The more things change, the more they stay the same. If you're reading this review, you already know the NHL is finally back on the ice, and with some excellent rules changes. The salary structure is new, the game is a little bit new and, after a year off, more of the players are new, too. What has not changed is the quality of the 2k series. Even without the ESPN decorations (which were fantastic), Visual Concepts has managed to improve their game of hockey while the competition spews out another roster update in a game box.

One positive thing to come from the loss of the ESPN identity in this year's game is an improved presentation of all the menus. Maybe it happened because the whole structure had to be re-thought, maybe it was an accident, but for some reason the menus don't seem to go five or six steps deep the way they did in past versions. There are still a ton of different things to tweak, but now there are more options per page and they are more obviously organized. The end result is that once you learn your way around you'll waste less time clicking through familiar territory. And as you search for things you haven't found yet, you'll spend a less time backtracking because there's a lot more per screen than there used to be. That sort of improvement is a rarity this late in a series.

The rest of the presentation is also improved. Most notably - for those really into the eye candy - are the close ups between plays. For those who remember fondly the level of detail in player models in NFL 2k5, you'll be glad to know it's present here. The uniforms look absolutely fantastic. The level of detail during play also seems increased. Poke checks, hooking and other subtle movements show up just enough. Some games exaggerate the little things for the sake of clarity, but this year it's just right.

There's something else going on during play that's nice to finally see in a sports game - dynamic opponents. The course of a whole game doesn't play exactly the same, the computer changes methods. For example, one-timers are fun and they've been one of the best ways to score in video game hockey for a long time. At the beginning of a game, I tried nothing but one-timers and scored three goals. Some time during the second period, the computer started making it a lot harder for me to get off a one-timer. They also got a lot more fast breaks on me because I'd end up deep in their zone in my zeal to get said one-timers.

On the flip side, if you spend the game passing around the zone and setting up your scorers to attack the goal directly, the occasional one-timer becomes a little easier to pull off. Some of us have been asking for this for a long time - some styles and methods of play simply work in the real-world game, and they shouldn't be made impossible because they risk turning into money plays. NHL 2k6 strikes a nice balance - if I haven't been abusing one-timers all night there's a good chance I can pull one off when I need to if I know how.

One-timers are just an example. The same holds true for slap shots - the more time you spend circling the outside looking for an opening to let one fly, the more aggressive the computer becomes in coming after you. On defense, the more aggressive you are, the more likely the computer begins to pass and look for breaks. The reason these tendencies are so interesting is because they happen relatively slowly over the course of the game. It boils down to this - if you only know how to play one way, you're making the game very hard.

The crowds online seem to compare very favorably to the crowds of real hockey fans - which is to say there are plenty of people to play but it's not exactly a stampede. As before, online play is clean and crisp, with very few cases of lockup or slowdown.

All the features in previous versions are still around, tweaked slightly. Franchise mode is very similar to what's been around before and includes trades that usually make sense. The skybox still has lots of unlockables, like old uniforms and mini games. The rules by which the NHL will play hockey this season are in this game, but the rosters are dated, which is disappointing. Considering how the competition (NHL '06, by EA) amounts to annual roster changes almost exclusively, one has to hope the irony is not lost on the parties involved.

The truly tragic loss that went away along with ESPN was Gary Thorne, one of the brightest stars in play by play. He and Bill Clement have been replaced by Bob Cole and Harry Neale. The drawback with this year's audio isn't usually their fault, though, because the biggest complaint is that their comments don't always match the game situation.

If you want a simulation, you can play NHL 2k6 right out of the box for a while, make slider tweaks (just tweaks, not overhauls) over time and be extremely happy. If you want games that end 10-8, just play the easy level. And 2k6 is still offered for the unbelievable price of $20, as opposed to the $50 price tag on the competition. Sports gaming is on the brink of a new age with the coming of new consoles, so here's hoping the 2k series continues to raise the bar by producing the best game on the market, as they have - again - with NHL 2k6.