If, for some reason, you're not a "NBA 2K" guy or have an undying love for anything EA Sports, "NBA Live 15" can and will provide hours of fun. It's just so hard to recommend when the competition does everything better. At the same time, with a slew of innovative elements on offense, "NBA Live 15" is the little engine that could. Last year's game was pure D-League, but this year, they've earned their spot on the floor.
"Styx: Master of Shadows" has something special inside it, but with muddy, ugly character models, control hindrances and A.I. issues, a lot of the fun will be lost on casual gamers. Those who love stealth action games will find it an immense challenge however and will be able to look past most of the game's issues to, at the very least, have it steal about a dozen hours of their time.
It's not perfect as a complete package, but in terms of gameplay and visuals, as well as its assortment of modes, "NBA 2K15" is easily the best basketball game on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
With plenty of features, beautiful graphics and gameplay that is so solid it can turn you into a fan of the sport, "FIFA 15" continues its run as the best EA series and is easily the best sports game of 2014. Regardless of your affinity for soccer, "FIFA 15" manages to create passion and drama on the pitch that never feels flat.
Its a graphical showcase, fueled by plenty of solid gameplay tweaks to an already amazing game and makes us wonder where the series can go once everything extra makes its way to the current generation via the announced updates. Even with that, it's still a bit of a letdown in terms of extra content, it's far from a disappointment and is best judged by those who play for the love of the series and sport and not those obsessed with extra bells and whistles.
The added characters and backgrounds, as well as the rebalanced gameplay and features do an excellent job of rounding out the final package. Regardless of how many other versions of "Street Fighter 4" are available on other systems, "Ultra Street Fighter IV" is by far the king of them all.