September2018
Review NHL 19 - Ice Hockey Deserves Much Better
Puck off
The NHL series is a weird one. Years ago, when 2K had its own NHL series, there was a competition for attention between the two franchises that drove both series’ forward as time went by. But without the competition that NBA Live deals with or the massive install base of Madden, NHL usually comes off as the series that is generally...
August2018
Play of the game
Six months since the Philadelphia Eagles snatched Super Bowl LII from Tom Brady’s greedy clutches, a new season of the NFL beckons, with a fresh crop of rookies all eager to ply their trade in one of the league’s 32 teams. EA Sports, as has been the case for decades now, has also returned with a new entry in its annual Madden...
February2018
Chat crap get banged
You’ll need a strong stomach, but EA Sports UFC 3 simply feels good. Dana White’s snowballing brand of mixed martial arts is not known for pulling its punches, and the third instalment in EA Sports’ series hits similarly hard, with wince-inducing haymakers breaking noses like they’re breadsticks. Industry leading...
October2017
Bang in form
Surprise surprise, FIFA 18 is another rock solid entry in EA's footie sim series. Why wouldn't it be? It feels like the developer pretty much nailed its formula years ago, and ever since, it's just tweaked and added things little by little with each annual instalment. This year's title is no different. It looks better, it plays better,...
September2017
Gronk star
Yes, the football season may have just started in the UK, but across the pond, something different is going on: the football season is about to start. Not the one with feet or balls, mind you, but one even more complicated and technical, a sport in which “PA Max Protect” actually means something. To a new player, the prospect of...
September2016
Signing of the summer
Another year, another FIFA review, although this time around, there's actually a reasonable amount of new stuff to talk about without having dig deep into the finer - and frankly quite boring - technicalities of tweaked gameplay mechanics. Taken as a whole, FIFA 17 is the biggest step forward that the sports series has seen in...
Returning to the first line
With NHL 17 being the second version of EA's hockey sim to be released since the shameful PlayStation 4 debut that was NHL 15, fans of puck-based sports were rightfully expecting the good work done in last year's edition to carry on through and be improved upon even further to really bring the franchise into the current...
August2016
Lynch pin
Sports games: the bane of most people's E3 conferences. They're the games that people that call themselves "Serious Moe" play. It's easy to write Madden and other sports games off as "just a roster update" – and, at times, this can be true – but the long-lived American football series has been steadily evolving over the past couple of...
March2016
Not a Rousey success
As the famous Greek philosopher Aristotle once said: "Kick, punch, it's all in the mind." Or, in the case of EA Sports UFC 2, the sequel to EA's first major MMA outing: "Kick, punch, it's all in the controls." See, while this year's adaptation of the popular bloodsport is as brutal as ever, the core fighting gameplay seems to...
September2015
Pace yourself
It's easy to say that with every year that passes, it gets harder and harder to review FIFA. EA Sports' annual licensed franchise loves nothing more than to stick to its guns, and with no real competition for its popularity crown, it's no surprise that this is the case. FIFA 15 was another solid, very enjoyable instalment in what's...
The icemen cometh
When EA Canada said that NHL 14 would be skipping a next generation release so that it could concentrate on making NHL 15 the best that it could possibly be, no one really batted an eyelid. It sounded like a perfectly reasonable thing and for the most part it was accepted. That is, until NHL 15 released. Hockey's first foray onto...
Take a Tebow
There are three types of people when it comes to American Football: the people that love it, the people that don't care about it, and the people who think that it's 'namby-pamby rugby'. Only the people in the first camp would usually play this year's edition of the Madden series, even more so now because of the increasing tactical...
July2015
Review EA Sports Rory McIlroy PGA Tour (PS4)
Missing the bread and putter
EA Sports Rory McIlroy PGA Tour is this year's NHL 15. Moment-to-moment, the gameplay is great, and thanks to a few solid control schemes, anyone can play it. But beyond the swinging, putting, and aesthetics is a lacklustre, depthless sports game. Period. And this really is a shame because the title gets off to a hot...
