4.10.2008

Having received the game on release day I have been playing it rather relentlessly. I'll start off with a short summary; I like this game, alot. Not only does it enhance on what 08' couldn't, it also pushes the franchise forwards in terms of inginiuity and entertainment. There is so much to do in the game that I will probably forget a feature or two over the course of this review. Taking into account my overwhelming satisfaction, it is embarassing for me to confess that i didn't think this game would be as engrossing as it is and will be for another year.With 08' I found the Be a Pro mode (which I will now refer to as 'BAP') to be a concept which oozed potential. I am happy to say that in 09'they have well and truely milked the preverbial cow of BAP. The BAP mode takes the form of 'seasons', 4 of them to be exact, where a chosen or created player plys his trade at any chosen club. At the beginning of BAP you will start off as an unnoticed player in the reserve team. After getting noticed, which could take some of the novices out there some time, you move on to bigger and better things so to speak. Performing well for your club will get you noticed internationaly, where you can become a national legend should you take the international stage by storm. Needless to say, this mode is very expansive and entertaining. I personally find this game mode fantastic. Because i support Arsenal (boo, hiss) I enjoy playing an integral part in centre midfield alongside Fabregas (boo,hiss). Playing on 'Professional' dificulty setting makes it very realistic in playing style and feel.The inclusion of BAP seasons does not mean that the manager mode is neglected and banished into the corner like a smelly cat. Instead it is played in the exact same style as in 08', only with easier navigation and more realistic transfers etc. Happy faces all round. I haven't gotten all that immersed into manager mode yet, but I fully intend to once I have finished with BAP.Online is, in a word, exceptional. In 08' I would scream naughty words in almost every match I played due to a defensive glitch or a player change problem. Fifa 09 rewards me back my sanity. I have played around 50 games and I am yet to encounter any glitches or player change problems. So to put it simply the only reason you should shout naughty words is because your getting a good old-fashioned romping. As well as player vs player matches there is also the inclusion of BAP with 10 vs 10 matches. I know, I know, the images of 10 players running after one ball with four or five 11 year olds all asking "who am I?" are running rife in your nuggin. Suffice to say that I am fortunate enough for this only to have happened once to me. Assemble yourself a good team and this mode will be a winner.Having played the game for two days I cannot express how enjoyable I find this game. Shooting has become as realistic as ever, along with keepers gaining a few pixelated brain-cells. It is hard to think how the next edition can build on such a satisfyingly complete game.I've never been a PES man myself and after this I won't be making the transition. Over to you, Konami.

8.10.2008

I grew up playing fifa titles. ever since its first outing which i had on my megadrive. i did have a go at actua soccer and sensible soccer (what a game!!) (cannon fodder too!!) too. both good games in there own way but nothing could stand up to the mighty fifa. then in 2002 something amazing happened. pro evolution soccer was launched and due to all the hype i was straight to the shops after work on that friday evening to pick up my reserved copy of the game. From that moment on i was converted. i played all the following titles up to pro evo 6. this version seemed to let all us ro evo fans down. i thought number 5 was bad, and although i accept i may have set my expectations unreasonably high for the first installment to be released on a next gen platform.it wasn't the graphics that let me down it was the gameplay and stuttery lag online.it was for that reason i bought fifa 08 in january of this year. i had taken some time off from playing football games due to the poor new releases of pro evo soccer. my visit to fifa 08 land was only brief. i only played it about 5 times! apparently loosing my age old love of football games.i so happened to stumble across a promotional video for fifa 09 and it was like being back in 2002. i found myself in the shops on the friday fifa 09 was released with my pound notes in hand.and after all that build up i got home and slapped it into the xbox 360, i had wanted the ps3 version but they were sold out and i couldnt wait.i am hugely impressed by the game. the custom tactics are delightfuly easy to use and change how your team performs dramaticly. the gameplay which is the one thing that i am really bothered about, is also amazing. choosing long or short passes with different length presses of the same button. like all football games fifa 09 does sometimes choose the wrong player for you to control. but we cant expect it to be a mind reader can we?i still consider myself a pro evo pro. but fifa is starting to win me back with 09. the tricks are easy to pull off and use creativly in a match. i am playing it on pro at the moment and have only just started winning convincingly. so god knows what legendary is like. i was always a five star difficulty man on pro evo and thought fifa would be like the walk in the park it always was. stand in one spot, shoot, score. but i couldnt have been more wrong.i'll go as far as to say that fifa 09 compares favorably to my all time favorite football game. pro evolution soccer 4, i must admit that as a pro evo fan it grates me to say that but this fifa is good.i will be buying pro evo 2009, not because i need another football game, fifa has enough to keep me happy for hours. with manager mode and be a pro. but because fifa has reinstilled my love of football games and i have my fingers crossed that konami can do it again.If you love football and video games, you will love fifa 09, if you don't, why are you reading this?to all you pro evo fans, if 2009 is rubbish like the last few, change to fifa. we could do with some good players online. and 10 on 10 does sound mighty good hey!!

