Re: FIFA 08 (Next Gen Chat)
Mini-Review:
Finally have played enough FIFA to give a real ‘review’ of it. Should preface by saying I’ve loved PES right up til this time last year, when my excitement at purchasing PES6 lasted til 30 seconds after it installed, when I realised it’s still the same. To be honest I’ve probably just over-dosed on PES, and know every little annoyance, and therefore get that little bit more annoyed when no at Konami thinks to fix it. This is also my first FIFA since 98, which was awesome.
The good:
Presentation: Really good. Yippee, it’s nice but who cares really.
Sound: This does matter to me. Scored a goal with Tevez and the crowd chanted Argentina. Score the equaliser away from home at the stadium goes silent. Real chants, real atmosphere, makes a huge difference, is just more ‘next-gen’.
Commentary: Absolutely astounding. Coming from PES I had no idea that they could do such a system, saying things like Carrick has won over fans since his transfer, or describing the history of Fergie wanting to knock Pool off their perch might get old after a while, but it’s simply in another league from PES.
Graphics: Like Monet – from a distance it’s wonderful, up close, not so much. Which is fine with me, I could care less what replays look like.
Manager Mode: There’s so much to do! I love the upgrade system (tip: immediately pump funds into the fitness one, without none of your players will ever get back to top stamina), the player growth is fantastic, scouting is great. Injuries seem realistic (I’ve had Scholes off for two months since August, Hargo’s crocked too). Anyway, maybe it’ll get old after a while, but for now it is, again, next gen compared to PES.
Gameplay (the good bits): Feels about right. Pace is deliberate, slow and methodical. Ronaldo can still skin players for pace, but not always, and playing with Carrick is like controlling the Titanic. Which is realistic IMO. Passing on manual is awesome, shooting I have on semi and it’s great. You simply can’t go back to PES and tell me the shots aren’t scripted after this. I miss a lot, but when it goes in it’s right where I wanted. And to be honest, a lot of the time I’m closed down so quickly that I want the player to just put his foot through it, bugger the corners! Defending from the midfield is great, when he was fit having Hargreaves on the pitch was like a 1 goal advantage, closing down players just inside your half is realistic and key to success.
Other stuff to do: The online leagues and all that jazz are all beckoning, and there are loads of features and goodies I’ve not even touch. Great depth.
Unpredictability: This is the big one for me. I never know where my goals are going to come from. Sometimes working down the wing goes well, other games it doesn’t.
The bad:
Faces: Absolutely shocking. Vidic looks like a bad guy from Doom. Even Ronaldo looks off, and he’s rather recognisable in the footballing world. I can’t get what went wrong here, can’t be that difficult!
Gameplay (the bad bits): Maybe it’s just me, but through balls suck, and almost always result in my players stuck on rails (a phenomenon we all know and love from PES) as the defender calmly makes himself a cup of tea, calls his folks and then walks in front of the striker to get the ball. I really need to work out how the hell to super cancel.
Defensive Heading is a bit odd: Sometimes it’s great and I clear it happily, others there’s nothing you can do to get in front of sometimes quite wimpy opposition. When I see Henri Camara boxing out Vidic, I get suspicious.
Defending the cross: Maybe it’s me, but when the CPU wants to cross the ball they will beat the full back unless you double team, tis that simple. Sometimes their back is facing the box and they’ll still manage it.
Tricks: It’s wonderful that EA have given us this trick stick and a million and two possibilities with it, but I’ve yet to use it successfully once, in about 20 games. Anyone had any luck? If anything it annoys me when I’ve got one defender to beat and no easy option to try something.
Keepers: 9 times out 10 they’re fine, but in a match that features 10 shots against you, it’s a given that they’ll do something weird. My least favourite is their diving after a free kick as gone in; not moving as a lofted header floats about 2 inches above their head and the strange running forwards thing. Weird. But I support England and we’ve got robinson in goal. So maybe realistic
Lower stat defences are still really good: Just played QPR, and they shut up shop like pool in the 80’s, against a charged up United full team. Not likely. They didn’t create jack at the other end though, so I guess it could also be seen as realistic.
Bottom Line
It’s a breath of fresh air to a PES-fanatic. Sometimes it’s beautiful, sometimes it’s ugly, sometimes it’s a bit slow and sometimes you hate it – sounds like football to me!
