ScoopBrady wrote:Well, after the initial sour taste left in my mouth from the 1st period goal through the back of the net I played another game. I lost 5-4 to the Blues as the Hawks. I gave up 5 in the first period. The fifth goal I allowed was because I manually switched to my goalie without knowing it and he went out of position as a result. It would have been a tie if it hadn't been for my mistake.
When this game doesn't have any bugs rear their ugly head it is great. Two things still piss me off about this series and neither of them were addressed.
1. Do I have to give the ref a handjob in order to win a faceoff?
2. Does the cpu really need to pass with 90% + accuracy even with sliders changed?
I'm glad that the back of the net warp goal happened to someone else. I've also seen my goalie and the CPU scoop the puck into their own net while trying to dump it behind the goal.
I was getting killed on faceoffs for a couple of games as I was hitting A too quickly. I finally figured out the timing (just a split second after the puck hits the ice) and won about 60% of faceoffs in my last game. The CPU does seem to change up their faceoff timing occasionally so it doesn't always work out in my favor.
Scoop, what difficulty are you playing on? I am on pro and started with Simulation settings and I got torched. Backed the CPU offense down a little bit and lost my last game 4-3 on a goal with about 2 1/2 minutes left. Great game so far, I like it much better than the last couple of years mostly due to the goalies not being unbeatable like it seemed at times in the past.
rubba19 wrote:Has anyone been able to fly down the wing and blow a slap shot past the goalie yet? Curious in whether the smaller goalie equipment will allow that.
I let them rip all the time from inside the blue line and I've been successful twice in about 6 or 7 games.
Dimmu wrote:Scoop, what difficulty are you playing on? I am on pro and started with Simulation settings and I got torched. Backed the CPU offense down a little bit and lost my last game 4-3 on a goal with about 2 1/2 minutes left. Great game so far, I like it much better than the last couple of years mostly due to the goalies not being unbeatable like it seemed at times in the past.
Dimmu, I'm playing on Pro. The only thing I changed was upping the interceptions for both human and cpu and lowered the cpu passing accuracy.
I am a patient boy.
I wait, I wait, I wait, I wait.
My time is water down a drain.
"Has anyone been able to fly down the wing and blow a slap shot past the goalie yet? Curious in whether the smaller goalie equipment will allow that."
Not the wing but i did from above the left face off circle and more towards centre and itflew in Top right corner very sweet and very realistic looking.
My quick early impressions are the game feels the same as last year, the only problem i see in that is people may get bored with it quicker now cos it has that ho hum been there done that feeling right away. But the new additions make it so deep control and strategy wise its not even funny, online will be a chess match .
The defense seems realy tightened up, love that, backwards skate is awsome, new d pad strats very cool, pro controls are way better than i thought except for the button icons.
Ok the quirks ive seen, d men still get left behind in his own zone and you end up playing with 4 until you go back down towards him like last year.
speed bursting with the puck and stick at the side like an puck protect is still there.
The line change menu oh boy, unless that slider gives you longer to make changes auto may be the norm out of neccessity even for online which blows.
I like the fact the d line changes are back to 2k2 style but boy good luck figuring it out if your new to the series ,manual is horrid.
I can get used to it if its so we get more depth in the game which is why its changed im sure.
Overall it seems tighter and thats all i need im playing on All star and havnt lossed yet which has me worried but still got lots of room with sliders yet.
Sliders seem the same as last year so just load up Grogs and away you go.
If the online has cleared up the disconnects, its gonna be a good hockey year for me.
got to play this one early today when the store opened at the xbox kiosk. The manager was nice enough to put it in.
Again, a 15 minute impression so take it what it's worth, but the game felt to me almost exact as last year. Game seemed pretty solid but got boring to play after the first 5 minutes. I was bored with 2k5's franchise mode but liked the ladder mode and played mainly exhibition games.
Game seems solid but I think it's too stale for me right now. But I probably will pick it up around playoff time.
Thanks to everyone's impressions, excellent thoughts on the game so far... heck for $20 it's mine.
Yea, I think that's the right choice for the console. I'll get NHL06 for the PC, but never for the Xbox...
