[360/PS3/Others] - FIFA 09 Review

[fitbabits]

FIFA 09 Review

Title: FIFA 09
Platform: 360/PS3/Others
Developer: EA Canada
Publisher: EA Sports
ESRB Rating: E for Everyone
MSRP: $59.99 (360/PS3), $49.99 (PC/Wii)
Editor: James A. Young

What's Hot: 10-on-10 Online Play; officially licensed everything; improved Goalkeeping AI; Be a Pro: Seasons; improved gameplay.

What's Not: Transfers still seem a little arbitrary.

What is the goal of sports games? Is it to recreate the experience of actually playing the sport – reveling in the highs, despairing at the lows - or is it just another means of entertainment. Perhaps a little bit of both?

This was the question I found myself asking just one hour into playing FIFA 09. It's a question I can't fully answer, but what I can say is that FIFA 09 is the first football/soccer game that actually made me feel like I was in control of a real match. The detail and level of depth in this year's iteration is simply staggering.

Long considered the uncultured player's alternative to Konami's Wining Eleven/Pro Evo series, EA Sports upped the ante considerably with FIFA 08. While not perfect, it was the most significant upgrade to the franchise in recent memory – perhaps ever. So to game year 2009. Thanks in no small part to the decline of Konami's once venerable soccer sim, EA Sports was in prime position to cement the FIFA brand superiority, both in terms of sales – which it already had a lead in - and the all-important gameplay category.

It comes as a genuine surprise, then, to report that in FIFA 09 EA Sports has only gone and created the best soccer game I've ever played, and I've pretty much played them all going back as far as Match Day on the Spectrum.

So what is it about FIFA 09 that elevates it above the usual fare? It's the feeling of actually being there, of being in the moment. Whether it's as manager o your favorite team (Glasgow Rangers, in my case) in the expanded Manager Mode, or taking the field with up to 20 players online for the scintillating Be A Pro Online match, there's simply nothing available right now that compares or can compete with FIFA's sense of “in-the-moment” goodness.

Sure, everyone knows that FIFA has always blown Pro Evo out the water in terms of content, presentation, graphics, etc., and that continues to be the case here, but the improved gameplay in FIFA 09 is the real story here, and also the reason that Konami may find themselves having to completely retool the Pro Evo series if they want to compete in the years ahead.

As well as the gameplay being leaps and bounds ahead of Pro Evo, the feature list in FIFA 09 is truly remarkable. Here's a taster of what to expect:

Live Season

Dynamic update of player information in-game that mirrors real-life performances.

Custom Team Tactics

Become a the manager you know you are with the power to tune and balance 11 tactical sliders for 140 attacking and 40 defending options (more than 50,000 combinations) so CPU players and your team perform just like the real-world team or how you think the real team should play. Save your tactics to make strategic decisions to exploit your opponent’s weaknesses during the game. Plus, share your strategies with friends online.

Be A Pro: Seasons

Pick or create a professional player and test your footballing ability over a four season campaign (three more seasons than FIFA 08). Pick a position and master it like a true professional. On-screen markers assist you with positioning, etc. so you're never at a loss for where you should be on the field or what you should be doing.

Improved Goalkeeper Intelligence

To some, the goalkeeping in FIFA games in the past has been a bone of contention. Keepers could go from breathtaking save to ridiculous error in the space of five game minutes. This has changed for FIFA 09 – now the keepers read and react to outfield play more realistically, while also recovering from saves faster to either recover a loose ball or make yet another stop.

20-Player Online Be a Pro Online

10-on-10 online matches featuring some of the most sublime footballing experiences you'll ever encounter. It's perhaps here that FIFA shines the brightest. With no perceptible lag and a very robust engine at the heart of the experience, this is the closest simulation of football you're ever likely to partake in without getting dirty and/or injured. A knowledge of the game will certainly give you an edge over those who perhaps may not have a footballing head, but the aforementioned 'marker' system does a great job of helping you out. The feeling of setting someone up for a winning goal, or even scoring one yourself, with 9 of your real buddies on the same field is something everyone needs to experience first hand, and it's this that elevates FIFA to the lofty perch of best footballing game...ever.

EA Sports has served notice on Konami and in doing so has created the single best footballing simulation thus far. Proof positive that competition is good for everyone.

Score: 4.5 out of 5 CoGs


James says - "With wholesale improvements across the board, improved AI, and 20-player online matches, FIFA 09 continues the Electronic Arts resurgence and now sits atop footballing mountain looking down at the once-mighty Pro Evolution Soccer series."

Review this title yourself over at Play It Review It, part of the CoG Network

*Note - Review based upon 360 version

[Vyzov]

I'm very glad that this got reviewed. I enjoyed the demo but was holding off on buying it until I heard more about it. I'll be picking this up for sure now.

[fitbabits]

Originally Posted by Vyzov

I'm very glad that this got reviewed. I enjoyed the demo but was holding off on buying it until I heard more about it. I'll be picking this up for sure now.

Yeah, I've had the review lined up for a while, but life and Microsoft conspired to delay the review until now.

For what it's worth, the demo is not a good representation of the final game.

[biosc1]

Pick it up, it's good. Sadly, it is on my backlog pile at the moment as I dig through a bunch of newer games.

The Be A Pro mode isn't as good as NHL09's, but that's partly due to the difference in the actual game. Though, there doesn't seem to be much of a penalty for being a ball hogging forward...only seems to get upset if you're out of position.

Overall, it's a great game that "feels" much better than in the past.

[AniAko]

Last FIFA game I fully enjoyed was FIFA 2000. I didn't like any of the "shake n' bake" controls they had after that. I'll check out the demo, but I doubt I'll like this one much either

[DangerousDaze]

Tempted by this, and it's been a long time since I bought a FIFA game.

[vuk]

Originally Posted by biosc1

Pick it up, it's good. Sadly, it is on my backlog pile at the moment as I dig through a bunch of newer games.

The Be A Pro mode isn't as good as NHL09's, but that's partly due to the difference in the actual game. Though, there doesn't seem to be much of a penalty for being a ball hogging forward...only seems to get upset if you're out of position.

Pretty much. I'm not sure how well it works for the sport in general given how it is played, though it can be pretty amazing when the whole team pulls of a brilliant piece of work that leads to a goal.

I'd love to see how Be A Pro mode works in NBA Live though unfortunately it's waaaaay below-par when compared to the 2K series.

Good review! I bought it last week and have stopped playing everything else to play this non-stop. According to that 360 Voice Blog thing I've got, it's already become my sixth most-played game. Despite the usual problems with the series, it's a hell of a lot fun.

[Norse]

Originally Posted by AniAko

Last FIFA game I fully enjoyed was FIFA 2000. I didn't like any of the "shake n' bake" controls they had after that. I'll check out the demo, but I doubt I'll like this one much either

What? FIFA 2000 is the worst FIFA I've played

-09 is awesome and when I tried the PES2009 demo after buying FIFA, I realized how superior FIFA is in terms of presentation and features. PES still looks like a PS2 game and there is few signs of improvement. A couple of years ago I would have said PES was the better series, but now FIFA is in the lead.