Mini-Review:
Finally have played enough FIFA to give a real ‘review’ of it. Should preface by saying I’ve loved PES right up til this time last year, when my excitement at purchasing PES6 lasted til 30 seconds after it installed, when I realised it’s still the same. To be honest I’ve probably just over-dosed on PES, and know every little annoyance, and therefore get that little bit more annoyed when no at Konami thinks to fix it. This is also my first FIFA since 98, which was awesome.
The good:
Presentation: Really good. Yippee, it’s nice but who cares really.
Sound: This does matter to me. Scored a goal with Tevez and the crowd chanted Argentina. Score the equaliser away from home at the stadium goes silent. Real chants, real atmosphere, makes a huge difference, is just more ‘next-gen’.
Commentary: Absolutely astounding. Coming from PES I had no idea that they could do such a system, saying things like Carrick has won over fans since his transfer, or describing the history of Fergie wanting to knock Pool off their perch might get old after a while, but it’s simply in another league from PES.
Graphics: Like Monet – from a distance it’s wonderful, up close, not so much. Which is fine with me, I could care less what replays look like.
Manager Mode: There’s so much to do! I love the upgrade system (tip: immediately pump funds into the fitness one, without none of your players will ever get back to top stamina), the player growth is fantastic, scouting is great. Injuries seem realistic (I’ve had Scholes off for two months since August, Hargo’s crocked too). Anyway, maybe it’ll get old after a while, but for now it is, again, next gen compared to PES.
Gameplay (the good bits): Feels about right. Pace is deliberate, slow and methodical. Ronaldo can still skin players for pace, but not always, and playing with Carrick is like controlling the Titanic. Which is realistic IMO. Passing on manual is awesome, shooting I have on semi and it’s great. You simply can’t go back to PES and tell me the shots aren’t scripted after this. I miss a lot, but when it goes in it’s right where I wanted. And to be honest, a lot of the time I’m closed down so quickly that I want the player to just put his foot through it, bugger the corners! Defending from the midfield is great, when he was fit having Hargreaves on the pitch was like a 1 goal advantage, closing down players just inside your half is realistic and key to success.
Other stuff to do: The online leagues and all that jazz are all beckoning, and there are loads of features and goodies I’ve not even touch. Great depth.
Unpredictability: This is the big one for me. I never know where my goals are going to come from. Sometimes working down the wing goes well, other games it doesn’t.
The bad:
Faces: Absolutely shocking. Vidic looks like a bad guy from Doom. Even Ronaldo looks off, and he’s rather recognisable in the footballing world. I can’t get what went wrong here, can’t be that difficult!
Gameplay (the bad bits): Maybe it’s just me, but through balls suck, and almost always result in my players stuck on rails (a phenomenon we all know and love from PES) as the defender calmly makes himself a cup of tea, calls his folks and then walks in front of the striker to get the ball. I really need to work out how the hell to super cancel.
Defensive Heading is a bit odd: Sometimes it’s great and I clear it happily, others there’s nothing you can do to get in front of sometimes quite wimpy opposition. When I see Henri Camara boxing out Vidic, I get suspicious.
Defending the cross: Maybe it’s me, but when the CPU wants to cross the ball they will beat the full back unless you double team, tis that simple. Sometimes their back is facing the box and they’ll still manage it.
Tricks: It’s wonderful that EA have given us this trick stick and a million and two possibilities with it, but I’ve yet to use it successfully once, in about 20 games. Anyone had any luck? If anything it annoys me when I’ve got one defender to beat and no easy option to try something.
Keepers: 9 times out 10 they’re fine, but in a match that features 10 shots against you, it’s a given that they’ll do something weird. My least favourite is their diving after a free kick as gone in; not moving as a lofted header floats about 2 inches above their head and the strange running forwards thing. Weird. But I support England and we’ve got robinson in goal. So maybe realistic
Lower stat defences are still really good: Just played QPR, and they shut up shop like pool in the 80’s, against a charged up United full team. Not likely. They didn’t create jack at the other end though, so I guess it could also be seen as realistic.
Bottom Line
It’s a breath of fresh air to a PES-fanatic. Sometimes it’s beautiful, sometimes it’s ugly, sometimes it’s a bit slow and sometimes you hate it – sounds like football to me!
