Pro Evolution Soccer 2009

[The Future]

That's unlucky or are goalies messing up a regular fixture of the game? I was very pleased after my first few matches as it looked like they were actually performing in a realistic manner.

[Liam]

Just won my first game online, 5-4 as Man Utd versus Barcelona. Neither of us could defend for shit, I went 2-0 up within 10 minutes, only to go behind 3-2 before the half was even finished. Ended up coming back from 4-3 down in the final ten minutes to grab me the victory,

[ZJ Penn]

So finally got to the January transfer window in Be a Legend while at Man City but for some reason the manager tended to go for Petrov/Robinho over me. So I joined Everton over Blackburn.

Scored in my first two reserves and got onto the bench, then came off and was named man of the match in my debut. Played well in my next game, a cup win over Bolton and am now starting my first ever game away to Blackburn (funnily enough) in Europe! I'm up front though instead of my preferred left wing. What a difference a transfer makes I guess. Everton definitely suit my style more.

I would say though, don't bother staying in your position, particularly when you're a sub. You've got so much stamina you might as well blitz all over the pitch and dictate the play.

[Turbo Yannis]

I ended up signing for Lecce, playing up front. Scored 7 this season. Scored one in our first win of the season (4-1 at home to Lazio), scored the second in a 3-0 away win against Fiorentina. Got us back to 1-1 at the San Siro against Inter before being subbed and we (shock horror!) fell apart and conceded a second.

This is such an amazing mix of brilliant and frustrating.

[ONO]

Right guys, getting an Xbox 360 today. What shall I get with it? Pro Evo 09, or Fifa 09?

Quick

[Baddar]

Right guys, getting an Xbox 360 today. What shall I get with it? Pro Evo 09, or Fifa 09?

Quick

Fifa.

[Summers]

Fuck that.

Pro is by far the better football game.

[Baddar]

Fuck that.

Pro is by far the better football game.

I'd normally say that, but Fifa has upped their game this year and is much better than previous versions. If you liked PES 2008, you'll like PES 2009 even more, but it still feels arcadey as hell.

Not to mention the massive fuss you have to go through to get kits/logo's etc. onto the 360 version of PES.

[Summers]

I've played the Fifa demo, the best bit is the little pre-game minigame of shots at the keeper.

It's still shit. Looks good, but shit.

[Baddar]

I've played the Fifa demo, the best bit is the little pre-game minigame of shots at the keeper.

It's still shit. Looks good, but shit.

So have I, and I can confirm that for some reason, it plays completely different from the demo. I hated the demo, for the record. It was my mate that persuaded me to buy the full game and I was pleasantly surprised.

[ZJ Penn]

Definitely Pro, FIFA is more realistic but I find you only get a few chances in a game because you have to spend more time building them up. Whereas PES can be box to box at time and much better fun, which is what most people want from a game.

[RoyWill Rumble]

Rent them both and see which one you like more?

[/logic]

[Whisper]

I really don't get all this Fifa love this year. The only reason they "closed the gap" last year was because Pro Evo was utter wank in comparison to it's predecessors. I played Fifa at my mates the other day, it is shit. Doesn't feel like a game of football at all. It looks fantastic, as all EA games do, but really... Fifa has been the same for years. Same ridiculously accurate long range shots which, by the way, feel horribly over-animated to the extent where each shot feels like the same animation, regardless of the position of the player and the ball. Volleys still cannon in off the boot of random defenders, all at the press of one button. My friends used to call it the "auto goal" button on the old Fifa's. Less obvious these days, but it's still there to a degree and it just takes away so much from the things that are good about the game.

The difference between Pro and Fifa, for me, has always been this; I will smash a long range shot in on Fifa, that flies into the top corner, and be mildly impressed. On Pro, however, I might bundle one home after 4 or 5 ricochets in the box and i'll be out of my chair celebrating. It's a much more satisfying football game. I'm sure it can be debated which is the more fun game to play... but in relation to real football, which is what I look for in a football game, Pro Evo is still streets ahead.

[therockbox]

Tell your mates to put shooting/passing/crossing to Manual

[alldaws1]

Definitely Pro, FIFA is more realistic but I find you only get a few chances in a game because you have to spend more time building them up. Whereas PES can be box to box at time and much better fun, which is what most people want from a game.

So the main negative against FIFA all these years was that it wasn't as realistic as Pro Evo and now it is it's being bashed for it? FIFA can be box to box as well, it just depends on the strategies of each team and which teams and players are playing. Which is fairly realistic, no?

