Xbox 360 FIFA 2008 first impressions

[NiTrOsNiKeR1]

Dude, trust me on this, FIFA 08 is "HARD" it is so challenging that you might hate it if you keep thinking that FIFA 08 is just like all the other football games where "stuff" happens automatically! I assure you that out of 30+ (40+ now) matches I've played this situation happened only once or twice, and it was my mistake.

Making a player run towards your passed ball is all manual now, To do a perfect pass on FIFA 08 you should plan out the following:

1. Make sure that the player is in a good spot.
2. Make sure no one is watching him.
3. Make sure no other player from the other team is watching him, because he might simply predict that you are going to pass the ball, hens jump into its path and cutting it.
4. Make sure that you are ready to push your player towards the ball; many people are talking about "basics" of football and how even kids learn that they should run towards a passed ball to get it, well, this happens in FIFA 08 but no anymore automatic all the time, "YOU" should grow up the kid in you and make him learn how to play "real" football.

FIFA 08 is the most realistic football game ever created, it so good that FIFA 07 and UEFA are just crap in front of it. The old titles were just betas compared to FIFA 08.

Everything in the new FIFA needs thinking and slow building, you must pass and pass so that you can break the defense of the opponent team.

Offense runs into open spaces way better than any game I've seen out there; no robotic runs, all stuff happens in real life speed.

FIFA 08 next gen is so real that it can NOT be compared to any old football title, you simply can't! no more saying stuff like "but in PES, bla bla bla" or "but in FIFA 07 bla bla bla".

Players actually "bump" into each other with real human force and gravity power, if you are defending and you run in the path of your defending partner you are simply going to knock him down with your forced body.

breaking through defense is REAL: meaning that only little are the times where you might run using one single player through 4 defenders.

This game is magic while in Demo, my god how it will be when it is in final form wit all the commentary plugged in and all the teams running!! OMG, I can't wait.

Err dude I didn't say that I wanted the runs to be automatic I was just trying to clear something up. I believe as well as you do that it makes it more realistic to control your player to go to the ball and makes you feel more in control. But don't worry, I'm sure this game will be great as you've shown

 

[OrgulloVikingo]

I've been playing the DEMO for 2 days straight now and here are my thoughts.

Back in 2001 or so I switched full time to PES/WE and have been buying those games and renting FIFA and continually I've been more impressed with PES. I do miss the licensed teams, stadiums, leagues and cups but I found the gameplay to be much more organic than FIFA's which still felt stinted and not flowing as a true football game is.

I haven't played PES2008 yet, only seen video's but based on what I have seen so far I feel that FIFA2008 is actually making great gains in terms of gameplay on PES.

This weekend I watched a lot of European football on TV and I was actually quite surprised to find that the pace of the games and movement in the games seemed to more closely resemble what I had seen in the FIFA2008 demo rather than PES. I've heard a few coments on PES being more arcady than FIFA and I used to believe this wasn't true but following my revalations this weekend that may be the case.

Yes it plays slow but watch a real football game on TV. Players don't have turbo buttons and cannot turn 180 degree's on a dime. PES has managed to use an arcade style formula to simulate the 'flow' of a real football game. What FIFA seems to be attempting to do is to make the players themselves contribute to the flow of the game by giving them more real world momentum.

So far with FIFA2008 I've been very impressed. I still feel, even with the demo, the overall flow of the game needs to be tweaked slightly but it's getting very very close to a great game of football.

I compare what has happened this year with NHL2K8 and NHL08. The overall opinion is that NHL08 now seems to play a more simulation style game that NHL2K8 which is a complete turn around to what had happened over the last few years.

So it goes to show that EA can and do produce quality games and can meet the expectations of serious sports sim style gamers.

Hopefully they can do the same with FIFA2008 this year and I can switch back from PES to a more next-gen sim style game with 'FULL LICENSES'

Thanks for reading!!

