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Reasons Why You Should Revisit This Year's Sports Games
Fall is the traditional honeymoon period for sports games, with new titles from the NBA 2K, Madden, FIFA franchises coming out each year. By now you've no doubt played through seasons and sampled their various modes, but that doesn't mean that they've outlived their usefulness. Many of the titles have gotten more than just post-release roster updates, tweaks, or bug fixes, giving them extra life and new things for gamers to try.
Note: This isn't a list of all the sports games out this year, but are some of the titles that have interesting post-release additions. Click on the game titles to see their reviews.
Madden has gone through the usual roster updates and the now-customary improved player face update, but a few weeks ago developer EA Tiburon added a new way to play the Draft Champions mode – itself a recent addition just this year. Draft Champions Ranked pits players against each other until you win six games or lose two. The more you play and win the better the prizes get (although you get stuff even if you lose your first game). To start these ranked matches you need three tickets (your first three are free), and you can acquire more tickets playing regular Draft Champions, such as doing solo challenges. Another change to Draft Champions is the added ability to play against a friend online. You can play up to five games and reset your drafted teams every 24 hours.
Rocket League's vehicular fun caught the imagination of gamers, and it's only natural that this winter it's received a twist reminiscent of another arena-based sport. The hockey-inspired Mutator mode replaces the Mutator Mashup playlists, and features a giant puck and an icy field. As with Rocket League in general, it's a simple premise that you'll be playing for hours.
Okay, so this may be the exception to this post's rule about not talking just about roster updates, but not only is NBA 2K16 one of the best basketball, if not sports games, this year, but the team has been hard at work pushing multiple patches since the game's late September release. The game has also added Christmas and other new uniforms, an alternate court for the Bucks, and more. In early 2016 Pro-Am teams will be able to compete five-on-five for cash prizes and a trip to the NBA finals.
Konami is offering its Ultimate Team-esque MyClub mode for free. The mode tasks you with building a team with agents and managers you earn and buy through the mode's own currency. Matches can be played online and off, and is a big revamp to the previous Master League online offering. The free version also includes exhibition matches with seven teams and a training mode. As this year's best soccer title, I highly recommend checking all this out. Oh, and Konami has finally released the promised player update with the moves made from this past transfer window, so you can finally start your Master League with the correct pieces in place.
HB Studios plans to make the game a living title that adds content as time goes on instead of making gamers buy a new copy every year, and it's been living up to that promise with additions to the title since last year's release. Online match play and four ball (both with online friends only) has been added as well as two new seasons, a handful of creation tools, new/revamped setting themes, and knockout tournaments. Given that course creation is at the heart of the game, there are loads of user-created courses to check out as well.
Rory was rightly criticized for coming out of the gate a little light on the courses this year, and as promised, developer EA Tiburon has been adding in new content for free since launch. To date, the game has added four new games in Play Now (skins, best ball, four ball, and alternate shot), four courses (TPC Scottsdale, East Lake, Qual Hallow, and the fantasy course Treasure Island), and two golfers (Henrik Stenson and Dustin Johnson). It doesn't excuse the game's overall limitations, but at least it's something to chew on.
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