Review: There's no need to gamble on this one.
It goes without saying that it's really nice to see hockey back after an ugly lockout that left fans behind as the real losers. However hockey fans into gaming weren't left in the cold thanks to the annual game releases, one of which was Sony's Gretzky franchise. Ditching NHL Faceoff for an alignment with the Great One, last year's edition of the game was a flawed, seemingly rushed game that couldn't compete with EA or Sega. The first PSP release showed promise but the action was hampered by an insane game speed which the screen simply couldn't keep up with. All this is why it's nice to see that this year's Gretzky is improved from last year, though in the face of very tough competition, it still slightly lags behind. And seeing that Sony didn't see fit to keep the prices competitive with their competitors, it's hard to recommend spending $40 on the game when you can get Sega's superior offering for $20 less, or NHL 06 for $30. Like NBA 06, the game shows promise,and hopefully the PS3 will give SCEA the platform to bring their once-shining sports division back into the fold.
Gretzky 06 is filled to the brim with features, such as traditional Franchise and Online modes, along with playoff and tournament setups for those who feel like reenacting the Olympics. Needless to say there's quite a lot to do and see as all sports games should be. The annual Gimmick Mode is Wayne vs. Wayne, where you play an exhibition game with slightly less realistic action in order to earn '99 time' where you can summon Gretzky himself for up to 99 seconds...or be forced to defend against him against an opponent. Earning 99 time is as easy as scoring goals, making big hits, stealing passes, and the like. It's an interesting diversion but unfortunately the big problem is that Wayne isn't much better than anybody else on the ice. Seeing how much trouble you go through to get him, this is disappointing.
The on-ice action is fast and furious, just like the real thing. Players criss-cross up and down the ice and make great pinpoint passes and set up one-timers with ease. The only unusual part is the reversal of some of the buttons from playing the other hockey games – passing with X is normal but shooting with Circle instead of Square was a bit unusual at first. The only downside I see here is the game can be sometimes a little too fast, and thus difficult to ease into any sort of strategy. The game is also a little too easy on its default difficulty; you can pretty much score at will once you learn the tendencies of the goalies, especially if you're good at one-timers. However it's good to see a more aggressive AI that usual; they'll pull all sorts of tricks and play very good defense. It's just that once you break that defense down it can be 5-0 pretty fast. All the new rules set up to increase scoring and excitement are in place, which explains why many games can turn into wild shootouts. The real problem with Gretzky however, is that it doesn't do enough to differentiate itself from its competition. It plays like a halfway between the more realistic style of 2K's game, and the more arcadey action of NHL 06. It doesn't have any defining moment that separates itself from these games. And that hurts.
With a game that's very quick and speedy, you'd expect a slick frame-rate to balance it out. Usually you do, but sometimes Gretzky chugs and stutters keeping up. It's a whole lot better than last year when it really chugged. Player models and animations are nice, though you don't really see them close up unless you get into a fight or during a cutscene. The ice gets beat up over time as well for some Zamboni action. The audio is on the strong side though, thanks to some great commentary by Mike 'Doc' Emrie and Darren Pang (who serves as color commentator for the Phoenix Coyotes these days so I can hear his energetic color frequently), who call the action like two pros and don't fall into repeat-land too often. They do a great job describing the games. The sounds of players banging each other against the boards, the skates tearing up the ice, and the screaming fans are also serviceable.