I really don't get all this Fifa love this year. The only reason they "closed the gap" last year was because Pro Evo was utter wank in comparison to it's predecessors. I played Fifa at my mates the other day, it is shit. Doesn't feel like a game of football at all. It looks fantastic, as all EA games do, but really... Fifa has been the same for years. Same ridiculously accurate long range shots which, by the way, feel horribly over-animated to the extent where each shot feels like the same animation, regardless of the position of the player and the ball. Volleys still cannon in off the boot of random defenders, all at the press of one button. My friends used to call it the "auto goal" button on the old Fifa's. Less obvious these days, but it's still there to a degree and it just takes away so much from the things that are good about the game.

The difference between Pro and Fifa, for me, has always been this; I will smash a long range shot in on Fifa, that flies into the top corner, and be mildly impressed. On Pro, however, I might bundle one home after 4 or 5 ricochets in the box and i'll be out of my chair celebrating. It's a much more satisfying football game. I'm sure it can be debated which is the more fun game to play... but in relation to real football, which is what I look for in a football game, Pro Evo is still streets ahead.

I hate that a lot of people talk down FIFA because of the easy long shots because a) I don't think they're that easy at all anymore, I've yet to score from 30+ yards on this game and b) real football has plenty of goals from long shots. No, they're not all from 30-odd yards but you watch the Premier League each week and you'll see plenty fly in from distance. I think the balance is good, most of the goals I've seen in FIFA come inside the box or from crosses and you get the odd goal from long shots.

If you're saying Pro Evo is still streets ahead in terms of being realistic then I seriously doubt you've played the latest edition of FIFA on a current gen console. I played the demo of PES on the 360 and it was alright, but not particularly great. It seems like they realised the versions they ported straight over from the older generation consoles were too slow so they upped the game speed but they've overdone it, it feels like ice hockey it's so fast. And why have they not had someone overhaul the presentation yet? It's the worst presentation for any games franchise I've ever played.

[Dingle]

I really enjoyed playing the Pro Evo Demo and think that it wont be a let down for Pro Evo fan such as myself, but as AD said, it's presentation is fucking awful. It looks really sub-standard, whereas FIFA is amzing presentation wise even if the tinyness of everything kinda hurts my eyes without a HDTV.

Play wise, I did enjoy Pro Evo on the demo, maybe a bit more than FIFA, I didn't get to experience a full game cause of the settings of the demo, but ehh, I find that FIFA as a whole is a lot more fun and even on levels like regular (whatever medium is), I can't completely whup the computer and results are usually 1 or 2 goals either way.

I go for the option of renting both and then buying FIFA, I mean, buying the better game.

[ZJ Penn]

So the main negative against FIFA all these years was that it wasn't as realistic as Pro Evo and now it is it's being bashed for it? FIFA can be box to box as well, it just depends on the strategies of each team and which teams and players are playing. Which is fairly realistic, no?

Well, no. The main negative till this year was that it was shit. 09 is a good game, no doubt about that. I'm not trying to take that away from it, but Pro is much more fun to play. Even Be A Legend trumps Be A Pro. The only thing it has over it is licenses.

And of course licensings nice, but who really gives it that much attention? As long as the club names are right and the kits are correct in terms of colour that's fine by me. I liked FIFA, but honestly haven't touched it since I played Pro.

[alldaws1]

Obviously I don't think the only thing FIFA has an advantage in is the licenses, but I've already said what I think about the gameplay so I'll just leave that alone. I also think people underestimate how much the licenses really add to the game. I know Pro Evo is getting a few more now and FIFA doesn't have everything licensed, but just playing in the league cup against an accurately portrayed lower league side is so much better than playing a made up team that wears a plain red kit or whatever.

[Darloboy]

I was always a Pro Evo fan over FIFA (although I usually got both), but FIFA shits all over Pro Evo this year IMO.

[Baddar]

Obviously I don't think the only thing FIFA has an advantage in is the licenses, but I've already said what I think about the gameplay so I'll just leave that alone. I also think people underestimate how much the licenses really add to the game. I know Pro Evo is getting a few more now and FIFA doesn't have everything licensed, but just playing in the league cup against an accurately portrayed lower league side is so much better than playing a made up team that wears a plain red kit or whatever.

To add to that, isn't it just great playing a side like Ipswich or Plymouth away in the Cup, in the shitty small stadiums? And then handing them a beating with your 2nd string side, of course. ^_^