The Final PES 2009 vs FIFA 09 Review

I've played both full versions and both demos, on the PC. I am a huge football fan. I pride myself of being a passionate connaisseur of the beautiful game and I've been playing the game itself since I can remember having good use of my legs (that is until a week ago when I got  injured, but I'll be back on the pitch creating magic in a few weeks).

Why does this matter? Well this is not a review for the casual gamer, nor is it for the gamer that doesn't make footy games his priority, this review is from and to the football fan. The one who suffers with his team and screams and runs at the top of his lungs when they score.

We are reviewing much more than a computer program here, this is about passion, feeling and a season of hard work and joy. I will tell you which binary executable gets your heart pumping as well as cursing and cheering for the little virtual souls giving it all on the 3D pitch. As simple as that.

This is both a joint review for both FIFA 09 and PES 2009, as well as a comparison. "Why?" you ask. Isn't it like this every year? This is an attempt to give you an unbiased and fair review, because if you are anything like me, gaming sites just aren't that thrust worthy anymore.

I've had some fair time with both games, playing them enough as to let the novelty and the hype wear off. I'll compare both games on the exhibition (or friendly) game mode since for me it's all about gameplay. It seems rather obvious that a game should be above it all fun, cups and leagues and all that is wonderful but I want to assess how the games fare on the pitch.

This year I also have the opportunity to compare two very special game modes, my favourite  from both games: Become a Legend and Be a Pro, from PES 2009 and FIFA 09 respectively.

FIFA 09

The first game I tried was FIFA 09, since it was released first. So installation out of the way and after correcting a little issue with my controller I was ready to go. First stop though, who on Earth would want to play this with a mouse?! I mean I understand it if you don't have a controller and you want to play with you little brother, but this seemed like an insulting idea to the hardcore footy gamer in me, there is just no way a mouse can offer the level of depth I demand from myself when playing a football game. Moving on, I setup my favourite team and the menus pop up. This widget crap and stats, it's awesome. I love casually checking those stats every now and then. So off to my first friendly.

Exhibition

The Good:

Wonderful ambiance from the get go. The commentary is spot on and you feel like the commentators are actually watching the game from a booth, everything is so authentic. The way they comment on every play and the usual side note about your team or star player really takes it up a notch. The stadiums look beautiful and you can almost smell the grass. The ball starts rolling and this FIFA is onto something. The ball feels right, nice and heavy while on the air. The players look tiny on the best camera for tactical play, although is not really an issue, you can set a closer camera, passes will go towards the player all by themselves and you'll get a glance at the well rendered players models.

The Bad:

I'm linking up plays, taking shots, running down the flanks, and scoring from every single one-on-one situation. Here's my first gripe with the game, it feels too easy, and yes I always go straight to the hardest difficulty setting. No matter where I decide to shoot the little player with the ball just squares it easily past the keeper. I get a very convincing 5 -0 victory on my first game (I know it because it's there on the stats widget). And even though the midfield battles are interesting, everything is pretty washed out near the box, defending or attacking. The AI isn't really very good either, they seem to play always the same game, game after game. Players are still sluggish, slow to react and respond to your commands, is a true FIFA-ism since the series went into the 2000's.

Be a Pro

The Good:

It's really fun to add yourself to your favourite team and fight for glory with your heroes. The third person camera works like a charm and offers the best view of a football game ever. EVER. You really feel that you are on the pitch and you push yourself to get a goal or an assist. Choosing how the AI controlled players passes the ball to you is very handy in those situations where you just feel the AI is going to be more A than I. Also the RPG side of it is very cool, upgrading your skills and planning you growth is what keeps you going. Well that and achieving the personal and team objectives you get assigned each game, I found myself immersed in fulfilling those little tasks during every single game. Where this mode beats PES' counterpart hands-down is the ability to bring in another human player into the mix, halfway through the season I got my brother involved and we were both hooked on it. This is all about you.

