My two cents on FIFA 2005

[Francesco82]

First of all, let me say I'm an old date FIFA fan, since the really beginning in 1994, but I'm slowly converting to PES as EA does not seem to be as inspired as Konami for what concerns soccer.

I'll try to be quick as most of you will know nearly everything of this game by now.

- Music, good as always, far better than the PES one.

- Licenses, tons of them, no match here, FIFA wins.

- Career mode, it's growing fastly, it has to be said that it's done in a very very arcade way, but it's good, maybe better than the PES one.

- Sound, I think it should be far better, basically I don't see many differences with the one of FIFA 2003 or 2004, but PES sound sucks big time too.

- Commentary, always the same, it's a pity that they decided to not develop this aspect of the game anymore since FIFa 2003 ( maybe 2002 ? ), I always turn it off, as I do in PES.

- Menus, they are disappointing, they were great untill 2004, this time they are even worse than those of 2004 if possible.

- Graphics, animations are damn good, far better than those of PES, players models still need some work but overall the game looks really realistic.

- Gameplay, the most important thing. It looks realistic as i said... but, unfortunately, it's not a surprise afterall, it does not play realistic. It does not feel right, at least not to me. It's surely an improvement from FIFA 2004, but it's not enought.

Passing is quite good, it feels natural and fluid, more than in PES, but it's irritating that every damn player, even the worst one, always does perfect passes...

It's still too damn scripted, sometimes it feels ripetitive, corners are still very very bad. Freekicks are not that bad, but every player shoot in the same way...

Here we are.. shooting, shooting is the main flaw of the gameplay, I think that it's worse than the one of FIFA 2004, 2003 and 2002, better only of FIFA 2001. Those rockets simply ruins the game. It's a joke, it's weird, it's totally unrealistic, no one on the earth can shoot that fast, the shooting system also suffer of a lack of aiming, you have very few control over it, I don't think PES shooting is perfect, but it's years better.

Heading and crossing have imrpoved quite a bit, but there's still much work to do, the first touch controll is a nice addition and you can score some nice goals with it, but some times they feel too scripted.

Overall the gameplay feels a bit too fast, not as realistic as in PES, but, while being with no doubt miles far from the Konami's game, it would not be that bad afterall, but things like the shooting system or the corners ruins the game IMHO.

I would give FIFA 2005 80/100 ( 84 if the shooting system was any better ), and 92 to PES4.

I think PES it's still the winner, FIFA has potential but until EA will stop going berserker on pure arcade gameplay FIFA will remain just behind.

 

[Bummy_JaB]

PES sucks U suck and I hate U

 

[[MRGE] Saku]

Re: My two cents on FIFA 2005

Originally posted by Francesco82
Passing is quite good, it feels natural and fluid, more than in PES, but it's irritating that every damn player, even the worst one, always does perfect passes...

Umm, what game are you playing? You must only be playing with the likes of Real Madrid, Juventus, Arsenal, Man U etc...

I know that my players sometimes mess up their passes in career mode second division (region 1.) go go BRISTOL ROVERS

Originally posted by Francesco82
It's still too damn scripted, sometimes it feels ripetitive, corners are still very very bad. Freekicks are not that bad, but every player shoot in the same way...

It's the scripting in the game partly that helps visually make the game seem much more fluid in it's flow. The first touch is all scripted, yet people seem to really like this new feature, so what in the heck are all these "scripted" complaints about, i just don't get it. It's all an chosen move, with a corresponding keyframe animation. that's what sports videogames are

I do agree with the corners. If your cutter makes it by his defender you'll score almost 75% of the time. Otherwise, the keeper simply grabs it. It's almost inevitable that you'll score before the ball is even in the net.

Originally posted by Francesco82
Here we are.. shooting, shooting is the main flaw of the gameplay, I think that it's worse than the one of FIFA 2004, 2003 and 2002, better only of FIFA 2001. Those rockets simply ruins the game. It's a joke, it's weird, it's totally unrealistic, no one on the earth can shoot that fast, the shooting system also suffer of a lack of aiming, you have very few control over it, I don't think PES shooting is perfect, but it's years better.

How does the shooting system lack of aiming?! If anything they introduced aiming again this year. I haven't played PES but I love the new shooting system compared to last years.

Originally posted by Francesco82
Heading and crossing have imrpoved quite a bit, but there's still much work to do, the first touch controll is a nice addition and you can score some nice goals with it, but some times they feel too scripted.

Here we go with the scripted again..How many animations do you expect developers to throw and fit on one CD? SPORT VIDEO GAMES are heavily scripted w/ their animations. You can only fit so much one one CD. That's the nature of them.