Has anyone been able to fly down the wing and blow a slap shot past the goalie yet? Curious in whether the smaller goalie equipment will allow that.
2K's game has been all about cycling the puck, constructing the play before you get a shot at the goalie. I haven't blasted any slap shot yet past the keeper but apparently some are saying that's do-able. Interesting.
The fact that I can see the AI dump the puck in consistently and cycle it is reason enough to stick with 2k6...you just don't see that in EA's offering like you do it 2k6.
When you cycle the puck back to your defenders while on offense, do your defensemen still line up behind the line allowing for a complete re-set up?
And now for a gamefaqs esque question. Is there a noticeable difference in the ice midway through a period? Meaning, does the gameplay slow a bit due to the wear on the ice?
sportdan30 wrote:When you cycle the puck back to your defenders while on offense, do your defensemen still line up behind the line allowing for a complete re-set up?
And now for a gamefaqs esque question. Is there a noticeable difference in the ice midway through a period? Meaning, does the gameplay slow a bit due to the wear on the ice?
Thanks.
In general, the answer to you 1st question is YES, although I do see the odd D falling back on offside. (I guess it depends who's your D-man)
At the beginning of each period you'll see that the ice is super shiny and sleek and, the players model reflect clearly on the ice too. Half way thru, the glossy look does diminish as the game plays on, don't know if it necessarily slow the game.
sportdan30 wrote:When you cycle the puck back to your defenders while on offense, do your defensemen still line up behind the line allowing for a complete re-set up?
And now for a gamefaqs esque question. Is there a noticeable difference in the ice midway through a period? Meaning, does the gameplay slow a bit due to the wear on the ice?
Thanks.
Yes as it always has. wether due to ice or fatigue it does.
rubba19 wrote:
Has anyone been able to fly down the wing and blow a slap shot past the goalie yet? Curious in whether the smaller goalie equipment will allow that.
Yup, in my few games I put one in five hole when I blasted it.
I picked up NHL 2K6 tonight, and I can only say one thing: HALLE-F*CKING-LUJAH!
This is the hockey game I should have kept when I bought it yesterday afternoon instead of returning it for NHL 06. This is so much better of a sim of NHL hockey than NHL 06 that it's comical.
That said, I can see why guys who aren't hockey aficionados or don't want a sim like NHL 06. It's easier to pass than in NHL 2K6. Easier to shoot. Easier to score. Easier to skate without getting hit. Easier to speed through the neutral zone.
But NHL 2K6 plays like real hockey. Yeah, it feels a lot like previous NHL 2K games, which is a good thing. But here are some new touches that I REALLY like:
-- Momentum. Everyone is right: With Momentum turned on, you better complete your intended check or you will take yourself out of the play.
-- On-the-fly play calling. This works GREAT. I love to either crash the net or have the defensemen pinch
-- Involved D on O. For the first time in an NHL 2K game, the defensemen really get involved in the offensive zone. Defensemen pinch in just over the blue line by default, automatically turning around to face the opponent's goal and wait for a pass to the point when they near the blue line. It's so f*cking cool. Plus when you choose Pinch the D on the on-the-fly playcalling, the D men pinch almost to the top of the circles.
-- Icon passing. This is MEGA for setting up nice plays on the power play. It's also useful to surprise the D when even-strength, and the passes never are guaranteed. The defense still will break up ridiculous cross-ice pass attempts in traffic.
-- Play styles. You can select what team style you want your team to play, as each team mimicks its actual team's style. Or for sh*ts and giggles, if you want to take Chicago's talent and try to play in Pittsburgh's style, for example, you can. So very cool.
-- Disabled controls. Why have so few people mentioned this? This is such a cool feature. If you abuse any offensive or defensive control, such as one-time or poke check to death, that control will be disabled for you for a minute. What a great way to prevent cheese. Not sure if this works online, and I'm not sure if this can be turned off for those who don't like this idea, but I do.
-- Less-effective wraparounds and poke checks. The effectiveness of both of these offensive and defensive money plays in prior NHL 2K games has been toned WAY down.
-- The little things. I was playing as Edmonton against Calgary, and Mike York actually tripped and fell without being hit while he was turning on a tight cut when the play went the other way. I was astonished.
