Here is where FIFA 2008 comes in. With FIFA you enter a football world. Apart from the license, the game also has a news ticker displaying real football news and results which was also present in previous editions. You can also access a website through FIFA to get match previews and get the tables for all the major leagues in the world. You can get all your major football news using the game.
The commentary has also improved, as have the fans’ chanting and songs. Even the Greek teams have theirs now. Most major stadiums are included and are very accurately represented not just in cut scenes but also in-game.
As far as options are concerned you can create online leagues and invite others to join. No need to keep those excel spreadsheet any more. In addition you have the day’s real matches with updated squad lists. For example you could play tonight’s Champions League matches.
Granted, all the above do not affect the actual gameplay of the game. But they do affect the experience. With FIFA you are in a combined fantasy and real football world.
What about gameplay?
There are two things I want to talk about. The first being the To Be A Pro feature where you are playing only one player. I believe this is one of the most important features included in a football video game for a long time and FIFA has managed to deliver it in a great way. For people who love playing football, this will prove maybe the ultimate football game experience. Just think of an online team with 11 human players. Each with his position. This feature will take video game football to another level. Of course so far it is just a one off single player game. Also it does need some refinement. For example when zooming in on your player sometimes it is hard to make a pass. But it feels so real. The idea and the game engine are there to be refined.
The second thing is the pace football matches are played in FIFA. The pace is much slower than PES and encourages teams to build up their attack trying to find a way through. Many balls are lost and won in the midfield area as a result of this. Maybe people will find this more boring than the end to end Pro Evo stuff but I actually love it. I like passing the ball around trying to find a way through. It is more realistic and at the same time far more rewarding.
Also I noticed there are less fouls in FIFA in comparison with Pro Evo 6 continuous ref whistles. Especially when just pressing the A button, there aren’t that many fouls which is a good thing. No unnecessary pauses in the game flow.
This is not to say that that the game is perfect. One thing I definitely do not like is the way a lot of goals are scored. These range from free headers in corner kicks to the ball being passed to strikers in the penalty area after having “bounced” on a defender’s legs.
I am sure more limitations of the game will arise as I play through the game. It is unfair to compare Pro Evo 6 with FIFA 2008 and I should wait for PES 2008 to see the complete package on the 26th of October. But I have to admit that gameplay wise the gap has narrowed a lot between the two franchises. Personally I prefer the more realistic route FIFA has taken.
In fact, overall as a football game package, unless PES 2008 comes up with a few more online options than its predecessor, FIFA 2008 might just be the better deal.
Will have my final say end of October…
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on Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007 at 13:27 and is filed under Impressions.
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