Posts Tagged ‘year in review’
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#3 of 2008: MLB 08 The Show
There was probably no sports title out this year that replicated the authenticity and nuances associated with its respective sport to the extent that MLB 08: The Show did. The overall gameplay experience is excellent. What The Show really achieves is the true feel of baseball. Not only in the gameplay, but the presentation, pacing, commentary, and lots of other small elements of the sport. This is a game that is considered by some to be the best baseball game ever made, and by many others to...
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#4 of 2008: FIFA 09
As I mentioned when it came to Tiger Woods, sometimes a sport has a ceiling for how much enjoyment I can get out of it. That is especially the case with those that I don't follow like golf or in this case soccer. However FIFA 09 had the total package this year. Top notch gameplay, amazing online play, and the secondary mode in the form of Be a Pro. What Be a Pro and Online Team Play does in a title like FIFA is constrict the scope of the game. For someone like myself that is critical. By ...
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#5 of 2008: NBA Live 09
The NBA is one place where EA Sports now plays the role of the underdog. That isn't a familiar scenario for them. How did they react with NBA Live 09? Improved gameplay and a big investment in the future. While the game still had issues it provided an enjoyable experience with fully functioning modes and a variety of features. NBA Live 09 had the most innovative addition of any game this year with Live 365. While its value to the game remains questionable it does offer a great deal. Not o...
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#6 of 2008: NBA 2K9
This was the year, as we've seen with the sales numbers, that consumers overwhelmingly identified the NBA 2K series as the definitive choice for basketball gamers. Being #1 sometimes brings side effects and that has been seen through some dissatisfaction and growing pains. Outside of that though what NBA 2K9 offers is a familiar enjoyable gameplay experience. With all three basketball games this year offering something different, what 2K9 stood out in was the gameplay. That includes being...
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#7 of 2008: Madden NFL 09
The biggest name in US sports gaming is by far Madden. Along with Fight Night they are the two sports franchises that transcend the genre. While there is a certain level of discontent surrounding Madden 09 within online communities there is no doubt that the majority continue to enjoy the franchise a great deal. This year though it was just eclipsed by several other games that either provided innovative modes and features or delivered better gameplay for their respective sports. When I fi...
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#8 of 2008: Blitz The League II
I went into Blitz: The League II intrigued by the campaign mode more than anything. What I found was an interesting story with gameplay that exceeded my albeit tempered expectations. Over the top action certainly, and flawed it was, but just good enough to keep me playing through and allow for the story to be the center of the experience. Accessibility is a central to me when trying a new game. I have to be able to transfer between different games of the same sport and be able to play the...
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#9 of 2008: NFL Tour
NFL Tour is a game that, while lacking in many areas, was still a lot of fun. Tour was able to achieve the accessibility that many other arcade style titles have not been able to. It kept things simple with the control scheme and limited the amount of plays but there was still enough variety to keep things interesting. It was all about the brisk pace, constant action, and offensive prominence. Tour was designed primarily to be an enjoyable head-to-head experience and in that regard it did we...
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#10 of 2008: Tiger Woods 09
Tiger Woods 09 delivered a solid all-around experience while enhancing the online enabled aspects of the game. As with many of the other EA Sports titles it attempted to increase its accessibility, here with the addition of Hank Haney assisting with your progression. Ultimately it lands at #10 in my Top Games of 2008 and not any higher because it is golf and there is a limit to how much I can get out of it. Improvements were made to GamerNet which is an innovative feature introduced in 08...
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