Not wishing to fuel the PES v FIFA debate further but today I alternated in playing WE9 and FIFA 06 on the PS2 just to get a really good comparison. I've been playing WE9 since early August so know the game pretty much inside out.
- Atmosphere
Sorry, but PES5/WE9 this year are just devoid of atmosphere. The 500 crowd attendence for a Man Utd v Arsenal game or Brazil v England game is just pathetic. It takes away from the atmosphere of the game when you run down the sideline and see a huddle of about 12 fans sitting in a near empty stadium. The only time you see a full crowd is on certain camera angles which sucks if you want to play with a different camera angle, e.g. the one you've always played with. The chants are generic and admittedly better than PES4/WE8 but still, there's nothing like the crowd yelling "United, United" when you're 1-0 up against Chelsea 2 mins into injury time. Generic stadiums with generic crowd banners (not that there's enough members of the crowd to wave flags anymore!) just doesn't make you feel enthused IMO. Yes, you can patch all this stuff but for the majority without modded consoles, you're screwed and even the best patch comes nowhere close to 100% authenticity.
- Gameplay
I said after WE7:I that I'd be happy if Konami never made another change to gameplay again because for me, that was almost the perfect simulation. WE8 came along and screwed it up with over-zealous handballs that had to be corrected for the release of PES4. Still, PES4/WE8:I was a great game and had very little flaws in gameplay except for slide tackles that were way too easy and the computer cheating the ass off of you when you got to 5 stars with every rebound bouncing magically to the computer controlled players feet. Obviously the lack of leagues etc. hurts but that's more about licenses than gameplay. WE9/PES5 for me frustrates the crap out of me. All but two of the refs call every freaking minor contact as a foul. It's possible to get a foul called every 45-60 seconds without the use of slide tackles just using shoulder-to-shoulder barges. The constant sidestepping gets comical (although in a circus type way!) after 5 mins with every player using the same move 50 times per game. Again, goalkeepers either dive to save with two hands or watch the ball go in the goal because Konami haven't figured out how to program a one-handed save yet - the most common save in football/soccer!!! FIFA 2006 has made leaps and bounds this year and obviously it's in no small part due to them employing ex-Konami staff. In all honesty, even with the WE9/PES5 gameplay flaws above, the Konami gameplay is still better overall because of the superior gravity of the ball and more fluid movements of the players (although the sidestep kind of makes a joke of this now as you're limited in 1-on-1 situations). The gap between PES4 and FIFA 2005 in gameplay to me was about 5 years, between PES5 and FIFA 2006 it's about 1 year. Konami haven't gone forward with gameplay this year, they've gone backwards. FIFA has fast-forwarded big time and are so very nearly there.
- Licenses
A tired old argument and we know it's all about EA's monetary domination so barely worth a mention. But still, if you're a Preston North End fan and you love your team, are you gonna play with Blackburn because it's closest you can get? Are you gonna mod your console and patch the game so you can have Preston in the Premiership as it's the closest you can get? Not everybody supports the big boys and outside of the big clubs, it hurts to see your team (even Manchester United) represented the way they are, playing at something that has the structure of Old Trafford, with a team called Man Red in a uniform from the 1920s and a crowd that shout the same chants for you as they do for Arsenal or West Brom. Konami has got better every year with licenses but from last year to this year, how many new teams have licenses? Very few. At this rate it'll take another 2-3 years before you hear Man Utd as Man Utd. rather than Madcrester, Man Red, McCrester or whatever other comentary name they come up with.
- Squads
Nothing really to do with licenses as amending names, although a big job, can be done and easily amended without modded consoles etc. Although you need an X-Port to transfer it to your MC. Still, Why the heck can't Konami have a more updated squad for this year than the January transfer window??? The international squads always seem to be a good 12 months behind. With no easy way to get rid of the players to a vacuum, each year you're forced to use an external editor before you can get anything near an up-to-date roster for many of the teams. Creating players is a pain and I should know given I made x number of roster patches for the game. Having to create players from scratch with no real stat basis to go from other than the CM/FM database which is flawed in conversion is a pain and created more arguments than any other aspects of the patches for PES/WE. Konami do very little to help you in managing the squads and it's taken them this long to even allow you to make free transfers between clubs and you still can't release a player into the free market (a team outside of the game) very easily.
All in all, Konami still rules with it's gameplay although I feel they've definitely gone backwards because the game is almost too annoying to play for me now. The cheating is worse than ever at 5 or 6 stars with the computer making impossible passes, winning every 50:50 ball (or even 30:70), never getting called for fouls whereas you get booked every time you look at another player (I've won the Premiership on 6 stars so don't say I'm crap at the game). It makes winning not about playing better but playing to counter areas you know the computer cheats. Watching Van Der Sar not bother diving to save a ball one yard away because it would involve a one-handed save which hasn't been programmed so he tries to stick his foot out is a joke. Top corner shots are going to go in 9/10 because again, goalkeepers can't make a one-handed dive to the top corner. They magically shuffle at super-human speed to use two hands or they watch the ball going in making no attempt at all.
Everybody is entitled to their opinion and everybody on here knows I was the biggest Konami fanboy alive over this last 3-4 years but Konami have dropped the ball this year and allowed FIFA to catch up. Superior overall gameplay will keep their loyal market on board but if I was a newbie and had to weigh the two games up, I'd go with FIFA because I want an overall realistic experience, not have to use my imagination or mod my console and d/l a new patch every two weeks because it's more realistic than the last one.
PES/WE fans, I don't hate the game, I still love the game up until this years version but playing in empty stadiums, sidestepping my way across the field and fouling players by proximity pushed me towards a gigantic effort by EA this year to catch up. Hats off to EA, you pulled your heads out of your asses. Still a long way to go but the best FIFA title every in every regard. Konami, same BS next year and your previous leaps in market share will start hitting the pan again.
Furry boy out.
:boohoo: