(Note: Our PES 09 vs. FIFA 2009 - The Final Verdict article is now live and should be read upon conclusion of this feature for the full picture on this titanic battle)
So the whistle has blown and we’ve got kick-off: the battle has begun in the annual FIFA vs. EVO battle for virtual soccer supremacy. Last week, following on from the E3 event in Los Angeles, we were lucky enough to head up to Vancouver to play a number of EA games that weren’t mentioned at all at the preceding exhibition. This included FIFA 09. Now if you’re a keen soccer fan you may have spotted our article from a couple of weeks ago called FIFA 09 vs. PES 2009 in which we set up the state of play in the wake of last year’s editions. If you didn’t catch it give it a quick flick through now, as the following text assumes you are up to speed on the lay of the land and each product’s 09 strategies.
So here’s the big news: FIFA is finally up to speed. For years now, what has given Pro Evolution Soccer the edge has been the speed of its gameplay: you never feel behind the play, but rather find the action moving as swiftly as your mind all the way up the pitch and into the goal. So we’ve routinely given PES the nod on the review front, lamenting its unpolished visuals, lack of licenses and general presentation but unable to deny the quality of the gameplay.
Now we can confirm that the work that EA has done on the animation set and ball physics has really paid off, suddenly bringing the previously laboured gameplay up to a pace which competes with Konami’s PES 2008. You don’t find yourself desperately pressing buttons to make a winning play only to discover that by the time the game has got around to executing it the opportunity has passed – the ultimate frustration! And you don’t find yourself closed down by lunging defenders while you simply wait for the player and ball to get their shit together so you can pass the bloody ball.
The brilliant new animation technology extends beyond looking sweet and making the Ronaldos and Rooneys of the world carve it up on-screen like they do on the field. The whole game world feels more alive. Collision detection has been pumped up impressively and is now dynamic, so rather than getting canned ‘stacking it’ animations when two players collide they will dive heroically in every way imaginable depending on both the players body positions and momentum at the time and the point of collision. This may be in the form of a trip, or a contested header, or even two people shouldering into each other as they chase down a ball. Very impressive stuff.