I guess it's cause I never played a Fifa game like this but I first despised the deomo but the more I play, the more I like it. It is very very hard. I wonder wat level difficulty the demos set at! The frustrating thing is that you can only play one half and you have to continually start new games and this interupts your discovery of the new elements. Although I've scored 3 goals in 15 matches, I am not fully aware of how the shooting works since I average .8 shots per game Sad! I think the grfx took a big hit but maybe its cause this is a demo (I hope). By the way, anyone know if this is an earlier build of what the final product will be like? and about EA, their NHL 08 is excellent. I give it a 9 out of 10 and that's consistant with gamerankings.com average of 89. It is unbelievably realistic. The NBA Live demo shows alot of promise too and Madden is supposed to be great this year as is Tiger Woods so thois leads me to believe Fifa 08 will also be great (I hope). This is a super stelklar year for EA Sports and that's rare.

 

[OrgulloVikingo]

To clear things up further, you can move the player to the ball. When you pass to a player, the controller icon highlights the receiving player before the ball gets there, with ample time. While this happens, move the player to run to the ball. It works very well. Good job EA.

 

[sa33ood]

To clear things up further, you can move the player to the ball. When you pass to a player, the controller icon highlights the receiving player before the ball gets there, with ample time. While this happens, move the player to run to the ball. It works very well. Good job EA.

I get what you are talking about man, but I think that less shots per game is even better! in a real life match and after "real" 90 minutes the total shots on goal are always under 20 in most of the matches, meaning that if we do some math, a match on FIFA should have at max 10 shots per game, which is the case in this demo knowing that is only 4 minutes to play with... Now I can put my matches on 20 minutes and feel satisfied!

And by the way the difficulty in the demo is set on Semi-Pro; which is level 2, there is Amateur, Semi Pro, Pro, World Class, and a hidden level which is the highest.

So imagine with me: if the game is this hard on Semi-Pro, how good it will be on World Class? OMG, can't waittttt.

 

[1134Cruijff]

I wonder what it would be like to spectate a CPU vs CPU on World Class. I imagine I would be sitting around the TV with my friends, having a couple of beers and watching the game. Would be like football on demand.

Anyhow, I'm still not completely satisfied with the way receiving players walk to the ball. They react slowly and for some reason other players who are further away from the ball beat me to it.

Also, it's extremely hard to win balls in the air. Nearly every cross gets headed towards my goal and when I cross the ball defenders always win.

In an earlier post I wasn't completely happy with the way you pass and shoot, but I'm getting a hang of it now.

I don't want to go amateur, so I hope they tune down the AI a little or at least have it make some more mistakes.

Either way, it's going to be a fantastic game.

 

[cfdemarco]

A suggestion for everyone who is disappointed with the passing system- turn all of the 'assistance' options to manual or semi, instead of assisted. You will be able to see an immediate difference in the way your players can respond to passes, in that your players will feel much more mobile and free-roaming. Doing this especially reduces the feeling that players wait for incoming passes. When you have passing set to assisted, it really feels like players wait for the ball to come to them, but when you set it to semi or manual the passes rarely come right to the player so there is a much more evident emphasis on moving towards the pass.

Also, I finally discovered that using LT + RT serves as the 'cancel' button, which will allow you to get your players off of rails when they chase down balls hit into space. Now, so far it doesn't seem to be a perfect failsafe for the problem, but I find that about 75% of the time I am able to get my players off of rails and get them free-moving again.

You might want to keep the shooting assisted though, or at least semi, because on manual it seems like it's impossible to get a shot on goal.

And this is without a doubt the most difficult FIFA game I've ever played. I've played the demo about 30 times now and I've scored only 3 goals. It is SO hard to break down the defense, and once you are actually able to get a shot off the keepers are ridiculously good...this was a problem in 07 and UEFA and it's definitely making things more difficult this time around.

 

[Vinman]

I can't get used to using the analogue stick for movement. As long as they continue to neglect the d-pad, this game will always be runner up to PES for me.

cant you edit that in settings ??

I have FIFA '07 for PS2, and other FIFA titles from the past, and have always been able to swict it so I can use the D pad for movement

 

[greglato]

Sounds good so far

I may have to get a PS3 just for this game from what you guys are saying. The real test will be how a club like Barcelona plays agains a club from Segunda Liga. The Segunda Liga club should have a hard time creating chances.

 

[sa33ood]

Guys, as cfdemarco and many are saying, the new system is hard, very real and crazily unpredictable! I can't understand what the CPU is thinking at any moment, I can only guess by the movement of the opponent players, meaning if I come in front of an opposite offense I have watch out for any open players out in the field! Which is just amazing.