-- Great variety of goals. I scored on a beautiful Ryan Smyth wrist shot from the high slot after a face-off against Calgary. Dallas lit up Theodore in my Dallas-Montreal game with a nice variety of goals, including garbage in front of the net and a nice wrist shot through the five-hole from the low circle.
-- Very fluid skating model. Not quite as smooth as NHL 2004 or NHL 06, but it feels less angular than past NHL 2K games.
-- Great additions to the historic teams. The 1980 USA and USSR teams from the Miracle on Ice are in there, and so are the 1972 Team Canada and USSR teams in case you want to replicate the epic Canada Cup that culminated with Paul Henderson's unforgettable goals. I can't remember if those teams were in last year's game or not.
I can't begin to say how pleased I am with NHL 2K6. Yeah, it will need a few tweaks for fine-tuning, such as a few more penalties and maybe a slightly slower game speed, but no major overhauls or corrections are needed out of the box.
NHL 06 has a lot of pizzazz and a lot of unrealistic offensive firepower and gameplay, so I can see why people like it. All NHL 2K6 does is play a GREAT game of realistic hockey.
If you're looking for a realistic game of hockey, it's an easy choice -- NHL 2K6.
Feel free to ask any questions, but I think everyone in this thread already has done a great job answering them.
I'm stoked!
Take care,
PK
Last edited by pk500 on Thu Sep 08, 2005 11:06 pm, edited 2 times in total.
"You know why I love boxers? I love them because they face fear. And they face it alone." - Nick Charles
"First on the throttle, last on the brakes." - @MotoGP Twitter signature
Well PK, glad to hear that you found the correct NHL for your taste bud. Personally I also prefer it over EA, however having said that I am still getting the 06 version for the PS2 just for melancholic reasons like 94.
Based on what I've read so far on 06 on this site and what my buddy told me, it's not as bad also as you may make it to be. But enjoy 2K6, love the gameplay too.
PK, I assume both your games were exhibitions? Which setting did you use? There is a "Sim" setting that slows the game down a ton. Let me know what you think of it. By default, I think the setting for exhibitions is "Custom".
Sully wrote:PK, I assume both your games were exhibitions? Which setting did you use? There is a "Sim" setting that slows the game down a ton. Let me know what you think of it. By default, I think the setting for exhibitions is "Custom".
Sully:
One was a quick game and the other was an exhibition. Hell, I can't remember if I switched to the Sim setting or not. I'll have to check that again.
Take care,
PK
"You know why I love boxers? I love them because they face fear. And they face it alone." - Nick Charles
"First on the throttle, last on the brakes." - @MotoGP Twitter signature
Sully wrote:PK, I assume both your games were exhibitions? Which setting did you use? There is a "Sim" setting that slows the game down a ton. Let me know what you think of it. By default, I think the setting for exhibitions is "Custom".
Sully:
One was a quick game and the other was an exhibition. Hell, I can't remember if I switched to the Sim setting or not. I'll have to check that again.
Take care,
PK
If you can't remember changing it, you probably didn't. There are pre-set adjustments made for the certain type of game you want to play. I think default is "Custom". Then you have a "Arcade" setting, "Sim", and I think "Physical" is also in there.
If you plan to make your own slider adjustments, it's probably best to start with the "Sim" setting. It plays a good game of hockey out of the box. I think you'd enjoy it.
Thanks for the tip, Sully! Damn it, now I have to play another game tonight after I watch "Dream Team" and the NFL game on the DVR. Sleep deprivation grows ...
Take care,
PK
"You know why I love boxers? I love them because they face fear. And they face it alone." - Nick Charles
"First on the throttle, last on the brakes." - @MotoGP Twitter signature
I dont know which game to get now. I had fun with nhl06, but I know that it's that kind of 'fun' that will wear off when I get more serious about hockey during the season.
After pk's post, it brought back some of the reasons I liked 2k5 last year. I thought the game was boring to play yes, but it was a challanging game.
I'll just wait another month for the season to start, by then there should be a strong concensus on how each game plays.
Is there a noticeable difference in the ice midway through a period? Meaning, does the gameplay slow a bit due to the wear on the ice?
