Sky Reloaded
Reserve Team
No irony there. I am only a FIFA fan by default... because I have never really touched another soccer game. I have played
FIFA Soccer 96 (lol, bundled in a 32 in 1 gameboy cartridge)
FIFA 98
FIFA 99
FIFA 2001 (i cant rememer 2000 so i must have not played it)
FIFA 2002 (the one with the cheap curve shots)
FIFA 2003 (freshest concept)
FIFA 2004
The 25 cent coin-op soccer game at the arcade, wacky as sh*t, forgot the name but last time i played it was 4-5 years ago as a kid, i go to the mall with my sister and force her into the arcade.
Initial Impression (Intro) - FIFA 2004
PES3 - Many people say they love the intro, I didn't though. It was alright, but maybe because I sold my PSX 3 years ago and never got a console again, and I"m used to the Final Fantasy type CG animations. Not that i hate console, just that i dont have time to take care of a PS2.
FIFA 2004 - Solid as always, real life capture, excellent intro.
Graphics - FIFA 2004
PES3 - Looks pretty good, not as arcadish as I thought (I was thinking something like Nero Gero). I'm not an eye candy freak though.
FIFA 2004 - If I had to choose then I'd choose FIFA graphics. I'm sure most would agree with me anyways. But this is not a hands down thing. I liked the PES match intro, but their crowd render sucks just like FIFA, cardboard style. So FIFA barely wins on Graphics thanks to their realistic faces and motion captured animations.
Sound - FIFA 2004
PES3 - Well the sound on PES is pretty good, menu music reminds me of the PS games I play on my PC using Bleem!, commentary OK. But.......
FIFA 2004 - The crowd chants are what blows me away. Commentary is also better than PES, I like McCoist's accent. Some people say the chants are repeated but I didn't really notice.
Gameplay - PES3
PES3 - Undeniable... the "fun factor" goes to PES3.
FIFA 2004 - That's not to say FIFA sucks though. Personally I feel that comparing FIFA 2004's gameplay to PES3, is like comparing a situation like this: go play soccer with some friends, or go to the arcades. If you want realism then FIFA wins slightly, if you want pure fun factor then PES3 is more fun. I think this is where EA failed... they spent too much time and money on the realism factor that they failed to make the game very fun. And let's face it, we play computer games to have fun, if we wanted a realistic feel we would go for the fresh air.
Multiplayer - Omitted
I don't play multiplayer.
Replayability - Unsure, but probably PES3
Because I uninstalled and returned FIFA 2004 without many regrets, so in the long run I'll probably stick with PES3.
Creating Players - PES3 by a longshot
FIFA 2004 - None yet, so I used 2003's Creation Center with some assumptions that this year's would be a bit better.
PES3 - No matter how I "assume" this year's creation center to be awesome and worth the wait, I can't imagine how it would be better than PES3's creation mode. It just blew me away. If you guys thought FIFA 2002's creation was in depth, where you can choose facial features and stuff, PES3's is even better! You can choose a dozen of eyes, then tilt or "slant" the eyes, choose a nose and make it higher or wider, same with mouths and chins, MOLD the face into something that looks like you! I almost lost sleep last night thinking about the face I made that looks like me!
Conclusion - PES3
To be completely honest, I'm not a hardcore gamer, I don't HATE either games, but if I had to make a decision, I take PES3 because of the more fun gameplay and the awesome creation mode. Also FIFA is 2 CDs, PES is 1 CD, which takes less space which is just icing on the cake for me and my low end computer.
P.S.- This review is slightly biased about the creation mode, but completely unbiased on the two games themselves. I know PES3 doesn't have real names and kits and stuff, but future patches will fix that so no worries there. It would be stupid to buy FIFA 2004 solely on player/team names and jerseys, unless you are a moron and don't even know how to download/apply a patch. If you have such problems, I advise you to stick with FIFA 2004, it has the up to date rosters and transfers in the box. PES3 requires updates, tweaks, edits etc etc.
