FIFA 09 - 1 PES 2009 - 0

Before I say anything, oh darn it, I already said something. At least I didn’t say anything. D’oh! I would first like to apologise for the lack of posting on the Gameov3r blog. It has been Gameov3r’s will to keep me locked in endless games of Space Wars ever since he had a mainframe reconstructed in The Cellar. Thankfully he’s now having more fun trying to recreate the gravity field of the game using a 60 watt bulb and some empty Caffrey’s cans so I’m off the hook.

After my escape from The Cellar and seeing all the vector splendour of Space Wars over and over again I wanted something new and up to date to play. Being a football fan I figured there was no better time to investigate the latest offerings from EA and Konami.

The last time I played any of EA’s Fifa licensed games was in 2004. It was on my trusty Gamecube and the only alternative at the time was ISS2 which wasn’t that great. I quite enjoyed Fifa 04 but I longed for some Pro Evolution action.

Having no PS2 at the time, and staunchly refusing to embrace Sony, the solution to my longing was to import Winning Eleven 6 and get myself a copy of Datel’s Free Loader. I was in footie heaven and I never looked at another EA Fifa game again. Well, I did look but only at reviews and the demos in the shops and that was only because I wanted to snigger at EA's feeble attempts at the beautiful game.

I truly only had eyes for PES.

Until this year’s updates that is. Fifa 09 has been getting some very positive press, as is PES, but it seemed that Fifa just maybe had the edge. Was it really the case that this year’s Fifa was better than PES? Even if it was, could I abandon PES?

I actually got a copy of Fifa 09 with my new 60Gb 360 and, well, I sold it, before giving much thought to whether I wanted to play it or not. I thought I’d probably just get PES. I read about as much as I could about the 2 offerings and I was still undecided. Fifa was probably edging it at this point so I decided to download both the demos from LIVE to see for myself. I instantly felt at home with PES and it is great! Fifa on the other hand took a little getting used to. A little bit of reconfiguring the controller to more of a PES style though and I was off and loving it.

I went out and bought Fifa 09.

Before you strike me down for switching sides you should know this, I have not lost my sanity.

It is for me the best football game available at the moment. It is realistic, flows beautifully, plays very well and has all the bonuses of the Fifa license. A license that while it probably helped EA sell shed loads of copies each year also held the series back for so long as EA relied on it to sell those very full, very large, shed loads. Fifa 09 now has on pitch beauty to rival and beat PES. It has more depth, more scope and looks absolutely stunning. It isn’t perfect though and there are one or two niggles to contend with. Player animation sometimes delays a pass or the animation simply doesn’t fit the action. The offside is excruciatingly accurate too. The linesmen must have some superhuman eyeballs or have developed an over sensitive cheat sensor in their frontal lobes.

The PES faithful no doubt bought PES 2009 on the strength of past PES successes. Why wouldn’t they? This time though they’ve backed the wrong horse. Fifa 09 is THE football game to own on. This time it’s superior in almost every way.

Fifa 08 alluded to greatness. Fifa 09 is greatness and, believe it or not, next years Fifa will be even better. Glory, glory Fifa 09. Glory, glory Fifa 09. Glory, glory Fifa 09. When E A go marching on on on!

PES fan? Fifa fan? Hate football? Still playing International Soccer on your C64 like Gameov3r? The FORUM has room for you AND you could be the 100th member with all the glitz, glamour and razzamatazz that goes with it.

Nb. There maybe down sides to being the 100th member. Gameov3r is looking for a new Space Wars player for a start and then there’s Continue? to deal with. Still, you can’t have everything and I’m sure the gang will make you welcome even minus the odd limb.