 

[Francesco82]

Re: Re: My two cents on FIFA 2005

Originally posted by [MRGE] Saku

It's the scripting in the game partly that helps visually make the game seem much more fluid in it's flow. The first touch is all scripted, yet people seem to really like this new feature, so what in the heck are all these "scripted" complaints about, i just don't get it. It's all an chosen move, with a corresponding keyframe animation. that's what sports videogames are

I agree with you. PES is way less scripted, and it looks not fluid and natural as FIFA. But what do you think it's better, a game that looks realistic and fluid or a game that feels realistic and fluid ( and that it's less scripted )? I would take the second choice, but unfurtunately EA thinks that graphics are more important than gameplay.

Originally posted by [MRGE] Saku

How does the shooting system lack of aiming?! If anything they introduced aiming again this year. I haven't played PES but I love the new shooting system compared to last years.

So you really like those rockets? I simply can't, never seen shoots like those of FIFA 2005 in real soccer. It's pure arcade, they reminds me the super shoots of WC 2002. I'm sure most of the people do not like the new shooting system, yes in some aspects it's better than the one of 2004, but how the hell they came up with the idea of that crazy speed ??

I like realism, and after playing FIFA 2002 I thought that they were going in the right direction ( you could add curl to passes and crosses, you were able to do some really nice assists and sometimes after scoring a goal you felt like having really achived something ) but in 2003 they went back to the pure arcade gameplay of 2001, don't get me wrong, I overall liked FIFA 2003, 2004 and even 2005, but I'm disappointed since with only a bunch of tweaks the game could have been much better.

 

[Chrizz_beatz]

when it comes to scripting, i agree with francesco, cause pes might be scripted as well, but pes doesnt FEEL scripted but fifa does!
when i got fifa at first i liked it, but 2 weeks later i played pes4 with my m8, and it was gr8. i beat him 9-4 and all the goals looked and felt totally different, even watchin the replays again at the end of the match, you felt like YOU scored that goal!

i aint never felt like that with fifa yet!

 

[Francesco82]

Originally posted by Chrizz_beatz
when it comes to scripting, i agree with francesco, cause pes might be scripted as well, but pes doesnt FEEL scripted but fifa does!
when i got fifa at first i liked it, but 2 weeks later i played pes4 with my m8, and it was gr8. i beat him 9-4 and all the goals looked and felt totally different, even watchin the replays again at the end of the match, you felt like YOU scored that goal!

i aint never felt like that with fifa yet!

This is what I was trying to say.
We have to thank EA approch to the game for this, they want the game to look like real soccer, but it's a trade-off, gameplay sufffers much because of this.

 

[plus4s]

I am an avid pes fan or a pes fanboy, for many years i played the fifa games because basically on the pc that was all there was, then when pes3 came out for the pc i was instantly converted , I am still very much looking forward to pes4, my son has an xbox so i bought him the new fifa 2005 as he wanted a soccer game to play, we sat down and played a match me being arsenal and my son being liverpool , the match ended up being a 1-1 draw and arsenal won via a penalty shoot out, i then sat and thought wow i cannot remember when i last enjoyed playing a fifa game as much as this one, i still don't believe it's as good as pes 3 but i do think it's a fantastic game to play, i think the first touch feature is a massive plus and also the 15 seasons you can play through is great, fifa fans must be very encouraged by easports latest offering.

 

[degoose]

I think fifa has greatly improved,ive started a career with Hibs and its very realistic on the differences of skills between top players and lower players,bloody annoying though when no great player will move because they think the scottish league sucks.

 

[Ian84]

cpu & teammates ai are not good... cpu hardly ever make a counter attack or a solo run for lets say high-rated player.. he juz send the ball to the midfielder n through lob-pass to the striker... it almost happens every attacking made by cpu... my defender n cpu's what the hell is happening with their position????
conerkick.. freekick.. shooting... where are the hell the ideas of making them that way coming from..... sigh
one thing that catches my attention.. The penalty system.. or penalty shootout.. its the best ive ever seen. n one more... the GK animation or motion.. is best.. but not GK's ai..
Juz played the game bout for 2 days... dun wanna play it nomore

 

[mhflierman]

I'd like to add something as well, 'cause every time I post about this game I feel the need to say so much more. It seems that some things are improved while other things that were really good once are left out.

First off, the game looks good. I really like the graphics, it looks and runs good on my not so up to date machine (AMD 1.4Ghz, 512MB RAM, GeForce FX5200).

When I started playing the game for the first time I quite enjoyed it. But now (I've been playing it for a week or so) I'm starting to get pissed off with it. The things that stand out for me:

The corners. I can't seem to score from them. The goalie catches every single ball. I get a lot of corners, and they are a a great way to score that vital goal. Fair enough, the PC never scores from a corner too, but it doesn't add to the reality of the game does it?