FIFA 08 this year is a very perfect game for multi player and online gaming, each player has to be lead through your decisions, no players running around in dead spots at all, you can control the closest player to the ball and the farthest one, that where the right analog stick comes in handy.

When I'm playing, I found it very enjoyable to put all control settings to "Manual", and right there the game becomes heavenly amazing; not only the player don't move around in some type of rails, but they react very random, and you can simply pass the ball to any spot in the field and make the player run into that spot; in other words after testing the game with all settings on Manual, the "through ball" button suddenly has no effect ever, using the pass with a harder longer push did almost all the tricks for me.

Player now jump for the ball and fall on the ground with realistic animations, but wait, this is not all of it, when they fall down they can simply adjust there balance and cut any freakin animation!!! if Ronaldinho has high balance then expect him to fall down and get up quickly, but again, not all of the time.

Some players are good in "faking" a fall, just like in real life, and others are so bad that the referee actually gives a whistle then simply shift the free kick to the other team!! F*king amazing

PEOPLE, REMOVE, CLEAN, CLEAR YOUR HEADS FROM ANY THOUGHT OF THINKING THAT FIFA 08 IS LIKE ANY FOOTY GAME OUT THERE... No any freakin PES or Winning Eleven title can be compared to FIFA 08 next gen, even the so called "next gen" PES 2008 is simply a better version of PES current gen, and the same goes for FIFA 08 and 07 on current gen.

EA is shifting their forces all to the next gen consoles, and many of you I'm sure are sad to see that even the Menus in FIFA 08 current gen are still the same as the last year!! it is crazy I know, but for the good of next gen gaming.

The FIFA 08 demo on next gen is a good start for many people to try and test every possible move, try to think out of the box, be "creative", in other words, get all the PES crap out of your mind and build the new FIFA 08 system in your brain, you will not regret it ever.

 

[1134Cruijff]

Lol. How much do they give you for that?

 

[sa33ood]

They give me a none scripted, most organic, most realistic, beautiful, simulative, ground braking, enjoyable, unpredictable, eye popping, game.

FIFA 08!

"They give me nothing... They give me everything".

"This is FIFAaaaaaa"

 

[The Don't]

Guys, as cfdemarco and many are saying, the new system is hard, very real and crazily unpredictable! I can't understand what the CPU is thinking at any moment, I can only guess by the movement of the opponent players, meaning if I come in front of an opposite offense I have watch out for any open players out in the field! Which is just amazing.

FIFA 08 this year is a very perfect game for multi player and online gaming, each player has to be lead through your decisions, no players running around in dead spots at all, you can control the closest player to the ball and the farthest one, that where the right analog stick comes in handy.

When I'm playing, I found it very enjoyable to put all control settings to "Manual", and right there the game becomes heavenly amazing; not only the player don't move around in some type of rails, but they react very random, and you can simply pass the ball to any spot in the field and make the player run into that spot; in other words after testing the game with all settings on Manual, the "through ball" button suddenly has no effect ever, using the pass with a harder longer push did almost all the tricks for me.

Player now jump for the ball and fall on the ground with realistic animations, but wait, this is not all of it, when they fall down they can simply adjust there balance and cut any freakin animation!!! if Ronaldinho has high balance then expect him to fall down and get up quickly, but again, not all of the time.

Some players are good in "faking" a fall, just like in real life, and others are so bad that the referee actually gives a whistle then simply shift the free kick to the other team!! F*king amazing

PEOPLE, REMOVE, CLEAN, CLEAR YOUR HEADS FROM ANY THOUGHT OF THINKING THAT FIFA 08 IS LIKE ANY FOOTY GAME OUT THERE... No any freakin PES or Winning Eleven title can be compared to FIFA 08 next gen, even the so called "next gen" PES 2008 is simply a better version of PES current gen, and the same goes for FIFA 08 and 07 on current gen.

EA is shifting their forces all to the next gen consoles, and many of you I'm sure are sad to see that even the Menus in FIFA 08 current gen are still the same as the last year!! it is crazy I know, but for the good of next gen gaming.

The FIFA 08 demo on next gen is a good start for many people to try and test every possible move, try to think out of the box, be "creative", in other words, get all the PES crap out of your mind and build the new FIFA 08 system in your brain, you will not regret it ever.

