Benjamin Maltbie
This is definitely a good soccer game. It's just not as good as it could be. It should be immediately apparent, due to a lack of modes, if this game isn't for you. For that reason, I might suggest renting the game before jumping in feet first.
EA's NHL 19 is a sports simulation, a fantasy league, a social hub, and a comforting arcade game all at once, and that is quite a thing to accomplish.
MLB: The Show 18 is a refined experience that stands tall as the best baseball game currently on the market. Of all the iterations of the title, this is, to my eye, the definitive best and, I imagine, exactly what fans of the genre are looking for. Beyond that, in a similar vein to soccer or hockey games, MLB: The Show 18 is an enjoyable, competitive, multiplayer experience that can easily be enticing to non-sports fans if they simply look past the baseball veneer to see the mechanically sound, tactile, multi-faceted game below the surface; you don't need to watch or play baseball for the game to function as a more than serviceable pastime and I recommend a rental to anyone who is on the fence about getting into this genre.
If Ghost Games can find a way to properly refine and execute their ideas, they're on track to something great. Need for Speed: Payback, however, finishes in the middle of the pack, and that's a damn shame.