Okay then peeps (and especially Abu), I have posted long and in depth videos of PES over the past week to show off PES’ brilliance as so many people are bitching and moaning about the game, to those that have consoles, my heart goes out to you, to those with PC’s you’re bitching because you’re rubbish at the game.
In posting these flattering PES videos, I have been challenged by one or more people, in the balance of fairness, to compare and contrast PES 2012 with FIFA12. I have spent too long this week writing shit loads of stuff so this will be my last long post for a while. Honestly guys, I could genuinely video and upload my PES games ALL DAY LONG, every game just has something unique about it. It’s that simple.
So without further a-do here is the background to my obsession –
This year I was adamant that I would be playing something that I always wanted, we all know the story with PES and it’s been pretty shit. FIFA promised us the impact engine and tactical defending. I will make reference to all aspects of both games, but please be aware that my comparisons and contrasts are based primarily on gameplay.
When FIFA players come on here and say that ‘PES is shit, FIFA is the sim’ either they, or myself, must be confusing the either one.
For me, sim isn’t about the way the game looks (the aesthetics) or about having the right boots, hairstyle, presentation, or even the way the players run and look (although as we’re approaching 2013, this is something that KONAMI needs to get right within the next two years), no, a simulation of football for me is much more to do with what the game contains, ie, the way in which build up play develops, are there moments of counter attacking football/possession, does the game look like football in as much as the ball is a real life thing, bouncing here there and everywhere, with all players having no control to it, just reacting to it when it ricochets, bobbles does this and does that?
I will be talking at length and using the phrases ‘attacking AI’ and ‘defensive AI’, but I will also be using the phrases ‘defensive units’ and ‘attacking units’ a hell of a lot, for me this is essential to how a game of football unfolds and this is how computer football games get close to showing us that it appears like a game of football. I’m also concerned about the contents of the game; if the game is to be classed as a sim it MUST contain elements of football within that game, for example, free-kicks, yellow/red cards, possession exchanges (players are humans after all), intelligence from the CPU, dumbness from the CPU (again the CPU is meant to replicate humans, who are prone to error). I want brilliance, I want the beast, I want some moves to flow with dashing authenticity and some periods of the game to resemble Wimbledon v Stoke. I want players to have individuality, I want Charlie Adam to unleash devastating strikes with his left foot and be like a flid with his right.
I want intelligence in both attack and defence, I want players overlapping if going forward or dropping in behind my defenders if defending. I want goal variation, I want crosses, volleys, deft build up play, own goals deflections, tap ins, thunder bolts, 0-0 games, and I want it all at the highest level possible (to get the most of myself and the CPU) without the game cheating, and I want to play it over a realistic time to immerse myself into the ebbs and flows of the game and to experience the way games change and shift like in real life.
Very importantly, I want an aerial game. Unless your Barcelona teams hit the ball in the air a lot, nobody can play like Barce by keeping the ball on the deck for the whole ninety, it should be rock solid to do, and that’s why only Barce can do it. The aerial game, and the principle of the ball being an entity on its own should mean that the ball is in the air a lot, how many times in real life (IRL) from now on, do the left and right backs boot the ball long when under pressure? Lots of times! If playing football on the floor was that easy and all players that comfortable on the ball then we’d all be playing like Barce. So the aerial game and the appearance of the ball bouncing here and there, getting contested in different situations and getting a physical game going, is all important too.
And this is where FIFA/PES players have different perceptions of goal variation, as well as the end product PES players seem to be of the mind that goal variation is the way in which the move takes shape, the build up of it, what happens during the move and how did that move come to an end, whereas FIFA players depiction (in my opinion) of ‘goal variation’ is how many combinations of buttons they can press to get their players to do spin-kicks, cross overs, flicks and then finesse finishes. This is cartoon football at its best. But it’s what the FIFA kids love.
So let’s lay the foundations just so you know where I am coming from –
I don’t pretend to be totally unbiased, but an unbiased nature comes from the fact that like so many I have played almost every game under the sun connected to football, and my unbiased nature comes from comparing and contrasting all the time, with each new release all these core components that I talked about previously. I’m a PES-boy, since the early years of PES, there has always been something just so pure and joyous in PES which FIFA has never replicated. It’s that little bottle of magic that even in its darkest hours they can still add a dose or two to a game to make it something. There’s also something less sinister about KONAMI for me as opposed to EA, I see EA has a horrible, deceitful, morally corrupt company, with their flashy gizmo’s and marketers dressed to the nines to promote their game constantly, promising the earth and delivering nothing. I see them as shallow and are right at the top of my company hate list along with businesses like BT/Utility companies who bamboozle you with promises and act all nicey nicey but who are in effect just looking to screw you out of every penny. Rant over here lol.
BUT, with that said, it’s not like I wake up every morning and say I’m going to like PES no matter what, that would be blinkered and foolish, and above all a waste of my time. If FIFA, in my eyes, genuinely is better and represents football that I see football as, I would only be too happy in playing FIFA more than PES. I am essentially not concerned whether the title has EA or KONAMI in it, I just want the game that represents what I believe to be like football the most. I will always love PES more than FIFA as a title, but if FIFA can give me the better football experience then that will get played much more than Pro Evo. For example, I played FIFA 09 over PES, and I played FIFA10 more than Pro Evo 10.
I will not sit here and type either that I am going to be fair just to be fair, I will be constructive and praise and criticise, but I can’t force myself to make things up; I’ve already come to the conclusion that PES is the better football game so how can I not taint the verdicts on its favour, so instead I will try and be as objective as bias will allow. It’s the best I can do, but at least it’s representative of what I believe.
So with all that said, here goes –
Here are my exhibits for the defence of PES, they are in dodgy camera form uploaded to Youtube.
PES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bp1OBjtJ4XM&feature=feedu (Bolton v Liverpool)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74PNDARdbcM (Liverpool v Arsenal)
The above are the links I will be using for this analysis, more games can be found here for reference later
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8fKidng9rY (Liverpool v Newcastle)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHoyCHTd5ac (Liverpool v Fulham)
The games have been varied in as much as graphics, and game speed, I’m still grappling over the perfect gamespeed, but these are the givens –
• ALL MY GAMES OF PES HAVE BEEN PLAYED ON SUPERSTAR DIFFICULTY
• ALL MY GAMES HAVE BEEN PLAYED WITH EITHER A 15, 17 OR 20 MINUTE GAME
SOME GAMES HAVE BEEN 2 BAR PASSING ASSISTANCE, SOME 0 BAR, AND NOW I’VE SETTLED ON 1 BAR
• ALL GAMES HAVE BEEN PLAYED WITH FIRE PATCH VIETNAM KITS/TEAMS PATCH, SOME GAMES HAVE BEEN UNMODDED GAMES (ie Just using PES2012.exe file) AND SOME I HAVE USED JENKEY’S PATCH.
Jenkey’s patch ensures that the game is more fluid in terms of player response, removes the CPU scripting BUT the trade off is that the CPU is more deadly in putting attacks together.
FIFA
I played FIFA a lot on release but got bored of it after two seasons. The two exhibits I show for FIFA are here –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFT6YOj0Whg (Liverpool v Bolton)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6SpNLGTWF4 (Arsenal v Liverpool)
I then sold my copy of FIFA, and haven’t played it for around a month, I then rented it on Blockbuster last week so that I could compare and contrast if needed, I had a feeling many people would come on here and say ‘well you slag FIFA off, where’s the evidence?’.
• ALL MY GAMES OF FIFA ARE ON WORLD CLASS DIFFICULTY – I FEEL PROFESSIONAL IS PROBABLY THE MOST BALANCED, WORLD CLASS CHEATS, AND LEGENDARY IS JUST REALLY, REALLY, BORING AND CHEATY
• THE GAMES HAVE BEEN PLAYED WITH 10 MINUTE HALVES, WITH THE DEFAULT WIRELESS CONTROLLER SETTINGS
• I ASKED ABOUT WHAT I SHOULD PUT THE SLIDERS BUT ABU WAS AWAY FROM HIS COMPUTER SO I’VE LEFT THEM AS THE DEFAULT
In both games I am Liverpool. Bear in mind that I play PES every day, and haven’t played FIFA for a month.
FIFA 12 v Pro Evo 2012
As well as looking at the two products and analysing them, purely by coincidence (around a one in fifty job) I had two games uploaded re PES as the two games I played last night on FIFA, these were Bolton and Arsenal. Brilliant stuff! So not only can I go into depth about the games themselves, I can actually compare the two sets of games as well, bargain!
This is what I am going to do, I am going to analyse each game (that’s four games altogether) and then give an overall all games thrown into the mix massive conclusion. The first game of each title (ie the Bolton game of each title) I will go into extreme detail, the next set of games (ie the Arsenal game) I will be less specific as I will probably be tired of writing so much, so I’ll just use a conclusion from both of these.
I will also at the end show two ‘other’ clips, one was a Swansea game last night and the other a Europa league game, just as a bit of extra content footage to do with PES. This will not be anything to do with my analysis but WILL highlight further that PES is king.
I ALSO SUGGEST YOU OPEN UP TWO BROWSERS SIDE BY SIDE SO THAT YOU CAN FOLLOW JUST WHAT THE HELL I'M ON ABOUT ON HERE IF YOU WISH!
PES 2012, Game 1, Bolton v Liverpool (1-1)
The game link – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bp1OBjtJ4XM
Okay, the game is introduced at the Reebok Stadium (aka Stadium Palenque lol),
1.40 – 2.00 – players are pumped lots of close activity, as the game immediately becomes scrappy, Bolton look to hit me fast
2.00 – 2.05 – I try and play myself out of trouble but Bolton are up for this, they hunt me down in brilliant attacking units, first from the wing, and then they put my CB under pressure, it’s foot through the ball time, which takes a deflection and goes aerially. A totally organic challenge from both players jostling for position and the ball falls Bolton’s way. At 2.14, Bolton have the first chance which is charged and Doni stops it from going for a corner. Already we’ve seen several aspects of the game being a ‘live’ entity.
2.28 – This will be the first and last time I solely highlight the attacking AI intelligence otherwise I will be here all day. Just watch this segment for its brilliance. Nothing happens out of the ordinary, but it’s these touches which separates the games. Henderson gathers the ball from a pass from Kelly, he comes inside a little and is then hunted by 2 Bolton players in the centre of the park, he gives a ball out to the right wing, to Rodriguez, he is then on his bike taking one of the two markers along with him, who has to track him, Rodriguez gets it and passes it back to Kelly. It was one of those segments which you’ll see ALL GAME, where nothing happens BUT everything happens....just brilliant.
2.40 – Again, brilliant. Enrique slide rules the ball into Suarez’ feet, how many times do you see this in football, the good old fashioned ‘barge in the back’, just letting Suarez know he’s in for a game at the Reebok. First free kick in the game, totally natural, totally lifelike!
