Recent reviews by LurkyUK

I do actually enjoy playing this game single player against the AI. It looks great compared to the last version and works well with the speed options set to fast. It plays so differently between 1 AI opponent and 4 that you get quite a lot of gameplay from these 2 maps and opponent set ups.

The problem is the lack of content for the price you pay. £12.50 for only 2 maps is pretty bad, especially when the USA and Europe maps are very similar because they are both "base versions" of the same game. The game desperately needs some of the expansions to be released, which add more complexity to these very basic maps. Even then, with how expensive the base game is, I expect the new maps to be overpriced as well so my hopes for the future aren't that great.

A small nitpick but you can't even choose your own name in the game (even single player) without creating an account with them. I had an account with the last Ticket to Ride game and I really don't want to create yet another account for this.

I'm going to talk about Drawful Animate, as that is the reason I bought this pack.

It is just plain awful. The prompts either make no sense or are so specific that everyone can guess what the original prompt is. There is also a huge problem with American centric words being used all the time despite the fact I turned the American stuff off in the menu. As many of you know, once you get a word like gas (instead of petrol) or diaper (instead of nappy) in the prompt, everyone will know that was the official one because we don't use those words. When it happens, its easy points for the person who got it, but also feels like a waste of time for the person drawing because you know the other players will get it no matter what. Really, really lazy work on the developers here.


Some spoilers I guess, to show how bad the prompts are.

"Welcome holiday horse in2 your home" What?
"Medical grade egg nog" American word so it was easily guessed.
"My cat just got veneers" Veneers are an American thing again.
"Decorative gasoline wedding fountain". American word, easily guessed.
"Goblin wearing a diaper" American word, easily guessed.
"Lightning bug changing a light bulb" Lightning bugs are an American thing, so this answer was easily guessed.

There was also prompts with dreidels and menorah, which none of us knew anything about so those drawings went well.
This was all from only 2 games as well, so roughly 1/3 of the game was a failure to us.

The game won't even launch because the anti-cheat crashes every time. Be careful trying to fix it because it counts as the game being open so eats into you 2 hour refund window. I got this refunded.

Ediited to add that even after you uninstall the game, it leaves this Anti-cheat program in your C/ drive that you have to manually remove. Really unimpressed with this move by EA.

It has the same scripting problems as all other Fifa games. For example, If you are winning 1-0 in the 80th minute then the game will lower all your stats and raise your opponents stats in order to manufacture an "exciting" final 10 minutes. The game is desperate to make "entertaining" matches that it ignores any type of fairness and manipulates stats.

It also has the same problems as last years game where the AI will never foul you. You can play 100 games and never receive a free kick or penalty.

Despite the fact I really love rally games there are too many problems with this years version that I wouldn't recommend it.

Bad points.

The yearly performance problems with stuttering is back but even worse this year. The game will randomly lag and stutter which causes you to crash.

The My Team mode is, for some reason, locked behind the Anniversary mode... which for some other reason, is insanely difficult. Only 3 races in and I'm 15 seconds behind the target time with no way to change the difficulty. So it looks like I'm never going to complete that.

Using a control pad is really hard this year as the cars are a lot more jerky/twitchy than last years game. It makes the 4 (of 12 total rallies) tarmac rallies really frustrating and a chore.

The menus are really clunky. Quick race can never be the default mode so I always have to move around through the clunky menus. They've also made the time of day and weather a separate screen so every time you race you have to click through two more screens. The loading time back to the main menu from a rally is also around 10 seconds on an SSD.

In career mode there isn't much help with tyre choices and I don't think there is a way to see what the weather will be like on future stages, so picking your tyres seems hit and miss. Its also not possible to just let your team/AI pick for you so you can't just race and leave all the car decisions to someone else. As someone who only wants to drive this is disappointing.

Edited to add after a few more career races: The night time racing is atrocious. The headlights don't light up the road very well so its really hard to keep pace in the dark. Every 3rd or 4th race is at night for some reason too so this comes up a lot.


Good points.

It looks good. The stages look realistic and the new smoke effects look great.

