Gretzky NHL 2006
The greatest to play the game get’s the worst license deal.
Tags: Gretzky NHL 2006 Categories: PS2 Reviews, Reviews
Posted by David Hinkle on Oct 11th, 2005
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gretzky NHL 2006 (title page) | 1 - 2 | ||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Sports | No | ||
 |
You know the name Wayne Gretzky. You know he’s pretty much the greatest person to skate the ice and handle the puck. What noone knows is why Wayne keeps his name attached to such a poorly made game. Provided last year’s game was just about as bad as it gets, it shouldn’t be a surprise that this year’s addition follows suit as a disappointing attampt to capture the fun and excitement of the game.
 |
It’s not that one area of the game just overshadowingly kills the buzz created by other, more fun, parts of the game. It’s that just about everything here contributes to create an overall flawed game: both in execution and intent. They say the way to Hell is paved with good intentions, and this statement rings somewhat true for Gretzky 06. There are some additions this year that are showing that SCEA is at least TRYING to get themselves situated far away from their image of bad sports titles. Most notably is the game’s artificial intelligence.
 |
Defensively, your opponents are vicious and gun for you with a fire seldom seen in human beings, let alone digital represenations thereof. They are merciless, checking you to ice and board ferociously. Here, the game works well, with the AI making your approach to the net well-earned. Of course though, this is a SCEA sports title, so sadly this is about as good as it gets. On the other side of the spectrum, the AI on the goalie is just ridiculous. Often it’ll feel like there is just a wet paper bag sitting in front of the net, because every single shot you send to the net goes in without contest.
 |
Also a detriment to the game is the speed of play. Players can gain some speed out there, don’t get me wrong, but from start to stop you shouldn’t be able to break the sound barrier. The players just move way to fast, and it’s a detriment to the overall attempt of this game to be a simulation affair. The speed makes the game feel like Midway’s Hitz series, and with the ease of making goals, it’s far too often you’ll be winning games 16-4.
 |
New to this year’s game is Wayne Vs. Wayne mode. This mode is the ultimate arcade experience to be had in Gretzky 06, comeplete with bullet-time-like modifier and abnormally large players. Also, the game plays even faster than in any of the other modes. Basically, you play another team, all the while filling a meter at the bottom of the screen. The meter fills with every goal and successful pass, eventually turning on the game’s bullet-time, 99 time. Here, Wayne himself jumps out onto the ice and plays with your team. Think of it as an inversed power play. While not exactly boring to play, it’s not anything addicting. Much like the the rest of the game, it shows some promise but just leaves the player with the feeling that they just spent a week in purgatory. Not exactly bad, but not exactly good…
 |
Returning from last year is the Franchise mode, as unrestricted as before. No salary caps and weak AI on trades makes you free to create your own dream team at will. Gretzky 06 does have AHL licensing though, so it’s kind of nice to see you be able to take a stab at the minor league circuit. The mode features some minor financial controls and stat-tracking – the usuals of any basic Franchise mode. You can also opt to take the game online, should you wish to play an actual human being, but the online aspects of the game show no reaosn for any person to provide more than 5 minutes attention, which shows in the list of available opponents online.
 |
Gretzky 06 does hold the kind of content implied from the name attached to it. It’s a boring hockey title that doesn’t present anything worth your while, and ends up misrepresenting itself as a simulation title, but playing exactly like an extreme arcade title. It moves fast, hits hard, and stops no shots. This game adds to the already well-established notion that a game isn’t as good as who is affixed to its cover. If you want some fun hockey, go pick up NHL2K6.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
|
+ Hard-hitting AI + Wayne Vs. Wayne mode isn't half bad |
5.0 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
- Game doesn't match the man - Ridiculously easy goal making - No incentive to keep playing because it just isn't fun |
|
| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| A far inferior hockey game than is deserved of Gretzky's name. | |
[ Post the first comment | View related posts ]
Tags: Gretzky NHL 2006
Posted by David Hinkle on Oct 11th, 2005 and is filed under PS2 Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