2.50 – This whole passage of play wreaks class – the resulting free kick is taken by Suarez and he hits a long ball into the box, it’s a good one directed at the six yard box, the aim is to win the knock down. Bolton defender wins the header but the second ball is important. The ball rebounds over Adam’s head, and then the ball filters back to Enrique, he rustles inside the field and gives a small pass to Adam, out of the corner of my eye I see that Adam may have the amount of time needed to spin and pull the trigger.... he doesn’t disappoint, he rifles a stunning left foot drive (player individuality anyone), into the top right hand corner, brilliant gameplay.
4.32 – Although technically one my best players, Suarez dallies on the ball, he tried to shift weight position and skill his man, but it’s a good challenge from Bolton, dispossessed.
4.37 – PES’ superior defensive AI – Suarez looks to contain his man by holding up play, he does so slowing Eagles down, Kuyt is in the background tracking back (typical Kuyt) to help his team mate out, remember Suarez lost possession and so a few Reds men would have been committed forward. Suarez jockeys long enough for Kuyt to get in amongst it, this enables Kuyt to now become the main jockeyer as Suarez can filter in behind him Kuyt makes Bolton play the ball into the middle whilst Suarez drops off nicely into the left back area covering for the moment. Lucas then holds up play before Davies takes possession, but guess who’s there again?!? Suarez, this time he holds up play long enough for Enrique to cover his man (at 4.47) Eagles looks like he’s going to make a run on the wing here, Enrique cuts out the attempted pass to Eagles, the ball rebounds to Davies, who hits a pass to Eagles again, this time Enrique and Suarez are in the perfect defensive positions, both marking Eagles whilst another player (I think it’s Kuyt is also by their side) Eagles tries to go down a blind alley and gets a corner as both Suarez and Enrique shepherd him to the corner.
THIS IS WHAT PES IS ALL ABOUT!!!! The sequence of play from 4.35 to 5.00 is just a master class in real life defensive units, how players manoeuvre themselves and team mates to contain, and when necessary pressure. IN A NUTSHELL THIS IS WHERE PES EXCELS ITSELF head and shoulders above FIFA. If there’s one thing you take from this mammoth post, take this away! This is what makes PES the joy it is this year, the manipulation of space and the containment of players in order to get team mates working as a defensive unit, just brilliant stuff
5.01 – The corner comes in, Bolton are a huge aerial threat so there’s deep concern here, needless to say that Davies wins the header but I think it’s Henderson that does just enough to pressure him the header goes over.
6.04 – Nice move, a shot, and a good save from the keeper
6.31 – Shot comes in, but on the left foot (weaker side, pretty tame effort, keeper gathers)
7.10 – This bugs me a little, the CPU running down the wing, and when they get checked, they simply run the ball out, something KONAMI has to look at, just silly play by the CPU.
7.46 – Ball goes aerial nice volley from Gerrard, tame effort, but worth a go
8.42 – Lovely CPU move, ball gets pinged across and they head against the bar
9.17 – Free kick Liverpool
10.10 – Lovely interplay, Gerrard opens his body up, nice effort but good take by the keeper
10.35 – Lovely football, Suarez played in opens up his body then feints a back post shot to hit it near post, good save
HALF TIME
14.47 – Keeper on bar animation
15.13 – Good fair CPU tackling
16.00– 16.13 – Lovely left foot ping to get in behind the full back, cross comes in, keeper gathers
16.52 – Defensive AI again excellent, Coates is jockeying their guy, he tackles him and the ball breaks out to the winger (16.55). 16.53, brilliant stuff. Watch the little animation as he taps the ball slightly, sets himself and looks long, as he had time and hits a lovely diagonal ball into the box. 16.57, a brilliant flick onto the path of Davies, just wonderful gameplay. Davies sets himself and hits it on the half volley, Liverpool have been breached. Lovely technique from Davies keeps it down and low, the keeper is beaten but the ball rebounds out the ball comes back to a Bolton player and the keeper makes a brilliant save, great gameplay. All havoc ensues, and Liverpool get away with it.
17.32 – Look how I lose possession here and run it on. Petrov breaks with the ball and it ends up wide. At 17.39 after slight containment look at Liverpool’s defensive unit, three players goalside of the Bolton guy who had just been dispossessed.
17.46 – Another Bolton long ball into the box, after some success earlier, 17.50, look at the melee, quite brilliant and quite realistic. A Bolton player goes up for the challenge and is surrounded by red shirts, but with Livepool players strewn on the floor after the challenge the ball is flicked into the path of Eagles who hits an unstoppable brilliant low drive, excellent goal, and Bolton well worth the equaliser.
18.20 – A lovely Liverpool move, ball comes to Adam, and at 18.36 hits a slide rule pass out wide, I slice them open only for the ball to rebound quickly back to my striker but I’m pressing the sprint button and am too eager, his touch is poor and the ball bounces away from him.
19.55 – Good header from BW and a save is forced from my keeper
20.45 – Great give and go, Rodriguez uses his body and the CPU’s momentum against him as he slides infield as Rodriguez comes back to the touchline, this enables the run and space for the pass down the wing.
20.58 – Aerial battle again, the ball runs free after collision
21.05 – Lovely animation, Kuyt skips away from three defenders by using momentum and body shape, he runs pointing to the corner flag chased by three defenders, but a lovely reverse ball almost sees a gilt edged chance, but it’s just too hard.
22.04 – Again the simple things that make it real, as my guy comes inside and just moves back, their defender just gets a nick on the ball, the ball goes backwards a few yards, where I have to retrieve possession
22.10 – Kuyt turns his man, fires in a low shot and it just misses the far post, after a deflection
22.27 – Again the ball bounces anywhere after an aerial challenge
FULL TIME
CONCLUSION – A very hard fought game. Excellent variety in gameplay, with a good goal from Charlie Adam (left foot, player individuality) some good moves, and a good goal from Bolton (aerial move). We had passing on the deck, passing in the air, physicality with headers, good goalkeeping. We had a good number of free kicks also.
FIFA12, Game 2, Liverpool v Bolton (4-3)
**note low commentary, baby in bed, played this at 12.30am, had to have things on quiet**
This was the second game of the random game experiment, and so I was confident of hitting my straps after Arsenal.
The game link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFT6YOj0Whg
0.00-1.42 – Nice moves I’m not saying, but I’m relying on zig-zagging my way rather predictably toward the penalty area with a series of one two triggers.
1.50-1.54 – This is an area where FIFA aces PES, the impacts and resulting falls. I looked closely slowing the animations right down as I thought the engine had got it wrong, but indeed the Bolton guy comes in nudges the ball first before clattering Gerrard, Gerrard then hits the deck. Bravo FIFA
2.06 – This is where FIFA lets itself down, and badly. The previous ten to fifteen seconds had been building up to this point and I knew I was in trouble ages ago, the CPU finds itself on the corner of the 18 yard box one on one (you’ll be hearing this a lot from me lol), I have control over the guy jockeying him, but this is where there is a huge fail. In PES I can jockey and get close enough that I stop the shot/jockey one or two steps from him/try and tackle, and there will be enough team-mate cover (bear in mind on the edge of the 18 yard box) behind the said jockeyer, either way I can contain him in this situation in PES and perhaps usher him to the sidelines or something. In FIFA the CPU now has you by the balls.
I know a split second before what the CPU is trying to engineer and that’s the ultra responsive twist that beats my defender all ends up, in this split second I have a choice, stand there and try doing nothing (which results ironically in the computer making a bump challenge for me), contain (suicide here because there’s just too much gap between you and the attacker and he’ll just waltz unchallenged into the box where he’ll pass the ball to a team mate and score) or hold my ground. I opt for hold my ground where he passes the ball laterally to a team mate. I’m then in exactly the same boat, only closer to the goal lol. This time the CPU really has me by the dick, I’m in control of an ultra-unresponsive defender and right at this point I’m thinking all he has to do is out-reflex me.
Now in PES in this very situation I would hold jockey, which MAY give me time to hold him up for team-mates to support me behind slightly, I can in effect try and block the shot by getting bodies behind the ball. Here in FIFA terms, contain is about as good as a chocolate tea pot, so I either have to manually try and mirror him (but bear in mind that a computer programme will have faster inputs than what I can output on the controller, try and tackle him, or contain etc. I don’t so much contain him as he chooses to pass to his team-mate, who then shoots wide. The point is though that at no point was I in control of what should have been a controllable situation. Why is my defender left one on one in the box? It’s because the defensive AI is weak and cannot detect to get goalside and get bodies behind the ball, where are my midfielders trying to burst a gut to get into the penalty area and help me out?
02.58 – This is where you can tackle, I get a good body position and usher the ball out.
03.07 – Oh dear, a seamlessly harmful situation and I’m already in the shit before he has taken the throw. How do I know this? Because my defenders are in a perfect line (lovely) but they are across the twelve yard spot, meanwhile FOUR BOLTON PLAYERS ARE UNMARKED. This will give the CPU all the incentive necessary to manufacture ‘corner of the 18 yard box one on one’ again. The Bolton thrower takes the throw to the first guy that was unmarked, who then simply turns and feeds the second guy unmarked, now I’m in the shit (Corner of 18 yard box!?!)
03.10 – The CPU has me by the balls again. Notice that by 03.11 I am in control of the guy NOT goalside, so what I expect to happen is that my CPU controlled defender to just shepherd him somewhere out of danger, maybe just hold his position until I can get round the back with my human controlled guy. Nothing of the sort, whilst I try and run round my own man (who should be jockeying or doing something) my man just lets him stroll the defence by stepping inside the pitch, just ridiculous, passing him along the way. AT 3.15 I get a manually control tackle in, but it’s no thanks to my TEAMMATE, who was just useless.
3.34 – I’m looking for support at this stage, Adam offers it and I pass inside, it eventually falls to Carroll at 03.36, this is where FIFA is mundane. The way to score (or try and score) in FIFA is the camp on their 18 yard box and trigger lots of one twos back and forth. Here goes. I lose possession, they counter by-passing all the players that were not offering support, neither are they in defensive midfield positions, just there in no man’s land. The CPU then works it’s way into the area where it’s a complete lottery whether or not I get away with conceding a goal, I have little or no control over my defenders because turning then is like trying to turn a truck, as Bolton fire a shot wide
4.10-4.24 – I get up the field within a few passes, much like a game of chess, I pass ten yards, pass ten, yards, pass ten yards, with little or no thought. I get to their area where I lose possession trying a little through ball.
