NHL 06 (PC)

I guess the problem is the same for sports games in general, if not all games, once you've discovered the way to score or win the game becomes a bit boring. Another problem with playing on hardest mode is that the computer sometimes switches into "goal-scoring" mode. Suddenly all the computer's players start skating much faster and zip the puck about much quicker, whilst your players plod along like normal. At this point I find the only way to prevent them scoring is to get your players to desperately dive to the ice in order to try and block their passes, half the time though the comp will score. It's annoying and I've punched my desk in frustration over it quite a few times!! This game is at its best when you're playing a friend because at least then you know you're not getting screwed by the AI!

Although one timers in real-life hockey are highly effective they are a little too effective in the game. In real life they can be fairly difficult to execute in terms of accuracy and timing. However in the game almost all the shots are very hard and accurate, and invariably go in. I tried to find a way of increasing goalie performances in order to stop all my games becoming unrealistic 9-8 type affairs but couldn't find a way of doing so. It'd be good to see players on occasions making a few mistakes, such as losing edges, fanning on shots, goalies missing saves, giveaways, etc. As long as their frequency was kept at a realistic level it could make the game feel more realistic and unpredictable.

I don't like using gamepads so the new deking ability isn't an option to me. Also, whilst fun the new fancy move keys now mean that on the keyboard you need to (in theory at least) hover over about 11 keys. I doubt anyone has the co-ordination to be in control of that many keys with one hand. I just had to go without the special moves.

I liked the options for fantasy draft, some aspects of create new team, player equipment selection.

I didnt like the face creator, it only had one template and however much you altered the options you could never get too far away from the basic original face. I also couldn't be bothered with the financial tinkering and the team practice scheduling.

For NHL07 I wish EA would do the following;
- Bring back the awesome videos featuring real NHL action! (We've lacked this since 98 and they were fantastic!)
- Find a way of increasing the scoring chances of standard shots 1v1 vs the goalie, powerplay deflections, (whilst somehow also preventing the scores from getting ridiculous)
- At the start/end of each game have the option of some sort of brief game build-up/recap, like a recap of the last time the two teams met, their last game&form, top scorers, injuries (all featuring replays of events that actually happened during NHL07 games) (im sure this could be done in an entertaining presentation style)
- Easier updating of rosters from the EA.com website. Their instructions only gave guidance this year on updating the N.american version which differs to the euro one.
- bring back the ability to alter the season length, this year it was 82 game season or nothing.
- allow greater customisation of custom teams, eg ability to select a better crowd chant than "go team" or import a jersey design
- when creating custom players why isnt there an option to tell the commentators to use the same name as an NHL player if your created players share the same names??! Eg. common surnames such as Williams, Cole, Smith. Instead you only have a list of first names which gives a tacky feel to your created players.

Make no mistake, beside my minor complaints this is a really good game. I've played it to death really now but I enjoyed it a lot for the first couple of months that I had it.

NHL '06 though, has an awful interface! It is cumbersome to navigate using a mouse and keyboard, though admittedly not as bad using a gamepad (still very slow!)

The music is... well it's good that it's got that whole rock energy thing going on, I actually quite like it, but it's not everyone's cup of tea, and is not varied at all.

When a player gets injured (e.g. your line 1 forward), you don't get a chance to edit your lines manually, the computer auto-scrathes him, and fills all of the lines he was on with your best substitute... so you have someone who didn't make your forth line on your top lines, including powerplay etc.! Since this happens alot, it wastes alot of time, and is something EA had already done fine with by having an option to manually edit lines after an injury in '99 and '02!

The gameplay is of the typical EA end-to-end style. It is entertaining, and very playable, but don't expect it to be a realistic hockey simulator! Scorlines are likely to be very high, even when playing at 5 mins a period!

The AI of the skaters has been improved, with players less likely to pass the puck back to a random teammate when on a breakaway, more able to get decent shots away, and forwards try to dodge your defenders now.

The goalies, however, are now even more incompitent! They seem unable to save one-timers, and wrap-around goals, and, on the lower levels randomly dive around on the ice (not a problem on difficult level). Having said that, it's nice to have their styles (e.g. butterfly, upright) affect the way they play.

You will find yourself unable to change your lines manually (I couldn't work out how, and gave up after 15 minutes of checking the manual, what was wrong with F1 for line 1, F2 for line 2, etc, or using the d-pad with the controller in between plays!?) and unable to use the new deking system. Having said this, it is supposed to be very good with an analog stick (2 analog sticks, I think).

4 years on, the graphics are almost identical to NHL '02 with both on maximum detail (I'm running a Radeon 9600 with 512 RAM, 3GHz processor).

This is the first NHL game I have ever been disappointed with!