FIFA 09 Comments by Martin Korda

"Up close, graphical detail wasn't a world away from last year's models, with some players still looking a little odd (especially on the PS3 version)..."

Why... might have been nice if you ACTUALLY explained why the same wasn't true of the Xbox 360 version? Are you implying that the 360 has better player models? What?

PES will return to the summit of videogame football, after a minor stumble.
FIFA will be back where it belongs, in a cafe.

Only two posts before PES was mentioned, a record? :D

Pah PES... piece e shit ( :P )... at least last year's version was on the PS3. I was so shocked at its quality, I sent it back to Gameplay and bought the better 360 version which at least didn't tear and slowdown like a bitch.

Konami = useless IMO.

Unless PES 2009 shows a radical improvement this year, I don't think I'll bother buying it. Compared with the latest FIFAs, it feels more like an arcade game anyway and less of a simulation.

First time in a long while that I'm actually looking forward to a FIFA game :)

FIFA 08 had the learning curve of advanced mathematical statistics, so for EG to say the difficulty has been toned down is definitely a positive. It bordered on not being fun alot of the time. Sure, it could just be that I'm rubbish at the game, but I've been on board since FIFA 05 so I tend to think I have SOME idea.

I'm still rubbish though.

My most anticipated game of the year. NEED!

its gonna be class again this year

euro 08 showed they are close to greatness :D

Wow finally doing the PC justice. After last years ps2 port it was greatly needed.

Game of the Year for me too...lets hope they dont disappoint...

theres no other game that provides as much depth..im still playing Fifa 08 almost 1 yr later!
I play it at least every other day..no other game hsa kept me soo busy...

because of this i have: Gears of War, MGS4, GTA4, Assasins Creed, GT5-Prologue, Forza 2, UT3..still to play..and i keep buying more!!

Looking forward to this one! 08 was awesome if not a little flawed but miles better than the inferior PES. 09 should establish FIFA as a market leader and i never thought i'd say that!

"Up close, graphical detail wasn't a world away from last year's models, with some players still looking a little odd"

Jesus is it so hard to just make a modal look at least similar to an actual player, PES did this really well i thought!

I'm pure PES but i really enjoyed Fifa this year as well and even after reading this article i seriously still dont know what one I'll be buying this year!

Fifa, sort the faces out!

PES sort the licence out and go back to your old school sim style days!

IMO I hope PES reigns once again!

Sounds great.

Your turn Konami.

Looking forward to this. I play Fifa 08 a lot with my mate and the criticisms we make all the time (about not being able to pass when you press pass as the player needs to finish his animation of running) seem to be being answered. Can't fucking wait, Fifa 08 was a great game. I've been a Pro Evo man until Fifa 08 and now I'm fully converted.

Fifa08 was/is a master piece, best football game ever created. I actually appreciiate the difficulty level because it feels so realistic and I really hope they don't turn the game back into an arcade/sim half cast just to satisfy some people who can't handle it. If they do I won't be buying fifa09.

Yay for PC love.

konami better pull their thumbs out if they want me to buy the new pes over this. although, saying that, I still play PES08 pretty much every day

How things change.Fifa is trying to improve the gameplay while PES seems more occupied with getting the licenses (can anyone confirm if itīs true that they got the Champions League license?).

Hmm, interesting little conundrum...I might have to actually shell out for a FIFA title, something I haven't done since the MegaDrive original...

Can you remap the controls in FIFA to match PES controls? I just can't get myself to learn the FIFA buttons, they just feel awkward. I really hope they get PES right this year, maybe somewhere between 4 and 5. Fingers crossed!

@ CunningLinguist

Yes you can edit the controls. It's a preset option on the control list (EA obviously thought ahead, yes there is a first time for everything)

PES rocks! :D

The next journo to use the term "next gen" about machines that have been on sale for a time measured in YEARS gets shot with shit.

Fair enough?

"while realism has clearly remained high on the agenda, this year's offering feels somewhat more accessible"

"new responsiveness and physicality systems that make for more free-flowing matches"

"Unlike last year, we were able to ping passes away instantly after trapping"

"Another tweaked area was dribbling, with players taking fewer touches"

Uh-oh, sounds like PES 5 to PES 6 all over again. You go from a hardcore simulation to a watered down simulation that's alomst arcade like.

Only downside of FIFA08 (imo) is that my own team mates were nowhere near as good at making good runs/finding space/supporting attacks as the AI. From what I saw in Euro2008 this had been remedied, so it's hard to imagine FIFA09 going wrong really.

Woohoo!

Having rented Euro2008 (PS3) for a week I am looking forward to the PC version of FIFA2009. The last FIFA game I played was 2001!

Playing Euro2008 reminded me of what a revelation it was to play PES1 back in 2001. It made me think about football all over again rather than how best to exploit weaknesses in the game's coding (which PES is now full of and FIFA used to be).

After giving the rent copy back I played 4 games of PES08 and felt frustrated and exasperated. I think it's time to move on...

freedumb
"Uh-oh, sounds like PES 5 to PES 6 all over again. You go from a hardcore simulation to a watered down simulation that's alomst arcade like."
I loved PES5 - thought it was the pinnacle of the series. Funny enough though, after a few games against the CPU I could basically learn how to win all the time. I would actually stop playing it for a few weeks so that I come at it again fresh. But it would only take a short time before I learned the AI weaknesses again. It would have been nice to play against people, but most peeps I knew stuck to PES4 and the online play was sh*te.

Cregser wrote:

Having rented Euro2008 (PS3) for a week I am looking forward to the PC version of FIFA2009. The last FIFA game I played was 2001!

Huh? Why be happy with the 360/PS3 version, then revert back to the PC/PS2 version?

Deem wrote:
"Huh? Why be happy with the 360/PS3 version, then revert back to the PC/PS2 version? "

Cos I have to share the TV that the PS3 is on but have my own PC. Also, they're changing the engine for the PC version. Apparantly it will be as good if not better than the PS3/360 versions.

Holding any engine back to PS2 standards in this day and age is unforgivable.