4.36 – Okay this is what I mean about the cheap programming and ‘illusory build up’ that I keep constantly referring to when talking about FIFA. In PES I have a comfort that wherever the ball is on the pitch, because players have decent enough response I can defend situations with positioning and jockeying, on FIFA because you know that as the defenders are just cumbersome it becomes red alert as soon as the CPU get within your half. This is what I highlight here. In PES, you can quash moves with superior matching of the CPU in terms of positioning so that eventually you bottle neck them into situations where they are forced to either play safe and go back, try something out of the box, or lose possession. The build up play that FIFA uses is just mere ‘illusory build up play’ to get their players into preset positions on the pitch to hurt the human player with. Like here – I lose possession on 4.36, fair enough, roll the clip. They make around five or six passes to get to this position, stop it at 04.48. Now this is the pass that sets the CPU up for its scripted stuff, when the guy gets it at 4.49, his response and movements is just too precise for a human player, he shuffles towards the touchline then loses me as my tank of a defender simply cannot compete with his reflexes. He then has the run inside, his aim? To get that CPU player in or around the corner of the 18 yard box. As the guy picks it up at 4.55 it becomes obvious what is going to happen but it’s whether or not the runner will be tracked when he gives the one two....At 4.56 the computer lets me have control of the player I was trying my hardest to switch to just in time for the CPU to give the one two and let him in (don’t get me started on player switching on FIFA, it’s as bad as what PES2011 was).
5.30 – around this mark I try and build up play again, and it’s the same attacking patterns over and over from me, because that’s all I have at my disposal. I have to pass it, run diagonally, check my run, pass it again, run diagonally, etc etc. I then slice them open a little and have the ball at 5.37 with Kelly, Carroll is on my inside. Now Carroll has got a steal on his defender and should start to run inward slightly (or anywhere forward) he isn’t offside so continue his run....then just as I got to pass the ball in front of him he takes a weird infield and back turn??! What’s going on there, chance lost as Carroll runs towards the other touchline lol.
5.46 – My God, what’s going on ere....I have a throw and give it to one of my men who is unmarked, I think it’s Carroll. There’s nine Spurs players in the picture (including the goalie) at this point and not one defender is marking anybody. Carroll gets the ball, turns, and tries to play a through ball into his strike partner. Very poor defensive units. BUT I’ll praise FIFA here for the offside that they play, so very well done there, BUT where was the marking, nobody was marking anybody?!? You had 9 Spurs players and they are trying to play offside in their own penalty area. FAIL
6.54 – The ball is threaded into Gerrard, and I have a chance to shoot. Gerrard hits it left foot, goal. It’s a lovely strike with stunning left foot sweeping animations, EA are kings in this area. It was a lovely goal although I’m not sure on Gerrard’s weak foot stats, but he is a class act so I’ll give the stats for the goal the benefit of the doubt even if it did look a little too perfect.
7.10 – The next passage of play is completely laughable and completely FIFA with it’s rubber band nonsense tarnished all over it. Bolton suddenly become Barcelona. They use passes and quick tricks/response to quickly engineer a perceivable goal scoring chance, leaving my defenders gaping at air, Song is now on the corner of the box, danger time. At 7.30, even though I have 5 Liverpool jerseys lined up in a line along the 12 yard bit from touchline to touchline, and three midfielders in a kind of line to the right of the picture (plus the keeper, that’s 9 players), Bolton will probably score in my head. At 7.34 rather wonderfully player switching makes me go Skrtel although I wanted the CPU to stay him and me cover him with my former controlled player, this leaves me fked, as I’m left one on one (even though I have a billion defenders). The result is a shot which my keeper parries (fair enough) and is converted but is offside.
8.05 – Build up play is again samey and monotonous, a series of trigger one two runs to get some kind of movement going eventually peters out again around the middle of the 18yard box for me.
10.27 – A series of offsides and I’m starting to doze at the hundred passes I’m putting together
11.23 – I’m in trouble, I can feel it. Again even though I have enough defenders in shot to deal with it in real life, I know that the responsiveness of the CPU player will outweigh my defenders traits and it’s a lottery once again. 11.24 and Kelly is on an unresponsive jaunt up the screen whilst Tuncay is through on goal. Will he score? Yep, I expect him to score I’m not saying, but this is FIFA glitch time, diagonal approach to the goal finesse anyone? I’m also not surprised I’ve been breached in the 42 minute. Through the ENTIRE history of FIFA games the fortieth minutes and the 80th minutes are gem times, where goals just appear from nowhere. FIFA players CANNOT deny that I would say over 75% of goals are scored during these periods. If you dispute this you are clearly crazy!
12.08 – Gerrard hits another LEFT FOOT SHOT, now this is getting a little ridiculous. He smashes one against the bar, now I love Stevie Gerrard he’s my favourite player but he’s already scored a screamer with his left foot and now he’s hitting pressured left peg thunder bolts against the bar, a littler fishy.
12.30 – LOL, you couldn’t make it up, the previously staunch defence opens up like the red sea as Suarez is fed urging him to attack the centre of the 18 yard box. A quick check of the time reveals none other than 45 minutes LOL, it’s just comedy gold. From here I could have pressed any combination of buttons and scored lol.
13.00 – LMFAO - And the CPU waste no time in scripting lol, that ball again is played where the CPU will now look to attack the 18 yard box edge, surely FIFA can’t be this blatant? I’m in control of Gerrard when rather inexplicably I get changed to Agger, I regain control with Gerrard. Tuncay says see you later with lightening cheat reflexes, now I’m in big trouble. Gerrard continues on for about ten yards unable to stop himself. As the ball is kicked at 13.04, the striker is offside, just stop it and pause it and see for yourself. It’s very tight, but this is a computer game which deals with definites, the game plays on, Skrtel appeals it, Doyle easily beats Skrtel and another goal is scored in the 45th minute. At this point I want to blow my brains out with a shotgun, but I continue on because I promised you.
HALF TIME
15.42 – This was a very good point for FIFA in the game, and I applaud everything about this move. The move starts from the back and I play a nice number of passes. At 15.55 I cut outside with Suarez so I’m pointing toward the corner flag, I then shimmy the ball outwards slightly again and then with a bit of Suarez magic come back inside Cahill. Absolutely stunning animations from EA here, truly brilliant. It looked very realistic and was very believable. This gives me enough time to have the space required as I home in on goal. I hit a lovely shot into the corner, a truly cracking goal, superb animations and ball physics on the shot. 10 out of ten!!
17.45 – Nooo, just when I sing the praises of FIFA and I feel like it’s a step forward and I think I may be too harsh on the title, just when it softens me up a little, it kicks you in the plums AGAIN. Right where do I start? A long ball is played up to the front to in which nobody is challenged, play on. Now at 17.48 I am in control of Skrtel, but my left back is just absolutely brainless. In this situation me with Skrtel is on the inside of his man, there is no support on the outside so what Enrique needs to do is come inside and filter around Skrtel so that he then becomes goal side, it’s only at 17.39 does this happen but it was only because I ushered Klasnic so far into the touchline. Again, bad AI. I had defended the move superbly, textbook stuff. But where does the CPU player look to go? Answers on a postcard?!? Yep you guessed it, the corner of the 18 yard box. Ring a bell anyone? Even at 18.05 I’m set up fine defensively. Roll onto 18.08. Multiple things wrong here again, and it’s just blatant cheat scripting. As the ball is dinked, the guy in the centre is offside for starters. But look how far behind the play the eventual scorer is, ANYTHING in the space between the goaly and my defence should be gobbled up. So, apart from the guy being offside, my left back puts his hand up for offside, stops completely and lets their guy in, I MEAN FFS!?!?!?!? They score, and I’m calling EA all the bitches under the sun. Terrible cheaty programming.
23.30 – The same moves I’m seeing from the CPU and the same moves from me. The CPU tries to get to the corner of the 18 yard box, and I try to pass run diagonal, come back on myself, pass run diagonal come back on myself. I’m bored.
25.02 – Again tragic, I throw in with nobody marking my player. 7 Bolton players and not ONE IS MARKING the guy that it is most likely to be thrown to. Then LMFAO again – only FIFA could make this up....as the ball is taken infield I pass to Adam At 25.05 Adam shoots right foot (the one he can’t kick with) and hits one toward the goal the ball deflects but beats the keeper at the near post, even though he has that covered!?? A quick check of the time and as sure as God made little apples, it’s the 90th minute. I cannot stop laughing. My missus wakes up comes down the stairs berates me for being up so late. I then finish the game off, switch the console off, and go to bed knowing that the last twenty minutes has been one big script.
FULL TIME
CONCLUSION – One of the most scripted games I’ve EVER PLAYED. And that takes some doing. It was even more scripted than the Europa league second leg games in PES 2011 even if you were 8 nil up from the first leg, you’d still lose on aggregate!
(Outward breath) Where do we start? Let’s start with the most obvious thing, this 40th minute plus, 80th minute plus bullshit HAS to stop. 1 goal was scored on 42, another on 45 and another in 90. In all my years of playing FIFA this happens ALL THE TIME. SO HOW CAN YOU CALL THIS GAME A SIM WHEN THE HIGHEST PROPORTION OF GOALS ARE SCRIPTED TO HAPPEN LIKE CLOCKWORK?!?
Ridiculous...
The next major problem is the defensive AI, it simply is just so bad. If PES hadn’t released their active AI then it wouldn’t look so bad, but FIFA’s defensive AI is just so, so bad and dated. The games pan out exactly the same really, all the CPU goals are scored in trying to get their players to the corner of the 18 yard box one on one, and all my goals were scored when trying to play centrally through the middle of the 18 yards box with a combination of trigger one two movements. All the teams play with little or no variety in their gameplay, I can play Bolton, Arsenal (who I will analyse next), Barce, Burton Albion there will be no significant change in abilities and passing stats and how the CPU play. Because the programming is just ordinary, very ordinary. There’s also no sense of tempo to the game. In PES there’s always tempo changes, in FIFA it’s like one long beeping sound....you’d think that 4-3 would have had me off my seat racing round the room, this couldn’t be further from the truth. I will say that there were moments of PURE GENIUS, that Suarez move and goal was simply stunning, not just the goal, but it’s execution and animations, the deft movements in animation were totally convincing. But what FIFA has in very fleeting moments of animation magic, it is more than always let down by the appalling defensive AI, and only satisfactory attacking AI.
PES 2012, Game 2, Liverpool v Arsenal (2-2)
Game link here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74PNDARdbcM
0.54 – A sensational start, a brilliant cutting through ball and the Arsenal CB is completely caught unexpected, and outstretched leg is his only chance, but he misses. Kuyt is clean through, is it too early for the first chance? He controls it right foot and the ball bobbles, he commits the keeper and finishes left foot in style. He pauses momentarily to check that he’s onside, and he is, the goal stands, one nil to Liverpool!
2.21 – Kuyt unleashes a piledriver, over the bar.
3.47 – Glancing Arsenal header
4.16 – Walcott picks up the ball in midfield but I’m okay with Lucas, I jockey for a second, but try and be clever and release jockey to tackle, in a flash Walcott is past me and away (I should have held jockey, tut tut) his arse is for dust. He sees Chamakh and plays a nice through ball, he is the favourite to score, and rounds the move off, brilliant counter attack from Arsenal, I got punished for lazy jockeying against the fastest man in the Premier League, with Lucas, what did I expect lol
5.16 – A lovely Liverpool move. Numerous passes, numerous inter-changes, lots of movement. At 5.39 I work the ball with Gerrard giving Aurelio just enough time to overlap on the outside, this was achieved by both my other runners going forward into the box taking their men with them, the result is space in behind for the cross, brilliant AI, brilliant gameplay.
