djh11001

Where to begin,,,Well, I gave it a (2) purely because graphically it looks nice. But honestly, the past 5 versions of Madden that have come out, have gotten progressively impossible to play. The real player motion would be ok if it applied to every player on the field, but it doesn't. It only applies to the human controlled ball carriers. This alone has destroyed any fun in running the ball in this game. I remember a time when you snapped the ball and had amazing responsiveness and control of your players and it was FUN and yet still challenging enough. But now, to have any chance at a realistic experience, you have to let the CPU control your ball carrier until at least the line of scrimmage is reached or else you get buried for a 5 yard loss. Don't get me started on the stupid double tapping for turbo. We have reached a point where it feels as though EA keeps slapping a new coat of paint on an old beat-up truck. If the NFL refuses to extend licensing to create competition here, then please EA, take a look back at your roots. Look back at Madden '04, '05 etc. These games were fun they were not bogged down with overly complicated control schemes. You just picked them up and played. If Madden '19 played like Madden '05, but with these updated graphics, then you would be looking at a 9.5 out of 10 title. One last thing.....Real time physics engine please!! This physics based animation nonsense has got to stop. EA if you need help on this, contact the BackBreaker development team. Too bad you guys couldn't team **** could you???

My feelings are a bit of a mixed bag on NHL '18. I so badly want to love this game, but I feel as though the developers are focusing too much on the fluff and fillers than on the actual game itself. For example: there are little nuances in the game of hockey that make it, well you know... hockey. Such as: If you are overly aggressive in the face-off circle, in real life, the official would toss you out, but not here. Pucks do not go into the stands nearly enough in this game. You can jab away at a goalie freezing a puck, with little to no response from his teammates. This physics engine needs to go. The puck physics are pretty solid, but the physics that govern how the players interact with each other is really starting to get stale. We still have no real excitement surrounding the on ice players when you score a goal. Meaning, still NO 5 MAN GOAL CELEBRATIONS!!! I cannot figure out how the FIFA developers can pull off goal celebrations like they do, but it seems to be of no importance to the NHL developers. Seems crazy, considering that this is supposed to be a true hockey simulation, but we still are left with the awkward 2 man canned animations after a goal is scored, while the other on ice teammates skate away like the puck just got shot out of play. So weird that this continues to be ignored by the dev team. Like most sports games, the atmosphere is the key to creating that illusion of realism. But since there hasn't been much emphasis placed on the subtleties of the sport, that realism factor really suffers. Sure, the new 3's mode is fun, but I really feel like that is something that could have been added down the road or even as a DLC option, so that more time could have been spent on improving the overall simulation package. Don't get me wrong. NHL '18 does have better gameplay than NHL '17. However, so far, 18 feels more like NHL 17.2. I am starting to feel as though the NHL dev team might benefit more from doing what the NBA LIVE team just did, and take a season off. The annual installments are beginning to feel more like $60 patches than completely new versions. Unfortunately, without a competitor title being produced, this will most likely never change. Although, as consumers, we deserve more for our hard earned money. In closing, here are a few bullet points to help improve the series: -we need a real time physics engine, no more canned animation BS. -post whistle scrums in the crease -kick players out of the faceoff circles if they are overly aggressive. -more loose pucks please -more pucks getting deflected out of play -too many men on the ice penalties -player suspensions for illegal hits and game misconducts. -players losing an edge when trying to make quick turns -goalie mask customizations, along with putting the actual goalie masks for all the star goalies in the game. Overall, I scored NHL '18 a 7 out of 10. Is this game better than NHL '17? Yes, but just slightly, Graphics: looks the same as previous years '16 & '17. Gameplay: slightly improved (still missing basic nuances of the game) Sound: about the same Replayability: Moderately High. Buy/Rent/Wait for Sale or Take a pass?: I almost took a pass this year after I played the BETA, however, I sold my copy of NHL '17 and needed a Hockey game to play, so I reluctantly picked it up. I would rent this if you can, or hold off for the Black Friday doorbusters, as the EA titles usually are close to half price during that time. I hope this review helped.