Long time reader, first time poster.
Just thought i'd like to share my frustration with Fifa 2004. It's the reason why i switched to WE, and why i'll never look back.
My friends and i play Fifa 2004 at work all the time (well, not all the time, we do actually work sometimes... rarely).
I honestly think that Fifa 2004 is the most aggrevating and frustrating gameplay experience ever created by EA Sports. The office is filled with moans and groans every time a game is being played. Usually statements like "what? no, i didn't pass to that guy!" or "wtf? i pushed the pass button 5 seconds ago!" and my favorite "um, i'm pushing the other way! why is my guy running towards the ball?" ring throughout the office. seriously! every time!!!
the main reasons why i hate this game are as follows:
1. it never really feels like you're playing a game of football. it feels like you're moving guys around a field yes, but it feels like all the passes are on preset paths (through balls sort of work but they are so inaccurate that they are practically unusable). i.e: you can only pass to certain areas of the field. you can't pass to open areas. lob the ball and a player from each team will run to where it's going to land and park themselves there. the ball RARELY ever hits the ground before it hits a player. totally unrealistic.
2. mid field free kicks mean you give up possession. seriously... when have any of you Fifa players got a free kick in your end and actually ended up with possession of the ball after? all you can do is take the kick and hammer on the pass button in vein while the other team gets possession back. Either that or all the defender has to do is repeadidly push "x" while holding down on the stick and draw you offsite. works every time.
3. painfully slow headers. mid field headers almost ALWAYS go to a defender no matter what direction you are pushing on the stick. And if they do go to one of your guys, they are so slow that the defender just has to sprint and intercept it while your receiver just stands in one spot even though you're pushing and turbo'ing towards the ball.
Headers in the box are no better. You just have to hope that your guy will go to one of the pre-designated scoring areas so his header will go in. if you're not in a pre-designated scoring area then just forget about it.
4. animations. useless useless useless! if the animations jsut get in the way of gameplay then don't put them in the game at all!!!
5. the five second delay between pushing the pass button, and your guy actually passing. The control in this game is so squishy and unresponsive it's not even funny. I understand that your man can only pass if the ball is at his feet but can't he lunge to pass, or even slide to pass if he's under pressure? that's what i would do if a defender came running at me.
there are many, many more things that bug me about this game. Euro 2004 improved on these things a little bit, but it's not that much better. And even though they fixed some things, others are broken. i.e. not enough corners in Euro 2004. This is because you can't get any shots on net, and when you do, they are so slow that the keeper just catches them.
Now, i finally got a chance to play Winning Eleven and i loved every minute of it. I've always wanted to try it, but i never found it anywhere here in Canada. A friend of mine had a copy so i tried it out.
Now i only got to play 2 games so my opinion may be a little premature but...
It actually felt like a game! didn't feel scripted are anything. And i absolutely love the headers and volleys. I could go on and on about the things i loved about it, but i'll save that for another post. All i gotta say is i liked it so much i went to ebay and bought a US version of Winning Eleven that same night. Can't wait.
bottom line: BYE BYE FIFA!
-deluxxe
ps. i saw a patch for PES on the konami site. Will this patch work for the US version of Winning Eleven too? It's my understanding that it's the same game, with a different name for marketing reasons in Europe right?
Just thought i'd like to share my frustration with Fifa 2004. It's the reason why i switched to WE, and why i'll never look back.
My friends and i play Fifa 2004 at work all the time (well, not all the time, we do actually work sometimes... rarely).
I honestly think that Fifa 2004 is the most aggrevating and frustrating gameplay experience ever created by EA Sports. The office is filled with moans and groans every time a game is being played. Usually statements like "what? no, i didn't pass to that guy!" or "wtf? i pushed the pass button 5 seconds ago!" and my favorite "um, i'm pushing the other way! why is my guy running towards the ball?" ring throughout the office. seriously! every time!!!
the main reasons why i hate this game are as follows:
1. it never really feels like you're playing a game of football. it feels like you're moving guys around a field yes, but it feels like all the passes are on preset paths (through balls sort of work but they are so inaccurate that they are practically unusable). i.e: you can only pass to certain areas of the field. you can't pass to open areas. lob the ball and a player from each team will run to where it's going to land and park themselves there. the ball RARELY ever hits the ground before it hits a player. totally unrealistic.
2. mid field free kicks mean you give up possession. seriously... when have any of you Fifa players got a free kick in your end and actually ended up with possession of the ball after? all you can do is take the kick and hammer on the pass button in vein while the other team gets possession back. Either that or all the defender has to do is repeadidly push "x" while holding down on the stick and draw you offsite. works every time.
3. painfully slow headers. mid field headers almost ALWAYS go to a defender no matter what direction you are pushing on the stick. And if they do go to one of your guys, they are so slow that the defender just has to sprint and intercept it while your receiver just stands in one spot even though you're pushing and turbo'ing towards the ball.
Headers in the box are no better. You just have to hope that your guy will go to one of the pre-designated scoring areas so his header will go in. if you're not in a pre-designated scoring area then just forget about it.
4. animations. useless useless useless! if the animations jsut get in the way of gameplay then don't put them in the game at all!!!
5. the five second delay between pushing the pass button, and your guy actually passing. The control in this game is so squishy and unresponsive it's not even funny. I understand that your man can only pass if the ball is at his feet but can't he lunge to pass, or even slide to pass if he's under pressure? that's what i would do if a defender came running at me.
there are many, many more things that bug me about this game. Euro 2004 improved on these things a little bit, but it's not that much better. And even though they fixed some things, others are broken. i.e. not enough corners in Euro 2004. This is because you can't get any shots on net, and when you do, they are so slow that the keeper just catches them.
Now, i finally got a chance to play Winning Eleven and i loved every minute of it. I've always wanted to try it, but i never found it anywhere here in Canada. A friend of mine had a copy so i tried it out.
Now i only got to play 2 games so my opinion may be a little premature but...
It actually felt like a game! didn't feel scripted are anything. And i absolutely love the headers and volleys. I could go on and on about the things i loved about it, but i'll save that for another post. All i gotta say is i liked it so much i went to ebay and bought a US version of Winning Eleven that same night. Can't wait.
bottom line: BYE BYE FIFA!
-deluxxe
ps. i saw a patch for PES on the konami site. Will this patch work for the US version of Winning Eleven too? It's my understanding that it's the same game, with a different name for marketing reasons in Europe right?