6.00 – lovely segment, Kieron Gibbs gets held up and comes to a standstill by Kelly, Gibbs tries to drag it back before Rodriguez comes over to help and gets his foot in, he takes the ball first then the man as Gibbs gets forced to the floor by Rodriguez’ momentum, Rodriguez is momentarily on the back foot reeling from the impact and sees Rosicky coming, he quickly regains balance to just pip Rosicky to the ball, toe poking it toward Gerrard. Wonderful.
6.27 – Lovely tackle by Skrtel in the centre of the park to dispossess Arsenal, he then lifts a nice lofted ball into Suarez who blazes over after a good first touch to the side.
7.55 – Suarez dispossess Arsenal again, gets the shot off, pretty tame in the end
8.23 – Game tempo change, to 8.33
8.46 – Lovely aerial interplay
9.25 – Lovely move again. Aurelio to Suarez, and then Suarez comes inside taking his marker with him, meanwhile I had triggered Aurelio’s run previously, with Suarez taking the right back out of the game, Gerrard needs to hold it for a second, which he does, before releasing the ball in behind the full back. Aurelio gets to the byline crosses a scrambling Arsenal back line to Maxi, where he power heads in off the bar with super effect. Great goal.
10.18 – Long ball pinged down the wing Arsenal concede a throw. NOW COMPARE AND CONTRAST WITH THE FIFA THROW IN MARKING I RAISED IN GAME ONE. 10.28 – the guy that Suarez is facing is being marked by the left back, the guy to the bottom left of the screen is being marked by van Persie. The Arsenal defenders are not in a fkin straight line across the 12 yard area marking nobody, they are bunched where the danger is, four Arsenal guys around my two strikers, with the two central midfielders being where they should be, hovering where the ball may break. Now this is basics. One game is organic, real, and has a pulse, the other game is just stagnant where the AI is clueless most of the time on how to defend and position themselves. The result is that the first throw is pressured and the reds guy tackled, forcing another throw. Similar setup for the throw, but this time, because Liverpool are closer to the goal look how one of the midfielders for Arsenal is now filtered in behind the left back (this is at 10.34). This is to stop the throw and a passing exchange between the thrower and receiver leaving the left back 2 on 1. Van Persie is still watching his man bottom left and the Arsenal defence is still on red alert. As the throw come in and then back to Rodriguez watch carefully at the top of the screen (this is at 10.36/7 ish still) the Arsenal CB has come out to play offside, if I had played the ball in then it would of been offside, brilliant AI. As Rodriguez comes back further (10.39) watch the Liverpool striker and the Arsenal CB (top of screen) tussle, the CB is inside the strikers shirt, again outstanding AI. Adam is released ball comes in but Arsenal deal with the header.
HALF TIME
11.56 – Diaby goes for the spectacular
13.10 – Nice slide tackle
13.43 – Suarez goes for the spectacular
14.02 – Totally organic, Szency (whatever the GK name is) gets it and rolls it to the left back, Gibbs hits a lovely ball upfield looking for the target man, Liverpool win the first aerial battle, but Arsenal win the second ball which bounces randomly. Arsenal pick it up. Simple passage of play yet so effective in showing PES’ aerial strength.
14.48 – Walcott gets the ball in the middle of the park, but I learn my mistakes, and just back off, eventually Rodriguez tracks back, More interestingly watch the off the ball battle between Chamakh and my CB, great stuff, Chamakh makes a run which is tracked, in the meantime I’m holding Walcott up with Aurelio, My CB just tails him and pauses, Chamakh has to come back inside where my defender is safe enough now.
14.57 – AGAIN LOOK AT THE DEFENSIVE AI OF PES COMPARED TO FIFA GAME ONE – the ball is on the right wing, the danger is on the right side. Instead of Liverpool leaving all players one on one with each other players like the midfielders are protecting the slower defenders. Here you have 3 Liverpool players marking the two danger men on the wing, so not outnumbered, and condensing the play to that side. You have the two Liverpool central midfielders in the buffer zone in front of the CB who is marking the striker (top of the picture). If you look at the radar at the bottom you will see that the Liverpool defensive unit is sound essentially a back six, then two midfielders in the zone where the ball may bobble to, and the two front men. Again, huge credit KONAMI
15.00 – The move develops and Liverpool’s defensive unit spring into shape, as the threat emerges toward the centre the two anchoring midfielders now take it into their own hands to come across and help out, the result is that there are now 7 Liverpool players in the area of danger v four Arsenal players.
15.15 – Another prime example of PES’ AI superiority. The ball gets taken by Arsenal at 15.15, and Koschelny makes a dash for it, at this stage I’m in trouble. Now if this was FIFA my players would just say fk it and leave my defenders sort it out against the likes of Chamakh, Walcott, etc etc, but here Kelly holds up play on 15.21, this gives three seconds for Kuyt to come back and help him 15.24 and for the defence to re-align. By the time the ball is deflected into the path of Doni, there are 8 Liverpol players in the box plus the keeper
16.44 – the ball is nicked by Aurelio, who hits a panicky clearance upfield, Suarez wins the header and the ball goes anywhere. Another aerial confrontation battle follows, which is won by Arsenal, the ball bounces to Liverpool, a lovely first time volley pass is then hit to the wing, where the defender covers and headers out. Again simple, yet so life-like and effective.
18.00 – Lovely through ball from Arsenal, and Doni makes a one on one save, the pressure from Arsenal is starting to tell. 18.30 and scrambled defence. More pressure.
18.40-19.07 – It’s ALL Arsenal now.
19.07 – Penalty Arsenal, Kelly leaves his foot in and down goes the Gooner. Arsenal would say they deserved it they ran riot last ten minutes of game time. Penalty converted bottom left.
20.30 – Ooh so close, a left foot Gerrard finesse shot almost comes off, but just wide. Left foot isn’t his most powerful and it showed with the shot.
21.09 – WTF – the Arsenal keeper is up such is their desperation to win a game lol, sort it out KONAMI, I only really notice at 21.11 when he’s running back to the goals!! LOL Only fail in the game!!
FULL TIME
CONCLUSION – A brilliant game. Action, shots, lovely moves, great defence and offence. The game had just about everything.
FIFA12, Game 1, Arsenal v Liverpool (1-0)
Here is the game link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6SpNLGTWF4
04.19 – I lose possession and where does Ramsay start heading, that’s right people the corner of the 18 yard box. At 04.23 he actually stops on it, and then starts his diagonal assault on me as the CPU once again has glitched me, it’s now 50/50. I do okay this time (either that are or the CPU just decides not to score) But don’t worry the CPU will have another corner of the box assault, this time with van Persie, he tries to outstrip Skrtel, but Skrtel gets the tackle in, but the script has kicked in and Persie magically retrieves the ball whilst Skrtel goes for a jaunt (impact engine my arse). If Persie is stronger than Skrtel I’ll eat my hat and my mouse. He glitches into a goal scoring opportunity where the keeper saves it.
5.33 onwards – Oh man, I hate the scripting in FIFA, jeez. Arsenal do their illusory build up play and I know exactly what’s coming early in the piece. The CPU works itself to the corner of the box again with Arteta (at 5.41), only this time he passes back, but the ball comes back to him. He’s right on the corner of the box again. There’s only one winner here. But this is great stuff, At 5.47, Skrtel is positioned perfectly for any harm he’s the CB by the way. The Arsenal strikers are five yards behind him. At 5.48 Skrtel pulls away from the danger zone and lets the striker get in front of him, right from the Tampax League Division 15 South East Conference Section 1 Area B League defending....At 5.49 and by the time that Arteta has hit a little ball into the area, Skrtel is off on a jolly next to the other CB. Never mind Martin, there’s always the Tampax League Division 16 South East Conference Section 1 Area B league is you don’t make the grade with Liverpool. Jesus Christ. Watch the replay on 6.01, it’s even worse than I thought.
8.00 – A half chance on the spin, keeper saves, fair enough I didn’t put enough power on it and my body angle was wrong. Believable.
9.51 – I realise both me and the CPU are doing the same thing over and over again.
10.24 – Excllent stuff from FIFA the guy down injured in the goal area, that’s what PES has to take a leaf out of FIFA, the injuries side of things. Well done EA.
11.26 – The gameplay though is a grind, it’s the same monotonous moves over and over.
HALF TIME
(Note) Arsenal have a pass percentage of 91%, nice.
16.07 – I carve a chance on the right wing with Kelly and cut inside, Henderson gets it then lays a perfect ball to Suarez! Suarez, eight yards out just the keeper to beat, he hits it, hard, WHAT, I AIN’T HAVING THAT, the keeper makes a quite unbelievable save, SOO unbelievable that you could say it was scripted. Suarez blasts the ball from eight yards out, aims for the corner and then keeper saves it. I feel my anger levels raise a notch. It’s complete bull shit, later inspection on the replays show that the keeper was in position a micro second before the shot was kicked, sheer laws of physics and human reflexes would not have been able to stop that from being a goal. The only people capable of stopping that would have been Yoda, Young Skywalker and Lord Sidious.
20.46 – NO WAY AGAIN!! I craft another move Suarez has it and slide rules it to Downing who hits a bullet shot low and hard. Study the replay, the way the keeper was positioned and moving slightly forwards and to his right, combined with the velocity and range from which Downing hit it, there is NO WAY ON EARTH that any keeper would have been saving that. In fact if you stop it at roughly 20.49, you can see that the keeper begins to move his hand, in the normal universe that shot would have hit the back of the net before the keeper would have finished the animation of moving his arm, simple as. LOL, in fact looking closer at it again he saves it with his foot, which is even more incredible as right at the point in which Downing hits the ball at 20.49, the keeper is perfectly flat footed readying himself for the shot, it would be near enough IMPOSSIBLE for the keeper to adjust his feet in relation to a ball travelling at that velocity, simply MATRIX like. I’m not having that sorry Peeps, that is just blatant scripting.
21.18 – It’s around this time that I’m getting really bored, both teams have played exactly the same way since forever it’s the only way either of us can do it. This HAS to be the dullest FIFA ever released I’m thinking.
22.40 – More reflex madness from van Persie who shoots and hits the post. Arsenal have had three chances in the second half that if the game wasn’t scripted to finish 1-0, they would normally have scored. The effect of hitting the post is just that I’m afraid.
FULL TIME
Conclusion – Honestly, thank God. The game was dull and repetitive. The game was going to end 1-0 no matter what it seemed, I had two absolute gilt edged chances, the first one you could argue that it would have been a goal 85% of the time if you take natural laws of the universe into account, but that 15% there is always a doubt. The second one, there is NO CHANCE IN HELL that ANY man alive would have had the reflexes to save that, so that was just scripted bullshit. Arsenal glitched their way to three good chances which normally would have been put away, but were scripted to miss I guess. A mundane affair with little or no life and a complete relief when it finished.
