In spite of being over four years old, NHL 06 provides a solid hockey experience with more options, excellent graphics and great control, especially when compared to anything released before it.
The first thing that catches one off guard when they play NHL 06 is the presentation. The game plays and sounds phenomenal; throwing tons of stats during every play stoppage with great play by-play and color commentary. EA Canada did a great job of making this game a hockey fan’s dream come true by adding things like crowd screams after every hit, save and penalty call, giving players the kind of atmosphere that only induces the game to be played more.
The graphics in NHL 06 are truly what set the game apart from NHL 2K6. While 2K6 uses the same player models from 2K5 with minor improvements, NHL 06 has brand new player models, animations and a custom create-a-player mode that is deeper than any other in any hockey game ever created. You almost have to look a little bit harder at NHL 06 to believe it’s a video game. Players argue calls, take hits and perform with uncanny realism. Graphic fanatics should without a doubt feel satisfied by how NHL 06 looks.
If playing great and looking gorgeous wasn’t enough NHL 06 has a bevy of options to keep any die-hard hockey fan satisfied. NHL 06 has over 60 teams to choose from, including teams from all over Europe. NHL 2006 also has an extremely deep season mode and a host of mini-games for those who are just looking for a casual gaming experience.
Overall, while NHL 06 doesn’t have the raw realism that has made the NHL 2k series a household name, it does have better control, better graphics and is much more fun to play, making it worth the purchase price and then some.
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports.
Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders.
His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023.
Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief.
Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale.
Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.
In spite of being over four years old, NHL 06 provides a solid hockey experience with more options, excellent graphics and great control, especially when compared to anything released before it.
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