Matthew Kato
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Writing For
Game InformerLatest Reviews
The Winter Olympics and Steep don't have a lot in common other than they take place on snowy mountains, which is the crux of this expansion's problems. Steep's base game and its DLC up to this point are open-ended experiences predicated on letting players explore different extreme sports forms in free spaces. The addition...
Hugging dangerous curves and gunning it to grab first place as I cross the finish line is enough to sustain me in most racing games, but that's not the strong point of Gear Club Unlimited. This title is neither a simulation nor pure arcade game; while you can feel different...
The first few hours of Forza are intoxicating as credits are stuffed into your hand, the upgrade possibilities are seemingly endless, and each race takes you one step closer to...something. Get settled in, however, and the fussy structure and changes from previous Forzas become irksome as they limit what you...
Project CARS 2
Some sim-racing developers are in love with cars, but whether they love video games and the people who play them is unclear. I don't get that feeling from Project Cars 2 developer Slightly Mad Studios. The series is designed around the premise of making things fun, flexible, and easy for the player, and that...
FIFA 18
Alex Hunter's adventures as an up-and-coming player in the glamourous world of football continue in the Hunter Returns story mode, and while the game adds little touches to its other modes, this is FIFA 18's major piece of business in the offseason transfer window.
I was very happy with Pro Evolution Soccer 2017's gameplay because of the way it felt and the things it allowed me to do in the game, so I was surprised when developer Konami announced that it was changing things up for 2018. I braced for disappointment, but instead I'm beyond relieved. The developer...
Madden NFL 18
Fans are sometimes confused by the players NFL teams draft. Players are taken at positions the team is already strong at, while weaknesses are seemingly ignored. Fans deem some players a reach, and don't understand why their favorites weren't drafted. A coherent philosophy is not always apparent from the outside...
Steep
The simplicity of Steep is its biggest advantage – and initially, its biggest deterrent. Letting players loose in a giant playground seemingly has its limitations if you're not intrinsically interested in the four available sports: skiing, snowboarding, paragliding, and wingsuiting. To be honest, I don't have an explicit interest in...
FIFA 17
Real-life soccer players act out their own destinies on the pitch with each passing minute, but that's trickier in video games. FIFA 17's new mode, The Journey, has no shortage of inspirations; every match and season is full of them. But The Journey is in an ambiguous position: It gives the illusion that you're directing...
I generally hold the Pro Evolution series in high regard. Some years I may have thought the controls were needlessly complex, obscuring the larger gameplay, or wished the career or online modes were more substantial, but I understood and appreciated what was being attempted. PES 2017 crosses that line between...
Madden NFL 17
In Madden 17, a specific line stands out from the excellent new commentary team of Charles Davis and Brandon Gaudin. Davis, the ex-player providing the color commentary, talks about how coaches are always looking for that "perfect game." The perfect game doesn't exist in the NFL or in any given rendition of Madden. Even so,...
Modes are important to a serialized racing title like F1. The racing itself is certainly the foundation, but the modes give the games a larger context. Recently, however, they haven't been good for F1. Whether underserved or absent altogether, the only thing carrying the franchise has been nothing but a set of four tires. But...