Hehe, Jesus, how old are you? Your posts are making me cringe with embarrassment.

 

[jjgadget]

Your posts are making me cringe with embarrassment

sa33ood is just passionate about Fifa08


But what he's is saying about Fifa08 is true, even if the way he's saying it is embarrassing to you, I on the other hand applaud his frank and honest opinion & agree with sa33ood about Fifa08 on xbox 360.:amika:

 

[SlowSilver]

One thing that has irritated me for years in FIFA is the "overall" rating players have. That's absolutely crap - they should get rid of the "overall" rating and break EVERYTHING down like..dare I say it...PES.

 

[Robbie_boy]

One thing that has irritated me for years in FIFA is the "overall" rating players have. That's absolutely crap - they should get rid of the "overall" rating and break EVERYTHING down like..dare I say it...PES.

It will never be PES...... it will beter PES it in it's own way that's for shure....

and i think the time is now.......:Carlos*o:

 

[SlowSilver]

I don't want to turn this into a PES vs FIFA thread, but there are still some things that stop FIFA from being a "great" football game.

I just don't feel that much of a difference between say...Ronaldinho and Gary Neville. Yes, there is a difference in ball control but not much. Players are still just too slow when dribbling. Players just don't "feel" different - they all feel almost the same which is something I feel PES does much better than FIFA. I find it way too easy to score with headers aswell. I'd say 80% of my goals are from headers.

I don't want FIFA to become PES, I understand they are two completely different games. All I am saying is, the difference between each player is very, very small.

 

[Jore2]

I just don't feel that much of a difference between say...Ronaldinho and Gary Neville. Yes, there is a difference in ball control but not much. Players are still just too slow when dribbling. Players just don't "feel" different - they all feel almost the same which is something I feel PES does much better than FIFA./QUOTE]

Imho PES already went too far away last season and by sounds of previews they are taking it even worse this season. So Ronaldinho will be lightningfast(while in reality he isn't too fast player) and top players will all shoot hard&accurate and then "normal" players can't shoot hard. So prolly Ronaldinho will have shooting power 20 or more harder than Taye Taiwo... while in reality Taye have a lot harder shot.

Sure there is gap between Ronaldinho and "normal player", but it's not so wide and it's about just some areas in the game, not as whole.

 

[sa33ood]

SlowSilver, and everybody else who loves football, The way our minds have been coded is to think of football games as a "game" more than a simulation; many people until now hate simulation games, because they just think is doesn't make sense, while the truth is that it makes much more perfect sense to the point that it might feel weired when compared to other "games".

Guys, I said it before and I say it again: do not compare FIFA 08 to any version of PES, including PES 2008, or to any version of old FIFA titles. the game now is very real, you should think out of the usual and reorganize your system to the real life football physics and laws.

SlowSilver, in real football matches, Ronaldinho dose not run like a tiger all the time like in PES! He actually sometimes suck so much that the couch sends him off right after the first half; Ronaldinho is a scary player, he dose stuff quick and in a sudden move, true, but only few times a match. Whenever I watch a Barca match I always want to see Ronaldinho run and break and burn stuff, but the reality: He doesn't; all the clips you see all over the web about his amazing skills are only seconds from the many many matches he played, and if you compare the amount of skill he has between reality and a game such as PES it becomes ridiculous and repetitive! It is like choosing Barca for Ronaldinho or Messi only!

Don't forget that in real matches all players do a good job, football is a "Team" game; when I use to play PES I use to think of Barca as a winning team all the time! now in FIFA 08 I think of them as a team that might or might not win, it all comes to the team work, making it possible for a lower stats team to win any match against Barca, just like in real life. It all comes to team work.

All football players have their good and bad moments, and that is the case in FIFA 08, you feel that everyone has an equal opportunity to shine, that's what makes me love it! It is a simulation more than just a game.

About the headers, it is expected at this stage to have easy headers but don't forget that the demo plays at 2nd level difficulty, you still have the third level and the forth level which I'm sure are going to kick our asses down!

 

[LuvPES]

sa33ood! I swear you have an answer for everything and IMO that is very good! keep it up!

 

[NiTrOsNiKeR1]

Man, sa3300d you would be a very good games writer :P