It’s fun killing orcs, finding armor upgrades and slaying dragons. For most gamers, video games are a way to escape our troubles in the real world and live in the imagination of the developers. But what happens when developers focus on stuff right here in the real world to base their games on? I’m not talking about Cooking Mama — I’m talking about sports! It may be true that sports games lack creativity in their nature, but what they lack in unique ideas they make up for with creating uncannily realistic simulations of the best sports. Why are sports video games great? It’s simple, really — sports games put us under the helmet of Peyton Manning or in a LeBron James jersey, which is as close as a regular Joe like me will ever get to being a professional athlete.

It can be tough to sort out the sports games that are more than just a roster update from last year’s game, with so many sports games dropping every year. So, we’re here to help. Without further ado, here are the top five best sports games that were released in 2014 for the PS4 and Xbox One.

1. NBA 2K15

With so many major moves made in the NBA offseason, we obviously expected NBA 2K15 to include a major roster update. LeBron went back to the Cavaliers, Chauncey Billups and Derek Fisher both retired and Andrew Wiggins went to the Timberwolves. But what we didn’t expect from NBA 2K15 was the significant upgrade in ball handling, player movement and presentation from its predecessor, mostly due to the added animations. You can also team up with other players online and create your own Big Three to dominate the online rankings.

Price: $57.30 (4 percent off MSRP)

Pros:

• New shot meter
• Customization
• Added animations
• Incredible presentation

Cons:

• Tough to defend elite players
• LeBron’s hairline
• Create a Player mode can create truly terrifying beings
• Covered opponents make more shots than they should

Source: heavy.com