Will the PC version of Fifa 09 hit the goal among gamers and the franchise fans, or will it just be another pc version that is good enough by just seeing it from the stands? In my personal opinion, I would say it is just another Fifa soccer game with a little tweaks here and there. Sure the be-a-pro seems promising, the widgets seem cool and awesome and of course the Adidas live season seems to make the game relate more to the real life. However, after testing out the console (PS3) version (demo) of the game, I felt that Fifa 09 on the pc totally lacks substance.
Many would argue and say “Hey, you can’t compare the console version with the PC’s! It is just not fair!”, but the sad truth is everyone does and I am no exception. PC gamers and console gamers are all gamers. They want the best experience they can have in each and every game they play. So if you come out with a game for that particular console/PC, you better make it good and for a good gaming experience you must check out best gaming monitor under 150 Fifa 09 felt almost if not the same as Fifa 08.
Hit the jump for screenshots and the full review.
What exactly is lacking? Let us just talk about the basics. The Goalkeeper AI is still as retarded as ever. They do the most impossible things that no one will ever expect. For example the ball is rolling towards him at a really really slow pace. He could jolly well run and pick it up, but he will just wait for the ball to roll REALLY REALLY slowly towards him before doing so. Another example would be the fact that the keeper seems extremely lazy (in fifa 08 as well). He could walk towards the side of his goal to pick up a deflected shot by the opponents to prevent a corner, but he would prefer to stand by and watch the ball roll out. Seriously, he would STAND BY AND WATCH THE BALL ROLL OUT. Of course you can add in the speed of the ball of a REALLY REALLY slow pace. It gets on your nerves. EA Sports would rather spend time making things that doesn’t matter much than to improve the AI (In particular the goalkeeper).
Now we shall talk more about the new features they implemented. They finally add in the real be-a-pro camera which is now called “third person” camera. Of course if you had the console version for Fifa 08, it looks exactly like that, just a little rougher and less pretty. It sure seems to be a cool and awesome thing to happen for pc fifa gamers, for people like me who did not have a console then, got all so hyped up over the be-a-pro mode. However, we(I) were all disappointed with the TELE view and thus makes controlling one player more of a hassle then of fun. Yes I would say that bringing over the TRUE be-a-pro/third person camera would be just the thing for the be-a-pro career mode. However, the AI of your team in the game when playing be-a-pro just seems so frustrating.
I’ll cut the story short on what the AI actually feels like. It felt like a bunch of kids who dare not touch the ball as if it was spiked with poison needles. Your defenders dodge away from your opponents as they advance. You have the hold the pressure button to actually get the ball within a faster time period. Without holding the pressure button, it is like watching a nine hundred and ninety nine (th) grade film. Boring and frustrating. And once your team gets the ball, the way they pass is worst than my country’s soccer team. Not that they are really bad or anything, but the AI attacking style is seriously terrible. They pass aimlessly and lose the ball very often. Without you being a striker (worst if you are a defender), I doubt your team can score more than 2 goals in a match. After actually playing for some time, you feel like taking a break from seeing all your little kids fighting/running away from a ball. There is no actual purpose in the mode with the way the AI is playing. Controlling one player then seems to be extremely painful and tiring. I would just give this a pass.
I am not saying that the console version of the AI during the be-a-pro practice mode was particularly good, but since it was the newest addition then it was passable. Besides, now that we can play 10v10 in the consoles version, we do not need to worry about the retarded AIs and their terrible standard of soccer. Alright, perhaps be-a-pro is not really the thing. But what else are there? The normal game modes are of your normal game modes. Graphical improvements are barely noticeable in my eyes and it simply feels like Fifa 08 all over again (Worst then the Fifa 08 on the consoles by the way). However, something that seems the most innovative (probably) and interesting addition is the mouse control.
Oh my god, the mouse! Does it remind you of the wii version of the PES? Yeah, it is something like that. You use your mouse to aim your passes, shoot etc. Kind of cool and perhaps it would make PC gamers feel more exclusive for such control scheme will never (yet) reach consoles anytime soon. It makes playing much more interesting and you feel as if you have better control over the game. Where ever you want to pass, you aim and you pass it. The thought of such freedom seems extremely fabulous. However, you can’t really feel the freedom yet. It is just a little looser than the locks they had for Fifa 08. Sure you can aim in front the path of your running striker, but it will just simply act as a normal through pass. There isn’t anything so great about it. Where you can pass with the mouse you can pass with the keyboard/gamepad. However, with such addition it would definitely make it a more PC version rather than a trying-to-be a console version’s quality.
Minor additions such as the widgets and Adidas live season are just merely gimmicks in my opinion to make out with the lack of quality the whole game have overall. Sure it is cool to see the latest news of your favourite team right in front of you before you start the game. It is fun to have your players form to be the same of the players of real life. However, all these do not seem so fun at all with the Fifa 08 same gameplay they are giving. I would rather stick to Fifa 08 and get some newspaper instead. Saving money on such titles perhaps would lead to a possibility of enough financial capital to invest in a console. Till then, it is just yet another PC version that I expected to suck badly (to suck in my terms to not have any or much noticeable improvements). For now, I simply cannot wait for the console version due to the catalyatic effect the PC version gave me. Look, if you compare a terrible and an average game together, the effects would be amplified and instead you would think the average game is a perfect game.
P.S If you really want me to rate it, I’ll go with a 6. Passable and thats all.
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