THE FINAL OVERALL CONCLUSION
In case you haven’t been following this epic analysis, I think FIFA is below okay, and I think PES is head and shoulders better.
Why? Simple –
Primarily –
PES has infinitely superior defensive AI, this is handy in a multitude of ways, not least because you can apply positioning and jockeying to give yourself time and to make less space for the CPU. The defensive covering of your team mates in PES is sensationally accurate. In FIFA, once the midfield is breached your own your own Jack, usually in the shape of a computer programmed reflex-roided Walcott v your fat and clumsy Carragher.
The CPU play the same way ALL THE TIME. They look to hit the glitch area at the corner of the 18 yard box where they rely on said one on one, to skip past you. There they either finish one on one with the keeper, or they cross for the tap in. No team mates help you, nobody filters in behind defenders it’s just fight for yourself.
The CPU play the same way in FIFA, but so are you forced to. It’s basically pass forward run diagonal, come back on yourself, pass again, run forward, come back again, pass etc etc.
The lack of free kicks/corners/fouls in FIFA. The lack of an aerial game (the ball bounce is too scripted).
The eternal problem of goals ‘getting’ scored in the 40th plus minute and the 80th plus minutes. This has been scripting bullshit in FIFA since Moses was a boy. How can anyone claim that a game is Sim-like if the goals are so obviously loaded to be scored at certain times of the game? I just don’t get this. It’s like having a bend in a Formula One game that you constantly crash on regardless of how you enter it, or you being able to overtake the CPU car 150 yards from the finish line every race, it’s just scripted and it’s just pathetic. This has gone on blatantly in every FIFA release.
PES has infinitely superior attacking AI, this essentially is where the variation in games take place. You will never have the same game twice because it isn’t possible; if I’m with Gerrard for example in the middle of the park depending on my body position, the way I turn and angle myself or run a certain direction it will trigger a multitude of variables dependent on the person I control and what I’m doing. I can bring brings into the game or not, I can create angles and new attacking lanes but shifting he ball, and sometimes it is necessary to go across or even back to generate the angles to hit that glory ball that would open up a defence. In FIFA players are assigned to their positions and that is more or less where they stay, unless you keep constantly triggering them.
In PES you can use decoys, use short passes/or long to vary the angle of attack, you can do this because you know that the CPU will play like a human being and therefore will have the same human weaknesses as the human player and so you can try what you want because the situation is never weighted against you. In PES you can use the CPU momentum and inertia against them for example and sell them like a human player, in FIFA you feel like you’re playing against a computer, and so everything is more cagey. When you hit that long ball up to Carroll on FIFA you’re not thinking about stats and who is most likely to win the header, you’re thinking I’m playing on World Class mode, the computer is 80% likely to win this header, regardless if Carroll is up against Jimmie Krankie (to the young pups look it up). All those aerial 50/50 balls in PES to get field position just isn’t worth doing in FIFA because essentially the coding at the higher levels means not that the CPU become smarter, but that more things go in its favour.
In the two games I chronicled here on FIFA I cannot remember having a corner, and I cannot remember the CPU trying to get to the byline to cross a ball in; so that's 180 minutes of football with no corners and no crosses from the wing?!? And this is sim?!?! And I probably only had one or two free kicks. For me FIFA is just lifeless. For a game to be classed as a sim it must have simulation aspects in it, to me the way the CPU attack is lifeless and dull, the way I have to attack is lifeless and dull. The entire games are generally lifeless and dull dispersed with time-mechanic coding that just makes things happen occasionally to spruce things up a bit.
The advantages of FIFA –
Well the animations for a start. They are lovely, if PES had FIFA’s animations there would be absolutely no contest that PES would wipe the floor with FIFA. FIFA also have the licences. Whilst the animations are better I still don’t like FIFA’s player models, they look like china dolls to me. Take Steven Gerrard for example, in FIFA he looks the cutest thing on the Earth, with his lovely little china head. In PES, there is the element of Resident Evil-ness no doubt lol, but the textures of the face and detail of their entire bodies (aside from animations) is brilliant, and they look like footballers, nice and mean, snarling at each other. In FIFA they all look like they are about to go to a doll’s house with Ken and Barbie. FIFA need to un-cartoon it a bit, and start getting their player models to look more sinister.
Injuries, PES should take a leaf out of FIFA’s book about injuries short ones and the longer more serious ones. This is a BIG problem in PES. I’ve played millions of matches now and the longest someone has been out is 6 weeks, just not good enough. The injuries in PES just aren’t serious or substantial enough to warrant wholesale changes that would de-stabilise an entire team, like IRL. I want people out with cruciate problems, I want the odd broken arm or something, I want flu problems, hamstring issues, I want to be selective and protective over certain players. If I went Arsenal and I played van Persie for four consecutive games including league and Euro games I’d want to see him generate some sort of serious long term injury, this would give the manager much greater control and make him manage the team. The problem FIFA has with the injuries is because player individuality is just terrible, if Gerrard gets injured then I can just replace him with Spearing and not feel any loss of performance within the team. In PES if Gerrard and Adam aren’t playing, then I really feel the problems in the midfield area. BUT, I can play Gerrard week in week out (if I watch his stamina accordingly) and this just isn’t good enough. I want to have to make a big chance whether I play my big players in Europa games and keep them for the big games, or risk them in both and risk injuries.
The more jazzier look. PES must grow up over this. I’ve argued this time and time again with fellow PES people who do not believe that KONAMI should change their presentation style, to me this ‘oh look how sweet KONAMI look with their quaint Japanese ways and retro style, oh bless them’ bollocks HAS GOT TO STOP. They need a complete overhaul of the presentation; I don’t care, get some cheesy fkin marketing presentation guy in and jazz the whole thing up. Everything about the presentation (apart from the gameplan screen which I love, this and is infinitely better than the mess FIFA has, it takes around 3 hours to move people from their ‘base position’ into somewhere else, only to find that you can’t because someone else is there, then you have to fk about with their position, change the role, and then you get so frustrated that you say sod it and leave it all there, why can’t they just have PES drag and drop) sucks, the music is annoying, the dark imagery and general gloomy feel, the unmodded blurry shitty pitches, we’re in the 21st here Seabass, where’s the high definition pitches that modders can churn out in 30 minutes on their own? On the PS3 version players are blurry and smudged, how can you go two years since PES 2010 on the PS3 and graphics have got worse?!? Insane stuff from KONAMI.
Transfers and transfer day, love that feature on FIFA.
The way the players discuss their problems and moan, much better on FIFA. I am getting extremely irritated on PES now with all the bitching that is going on, these are just some examples –
** Gerrard is knackered after a strenuous derby match, he storms into my room and says he’s tired, so the next game I rest him on his say so. After the game he storms into my office to say why didn’t you play me? He then goes from yellow happy smiley, to nasty red sad face smiley.
** Gerrard demands the number 10 shirt, apparently he wants to ditch his number 8 shirt that he is synonymous with world wise, on top of the fact that his merchandisers and marketers must be going ape over this commercial suicide as he obviously hasn’t consulted them, it makes no sense whatsoever; Gerrard is number 8, always has been always will be. But he wants 10. So I give him ten, he then turns round and says it’s not what he’s after but he’ll have to stick by my decision. I shake my head and curse Seabass.
** Jay Spearing constantly bitching that he’s superior to Suarez, Lucas, Gerrard and Adam. Fk off out of my office you stupid potato head and play with the reserves for five minutes
Just the constant communication with my squad of moaners starts to depress you
But I think that is it.
I have grown tired of FIFA in just the two games that I played. The problem with FIFA is exactly the same as always. You spend a certain time playing it on purchase and reach a level very quickly. But no matter how many hours of practice you put into it, you still maintain that level. There is NOTHING more I can gleen from the product, I’ve seen it all. If I was going to be clever I could have just kept possession forever on FIFA and finally worked that one-two at the edge of the box, but I played it like it should be played. With PES it’s different, the learning curve is huge, but once you get there and feel comfortable with the game, all sorts of possibilities open up.
I enjoy every game, because the games are so unpredictable.
WHAT THEY BOTH HAVE TO WORK ON
PES – As mentioned it’s the entire presentation. Realistic injuries. Get rid of the rails element. A million animations, animations, animations, animations, this is key for going forward. Leave the gameplay AI alone, it’s fantastic. Improve keepers slightly. Get rid of the passing assistance bar, have 1 universal passing way, if it’s too hardcore for some then tough, get practicing. Which leads me to my next point, I don’t play online because it is a complete mess, but the passing assistance being universal would surely stop all these noobs going Real Madrid and Barcelona. For online gamers, KONAMI need to work really hard in making noobs going Barce and Real really inaccessible, introduce a harsh stamina system that turns even Ronaldo into Jabba the Hut as the human noob keeps pressuring non-stop sprinting for even twenty minutes, this will stop the noobs from pressure whoring and ensure that the proper gamers who want to play football get rewarded. Introduce a much better points system where if you win with Real or Barce fine, you get five points, if you win with Cesensa you get 500 points, make it THAT radical so that players are forced to play with all the teams in PES. That’s about it.
To all the whiners and moaners, the tackling system is perfect, if KONAMI mess this up next year and make it more user friendly I’ll kill myself. Seriously I will. I’ll then get my missus to post the lifeless corpse to KONAMI HQ and hope that Seabass makes a patch that returns the tackling system to the way it was; if I’m going to go I may as well do something productive in keeping this system! It’s taken me forever to perfect it, I suggest if you have a problem tackling and jockeying then do what I did, practice for 1000 hours and stop your bitching. If you’re in control of Darren Fletcher and you have Walcott running toward you at full tilt, then guess what, don’t try and tackle him?!? I mean for FFS, what do you expect to happen, just take the ball off the fastest player in the Premier League by sticking a foot out? PES’ attacking AI is a joy too, leave alone.
FIFA- oh dear, where do we start? Well they have the licenses and the general razzmatazz so that’s all in place. They need to get rid of that gameplan screen and go PES drag and drop, it’s a pain in the arse to be honest. There’s lots of little things that they can work on, but the biggest worry is the AI and the game engine.
EA promised us lots this year, and to be honest, in terms of pure gameplay, I don’t see a great deal of change. They have gotten rid of legacy defending because people were bitching that online was becoming a pressure fest with the single and double pressure Chelsea/Real/Barce noobs constantly pressure whoring, much like PES online. So what did they do? Instead of introducing an effective stamina system that drains all players quickly from constant pressuring and decrease the tackle radius slightly, they rip apart the art of pressuring and introduce the ‘contain’ function something so extraordinarily pointless that it beggars belief. In PES the jockey space is perfect, it is far enough so that the opponent can’t skip past you, gives you just enough distance to get the tackle in should you wish, holds up the play so that team mates support in behind you, and contains to block shots from the strikers. That’s what its purpose is in PES. I really don’t know what the function of ‘contain’ does in FIFA apart from mirror the striker from five yards away. You cannot sufficiently tackle with any confidence because it takes forever for the tackle animation to generate; it’s like slow motion when you stick a foot out to tackle as the striker skips past you like Agent Smith. Then at the higher levels, you just mirror the CPU man into the edge of the 18 yard box where he can just pass it to other team mates for the tap in.
