The Post That Came Out Last Saturday

I've had the newest FIFA installment, FIFA 09, since Wednesday, so I thought I've post my thoughts on it right here on my blog.

To be honest, I haven't been much of a fan of FIFA. Been finding Pro Evo the better football game out of the two. The gameplay's a lot better on PES I reckon, however FIFA's graphics are mint. PES isn't out yet, gotta wait til the end of this month. Until then, I won't compare the two games. Look out for a comparison review some time in November.

There are several things I like about FIFA:

- Firstly, the aforementioned graphics. EA once again has created awesome animations for FIFA. There is no way that PES could match the attention to detail on players' faces and their jerseys that FIFA has.
- Secondly, FIFA's brilliant physics engine gives the players a new 'life'. Now you've gotta position your players correctly to compete for a header. Other things such as jostling for the ball allows the stronger player to win the ball more often (eg. if Drogba was jostling with, say, Nasri for the ball, the big Ivorian would trump the Frenchman).
- Thirdly, the AI is great, as always. Off-the-ball runs and defensive covering is brilliant. However I find my defensive midfielder dropping too far back, and occasionally my players don't make the runs I want them to do.
- Finally, the menus on FIFA are a joy to behold. From the main menu to the mini ones in the various modes FIFA provide, they're simple to use.

That's really all I can say about the positives. I even had to nitpick for the last one. The thing that disappoints me the most is the gameplay, which is close to rubbish. It can be mastered after playing for awhile, but you'd get bored mastering it. In PES the game flows... in FIFA however, it sorta stalls everytime you make a pass. This makes playing swift counter-attacking football really hard to do. I cannot tell you how many times I've lost the ball after trying to play a simple through ball to my wingers, despite the fact that the AI is so good.

Also, the first touch is a bit too hard, and sometimes the players seem to lose concentration after running down half the field for the ball. This happens too many times, but it shouldn't happen at all. It's hard to explain really... you have your defender and an opposition striker running after a long punt downfield by the goalie. All of a sudden as your defender nears the ball, he slows down, allowing the striker to close him down quickly and occasionally claim the ball and score. I'm glad I've got Cech in goal so the scoring part doesn't happen as often as it would.

So basically, FIFA's got the style but not enough substance. To put this in an interesting analogy, FIFA's the gorgeous blond/brunette but is as interesting as a grain of rice. Her distant cousin PES on the other hand, has braces and glasses and all that... but she'll give you a great fun-filled day.

Put the good bits of both games together and you'd have the ultimate game TBH.

Bring on October 30th!