You have to credit Sony's sports studios, formerly 989 and now Page 44, for trying. Over the years, the company has continuously plugged out sports franchise after sports franchise in an attempt to recapture the glory days they had on the PlayStation, back when stellar games like NFL Gameday and NBA Shootout were dominant. Nowadays, 2K Games and EA Sports seems to have everyone's number in the first-person arena, shutting down Microsoft's Xbox sports brand and leaving Sony to try some new tricks for their existing games. Now comes their latest attempt at keeping a franchise flowing, Gretzky NHL '06, which had the perfect timing down when it came to release- it arrived just under the gun before the hype of the returning NHL season began. Now, if it could've just gotten some more right...

I didn't really like last year's game, Gretzky NHL '05. It got a score of 2.5 out of 5, with some promise bundled in to other bland elements, making for a game that easily showed itself off as an almost-ran instead of a front-runner. This year's edition, sadly, falls into an even worse lull. It looks like most of the content from last year's edition has been carried over, with only slight improvements here and there to try and draw in the hockey fans. But disappointment then is disappointment now, I'm afraid. Sort of like my last attempt to get a home loan.

Anyway, let's talk about controls first. Like they did in the previous year's edition, Sony has kept things simple with passing and shooting, as well as providing checking moves and the occasional defensive maneuver to keep the puck in play. But it still feels like the players are gliding, like you're in control but not fully. Think of it as trying to hold onto a beer glass with Palmolive or lotion on your hands. That's right, you struggle. Here, it's mostly strugglesome, with only the occasional victorious check coming into play. You can score easily enough, but that's due to the shooting game. You basically aim your stick where you want the puck to go and let it fly, either on a quick slap shot or with a power shot. I just didn't get into it...again.

Worse yet, the AI is off-balance. I mean "fall off the truck, try to climb back on, and fall off again" off-balance. Their passing game is something like a frenzied round of hot potato, with players making ridiculously nuts passes at times and getting off an occasional shot that you can't see coming. Hey, I can understand aggression is important to a hockey AI, that's for sure, but when you've got a team that's trying to be THIS frenetic, it's overkill. If I was coaching that team, I'd teach the important lesson of "keeping the puck in an offensive position" before thwacking the team members with a clipboard. (Well, OK, not all the members- the mascot didn't do anything.) The difficulty is never overwhelming, but the tactics of the opposing team is bound to frustrate.