FIFA 11 online was a blast at times, provided you had a game plan to execute against the noobs. All it needed both online and offline were these changes in stamina and tackle radius, the game defensively, is now totally broken. I have no confidence in quelling moves as it is just all about the CPU reflexes against my own, which I cannot possibly win over 20 minutes, I’m a human being.
So the entire defensive philosophy needs to be shredded from a ‘contain’ point of view. They basically need to copy PES in this respect.
Defensive AI. The way that team-mates should react defensively needs to be ripped up, but I’m really not sure EA can do anything more with their engine (which essentially is the same since forever). They have coded more build up play than before, but this is just trimmings to me. I don’t think EA have it in their locker in terms of making the AI better. All the highlights from the games I’ve shown too many times my defenders (and sometimes the CPU’s) are just left one on one, whist the entire team watches. EA need to study real football defensive lines, and defensive units and watch what happens when teams lose possession. At the moment if I’m attacking and I lose possession the midfielders just retreat to their positions on the gameplan screen, uh uh, not good enough. In real life and on PES my midfielders are busting a gut to get back, if I then position myself and jockey well enough, I buy my team enough time to re-jig behind my jockeyer defensively. This may include people like Gerrrad, most certainly Lucas etc getting back behind the defender.
EA REALLY needs to work on this, but like I say this is an engine problem, I don’t think it can be done easily.
The obvious scripting also has to stop.
Right then peeps, you wanted it so here it was, my entire thoughts on the two games, together with evidence. My bias towards PES is based on the fact that I think it is the better game and as I’ve had two months with it, I simply cannot pretend that it isn’t the better game. What I have tried to do is objectively tell you why I think it is using video footage and why I think FIFA is lacking in terms of depth and deficient AI.
It’s taken me ages to write this, so I’m going for lay down now guys!! The bottom line is play the game you love playing, for me it’s PES, for others FIFA may float your boat. It all depends on what we personally are looking for. Peace out.
PS
I will edit this post by attaching games at the bottom in time, I have a game against Swansea uploading which is probably my most sim like game yet in terms of playability, speed etc etc. As always, it’s Superstar mode and either 17/20 minute games.
Any questions PM me or respond in the thread, if you hate me, then just ignore me. I have to actually g out and earn some money now, so have a good day!
In posting these flattering PES videos, I have been challenged by one or more people, in the balance of fairness, to compare and contrast PES 2012 with FIFA12. I have spent too long this week writing shit loads of stuff so this will be my last long post for a while. Honestly guys, I could genuinely video and upload my PES games ALL DAY LONG, every game just has something unique about it. It’s that simple.
So without further a-do here is the background to my obsession –
This year I was adamant that I would be playing something that I always wanted, we all know the story with PES and it’s been pretty shit. FIFA promised us the impact engine and tactical defending. I will make reference to all aspects of both games, but please be aware that my comparisons and contrasts are based primarily on gameplay.
When FIFA players come on here and say that ‘PES is shit, FIFA is the sim’ either they, or myself, must be confusing the either one.
For me, sim isn’t about the way the game looks (the aesthetics) or about having the right boots, hairstyle, presentation, or even the way the players run and look (although as we’re approaching 2013, this is something that KONAMI needs to get right within the next two years), no, a simulation of football for me is much more to do with what the game contains, ie, the way in which build up play develops, are there moments of counter attacking football/possession, does the game look like football in as much as the ball is a real life thing, bouncing here there and everywhere, with all players having no control to it, just reacting to it when it ricochets, bobbles does this and does that?
I will be talking at length and using the phrases ‘attacking AI’ and ‘defensive AI’, but I will also be using the phrases ‘defensive units’ and ‘attacking units’ a hell of a lot, for me this is essential to how a game of football unfolds and this is how computer football games get close to showing us that it appears like a game of football. I’m also concerned about the contents of the game; if the game is to be classed as a sim it MUST contain elements of football within that game, for example, free-kicks, yellow/red cards, possession exchanges (players are humans after all), intelligence from the CPU, dumbness from the CPU (again the CPU is meant to replicate humans, who are prone to error). I want brilliance, I want the beast, I want some moves to flow with dashing authenticity and some periods of the game to resemble Wimbledon v Stoke. I want players to have individuality, I want Charlie Adam to unleash devastating strikes with his left foot and be like a flid with his right.
I want intelligence in both attack and defence, I want players overlapping if going forward or dropping in behind my defenders if defending. I want goal variation, I want crosses, volleys, deft build up play, own goals deflections, tap ins, thunder bolts, 0-0 games, and I want it all at the highest level possible (to get the most of myself and the CPU) without the game cheating, and I want to play it over a realistic time to immerse myself into the ebbs and flows of the game and to experience the way games change and shift like in real life.
Very importantly, I want an aerial game. Unless your Barcelona teams hit the ball in the air a lot, nobody can play like Barce by keeping the ball on the deck for the whole ninety, it should be rock solid to do, and that’s why only Barce can do it. The aerial game, and the principle of the ball being an entity on its own should mean that the ball is in the air a lot, how many times in real life (IRL) from now on, do the left and right backs boot the ball long when under pressure? Lots of times! If playing football on the floor was that easy and all players that comfortable on the ball then we’d all be playing like Barce. So the aerial game and the appearance of the ball bouncing here and there, getting contested in different situations and getting a physical game going, is all important too.
And this is where FIFA/PES players have different perceptions of goal variation, as well as the end product PES players seem to be of the mind that goal variation is the way in which the move takes shape, the build up of it, what happens during the move and how did that move come to an end, whereas FIFA players depiction (in my opinion) of ‘goal variation’ is how many combinations of buttons they can press to get their players to do spin-kicks, cross overs, flicks and then finesse finishes. This is cartoon football at its best. But it’s what the FIFA kids love.
So let’s lay the foundations just so you know where I am coming from –
I don’t pretend to be totally unbiased, but an unbiased nature comes from the fact that like so many I have played almost every game under the sun connected to football, and my unbiased nature comes from comparing and contrasting all the time, with each new release all these core components that I talked about previously. I’m a PES-boy, since the early years of PES, there has always been something just so pure and joyous in PES which FIFA has never replicated. It’s that little bottle of magic that even in its darkest hours they can still add a dose or two to a game to make it something. There’s also something less sinister about KONAMI for me as opposed to EA, I see EA has a horrible, deceitful, morally corrupt company, with their flashy gizmo’s and marketers dressed to the nines to promote their game constantly, promising the earth and delivering nothing. I see them as shallow and are right at the top of my company hate list along with businesses like BT/Utility companies who bamboozle you with promises and act all nicey nicey but who are in effect just looking to screw you out of every penny. Rant over here lol.
BUT, with that said, it’s not like I wake up every morning and say I’m going to like PES no matter what, that would be blinkered and foolish, and above all a waste of my time. If FIFA, in my eyes, genuinely is better and represents football that I see football as, I would only be too happy in playing FIFA more than PES. I am essentially not concerned whether the title has EA or KONAMI in it, I just want the game that represents what I believe to be like football the most. I will always love PES more than FIFA as a title, but if FIFA can give me the better football experience then that will get played much more than Pro Evo. For example, I played FIFA 09 over PES, and I played FIFA10 more than Pro Evo 10.
I will not sit here and type either that I am going to be fair just to be fair, I will be constructive and praise and criticise, but I can’t force myself to make things up; I’ve already come to the conclusion that PES is the better football game so how can I not taint the verdicts on its favour, so instead I will try and be as objective as bias will allow. It’s the best I can do, but at least it’s representative of what I believe.
So with all that said, here goes –
Here are my exhibits for the defence of PES, they are in dodgy camera form uploaded to Youtube.
PES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bp1OBjtJ4XM&feature=feedu (Bolton v Liverpool)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74PNDARdbcM (Liverpool v Arsenal)
The above are the links I will be using for this analysis, more games can be found here for reference later
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8fKidng9rY (Liverpool v Newcastle)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHoyCHTd5ac (Liverpool v Fulham)
The games have been varied in as much as graphics, and game speed, I’m still grappling over the perfect gamespeed, but these are the givens –
• ALL MY GAMES OF PES HAVE BEEN PLAYED ON SUPERSTAR DIFFICULTY
• ALL MY GAMES HAVE BEEN PLAYED WITH EITHER A 15, 17 OR 20 MINUTE GAME
SOME GAMES HAVE BEEN 2 BAR PASSING ASSISTANCE, SOME 0 BAR, AND NOW I’VE SETTLED ON 1 BAR
• ALL GAMES HAVE BEEN PLAYED WITH FIRE PATCH VIETNAM KITS/TEAMS PATCH, SOME GAMES HAVE BEEN UNMODDED GAMES (ie Just using PES2012.exe file) AND SOME I HAVE USED JENKEY’S PATCH.
Jenkey’s patch ensures that the game is more fluid in terms of player response, removes the CPU scripting BUT the trade off is that the CPU is more deadly in putting attacks together.
FIFA
I played FIFA a lot on release but got bored of it after two seasons. The two exhibits I show for FIFA are here –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFT6YOj0Whg (Liverpool v Bolton)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6SpNLGTWF4 (Arsenal v Liverpool)
I then sold my copy of FIFA, and haven’t played it for around a month, I then rented it on Blockbuster last week so that I could compare and contrast if needed, I had a feeling many people would come on here and say ‘well you slag FIFA off, where’s the evidence?’.
• ALL MY GAMES OF FIFA ARE ON WORLD CLASS DIFFICULTY – I FEEL PROFESSIONAL IS PROBABLY THE MOST BALANCED, WORLD CLASS CHEATS, AND LEGENDARY IS JUST REALLY, REALLY, BORING AND CHEATY
• THE GAMES HAVE BEEN PLAYED WITH 10 MINUTE HALVES, WITH THE DEFAULT WIRELESS CONTROLLER SETTINGS
• I ASKED ABOUT WHAT I SHOULD PUT THE SLIDERS BUT ABU WAS AWAY FROM HIS COMPUTER SO I’VE LEFT THEM AS THE DEFAULT
In both games I am Liverpool. Bear in mind that I play PES every day, and haven’t played FIFA for a month.
FIFA 12 v Pro Evo 2012
As well as looking at the two products and analysing them, purely by coincidence (around a one in fifty job) I had two games uploaded re PES as the two games I played last night on FIFA, these were Bolton and Arsenal. Brilliant stuff! So not only can I go into depth about the games themselves, I can actually compare the two sets of games as well, bargain!
This is what I am going to do, I am going to analyse each game (that’s four games altogether) and then give an overall all games thrown into the mix massive conclusion. The first game of each title (ie the Bolton game of each title) I will go into extreme detail, the next set of games (ie the Arsenal game) I will be less specific as I will probably be tired of writing so much, so I’ll just use a conclusion from both of these.
