Tag: ea

Need for Speed Unbound Review – Sleeper Hit of 2022?

By on • ( Leave a comment )

Like a sleeper car with a highly tuned engine under the hood pulling up to the starting line, Need for Speed: Unbound arrived with almost no hype, despite developer Criterion returning for the first time since 2012. Leading up to its launch there had hardly been any marketing and review codes weren’t handed out until launch day, usually an ominous sign that the publisher either doesn’t have any faith in the game or that there are some big issues. But just like that sleeper car sitting on the line, when the flag drops Need for Speed: Unbound unleashes all that hidden potential. It’s not the best racer out there, but it’s the best game in the series for a long time and a lot of fun. Provided you can put up with the horrendous story, that is.

Mass Effect: Legendary Edition Partial Review

By on • ( Leave a comment )

There are a few reasons why this isn’t a full review of the new Mass Effect: Legendary Edition. Number one is that the sci-fi trilogy contains dozens and dozens of hours of content and doing a full review will take a while. The second reason is that there are already hundreds of reviews for all three games, and while those reviews might not be for the Legendary Edition they remain largely relevant today, so it makes more sense to focus on the technical side of things. But the biggest and most important reason, at least to me, is because I want to take my time with this one. The Mass Effect games are special to me, a massive part of my teenage years and a huge factor in my love of the Xbox 360 era. To review this new Legendary Edition in a timely fashion I’d have to rush through them all, and…well, I’m just not willing to do that to myself. Sorry. I’m going to savour every moment, do every quest and maybe even chase down every Platinum trophy. This partial review, then, is based off of 20-hours with the first Mass Effect and a quick look at the other two games. Plus, the first game features the vast majority of the remastering effort due to its age, and so focusing on that seems sensible.

Best of Xbox Game Pass – Skate 3

By on • ( Leave a comment )

Ideally, I’d be recommending Skate 2 here, easily the best of the skateboarding trilogy published by EA. But sadly Game Pass only offers up Skate 3, which while still good doesn’t have Skate 2’s excellently designed open world. Don’t let that put you off, though, because Skate 3 is still excellent, regardless of whether you know your kickflips from your heelflips. Let me tell you why.

Star Wars: Squadrons Review – Excellent In VR

By on • ( Leave a comment )

The Star Wars license is not what it once was thanks to the new, divisive trilogy and the inconsistency of EA’s games. But Star Wars still has the power to tap into our collective nostalgia, and we’ve all just been waiting for EA to get their act together and start using the Star Wars license properly. Star Wars: Fallen Order was a pretty good step forward, and Star Wars: Battlefront 2 has grown into something far stronger than it began life as. But now Motive Studios and EA have come out with Star Wars; Squadrons, a space combat game where you pilot X-wings and TIE fighters, and live out all those childhood fantasies. Or at least, the childhood fantasies second to having an actual working lightsaber.

Plants vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborville Review – Garden Warfare

By on • ( Leave a comment )

Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare and its sequel were both games that I spent a lot of time playing, their cutesy visuals and fun multiplayer shooting acting as a great alternative to the more serious Call of Dutys and Battlefields of the world. But a third game never appeared, and Plants vs Zombies sort of faded away, its days as a multiplayer shooter nearly forgotten. Until now, that is. Plants vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborville may not have the Garden Warfare name but it’s most certain a sequel, one that has snuck under the radar. Released this past week with very little hype or advertising it has sucked up hour after hour of my time.

Weekend Whammy: EA Being Stupid, Devil May Cry Demo & More

By on • ( Leave a comment )

This week I put out the review for Spinnortality, a cool little management game where you run a corporation. While it didn’t have the depth needed to keep me playing for longer than I needed to for the review, I still appreciated the idea of amassing money and power by selling new products and gently nudging laws in my favour. Or, y’know, just launching an espionage mission to kill the current ruler before basically taking over the entire country and using the current government as little more than a glorified puppet for my master plans. Being evil is fun.

Star Wars: Battlefront 2 Review – Microtransactions! Unlimited Microtransactions!

By on • ( 1 Comment )

There is a well-known line in the Star Wars movies that applies perfectly here. “You were the Chosen One! You were supposed to destroy the Sith, not join them. You were supposed to bring balance to the force, not leave it in darkness.” Of course, it’s the scene in Revenge of the Sith where Obi-Wan Kenobi faces down his former Padawan and friend Anakin Skywalker, or as he now calls himself, Darth Vader. Still, it’s apt here. While last years Battlefront left a lot of people feeling let-down I still quite enjoyed it despite its issues. I had high hopes for a sequel, and yet EA managed to fall deeper into the Dark Side, taking the beloved Star Wars name with it.