The Bad:

This is all about you. Really you can take all the free kicks, and corners, no matter how much your stats suck at it. Your teammates are forced to pass the ball to you when you command them to it, which can turn into a mess when you are playing with another human on the team. And the absolute worst of it all, there is no season table. You cannot even take a glance at how your team is doing, because apparently it doesn't matter. And the team and personal objectives are the same for everybody. I played and attacking midfielder and my brother a defensive midfielder. We both had to score a  goal or get assists, never ever did he get a defensive objective, and after a while, we were both just repeating tasks. This killed any replay value it had and we just stopped playing it.

PES 2009

Exhibition

The Good:

After playing a rather competent FIFA and the horribly disappointing PES 2009 demo, I have to admit I was very much pleasantly surprised by this game. The leathery thud felt just right, the ball feels and sounds as it has been inflated to regulation. Players are very responsive and the amount of plays you can create is infinite. The AI is very good as it pressures you and tries to fool you with a pass, this little dummies are really pushing you to play at your best. The pace is just right it, can go from lightning fast counterattacks to slow build ups very organically.

The Bad:

Offensively your players are rather tame, they aren't bothered to run and find holes in the defense, which can really slow down your attacks. Defensively is hard to get the ball now, it's a bit hit-and-miss, not very consistent. The referees while improved still card you for perfectly good tackles. Getting the ball down from a high pass is still a bit cumbersome, and on occasions were a volley could land you a superb goal, you get a goal kick from the lamest of headers or toe-pokes.

Become a Legend

The Good:

The player creation screen is amazing, my virtual persona really does look like me, it's uncanny. I set up the way he runs, celebrates, takes a freekick and a penalty, it's just awesome. It is about your career, you get contract offers from clubs and you really have to fight for your place in the team. With time better teams will approach you. Even training for a while is fun, but the first time you make it to the bench you really get a rush of blood to the head. And talk about the time you get your first official goal, you just want to jump and run around. It is totally immersive. The RPG element is very well executed. You can plan ahead your development and you really do feel your player's growth. You feel part of a team, the other little guys take their own decisions and you need to pace yourself and remain focused, looking for a good place to ask for the right pass and involve yourself in the game. And the menu music specially for this mode is amazing, it really gets you pumped for the game.

The Bad:

You teammates sometimes take too damn much passing the ball to you and spoil perfectly good plays, in your head at least. Sometimes the defenders really choke up and throw away your good game. There's a really weird bug that happens when you send a through ball to a teammate and when you run along to it, you teammate just stops chasing the ball and this reflects bad as an incomplete pass on your game report. The game report qualification score is kinda awkward as sometimes a really good game gets a not-so-really-good score. When you're not part of the starting eleven it really sucks to wait and watch 70 (PES) minutes or so to be included in the game, if at all (even if you can accelerate the tempo of the game when you are not on the pitch). Konami's version of the third person camera is just unplayable, which is a shame.

Final Thoughts

Let me say this first and foremost: They are both good games. I haven't covered all of the aspects here because most of them are irrelevant to me, such as menu design, licenses and online. I limited myself to covering the core of each game: Kicking the ball around while trying to get a goal or to avoid receiving a goal, and the space for creativity the game offers you to do so.

What game will I keep? What game should I recommend to you? Let me just say that FIFA 09 is not installed on my computer at present. While it has his good points, PES 2009 just surpasses it in every single point. Sure is not as shiny looking and boom sounding, and it's missing A LOT of licenses, but at least for the PC version, there's no excuse for you not to easily download all the licenses from the fantastic editing community. I even downloaded real team chants. And even if it's unfair to throw a punch after the K.O., The Champions League will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, even if it's just a gimmick.

You want some numbers for the sake of it? OK I'll comply, considering only that which was reviewed I'll give FIFA 09 a 80/100 and PES 2009 a 90/100. Considering the whole package, the gap grows.

I don't thrust gaming sites, I said it before and I stand by it, there's too much between the lines nowadays. This year I chose not to believe them in the FIFA vs PES battle and I'm glad I did. EA has a lot of money and pull, that's all I have to say about it and if you are reasonably smart that's all you need to hear.

Now do yourself a favour and start playing Become A Legend, is just the best thing ever in a footy game. EVER.