The handling is quite good on the gravel and mud stages. I just wish there were more gravel stages.

Pros:

The game-play is fine. Small improvements over last years game.

Cons:

Constant, constant, constant crashing during the menus, when the matches are loading and after a match returning to the main menu.

The character models are rubbish. Some of them look like Playstation 2 era models and are worse than last years for some reason.

Having the men and women lumped together in the wrestler select menu means it takes ages to scroll through and find who you want.

If you intend to only play against the Computer and not online, then this game is a MESS. Having played 15 games on Legendary difficulty the same gameplay and patterns emerge against every AI team and I can't see it changing.

The biggest problem is that the AI over uses the skill dribbling. Every striker and midfielder goes into 'skill dribble mode' the second they get the ball. Players like Fabinho will start twisting and turning like crazy, making it really hard to get the ball back. There's a problem with central Midfielders picking up the ball and skill dribbling it half the length of the pitch back to their own goal where they'll pass it to a defender. Its just boring chasing him back knowing you can't tackle him.

The AI never crosses the ball. As in, 15 games in, I've not seen one cross. They will, again, skill dribble in the corner until they can pass it back across the edge of the area. They are always just looking for a killer pass rather than crossing or shooting from distance.

Slide tackles are pointless. The AI skill dribbles too quick so there's no point in sliding. Step in tackles are also useless because the ball usually falls a few feet away and the AI picks it up while your player is still in the tackle animation. The best defence is to just hassle them and hope they run into you. Because of this you never end up fouling them. Which brings me to the next problem ...

The AI never fouls you. I've not had a free kick yet, besides from offside, so I have no idea if the direct free kicks are any good. I had to turn on handball to try and get some but still nope after 15 games. There have also been 0 yellow or red cards. There's just no fouls committed in any game.

The AI's game-plan is to play 'keep ball' for the first 60 minutes and then concede possession for the last 30 minutes. You'll regularly find you have 20 - 30% possession for those first 60 minutes but by the end it gets back to 50/50ish so it doesn't look ridiculous at the full time stats.

You will win 9 out of 10 headers from the AI's goal kicks if you manually switch to the defender as soon as the keeper kicks the ball.

Overall it just doesn't feel like a proper football match. Huge elements such as tackling and fouls are just nonexistent. You just defend until the AI plays a bad pass.

Pros:

The art style is nice.

Some of the levels are interesting to look at.

Cons:

The game is way too easy. I think it would be best played by 12 years and under.

Barely any of the objects/people/scenery overlap so you end up with basically all the game's assets side by side, in a line up, which makes things really easy. It needs to be way more hectic.

The things you find are boring and tedious. An egg. A rock. Two rocks. An arrow. One of many various different types of sticks/canes/swords/poles. The only difficulty comes from trying to remember what the boring object is you have to find this time.

Things are grouped in colours. You need to find a Crocodile? It'll probably be in the only green bit of the map which is a load of bushes. Need to find a golden stick? It'll be by the only yellow objects in map which is a load of wheat. Need to find a brown duck? You know he's going to be by the only brown boxes in the level.

I play with a ps4 control pad and use the chase camera.

Pros:
Much improved handling over last years game. The car is more predictable so you have more control around the stage.
Stages can be run in reverse this year which, to me, are as good as a new stage because the turns feel so much different in the opposite direction.
The graphics are really good. Every aspect is a solid 7 which makes the whole world/environment look better than the sum of its parts.

Cons:
The cars still feel a bit floaty in the air. This is a problem on the bump (not jumps) sections of stages because the cars feel they are in the air too long and you lose all control over them. This means stages like Wales, which have a lot of bumps, have become my least favourite.
Sometimes small bumps on the side of the road can send your car flying into the air when you would expect the wheels to go over them smoothly. It can feel like an unfair end to your race as its the physics engines fault and not yours.

Pros:
Good variety of puzzles during the 12ish hour campaign.
New abilities that you unlock along the way give you a huge variety of ways to interact with the world.
Fantastic looking environments.
Online Co-op play was seamless.

Cons:
Fighting sections are dreadful, as well as the Boss battles.