CONVERTED (FIFA 09 (Xbox 360))

Member Name: dj981

Product:	FIFA 09 (Xbox 360)
Date:	19/10/08 (276 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Beaver-Slick Gameplay to Match the Presentation

Disadvantages: Still Room for Improvement in Key Areas

I used to scoff at Fifa. Smug and superior, I dismissed it as a mere scuff on Pro Evolution Soccer's shinpad; a soulless exercise in licence-whoring drudgery with nothing to distinguish between each release. Frustratingly my mates all loved it - pouring over close-up preview screenshots of a faithfully horrific looking Wayne Rooney every September like this was the key constituent of a great footballing simulation experience. "What about the gameplay?" I'd protest in vain. "What about the licences?" they'd retort.

Yet over the last couple of years, the yawning chasm between the respective A-list football titles has been closing. Until Fifa '08, this was in part because of EA's galloping progress and in part because of Konami's failure to give fans the advances they wanted. Instead, Konami chose to plough a fruitless furrow of stupidity tweaking what was already a near perfectly balanced formula, while wilfully ignoring the obvious presentational defects - the only factor withholding it from perfection. Conversely, EA busied themselves sculpting areas that needed most attention, chipping away at the anachronisms that plagued the series for years.

This time, things are different. Fifa has finally arrived.

PUNCHY BALLS

It has at last managed to marry solid physics, AI, and sharp controls with the super-slick presentation synonymous with the series. 2008's game was capable, but still didn't feel organic and lacked the personality and satisfaction of the best from PES. It was still sporadically frustrating. That's a key statement, as I felt that until now Fifa just required knowledge of how to manipulate the game engine's algorithms rather than knowledge of proper football. It still felt a little cold and mechanical.

Guile and quick reflexes are now imperative to carve openings. A 'footballing brain' will give you a competitive advantage rather than your proficiency with tricks and flicks or the sprint button. For the first time it feels more like football than a videogame. It feels like Pro Evo sporting a sharp suit and a serious expression.
Rather than feeling encumbered by your team-mates AI, you feel liberated by it. Wingers now sense opportunities and sprint into space instead of moronically lurking on the half way line for a short ball while you wait for them to wake the f*** up.

Employing subtlety around the penalty area is more intuitive, with little dinks and through balls feeling tight and controlled. You can now slide to retain a loose pass before the opposition has engaged the ball because the engine is clever enough to assess the situation, reverting to the defensive button configuration in anticipation of the turnover. That's a small but brilliant addition - it feels like the developers understood the game of football and found ways to transpose the will of the player onto the control system.

Passing has also been upgraded, with far more control available. Short balls feel punchier and cross-field lofted through balls more accurately weighted. The infuriating problem of receiving a ball with your back to goal only to be immediately robbed by the defending player seems to have been adjusted to allow a little more breathing space for the attacking player, giving you a few vital fractions to move the ball on.

But despite all this, Fifa has managed to retain the challenge for attacking players without making life unfair on defenders; there's genuine enjoyment to be had from both aspects of the game. Problems do still exist with player switching when defending, sometimes resulting in farce as you struggle to take control of the player you want, but it's nowhere near a game breaker as I've seen suggested in some reviews.

For all the massive improvements, you'll still encounter a few old issues that make you feel all warm and snuggly inside, such as those infuriating parked button presses you just can't cancel. But these aren't peculiar to Fifa, more a problem that has knocked around football games for years. Rome wasn't built in a day.

BOHEMIAN CRAPSODY

Of course, there are more licences than you could shake something large at, with even the most whimsical inclusions of the Irish and Korean leagues providing some novelty value if nothing else. No offence intended, but unless you're Irish or Korean, the joy you'll derive from hacking your way around the pitch with the mighty Bohemians will be limited to drunken sojourns or online suicide missions.

Stadia are also present and correct, but are predominantly limited to the top few grounds from the major footballing nations. As ever, they're convincing to the last strut and pillar, but the usual lack of realism in areas such as crowd movement smite the admirable attempts to create an authentic experience. The supporting audio is strong though, with Andy Gray once again popping up to conjure some atmosphere with his straight talking wise-owl observations. The commentary is among the best I've heard on any sports game, with some realistic digressions into the realm of big money takeovers of Premier League clubs and other ancillary chat during quieter moments. It's areas like these where Fifa surges clear of PES, and really makes Konami's efforts seem embarrassing by comparison.

Some of the gloss has been applied to the players as well, with new animations abound. A collision will now send the slighter player recoiling, sometimes to the floor, which is especially satisfying if that slighter player is, say, Christiano Ronaldo. Or possibly Christiano Ronaldo. Or maybe Christiano Ronaldo.

BAPS

There are a couple of additional game modes which survive the transition from '08, namely Manager Mode and the amusingly acronymed Be A Pro a.k.a. 'BAP'. The former is self explanatory; the latter gives you the chance to plant yourself in the reserve team of your favourite club and attempt to become an international superstar. You play exclusively as one player and in one position for up to four seasons (which can be frustrating for the control freaks among us) with the objective to be selected for your national squad and win each major tournament at club level.

I have to say, for once in my life I had little desire for BAP, but some may find this utterly thrilling.

THIRD NIPPLE

Fifa's always been favoured by the Xbox Live fraternity over PES, but only in the way you'd favour the otherwise-normal ugly girl over the ugly girl with the club foot and unsightly third nipple. Until now neither title has really harnessed the possibilities of a genre which lends itself to collaborative gaming so well. While EA have at least made an effort in the past to integrate Live functionality into Fifa, Konami has managed to fluff every attempt with such verve you'd be forgiven for thinking they handed the finished game to a special online department full of drunken chimpanzees brandishing keyboards.

This year EA have upped the bar considerably, with a fully fleshed out Live interface which provides a range of options. Creating your own squad of up to 50 live players to compete against others resembles the old clan function and structure of say, Halo for example, and is probably the strongest online feature, assuming you have the time and patience to set up games and recruit players. The classic mano-e-mano matchmaking options are still available for the less team spirited, however the collaborative aspect of 10 v 10 online is a superior experience in every way.

HAT

So which to buy then? This is the first Fifa I've bought in a decade, and the first time I have flatly refused to even consider PES. That's how much the power balance has shifted. I wrote about the rot setting into PES 6 two years back on Ciao, and remember getting some feedback suggesting that I'd called it wrong. Well hear me now: Fifa is the better game, and not just by a slender margin.

Forget any preconceptions you have of the series - this is the real deal - a marriage of all that was good about old Fifa and most of what we wanted it to become. The Fifa vs. PES debate for now is dead; EA have won the race to fix their problems first.

I tip my hat. You've (finally) converted me.

Summary: Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a winner.