11.10.2008

I have been a fan of the Pro Evo series since ISS Pro on the PSone, which I first experienced back in 2000. The realism and excitment drew me in and Pro Evo deservedly earned the title of the thinking man's FIFA. The latter series simply failed to satisfy me with it's cartoon-like action, clunky controls and being able to score outrageous goals from anywhere inside your opponents half apparently at will. Even the poor presentation and player names with swapped vowels due to lack of a FIFPro licence was did not detract from Pro Evo's appeal. It was purely and simply about great gameplay.And Konami managed to improve their game consistently year on year up to and including Pro Evolution Soccer 5 on the PS2,which, up until now, in my humble opinion, was the best-ever football game. But then Konami got complacent and dropped the ball. They tinkered too much with the fantastic gameplay and we ended up with a game which just didn't feel like Pro Evo. Perhaps Konami thought they could sell games on reputation, which EA Sports had been doing since FIFA 95.If Pro Evo 6 was a step backwards, then Pro Evo 2008 was a giant leap in the wrong direction and very disappointing by Konami's high standards.Unfortunately, after the horrendous FIFA World Cup 2006, then FIFA 07 and 08, and even the admirable effort of UEFA Champions League 06/07 weren't good enough to steal Konami's crown, but with the arrival of FIFA 09, EA Sports seem to have finally got it right after 15 years of trying.The gameplay is excellent, slick and realistic. Switch all controls to manual and your passing, crossing and shooting feels real, with all the associated errors, like you are actually on the pitch. It is actually a challenge to play and very satisfying when you score (especially when you can choose your own celebration), something that FIFA games have historically lacked.Talking of which, the "Be a Pro" feature is an excellent addition and something which I for one have been crying out for, for a long long time. You can control your own player! One player on the pitch out of 22! You would think that maybe you would get bored, not having control of the ball all of the time. But with points for positioning, calling to your team-mates to defend or shoot and asking for the ball (to feet or into space), there is always plenty to keep you occupied and feel like you are part of the action. If only you could play as a keeper...The manager mode could do with some tweaking and isn't up to the standard of the Pro Evo Master League and, having only owned the game for a week (and being a grown up with things that get in the way of playing FIFA 09, like having a job and also owning Force Unleashed) I'm yet to play the game on Xbox Live, so my comments here a purely based on off-line gameplay.If only due to sentimentality, I just hope that Seabass and the team have returned to form with Pro Evo 2009. Even if they have, they may find that they still suffer because of past mistakes and because FIFA 09 truly is a great football game.