FIFA Soccer 96 (lol, bundled in a 32 in 1 gameboy cartridge)
FIFA 98
FIFA 99
FIFA 2001 (i cant rememer 2000 so i must have not played it)
FIFA 2002 (the one with the cheap curve shots)
FIFA 2003 (freshest concept)
FIFA 2004
The 25 cent coin-op soccer game at the arcade, wacky as sh*t, forgot the name but last time i played it was 4-5 years ago as a kid, i go to the mall with my sister and force her into the arcade.
Initial Impression (Intro) - FIFA 2004
PES3 - Many people say they love the intro, I didn't though. It was alright, but maybe because I sold my PSX 3 years ago and never got a console again, and I"m used to the Final Fantasy type CG animations. Not that i hate console, just that i dont have time to take care of a PS2.
FIFA 2004 - Solid as always, real life capture, excellent intro.
Graphics - FIFA 2004
PES3 - Looks pretty good, not as arcadish as I thought (I was thinking something like Nero Gero). I'm not an eye candy freak though.
FIFA 2004 - If I had to choose then I'd choose FIFA graphics. I'm sure most would agree with me anyways. But this is not a hands down thing. I liked the PES match intro, but their crowd render sucks just like FIFA, cardboard style. So FIFA barely wins on Graphics thanks to their realistic faces and motion captured animations.
Sound - FIFA 2004
PES3 - Well the sound on PES is pretty good, menu music reminds me of the PS games I play on my PC using Bleem!, commentary OK. But.......
FIFA 2004 - The crowd chants are what blows me away. Commentary is also better than PES, I like McCoist's accent. Some people say the chants are repeated but I didn't really notice.
Gameplay - PES3
PES3 - Undeniable... the "fun factor" goes to PES3.
FIFA 2004 - That's not to say FIFA sucks though. Personally I feel that comparing FIFA 2004's gameplay to PES3, is like comparing a situation like this: go play soccer with some friends, or go to the arcades. If you want realism then FIFA wins slightly, if you want pure fun factor then PES3 is more fun. I think this is where EA failed... they spent too much time and money on the realism factor that they failed to make the game very fun. And let's face it, we play computer games to have fun, if we wanted a realistic feel we would go for the fresh air.
Multiplayer - Omitted
I don't play multiplayer.
Replayability - Unsure, but probably PES3
Because I uninstalled and returned FIFA 2004 without many regrets, so in the long run I'll probably stick with PES3.
Creating Players - PES3 by a longshot
FIFA 2004 - None yet, so I used 2003's Creation Center with some assumptions that this year's would be a bit better.
PES3 - No matter how I "assume" this year's creation center to be awesome and worth the wait, I can't imagine how it would be better than PES3's creation mode. It just blew me away. If you guys thought FIFA 2002's creation was in depth, where you can choose facial features and stuff, PES3's is even better! You can choose a dozen of eyes, then tilt or "slant" the eyes, choose a nose and make it higher or wider, same with mouths and chins, MOLD the face into something that looks like you! I almost lost sleep last night thinking about the face I made that looks like me!
Conclusion - PES3
To be completely honest, I'm not a hardcore gamer, I don't HATE either games, but if I had to make a decision, I take PES3 because of the more fun gameplay and the awesome creation mode. Also FIFA is 2 CDs, PES is 1 CD, which takes less space which is just icing on the cake for me and my low end computer.
P.S.- This review is slightly biased about the creation mode, but completely unbiased on the two games themselves. I know PES3 doesn't have real names and kits and stuff, but future patches will fix that so no worries there. It would be stupid to buy FIFA 2004 solely on player/team names and jerseys, unless you are a moron and don't even know how to download/apply a patch. If you have such problems, I advise you to stick with FIFA 2004, it has the up to date rosters and transfers in the box. PES3 requires updates, tweaks, edits etc etc.