well after playing NHL 2005 I've come to the conclusion that you're either going to love it or hate it. Depending on how you play the other games. It has a gameplay style which is trying to mimic the onice NHL game, you can't carry the puck at all, they AI checking is just amazing. In order for you to be effective you actually have to set up plays and move the puck around instead of taking your fastest guy ans streaking him all over the ice. I actually like the play style of it after a bit of getting used to it, the only real drawbacks I've found are, 1) no create a character, and 2) It's near to impossible to score a pretty goal, almost every one is going to be a rebound or deflection out in front. The little mini type game in it is fun though, forget what it is called but when you have 4 people it's a blast.