Matt Paprocki
- Contra III
- Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo
Matt Paprocki's Reviews
Evolve's premise is never capitalized on, although it's strong core is notably well done. However, appeal is low in long term appeal and high in gratuitous DLC.
Project Cars is infatuated and enamored by cars, but only cars, not the modes or features to make them interesting.
Final Vendetta looks and sounds like a mountain of games that came before it but does nothing to separate itself from those same games.
EA Sports PGA Tour captures the intricate nuance of golfing. However, the systems struggle with what a user can reasonably decipher from a mere analog stick, leading to a frustrating experience. EA Sports PGA Tour is a game at odds with whether it wants to compete with rival 2K’s realism or veer closer to its own more arcade roots, and in the process, lands its first drive on this new round in the rough.
Some fun improvements make this playable – yet Madden still features too much carryover. Not just from last year, but the last decade.
There's not much to be excited about in PGA Tour 2K23, with poorly presented golfing on second-tier courses. It's fiercely accurate to the real sport but lacks personality and variety.
NHL 22's various arcade modes have their charms, but it's an uneven installment that puts the focus in the wrong places.
Although EA Vancouver planned a three-year rejuvenation of their hockey series, NHL 18 seems like it's on the downside of generational sports games. While Threes adds some zest and significant features, that's the only notable addition to the game. When the introduction menu pops up and “What's New” offers only three choices (one being a tutorial), 2017 is not a good year. NHL 18 is (as always for this series) more than competent, but for the first time in a while, it's a “wait for next year” revision.
With its inconsequential story and addiction to inane splatter kills, Rebellion's Sniper Elite 4 doesn't subvert expectations. It doesn't have to necessarily: The appeal of shooting digital Nazis may never stagnate, and increasing the scale of each stage means more Nazis to kill and an increased potential for strategy. But a bigger scope makes the inherent problems more visible.
A throwback to the early West and early video games, with all of the nonsensical adventure it needs to be pleasing.
Yo-Kai Watch's decidedly foreign lore doesn't trample an accessible series of lessons for children worldwide.
Forza continues to be part of Microsoft's dwindling core of exclusives and while fun, it's beginning to lose its grip as sequels blend together.
Geometry Wars returns, but without the original developer and plenty of changes which alter the basic formula, rendering this sequel almost unidentifiable.
In the end, Yonder isn't inventive, exactly, as the multitude of ideas and cross-media inspirations converge somehow into something infinitely familiar. Missions are cut down to absolute basics to fulfill an open world quota, but it's possible to forgive this when traipsing through this aesthetically pleasing land and helping these delighted folk. And as importantly, there's bravery in eliminating things like combat and leveling, allowing Yonder a rare, distinctive brevity.
Of course, it's no surprise that NBA 2K18 looks good; the series has looked the part since its advent on the Dreamcast, staying relevant visually and staking out its own part of basketball culture. NBA 2K18 continues the trend, capturing the feel of basketball's urban centers in The Neighborhood.
Rare Replay is a compilation with selective eye sight, but portrays the studio for what they did best: Character.
Uncharted's flubs are many, but the series is keen on narrative and character - enough to see it through three games.
Splatoon offers little, and yet the melding of color, punk rock, and nostalgia create a winner.
Play golf on thousands of created courses, enter tournaments, and better yourself through practice. It's golf. Just. Golf.
A journey of purpose and consequence is sidelined by glitches, but is ultimately too powerful to ignore.