In present day, Need for Speed Heat seems limited, reminding me of all the things that made it distinct, but still hedging against them in case I don’t find them enjoyable. I’m confused about what would have made this game better, but the series seems just as confused about what it wants to be.
The player character customization is also a lot more detailed than its Division cousin, which of course sets up an opportunity to throw even more microtransactions at the player. The good news is that player progression isn't tied to anything that can be bought for real money. Though the in-world currency is sold for real cash, there is no need to buy it if you'd rather avoid the premium economy.
The best parts may carry over, but the new flashes make it all worth revisiting
eFootball PES 2020 doesn’t make me forget about its competition, but it does force me to reckon with what I really want from a soccer video game, and who really meets those needs.
NASCAR Heat 4 may not look different, at first, but it doesn’t take long before I can feel just how much better it has become.
It takes a while for the ETRC’s five tons of thunder to get rolling
Size and speed always carry the day, but Madden gives you new ways to use them
All sports video games are educational in some way; even MLB The Show will teach me new things about hitting every year. But the video game that both educates me and develops me as a fan of the sport is really doing its job, regardless of the visuals and gameplay fidelity (which are still take-it-for-granted impeccable in F1 2019).
Staples like Road to the Show and Diamond Dynasty, the card-collection/fantasy baseball suite now in its eighth year, are the two biggest reasons to pick up MLB The Show 19. They are brimming with variety and fun experiences both big and small.
And, while the story-based campaign and leveling system provide plenty of thrills, it takes about 50 hours to actually get to the real shit. The endgame is where I can now choose between playing as a sniper, a bomber, or a non-specific character who can do a bit of everything, and join up with other super-achievers to take down a tougher gang called the Black Tusk.
Newcomers might surprise themselves how much they really can handle in a tough-as-nails driving sim
The real fun of NBA Live 19 is out in The Streets, with my new friends from two different leagues, fitting together their styles with my star's, and then running that back all the way to 2 a.m.
FIFA 19's selling points may be subtle or incremental but, again, that's because the bedrock of this game has been so deep and so strong, for so long
After giving it a few days, I felt like I understood what Madden 19 was asking of me and that the challenge it posed was one worth growing into, and the game makes a strong and varied appeal to keep trying across its multiple deep modes of play.
Codemasters still delivers enough immersion and participation in this fantasy to keep it from feeling repetitive, even if on paper, it sounds like it should be.
Super Mega Baseball 2 feels like a true sequel: same cast of heroes and villains (lookin' at you, Andre Candela), some new threats and interlopers, and a new journey to enjoy.
R.B.I. Baseball 18 tries to be a fun arcade-style sports video game with some big features expected of so-called sim titles. And it winds up struggling with both goals.
The distinctive parts of NBA Live 14 are buried deep and difficult to understand. The rest is hamstrung by overwhelmed player AI and underwhelming visuals.
The verdict, then, is that F1 22 should appeal to hardcore fans, who expect true-to-life fidelity in the vehicle performance, as well as more casually interested newcomers approaching this video game with a spectator’s curiosity. That blend of depth and accessibility is a hard needle for any sports developer to thread, and it rarely results in a transformative work. F1 22 isn’t one, but it didn’t need to be one — creating new cars, and the organic challenge of learning how to drive them on the limit, was transformation enough.
Enemy Within adds a ton of new maps, mission types, and soldier abilities without losing the balance and unrelenting tension that make it XCOM.