ok so after playing FIFA religiously and being addicted to it and its online components for awhile I am finally fed up of it. I did enjoy it and I will still enjoy getting together wth some friends in a club and running around a pitch trying to get the ball in the net. Sadly thats the best description of it, because it is certainly nothing like the beautiful game.
FIFA's appeal is that its kind of fun doing this thing with lots of other people, where you all run around like idiots trying your damndest to play football despite the ridiculous button lag (it is literally 1 second between button press and anything happening, thats if you're not holding it for more power), worse goalkeeper AI ever and crazy tunnel vision camera - which increases the pressure but also reduces anything cool or insightful you might attempt to nothing more than hit and hope. What it captures well is the feeling of being in a team - albeit one which isnt very good at football, even crap players can enjoy the real life game and you'll get the odd moment of glory when you do score or do a good pass/tackle or your team has a spell of domination in the game.
So often you'll spend a full match trying to make something special happen, frustratingly wrestling with the shit controls trying to pass and probe your way through a defence, only to have your opponent run in a straight line and bang in a 20 yard screamer because you didn't have sufficient control over your defenders to stop him. They just ran past him or missed their tackle thanks to the button lag and weird aiming of sliding tackles. So yeah, FIFA has amazing online capabilities, but its not going to mean much if everytime you play you realise "this is impressive and all but......I'm not actually having fun". When moving and kicking the ball feel like a chore, and a really irritating one at that - you know something is wrong.
Immediately after playing FIFA today I played the PES demo to wash my mouth of the taste so to speak, and its so much better. I had 2 0-0 draws, but it was so so so so much better.
in those two games I had more snapshots of the real sport than FIFA has managed in a week. Opponents passing triangles around me, midfielders stopping the ball and taking a look around, attempting audacious runs and through balls which the defender mops up. It was all so free and easy. When I am Ronaldo, I feel like I am Ronaldo - but not once did i manage to beat my man. Sure I ran into the middle but he and his team mates blocked me off so I had to pass. The defender was TOUGH to beat - thats real.
FIFA replicates this by making Ronaldo feel like a chump, so sure defenders are hard to beat, but not for anywhere near the same reasons.
PES finds balance, realism and skill in empowering you to do what you imagine and empowering the opponent to cope. FIFA finds balance and realism in disabling you and skill in useless canned animations unlocked via button combos.
No doubt I'll have a similar lis of complaints about how PES is flawed, but it will the more advanced stuff which is flawed, not the basic engine. It will still probably be the best PES and that makes it by default the best football game.