Player positioning. What the hell is up with your teammates one may wonder. They seem to lack any insight of the game. They don't support your player, they don't mark their man, and they leave huge gaps on the wings. In general your players leave their opponents too much space.
Another thing I've noticed is the gap between midfield and attack. I'm talking building up realistically and quite slowly, I'm not tlaking about a counter attack. Let's say you start to build up with your keeper, play it to your CB, to a midfielder, play it a bit around between your midfielders. One of my CM's plays it forward to one of my strikers who then runs forward (without sprinting) and the only option he's got is to play it to your other striker. It takes such a damn long time before your midfield is up there with you so you can lay "siege" on your opponents' box and play it around to find the gap and enable your striker to score the goal.
Finally when your midfield gets there and you lose the ball, it takes only one long ball from your opponent to become dangerous, because your defense was stupid enough to stay deep in their own half. They just don't understand the principle of playing as far away as possible from your own goal.

Sliding tackles. You wouldn't believe the amount of yellow cards I've received. I know that you should time your tackle carefully, but sliding tackles are almost always a free kick for your opponent, resulting in a yellow card for you.

One of the other things that remain annoying is the following. You try to tackle a player with your "shoot" button. You can't get it yet so you press it again, and perhaps again, all of a sudden your player has the ball without actually tackling the player, and the PC "remembers" you pressed that tackle button and shoots the ball to the other end of the pitch. I get furious when that happens.

The list of other little flaws goes on. The physics of the nets... unrealistic, and oddly enough it has been better in older versions. The commentary as well. You just scored the lamest goal ever and John Motsen starts yelling, with a delay of a few seconds "Oh that was just briljant", followed by that annoying Scottish twat Ally McCoist to add his two cents by screaming on top of his lungs "fantastic, what a shot". Ok that me be a bit over the top, but you get what I mean. Where is the referee, where are the linesmen, where is the bench, where are the substitution animations? The in game menu is bad as well. I like to use the mouse, but the "back" option is hardly ever available because this "EA Trax" thingie is layered over it... Was this game developed for a console and then cheaply converted for PC, because it certainly seems so to me.

All in all, if you're willing to look past all the stuff I find annoying, it's a fun game. When I get home from work I'll probably even play a game or two. But it could have been so much better I feel, and it has been better. The old corner system, where you were able to drop the ball, worked great, same goes for throw-ins. I remember nice curling nets when you scored from outside the box. I remember feeling happy and extatic after scoring a goal from outside the box or outplaying the defence. Now I don't.

I've been an EA man for years but right now I'm at the point where I'm reading PES reviews to see what that game might be like. It hate it that it doesn't have real names, sponsors and stadiums, but it seems that at least they've got the most important thing right. It feels like a football game. For me, Fifa2005 doesn't.

 

[[MRGE] Saku]

Maarten,

Most items / annoyances in your list there aren't necessarily flaws in the game but rather just flaws in *your* game.

Are you playing on world class? it is very frustrating but your defense marks the AI players well enough as long as you mark your own man well. Defense is not about just trying to steal the ball. It's more about taking away the space for the AI to make the pass so you can intercept or quickly tackle when the right opportunity presents itself.

As for corners, very odd. Depending on the team I'm playing against and the skill of my midfielders I score quite a few corners.

 

[[MRGE] Saku]

Re: Re: Re: My two cents on FIFA 2005

Originally posted by Francesco82
I agree with you. PES is way less scripted, and it looks not fluid and natural as FIFA. But what do you think it's better, a game that looks realistic and fluid or a game that feels realistic and fluid ( and that it's less scripted )? I would take the second choice, but unfurtunately EA thinks that graphics are more important than gameplay.

I don't know man. From what I've played I really like the the animations and scripting, as much as what is there. I don't really feel that it's as scripted as people are making it out to be. I've never played PES mind you, but if you get the timing down for most things I completely lose the scripted feeling. I mean if you do first-touch when it's not appropriate, yes it can look a little odd and scripted and result in instant loss of the ball. Executed on the right time though, it looks gorgeous

 

[mhflierman]

Originally posted by [MRGE] Saku
Maarten,

Most items / annoyances in your list there aren't necessarily flaws in the game but rather just flaws in *your* game.

Are you playing on world class? it is very frustrating but your defense marks the AI players well enough as long as you mark your own man well. Defense is not about just trying to steal the ball. It's more about taking away the space for the AI to make the pass so you can intercept or quickly tackle when the right opportunity presents itself.

As for corners, very odd. Depending on the team I'm playing against and the skill of my midfielders I score quite a few corners.

Perhaps you're right. I'm certain there's quite a few things on my "annoyance" list that are problems within "my game". But some of the other things like the corners and the defence/midfield sitting to deep I've read elsewhere too. Along with the commentary, lack of off field things, goalnet physics and so on.