19.6.2009

I can safely say that Fifa 09 is the best football game i've had the pleasure of playing. The new realistic player animations when they kick or head the ball from different positions, the faster gameplay, precise through balls and spot on ball physics make it this.There are a few niggles within the game, however i have played this game ALOT since it came out last year which is probably why im noticing them now.For instance, Loaning players in manager mode still has zero effect. They don't play for their loan team unless it's against you. The player change could frustrate you if it doesn't pick the right player at a crucial time, plus a couple of other minor things.I will admit however,the Be a Pro mode is poor. If it's your first experience of controlling one player you will most likely find it brilliant! But the Pro Evo version is a country mile better. On Fifa, it's too linear, playing match after match, there are only league games, (no cups except International after 4 years) no individual awards, no wage offers from other clubs, only one transfer window at the end of the season and you start every game, which i think, is just too tedious and unrealistic. So if you're buying it for this, Don't. Get Pro Evo and play Be a Legend.On to the Good things though, of which they're are many so i will just name a few.The gameplay is much smoother and real compared to other fifas, you can actually run past an opposing player (on earlier fifas everyone seemed to be the same speed) which i thought straight away was a vast improvement. And the general gameplay is much faster. On earlier versions of the game i found the gameplay labourious, with the turning and running of the players being very slow.The AI on your team has been improved, with them making the right runs to find the space behind a defence.The charicterics of a player actually comes into play, which is magnificent, the strength of players counts when challenging for the ball, height in the air etc. So there is a little more to think about when selecting a team.I have recently got into playing the online clubs with my friends, which is where you can make your own club by selecting a team to play with then getting people to join, with everyone playing as only one player, similar to be a pro online, but much more organised than everyone running forward because you actually want to communicate with your teammates for once. Its also full of stats about your team and trophies to win. Brilliant.The fact is it's a game you'll keep coming back to, yes you'll get new games and they might take over your gaming time for however long it takes to complete them. But what do you go back to after that? Fifa 09.After being a Pro Evo fan through the PS2 years, i always slated the repetitive and slow gameplay of Fifa, but this is just Brilliant!

29.11.2008

I have been alternating between PES and Fifa since PES was ISS back in the late 90's. There has been a lot of difference and similarities in these games over the years, that many have produced a schematic view that PES was better gameplay and FIFA had the nice graphics and official statistics.To be honest the last few years have seen quite the turnaround. Since I obtained a 360 I was RIDICULOUSLY addicted to Pro 6 in which the online experience and gameplay were complimented by nice graphics and only flaws were idiotic reviewers saying that "Martin Tyler said the goal went in 3 seconds after it went in instead of 1.7 seconds."So as you can see I was rather skeptical when my brother brought home FIFA 08,

26.4.2009

The answer to the the above question is, quite easily, yes.I used to be a hardcore Pro Evo fan and, even though they do not have all the licences etc,I felt it was the better game as I preferred the actual gameplay. I even bought this year's edition of Pro Evo originally.I have been converted though!My mate had been banging on about how brilliant FIFA is this year for ages, and so I eventually gave in to temptations and tried the demo. I would usually play one game, declare Pro Evo superior in every way, then revert to old habits. This time, however, I gave it a chance and played game after game after game. Once I got used to how FIFA works and how to play it properly (it takes a bit more skill to dribble past players than on Pro Evo,

20.10.2008

I usually buy Fifa over pro evo although this doesnt mean i have been happy with the standard they've been reaching lately. So i wasn't too excited about Fifa 09.However, i am really glad i bought it and although its not flawless, its a really fun game with some of the problems from previous games removed.As mentioned in other reviews, the Be a Pro mode is great fun. The satisfaction you get when your player scores his first goal is much more than when you score in regular gamepley, and its great to see him getting better as time goes on. Another huge plus for this mode is it can be played as mulitplayer offline. although only player one recieves XP for their pro,

31.10.2008

As the title suggests, having played FIFA and Pro Evo (and having switched between the two over the years - and some others!), FIFA is just a long way ahead at the moment. To try and justify this a little, I felt the same about Pro Evo 3 or 4 years ago. But EA have upped their game culminating in 09 - the best effort thus far.So I still like the accuracy in the player detail (stats n'all) of FIFA, always have and the addition of the Adidas update facility has made this better still - to my mind - as now player form is up to date on a week to week basis. Yet to see how this really pans out long term, but the idea is good and it's simple.What was great about Pro Evo (assuming that's your alternative)?

