Review: FIFA 15 (Xbox One)

The annual release of sports titles continues!

FIFA 15 is still quite fresh in my mind having just a few months ago taken a swing at the World Cup title – but the EA team does not sit on their laurels and they continue to improve their masterwork. With the mid-year release, the improvements over last year's title are not as drastic as most iterations but that's not to say that there aren't any. Graphically and aurally, FIFA 15 is pretty much the same game as last year: still looks amazing, the sound from the crowd noise to the in-game commentary are top notch. No disappointments here, at best minor nit-picky points.

Review: NHL 15 (Xbox One)

It's the start of hockey season once again; a time for players to wash their equipment before they stuff it back into their rank smelling hockey bags. All teams start fresh, and for those that insist on not winning every game by 20 goals… there's NHL 15 to get the results that you really want.

Review: EA Sports UFC (PS4)

It seems like every time a console cycle starts, there's always a title or two that shows off the graphical powerhouse of the next gen consoles.

On the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 it was Fight Night; for PlayStation 4 it is UFC. It just happens to be a "coincidence" that both Fight Night and UFC are published by Electronic Arts.

UFC is a drop dead gorgeous game. Little details like sweat, muscle and tattoos look photorealistic. Even the instant replays show off the games graphical prowess. Seeing every muscle react to an opponent being punched in slow motion shows what these next generation (now, current gen) consoles are capable of.

Review: 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil (360)

World Cup Soccer – the most important month for futbol fans every 4 years, or as we celebrate in North America: as good as reasons as any to go drink at 11 am and not look like you have a "problem." With half of my family coming to Canada this generation, and the other half having lived here in excess of 400 years… the World Cup gets a differing amount of care depending upon whom you are talking to. Needless to say, I cheer for my Dad's country because cheering for Mom's and my homeland would have been a tremendous waste of time in this tournament.

Review: EA Sports UFC (Xbox One)

It's been a few years since my last crack at a UFC game, the original Undisputed made by THQ. There have not been many revolutionary new changes to MMA since then, besides the popularity increase of the sport, of course. Any time you switch companies, you are obviously going to switch engines and likely design philosophies. I was a little disappointed to hear that the Fight Night Boxing team was going on hiatus to work on this franchise – I've always enjoyed that franchise and will look forward to it's return down the road.

Review: FIFA 14 (PS4)

My first experience with the FIFA series was back during the 1998 World Cup. Back then, I rented FIFA 98: Road to the World Cup for the Nintendo 64, not sure what to expect.

I fell in love with the series immediately. So many teams, arenas and options!

I was 12 at the time and had a sleepover birthday party with a group of friends and we were up the whole night doing a two-on-two tournament on the indoor soccer court. We even had a little trophy we gave to the winner of the tournament. Fast Forward 16 years and I come to to FIFA 14 for the PlayStation 4. Even after all this time, FIFA still has that great gameplay I first fell in love with, but doesn't quite match my memories in some areas.

Review: Madden 25 (PS4/Xbox One)

1989 saw the official end of the Cold War and is also marked as the year that the World Wide Web was conceived. It is also the first year that John Madden Football hit the pavement in a big way (technically the first release was in 1988, but don't tell anyone). The game was available on MS-DOS machines (PC's), the Commodore 64, and the Amiga. If you are not sure what those platforms even are, you need to do your gaming homework.

Review: NHL 14 (360)

With the NHL hockey games, the question that EA Canada has to answer every year is: If a player holds up the latest NHL game and compares it to the previous year's release, will they be able to tell the difference?

This year, the answer, at least my answer, is, No, except for the inclusion of an "homage" mode to NHL '94.

Review: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14 (360)

With the inclusion of legendary combat – playing rounds against Nicklaus, Player, Hogan, Palmer, etc. – and the chance to play golf at night, it's come to my attention that Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14 has utterly failed in offering the complete golf package. Of course, the additions I have in mind would push the game from “E” for Everyone to “M” for Mature in a heartbeat and possibly herald the return of Outlaw Golf or least a Dead Space themed DLC course.

Review: Madden NFL 13 (360)

While the venerable sports franchise, Madden NFL, has maintained its immense popularity as it heads into its nearly third decade, the recent criticism has been that the franchise hasn't innovated over the previous year’s version, giving gamers nothing more than a new roster update. Electronic Arts took some of that criticism seriously for Madden NFL 13, and has included some innovation to the gameplay engine that toughens and smartens up the artificial intelligence, improves the way players react when moving, and upgrades the game’s passing. For the Xbox 360 version, EA has also integrated the Kinect to allow for audible adjustments on both sides of the ball.

Preview: NHL 13 (360, PS3)

In retrospect, I think NHL Hitz 2003 was probably the last hockey game that completely absorbed my attention like few games have and it stands out in my mind as the premier hockey video game. It was the arcade trappings that did it for me. EA's own NHL 3-on-3 Arcade was a solid attempt at recapturing that flavor -- and it did, for a brief time -- but was quickly replaced by other games.

Review: Grand Slam Tennis 2 (PS3)

Sega and 2K games have always dominated the sports genre when it came to tennis. The original Grand Slam Tennis (GST) was released only on the Wii, but now the series is getting the full HD treatment on the PS3. GST 2 comes to the court with an intuitive control scheme, the ability to play as past tennis legends, and today's top stars.

Review: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 (360)

Now that the golf season is well under way, it seems an appropriate time as any for another rendition of the Tiger Woods franchise. The new model brings back a lot of the features of previous games with a few new twists for those looking for a little more depth.