Not scoring goals, not winning games, your team lies at the bottom of the Barclay's Premier League. As a fan, you can do nothing but watch how the fortune of your supported team pans out before your eyes. However, as a gamer you get to change all that. Football games on all consoles have had only two giant franchises competing against each other for the past 8-9 years, each trying to cancel the other out with new input and better game-play to attract fans of all ages. The two I'm talking about is none other than Japan and Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer series and EA Sports's FIFA franchise. Last years games from the two have garnered critical acclaim from gaming gurus worldwide, and the winner with a score of 9.0 was FIFA10. PES10 did have some major changes from it's previous year but it wasn't substantial enough to win the head to head with FIFA10. If you're new to footballing games and have not played FIFA10 and on top of that is wondering why it's great, read on about it here :
http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/sports/fifasoccer10/review.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gssummary&tag=summary;read-review
Moving on to this year's games, I'm here to tell you about the pros and cons of both games so as to help you gamers out there decide for yourselves which game you'd prefer. Let's start by looking at FIFA 11.
First and foremost, the cover. We have Carlos Vela of Arsenal FC, Kaka of Real Madrid, and urm. Landon Donavan from the USA. That was a weird inclusion, but fairly obvious choice considering how the yank helped USA got as far as they did during this year's World Cup Finals. Enough about the cover, let's move on to the pros and cons.
PROS
1. 360 Degree Dribbling is simply the best player control system on planet earth. It gives you 100% percent control of your player.
2. Breathtaking visuals and loads of improvement to stadium art, fans reactions and noise. Plus, the legendary commentary team of Martin Tyler and Andy Gray makes it's return again.
3. Virtual Pro returns with much more personalized customization which adds depth and reality to your pro.
4. Manager mode is more in depth now that it combines career mode into 3 ; As a player ( you play as your virtual pro), a manager and a player-manager ( you get to manage your team and have the choice to take part in crucial matches ).
5. Fluent loading time and game speed keeps you hooked for hours.
6. Multiplayer is AWESOME. I've got 3-4 good friends who can testify to that. ( Game nights are more awesome now )
CONS
1. Opponent AI glitches. Sometimes it may seem that on Pro and World Class difficulty, you can never tackle your opponent and when you do, it's a foul. Also, you lose the ball as easily as juggling and egg on oily hands.
2. Music choices could have been much better.
So the current score for FIFA 11 on Gamespot is 9.0, but I'm giving it an 8.5. Sure there is no doubting that FIFA11 is the best football game on the planet right now, but if they tweak the lil glitches and make it more in depth, there's no stopping them now, or in the years to come.
Okay, let's take a look at the challenger.
Right. Die hard Pro Evo fans might want to stop reading here. This is going to be a roadkill session. Let me get a few things straight. If you've known me close enough since 2004, I have been an avid Pro Evo fan because I loved the fast flowing game-play it offered. It wasn't even second nature to me. I knew it like it was in my dna. I could score a 25 yard screamer with my eyes closed. Editing and creating players added to the hours of fun I had with Pro Evo. But that was the past. When Pro Evo 8 came out, I remembered I was very much let down by the poor change of emphasis. Game-play was sacrificed for gloss and beauty. Players very much looked like their real life counterparts, but didn't play like them at all. And that was the moment when I broke of all loyalties to go pro FIFA. Never regretted. Anyway, let's jump in to the pros and cons of PES 11.
PROS
1. Player visuals are stunning, near perfect.
2. Stadiums are well designed, and fan atmosphere does gives you chills.
3. Improved menu preface.
4. Better choices of leagues, masterleagues and tournament modes.
5. Goal celebrations look like the real thing.
CONS
1. Game-play is horrible. Passes go astray easily, shots can be skied for no damn reason ( Thierry Henry blew over a shot from 1o yards. LOGIC PLEASE? ), tackling is notoriously difficult, which greatly reduces the FUN element.
2. Lack of Team Licensing from the Premier League. Only Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspurs have been licensed. The other 18 teams are downright pathetic. Arsenal go by the name 'North London Reds', and the kits are lousy. Other leagues like Serie A and La Liga are well licensed though.
3. Commentary is LAME OMG. Sorry John Champion, but it seems to me like you lent your voice to the game just for the bloody money, so, you suck.
4. Multiplayer is horrendous. I've got 3-4 good friends who can testify to that.
Ratings from Gamespot for PES 11 is 8.0 but I'm giving it a 6.5 simply because it's bitterly disappointing. Credits to them for upping every other aspect of the game, but they let themselves and us the fans down where it mattered most.
And there you have it. A short yet comprehensive look at both the games this year, and there is only one clear cut winner. FIFA 11 wins the tie hands down and all guns blazing, and I hope that you gamers have a better knowledge of what you want and what to expect from your favourite footy games. Of course, if you have contrasting opinions towards mine, please do leave a comment. Wishing all of you all the best to your respective teams and your gaming!
A big thanks to Gamespot.com for providing initial ratings and to my friends Kevin Cheong, Bernard Chan, Justin Sim and Thurai Arasan for proving multiplayer input and support.
Written by,
Adrian Tan
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