8.10.2008

From the years 98-06 for me there was only one football game. PES had it all, the realistic but also fun gameplay, great edit mode, brilliant if you want to play with a mate and most importantly, longevity. I would still be playing on PES 4 when 5 was about to come out etc etc.However in 2007 something changed.For it's last (proper) PS2 outing Fifa actually became fun once again. Not only was the presentation slick but the gameplay was fast, flowing and actually addictive. So with that in mind I bought Fifa 08 on 360 with high expectations.It was really good, EA was evolving Fifa, bringing it into the next-gen. Whilst I also bought PES 2008 and it was appalling. The same old PS2 animations,

17.3.2009

Without wanting to draw too many comparisons to Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 in this review, I'll just start by saying that for me, this is the superior game.On first glance, it would appear that not a lot has changed from FIFA 08, but that is mainly because most the improvements in this FIFA edition are in the gameplay. However, when you take a longer look, you'll notice that player faces are more defined, the shirts on the players are mainly carbon copies of the real thing, and the player movement is now much more free. But by now most people will have come to expect this from a game which boasts so many liscences for leagues, players, shirts and tournaments.Gameplay wise,

20.12.2008

Just want to start off by saying that I'm not a fanboy of either franchise or something ridiculous like that. I play both Pes and Fifa and have been alternating between the both of them depending on their individual merits as each new release has come out.So... I came to the Fifa 09, praying it was better than 07 ( which was horrendous) and more enjoyable than 08.Verdict? Oh yes, Fifa are definitely back.The game is fantastic from the moment I picked it up. From just exhibition, I could see the player movement and responsiveness has definitely had the tweak its been needing for so long. They turn better and the passes are fired off better. Personally, having played PES 09 as well,

4.10.2008

Having bought the game the day it came out, I had high hopes on seeing the realism and superb gameplay on the demo. To an extent, the proper copy does play like the demo, but the game itself offers much more.You did wonder this time last year whether Fifa 08 could be beaten graphically. It has. And the music is better, and the menu layout. But the main selling point must be the gameplay on 09 - playing as Tottenham, Dos Santos and Lennon are quick but I have learnt to pass it about due to their physical weaknesses, particularly playing against a Portsmouth or Wigan side with big chunky defenders. The players appear actually to have weight and you have to adopt different styles of play to cater for your team's attributes.Adidas Live is a fantastic idea - by the end of last year,

28.1.2009

I've been playing the FIFA series since 99'. So I was expecting a lot from EA this year since 07' was a huge dissapointment and 08' took the first leap towards the next gen experience. PES was too arcade-ish, so FIFA was all that mattered to me.My first immpresion of the game was one of astonishment. This game has made PES look poor and no where near as good.The amount of leagues is immpresive, but could still be expanded. The player realisim is accurate and the pyhsics have been improved. A few weird glitches that popped up in previous FIFA's are gone.Online play has been upgraded and I found it easy to spend several hours playing my friends.

1.3.2009

FIFA 09 is the longest-running football serials in the game business, and it has come a long way since the first FIFA game in 1994. The graphics are excellent, as is the gameplay. Also with the new Celebrations controls, allowing the player to celebrate how they want, and even more trick moves, the game has advanced a long way.For the past few years, I have always preferred the Pro Evo series over FIFA, but having already played PES2009, I have to say FIFA has scored the winning goal this year. Also, the online play is almost flawless, and also has a news section, where you can keep up to date with the world of football.It plays superbly, a more important factor in the game's quality than the new 10 versus 10 online play,

13.9.2008

I have played fifa for yrs.Dropped it in 2005 for pro evo as fifa was bad.Last yr pro evo stufed up their online multiplayer on the 360 so I went back to fifa 08. It was in a way pro stuffed up cos fifa 08 was best footy sim ive played. The realism etc but now......FIFA 09 takes the best bits of fifa 08 and adds to it!The graphics as ever are brillant but its all bout the game play and it is even better this yr. Improved player runs, shooting, passing, more realistic heading, make it the best game out of pro evo fifa yet! i have only played demo so I think the fullgame will be even better.Now I cnt comment on how gd this yrs pro evo is, or isnt but they will have lost alot of fans after their gaff last yr,

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