I will also at the end show two ‘other’ clips, one was a Swansea game last night and the other a Europa league game, just as a bit of extra content footage to do with PES. This will not be anything to do with my analysis but WILL highlight further that PES is king.
I ALSO SUGGEST YOU OPEN UP TWO BROWSERS SIDE BY SIDE SO THAT YOU CAN FOLLOW JUST WHAT THE HELL I'M ON ABOUT ON HERE IF YOU WISH!
PES 2012, Game 1, Bolton v Liverpool (1-1)
The game link – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bp1OBjtJ4XM
Okay, the game is introduced at the Reebok Stadium (aka Stadium Palenque lol),
1.40 – 2.00 – players are pumped lots of close activity, as the game immediately becomes scrappy, Bolton look to hit me fast
2.00 – 2.05 – I try and play myself out of trouble but Bolton are up for this, they hunt me down in brilliant attacking units, first from the wing, and then they put my CB under pressure, it’s foot through the ball time, which takes a deflection and goes aerially. A totally organic challenge from both players jostling for position and the ball falls Bolton’s way. At 2.14, Bolton have the first chance which is charged and Doni stops it from going for a corner. Already we’ve seen several aspects of the game being a ‘live’ entity.
2.28 – This will be the first and last time I solely highlight the attacking AI intelligence otherwise I will be here all day. Just watch this segment for its brilliance. Nothing happens out of the ordinary, but it’s these touches which separates the games. Henderson gathers the ball from a pass from Kelly, he comes inside a little and is then hunted by 2 Bolton players in the centre of the park, he gives a ball out to the right wing, to Rodriguez, he is then on his bike taking one of the two markers along with him, who has to track him, Rodriguez gets it and passes it back to Kelly. It was one of those segments which you’ll see ALL GAME, where nothing happens BUT everything happens....just brilliant.
2.40 – Again, brilliant. Enrique slide rules the ball into Suarez’ feet, how many times do you see this in football, the good old fashioned ‘barge in the back’, just letting Suarez know he’s in for a game at the Reebok. First free kick in the game, totally natural, totally lifelike!
2.50 – This whole passage of play wreaks class – the resulting free kick is taken by Suarez and he hits a long ball into the box, it’s a good one directed at the six yard box, the aim is to win the knock down. Bolton defender wins the header but the second ball is important. The ball rebounds over Adam’s head, and then the ball filters back to Enrique, he rustles inside the field and gives a small pass to Adam, out of the corner of my eye I see that Adam may have the amount of time needed to spin and pull the trigger.... he doesn’t disappoint, he rifles a stunning left foot drive (player individuality anyone), into the top right hand corner, brilliant gameplay.
4.32 – Although technically one my best players, Suarez dallies on the ball, he tried to shift weight position and skill his man, but it’s a good challenge from Bolton, dispossessed.
4.37 – PES’ superior defensive AI – Suarez looks to contain his man by holding up play, he does so slowing Eagles down, Kuyt is in the background tracking back (typical Kuyt) to help his team mate out, remember Suarez lost possession and so a few Reds men would have been committed forward. Suarez jockeys long enough for Kuyt to get in amongst it, this enables Kuyt to now become the main jockeyer as Suarez can filter in behind him Kuyt makes Bolton play the ball into the middle whilst Suarez drops off nicely into the left back area covering for the moment. Lucas then holds up play before Davies takes possession, but guess who’s there again?!? Suarez, this time he holds up play long enough for Enrique to cover his man (at 4.47) Eagles looks like he’s going to make a run on the wing here, Enrique cuts out the attempted pass to Eagles, the ball rebounds to Davies, who hits a pass to Eagles again, this time Enrique and Suarez are in the perfect defensive positions, both marking Eagles whilst another player (I think it’s Kuyt is also by their side) Eagles tries to go down a blind alley and gets a corner as both Suarez and Enrique shepherd him to the corner.
THIS IS WHAT PES IS ALL ABOUT!!!! The sequence of play from 4.35 to 5.00 is just a master class in real life defensive units, how players manoeuvre themselves and team mates to contain, and when necessary pressure. IN A NUTSHELL THIS IS WHERE PES EXCELS ITSELF head and shoulders above FIFA. If there’s one thing you take from this mammoth post, take this away! This is what makes PES the joy it is this year, the manipulation of space and the containment of players in order to get team mates working as a defensive unit, just brilliant stuff
5.01 – The corner comes in, Bolton are a huge aerial threat so there’s deep concern here, needless to say that Davies wins the header but I think it’s Henderson that does just enough to pressure him the header goes over.
6.04 – Nice move, a shot, and a good save from the keeper
6.31 – Shot comes in, but on the left foot (weaker side, pretty tame effort, keeper gathers)
7.10 – This bugs me a little, the CPU running down the wing, and when they get checked, they simply run the ball out, something KONAMI has to look at, just silly play by the CPU.
7.46 – Ball goes aerial nice volley from Gerrard, tame effort, but worth a go
8.42 – Lovely CPU move, ball gets pinged across and they head against the bar
9.17 – Free kick Liverpool
10.10 – Lovely interplay, Gerrard opens his body up, nice effort but good take by the keeper
10.35 – Lovely football, Suarez played in opens up his body then feints a back post shot to hit it near post, good save
HALF TIME
14.47 – Keeper on bar animation
15.13 – Good fair CPU tackling
16.00– 16.13 – Lovely left foot ping to get in behind the full back, cross comes in, keeper gathers
16.52 – Defensive AI again excellent, Coates is jockeying their guy, he tackles him and the ball breaks out to the winger (16.55). 16.53, brilliant stuff. Watch the little animation as he taps the ball slightly, sets himself and looks long, as he had time and hits a lovely diagonal ball into the box. 16.57, a brilliant flick onto the path of Davies, just wonderful gameplay. Davies sets himself and hits it on the half volley, Liverpool have been breached. Lovely technique from Davies keeps it down and low, the keeper is beaten but the ball rebounds out the ball comes back to a Bolton player and the keeper makes a brilliant save, great gameplay. All havoc ensues, and Liverpool get away with it.
17.32 – Look how I lose possession here and run it on. Petrov breaks with the ball and it ends up wide. At 17.39 after slight containment look at Liverpool’s defensive unit, three players goalside of the Bolton guy who had just been dispossessed.
17.46 – Another Bolton long ball into the box, after some success earlier, 17.50, look at the melee, quite brilliant and quite realistic. A Bolton player goes up for the challenge and is surrounded by red shirts, but with Livepool players strewn on the floor after the challenge the ball is flicked into the path of Eagles who hits an unstoppable brilliant low drive, excellent goal, and Bolton well worth the equaliser.
18.20 – A lovely Liverpool move, ball comes to Adam, and at 18.36 hits a slide rule pass out wide, I slice them open only for the ball to rebound quickly back to my striker but I’m pressing the sprint button and am too eager, his touch is poor and the ball bounces away from him.
19.55 – Good header from BW and a save is forced from my keeper
20.45 – Great give and go, Rodriguez uses his body and the CPU’s momentum against him as he slides infield as Rodriguez comes back to the touchline, this enables the run and space for the pass down the wing.
20.58 – Aerial battle again, the ball runs free after collision
21.05 – Lovely animation, Kuyt skips away from three defenders by using momentum and body shape, he runs pointing to the corner flag chased by three defenders, but a lovely reverse ball almost sees a gilt edged chance, but it’s just too hard.
22.04 – Again the simple things that make it real, as my guy comes inside and just moves back, their defender just gets a nick on the ball, the ball goes backwards a few yards, where I have to retrieve possession
22.10 – Kuyt turns his man, fires in a low shot and it just misses the far post, after a deflection
22.27 – Again the ball bounces anywhere after an aerial challenge
FULL TIME
CONCLUSION – A very hard fought game. Excellent variety in gameplay, with a good goal from Charlie Adam (left foot, player individuality) some good moves, and a good goal from Bolton (aerial move). We had passing on the deck, passing in the air, physicality with headers, good goalkeeping. We had a good number of free kicks also.
FIFA12, Game 2, Liverpool v Bolton (4-3)
**note low commentary, baby in bed, played this at 12.30am, had to have things on quiet**
This was the second game of the random game experiment, and so I was confident of hitting my straps after Arsenal.
The game link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFT6YOj0Whg
0.00-1.42 – Nice moves I’m not saying, but I’m relying on zig-zagging my way rather predictably toward the penalty area with a series of one two triggers.
1.50-1.54 – This is an area where FIFA aces PES, the impacts and resulting falls. I looked closely slowing the animations right down as I thought the engine had got it wrong, but indeed the Bolton guy comes in nudges the ball first before clattering Gerrard, Gerrard then hits the deck. Bravo FIFA
2.06 – This is where FIFA lets itself down, and badly. The previous ten to fifteen seconds had been building up to this point and I knew I was in trouble ages ago, the CPU finds itself on the corner of the 18 yard box one on one (you’ll be hearing this a lot from me lol), I have control over the guy jockeying him, but this is where there is a huge fail. In PES I can jockey and get close enough that I stop the shot/jockey one or two steps from him/try and tackle, and there will be enough team-mate cover (bear in mind on the edge of the 18 yard box) behind the said jockeyer, either way I can contain him in this situation in PES and perhaps usher him to the sidelines or something. In FIFA the CPU now has you by the balls.
I know a split second before what the CPU is trying to engineer and that’s the ultra responsive twist that beats my defender all ends up, in this split second I have a choice, stand there and try doing nothing (which results ironically in the computer making a bump challenge for me), contain (suicide here because there’s just too much gap between you and the attacker and he’ll just waltz unchallenged into the box where he’ll pass the ball to a team mate and score) or hold my ground. I opt for hold my ground where he passes the ball laterally to a team mate. I’m then in exactly the same boat, only closer to the goal lol. This time the CPU really has me by the dick, I’m in control of an ultra-unresponsive defender and right at this point I’m thinking all he has to do is out-reflex me.
Now in PES in this very situation I would hold jockey, which MAY give me time to hold him up for team-mates to support me behind slightly, I can in effect try and block the shot by getting bodies behind the ball. Here in FIFA terms, contain is about as good as a chocolate tea pot, so I either have to manually try and mirror him (but bear in mind that a computer programme will have faster inputs than what I can output on the controller, try and tackle him, or contain etc. I don’t so much contain him as he chooses to pass to his team-mate, who then shoots wide. The point is though that at no point was I in control of what should have been a controllable situation. Why is my defender left one on one in the box? It’s because the defensive AI is weak and cannot detect to get goalside and get bodies behind the ball, where are my midfielders trying to burst a gut to get into the penalty area and help me out?
02.58 – This is where you can tackle, I get a good body position and usher the ball out.