October2014
Review FIFA 15 (PlayStation 4)
Straight down the middle
Reviewing FIFA tends to get harder as the years pass, especially when there are no new gameplay innovations or drastic blueprint alterations to shout about. Last year's entry felt like a step up purely because of the graphical and technical improvements that came courtesy of new hardware, but FIFA 15 is obviously unable to...
September2014
Too few men on the ice
Last year, when EA made it apparent that NHL 14 would be the only sports game to be skipping out on arriving on the (at the time) next generation of consoles, some people were distraught – this author included. Why would the publisher miss out on introducing NHL to the PlayStation 4 as soon as possible? It was explained to...
Review Madden NFL 15 (PlayStation 4)
Defensive win
It’s Madden Season, so it's time to pone your rivals and show them what you're made of on the gridiron — well, the virtual gridiron, at least. Unlike previous titles, this year’s release of the American football simulator makes some pretty massive changes to the way that the game is played. Madden NFL 15 has taken inspiration...
July2014
Review EA Sports UFC (PlayStation 4)
Figurative knock out
From its inception in the early 90s to calls for a ban on what Senator John McCain called ‘human cockfighting’, Ultimate Fighting Championship exploded in popularity in the mid-2000s, and its following shows no signs of diminishing. As such, there have been a number of video game tie-ins over the years, but it is with the...
May2014
Review EA Sports 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil (PlayStation 3)
A place in the sun
Summertime is often a period where people like to make memories. Whether it's creating moments of happiness with friends or taking the time to clear out your ridiculous gaming backlog as the sun blazes outside, there's no time quite like it. However, what usually makes summer all the more enjoyable – especially if you're a footy...
December2013
Review NBA Live 14 (PlayStation 4)
Slam junk
It’s been a long time since EA Sports actually followed through and tossed a new NBA Live title onto consoles, with nothing but a line of cancelled releases filling the space since NBA Live 10. However, with a new generation of consoles arrives the ideal opportunity to revive the dormant franchise properly. Sadly, the awful NBA Live 14...
Review FIFA 14 (PlayStation 4)
Through on goal
EA Sports' annual football franchise has enjoyed a good run of late, maintaining steady form over the past few years. The PlayStation 3 version of FIFA 14 was another solid step in the right direction, even if it was more about evolution rather than revolution, as we described in our review. Now, the game makes the jump to Sony's new...
November2013
Review Madden NFL 25 (PlayStation 4)
Doesn't quite drop the ball
Madden NFL 25 is a celebration of one of gaming's most iconic franchises – and on its silver anniversary, EA Sports delivers a decent experience that will get fans chanting. This is a largely lifelike release with real drama, energy, pain, and sweet victories – and the power of the PlayStation 4 boosts the release by...
October2013
Review FIFA 14 (PlayStation 3)
Keeping pace
Now comfortable and confident with its position right at the very top of the football gaming league, FIFA remains a solid and reliable choice this year. But with Pro Evolution Soccer slowly but surely closing the gap between itself and EA's consistent franchise, does FIFA 14 do enough to secure its lead? The short answer is yes –...
September2013
Review Madden NFL 25 (PlayStation 3)
Touchdown
Ditching its typical naming pattern for something a little more celebratory, Madden NFL 25 marks the silver anniversary for EA Sports' massively popular American Football series. However, even though this is still a great game, it's not quite the commemoration that you may have wished for, offering plenty of tweaks and enhancements, but...
October2012
Review FIFA 13 (PlayStation 3)
Champions League
Compared to reality, FIFA 13 is pure; an uncompromised look at all the thrills that football entails, wrapped in a stylish package that wouldn't look out of place on television. Mercifully it remains focused on the core of football, free of the scandal that so often overshadows the sport presently. There are no faked injuries or...
January2011
Review EA Sports Active 2 (PlayStation 3)
EA Sports Active 2 is a compelling substitute to the real gym, with a good variety of well designed exercises and some excellent progress tracking tools
The heart-rate monitor makes exercising both fascinating and visually beneficial, while the game's sturdy presentation ensures you are motivated whatever your current fitness level. We'd never feel...
