and the unrealistic rebounds as well) than 2005, which is good, but it's still not in the same league as 2k6.

[JackB1]

Hoser.......can u post your settings?

Sure, sorry it took a while to respond, I just got back from coaching a hockey practice.

Hoser....was wondering a few things: Why do you have Poke check effectiveness on 5? It is way too easy to poke check the puck away from the AI, so I have this on 1. Also, you have shot accuracy on 5 and I put it on 1 since you hardly ever miss the net. Also, why do u have goalie passing on 0?

[hoserthehorrible]

Hoser.......can u post your settings?

Sure, sorry it took a while to respond, I just got back from coaching a hockey practice.

Hoser....was wondering a few things: Why do you have Poke check effectiveness on 5? It is way too easy to poke check the puck away from the AI, so I have this on 1. Also, you have shot accuracy on 5 and I put it on 1 since you hardly ever miss the net. Also, why do u have goalie passing on 0?

Good questions. I'm not done adjusting the sliders so it's very possible I'll be adjusting these differently as time goes by. If you find good results chenging the sliders let me know what you did and I'll try em out too.

Anyway, here was my initial reasoning...

I cranked up poke check effectiveness in order to play defense better. With checking difficulty way up, and checking power way down, I can no longer go around and try hitting people in order to play defense. I wanted a way to play defense a little better so I raised the poke check effectiveness. I now use the poke check to defend and don't use the checking buttons/stick as my main defensive option. I could see dropping this back down a click at a time as I get better at the game.

Shot accuracy should probably be a lot lower and I'll likely put it down a few notches. When I posted the sliders I had it on 5 because I was on a losing streak and cranked it up a little to see if it helped with my offense. Quite frankly, it probably helped the CPU more than it helped me so I think it will be going back down.

I put goalie passing on 0 because I think the goalies are able to pass the puck too well. My reasoning was to put this as low as possible in an effort to minimize how well they can pass the puck. I'll likely leave this one where it is.

On a side note... I cranked penalties all the way up and played a few games last night. With penalties max'd out the CPU does get more penalties, almost a realistic amount. However, I also ended up getting more penalties and spent a lot of time in the box. I could be wrong but it looks like I'm going to be getting more penalties than the CPU no matter where I put the penalties slider. The good news is that I am seeing a great variety of penalties though. Tripping, hooking, holding, elbowing, slashing, and fighting penalties all happen. I also saw a delay of game penalty last night when the goalie played the puck outside of the trapezoid and behind the goal line. It was pretty cool.

Here's a question that has no good answer.... why doesn't EA have a set of sliders for the CPU and a set of sliders for the human controlled players in the NHL series? Lot's of other games do it, even games that EA puts out, and it's a great way to adjust the gameplay to individual preferences.

[ScoopBrady]

Just thought I'd let people know that the PC version is on sale at Fry's for $19.99 this weekend.

[kicko]

good look scoop...but is that only in-store? online has it still preorder at $24

[JackB1]

Here's a question that has no good answer.... why doesn't EA have a set of sliders for the CPU and a set of sliders for the human controlled players in the NHL series? Lot's of other games do it, even games that EA puts out, and it's a great way to adjust the gameplay to individual preferences.

I agree.......I'm often left trying to figure out what to do because of the different impacts on me or the AI. I think for the most part though, these sliders are meant towards the AI.

[hoserthehorrible]

Here's a question that has no good answer.... why doesn't EA have a set of sliders for the CPU and a set of sliders for the human controlled players in the NHL series? Lot's of other games do it, even games that EA puts out, and it's a great way to adjust the gameplay to individual preferences.

I agree.......I'm often left trying to figure out what to do because of the different impacts on me or the AI. I think for the most part though, these sliders are meant towards the AI.

Have you played any games with the hit difficulty slider way down and the hit power way up? I'm wondering if it helps the CPU hit more while not allowing me to hit the crap out of them all game long.

[pk500]

Have you played any games with the hit difficulty slider way down and the hit power way up? I'm wondering if it helps the CPU hit more while not allowing me to hit the crap out of them all game long.

Hoser:

I did. It didn't help, unfortunately.

I damn near pulled out an abacus the other night to try every different slider combination I could think of to increase CPU hitting and slow pass and shot speed to reasonable levels with NHL 06, with no success.

Take care,
PK

[hoserthehorrible]

PK, you don't like NHL 06, I understand that. It's been made clear on numerous occasions.

What I was asking jackB1 is whether he tried changing hit power and hit difficulty the opposite directions from what I had and what he may have seen.

[bdoughty]

PK, you don't like NHL 06, I understand that. It's been made clear on numerous occasions.

What I was asking jackB1 is whether he tried changing hit power and hit difficulty the opposite directions from what I had and what he may have seen.

Topic Title: NHL 06 Impressions

(not.......... me and JackB sitting in a tree P O S T I N G)

If you don't want people quoting your posts take your beloved replies and put them to private messages for cripes sake so only jackB1 can respond. I do not recall this thread or forum having posting limitations on a persons impression of a game, love or hate.

[Inuyasha]

bored on a friday night so I will be picking up both games shortly.

Anyone try any of these games online? I'll probably be online all night with them if you want to play.

[pk500]

PK, you don't like NHL 06, I understand that. It's been made clear on numerous occasions.

What I was asking jackB1 is whether he tried changing hit power and hit difficulty the opposite directions from what I had and what he may have seen.

Now, what would be the difference between Jack moving his sliders to the same spot as me? None.

So as BDitty said, the next time you want private responses in a public thread, use the PM function.

I'm sharing my honest gameplay experiences, as trust me, I wanted this game to be as good as you do. You can think I'm biased or untruthful all you want, but people who know around here know I don't embellish. We're a community of helpers around here unlike other forums.

Seriously, PM's are your friends if your feelings are hurt by people trying to help.

P.S.: If it doesn't hurt your feelings, I can report that there is slighlty more contact in the neutral zone with the settings that you requested to be tested. But it's still pretty easy to skate in the neutral zone and avoid the checks, and there's still a dearth of pinning and checking along the boards and in the corners. So it is an improvement, but a very small one.

Take care,
PK

[Leebo33]

bored on a friday night so I will be picking up both games shortly.

Anyone try any of these games online? I'll probably be online all night with them if you want to play.

I played one game of 2K6 and it was fun.

Can you add me to your friends list?

[hoserthehorrible]

Now, what would be the difference between Jack moving his sliders to the same spot as me? None.

Because you're clearly anti-NHL 06 and I don't trust your opinion. That's why.

So as BDitty said, the next time you want private responses in a public thread, use the PM function.

I don't want or need your advice.

Seriously, PM's are your friends if your feelings are hurt by people trying to help.

Why would you assume anybody's feelings are hurt? I simply think you're a blowhard, that's all.