03.07 – Oh dear, a seamlessly harmful situation and I’m already in the shit before he has taken the throw. How do I know this? Because my defenders are in a perfect line (lovely) but they are across the twelve yard spot, meanwhile FOUR BOLTON PLAYERS ARE UNMARKED. This will give the CPU all the incentive necessary to manufacture ‘corner of the 18 yard box one on one’ again. The Bolton thrower takes the throw to the first guy that was unmarked, who then simply turns and feeds the second guy unmarked, now I’m in the shit (Corner of 18 yard box!?!)
03.10 – The CPU has me by the balls again. Notice that by 03.11 I am in control of the guy NOT goalside, so what I expect to happen is that my CPU controlled defender to just shepherd him somewhere out of danger, maybe just hold his position until I can get round the back with my human controlled guy. Nothing of the sort, whilst I try and run round my own man (who should be jockeying or doing something) my man just lets him stroll the defence by stepping inside the pitch, just ridiculous, passing him along the way. AT 3.15 I get a manually control tackle in, but it’s no thanks to my TEAMMATE, who was just useless.
3.34 – I’m looking for support at this stage, Adam offers it and I pass inside, it eventually falls to Carroll at 03.36, this is where FIFA is mundane. The way to score (or try and score) in FIFA is the camp on their 18 yard box and trigger lots of one twos back and forth. Here goes. I lose possession, they counter by-passing all the players that were not offering support, neither are they in defensive midfield positions, just there in no man’s land. The CPU then works it’s way into the area where it’s a complete lottery whether or not I get away with conceding a goal, I have little or no control over my defenders because turning then is like trying to turn a truck, as Bolton fire a shot wide
4.10-4.24 – I get up the field within a few passes, much like a game of chess, I pass ten yards, pass ten, yards, pass ten yards, with little or no thought. I get to their area where I lose possession trying a little through ball.
4.36 – Okay this is what I mean about the cheap programming and ‘illusory build up’ that I keep constantly referring to when talking about FIFA. In PES I have a comfort that wherever the ball is on the pitch, because players have decent enough response I can defend situations with positioning and jockeying, on FIFA because you know that as the defenders are just cumbersome it becomes red alert as soon as the CPU get within your half. This is what I highlight here. In PES, you can quash moves with superior matching of the CPU in terms of positioning so that eventually you bottle neck them into situations where they are forced to either play safe and go back, try something out of the box, or lose possession. The build up play that FIFA uses is just mere ‘illusory build up play’ to get their players into preset positions on the pitch to hurt the human player with. Like here – I lose possession on 4.36, fair enough, roll the clip. They make around five or six passes to get to this position, stop it at 04.48. Now this is the pass that sets the CPU up for its scripted stuff, when the guy gets it at 4.49, his response and movements is just too precise for a human player, he shuffles towards the touchline then loses me as my tank of a defender simply cannot compete with his reflexes. He then has the run inside, his aim? To get that CPU player in or around the corner of the 18 yard box. As the guy picks it up at 4.55 it becomes obvious what is going to happen but it’s whether or not the runner will be tracked when he gives the one two....At 4.56 the computer lets me have control of the player I was trying my hardest to switch to just in time for the CPU to give the one two and let him in (don’t get me started on player switching on FIFA, it’s as bad as what PES2011 was).
5.30 – around this mark I try and build up play again, and it’s the same attacking patterns over and over from me, because that’s all I have at my disposal. I have to pass it, run diagonally, check my run, pass it again, run diagonally, etc etc. I then slice them open a little and have the ball at 5.37 with Kelly, Carroll is on my inside. Now Carroll has got a steal on his defender and should start to run inward slightly (or anywhere forward) he isn’t offside so continue his run....then just as I got to pass the ball in front of him he takes a weird infield and back turn??! What’s going on there, chance lost as Carroll runs towards the other touchline lol.
5.46 – My God, what’s going on ere....I have a throw and give it to one of my men who is unmarked, I think it’s Carroll. There’s nine Spurs players in the picture (including the goalie) at this point and not one defender is marking anybody. Carroll gets the ball, turns, and tries to play a through ball into his strike partner. Very poor defensive units. BUT I’ll praise FIFA here for the offside that they play, so very well done there, BUT where was the marking, nobody was marking anybody?!? You had 9 Spurs players and they are trying to play offside in their own penalty area. FAIL
6.54 – The ball is threaded into Gerrard, and I have a chance to shoot. Gerrard hits it left foot, goal. It’s a lovely strike with stunning left foot sweeping animations, EA are kings in this area. It was a lovely goal although I’m not sure on Gerrard’s weak foot stats, but he is a class act so I’ll give the stats for the goal the benefit of the doubt even if it did look a little too perfect.
7.10 – The next passage of play is completely laughable and completely FIFA with it’s rubber band nonsense tarnished all over it. Bolton suddenly become Barcelona. They use passes and quick tricks/response to quickly engineer a perceivable goal scoring chance, leaving my defenders gaping at air, Song is now on the corner of the box, danger time. At 7.30, even though I have 5 Liverpool jerseys lined up in a line along the 12 yard bit from touchline to touchline, and three midfielders in a kind of line to the right of the picture (plus the keeper, that’s 9 players), Bolton will probably score in my head. At 7.34 rather wonderfully player switching makes me go Skrtel although I wanted the CPU to stay him and me cover him with my former controlled player, this leaves me fked, as I’m left one on one (even though I have a billion defenders). The result is a shot which my keeper parries (fair enough) and is converted but is offside.
8.05 – Build up play is again samey and monotonous, a series of trigger one two runs to get some kind of movement going eventually peters out again around the middle of the 18yard box for me.
10.27 – A series of offsides and I’m starting to doze at the hundred passes I’m putting together
11.23 – I’m in trouble, I can feel it. Again even though I have enough defenders in shot to deal with it in real life, I know that the responsiveness of the CPU player will outweigh my defenders traits and it’s a lottery once again. 11.24 and Kelly is on an unresponsive jaunt up the screen whilst Tuncay is through on goal. Will he score? Yep, I expect him to score I’m not saying, but this is FIFA glitch time, diagonal approach to the goal finesse anyone? I’m also not surprised I’ve been breached in the 42 minute. Through the ENTIRE history of FIFA games the fortieth minutes and the 80th minutes are gem times, where goals just appear from nowhere. FIFA players CANNOT deny that I would say over 75% of goals are scored during these periods. If you dispute this you are clearly crazy!
12.08 – Gerrard hits another LEFT FOOT SHOT, now this is getting a little ridiculous. He smashes one against the bar, now I love Stevie Gerrard he’s my favourite player but he’s already scored a screamer with his left foot and now he’s hitting pressured left peg thunder bolts against the bar, a littler fishy.
12.30 – LOL, you couldn’t make it up, the previously staunch defence opens up like the red sea as Suarez is fed urging him to attack the centre of the 18 yard box. A quick check of the time reveals none other than 45 minutes LOL, it’s just comedy gold. From here I could have pressed any combination of buttons and scored lol.
13.00 – LMFAO - And the CPU waste no time in scripting lol, that ball again is played where the CPU will now look to attack the 18 yard box edge, surely FIFA can’t be this blatant? I’m in control of Gerrard when rather inexplicably I get changed to Agger, I regain control with Gerrard. Tuncay says see you later with lightening cheat reflexes, now I’m in big trouble. Gerrard continues on for about ten yards unable to stop himself. As the ball is kicked at 13.04, the striker is offside, just stop it and pause it and see for yourself. It’s very tight, but this is a computer game which deals with definites, the game plays on, Skrtel appeals it, Doyle easily beats Skrtel and another goal is scored in the 45th minute. At this point I want to blow my brains out with a shotgun, but I continue on because I promised you.
HALF TIME
15.42 – This was a very good point for FIFA in the game, and I applaud everything about this move. The move starts from the back and I play a nice number of passes. At 15.55 I cut outside with Suarez so I’m pointing toward the corner flag, I then shimmy the ball outwards slightly again and then with a bit of Suarez magic come back inside Cahill. Absolutely stunning animations from EA here, truly brilliant. It looked very realistic and was very believable. This gives me enough time to have the space required as I home in on goal. I hit a lovely shot into the corner, a truly cracking goal, superb animations and ball physics on the shot. 10 out of ten!!
17.45 – Nooo, just when I sing the praises of FIFA and I feel like it’s a step forward and I think I may be too harsh on the title, just when it softens me up a little, it kicks you in the plums AGAIN. Right where do I start? A long ball is played up to the front to in which nobody is challenged, play on. Now at 17.48 I am in control of Skrtel, but my left back is just absolutely brainless. In this situation me with Skrtel is on the inside of his man, there is no support on the outside so what Enrique needs to do is come inside and filter around Skrtel so that he then becomes goal side, it’s only at 17.39 does this happen but it was only because I ushered Klasnic so far into the touchline. Again, bad AI. I had defended the move superbly, textbook stuff. But where does the CPU player look to go? Answers on a postcard?!? Yep you guessed it, the corner of the 18 yard box. Ring a bell anyone? Even at 18.05 I’m set up fine defensively. Roll onto 18.08. Multiple things wrong here again, and it’s just blatant cheat scripting. As the ball is dinked, the guy in the centre is offside for starters. But look how far behind the play the eventual scorer is, ANYTHING in the space between the goaly and my defence should be gobbled up. So, apart from the guy being offside, my left back puts his hand up for offside, stops completely and lets their guy in, I MEAN FFS!?!?!?!? They score, and I’m calling EA all the bitches under the sun. Terrible cheaty programming.
23.30 – The same moves I’m seeing from the CPU and the same moves from me. The CPU tries to get to the corner of the 18 yard box, and I try to pass run diagonal, come back on myself, pass run diagonal come back on myself. I’m bored.
25.02 – Again tragic, I throw in with nobody marking my player. 7 Bolton players and not ONE IS MARKING the guy that it is most likely to be thrown to. Then LMFAO again – only FIFA could make this up....as the ball is taken infield I pass to Adam At 25.05 Adam shoots right foot (the one he can’t kick with) and hits one toward the goal the ball deflects but beats the keeper at the near post, even though he has that covered!?? A quick check of the time and as sure as God made little apples, it’s the 90th minute. I cannot stop laughing. My missus wakes up comes down the stairs berates me for being up so late. I then finish the game off, switch the console off, and go to bed knowing that the last twenty minutes has been one big script.
FULL TIME
CONCLUSION – One of the most scripted games I’ve EVER PLAYED. And that takes some doing. It was even more scripted than the Europa league second leg games in PES 2011 even if you were 8 nil up from the first leg, you’d still lose on aggregate!
(Outward breath) Where do we start? Let’s start with the most obvious thing, this 40th minute plus, 80th minute plus bullshit HAS to stop. 1 goal was scored on 42, another on 45 and another in 90. In all my years of playing FIFA this happens ALL THE TIME. SO HOW CAN YOU CALL THIS GAME A SIM WHEN THE HIGHEST PROPORTION OF GOALS ARE SCRIPTED TO HAPPEN LIKE CLOCKWORK?!?
Ridiculous...
The next major problem is the defensive AI, it simply is just so bad. If PES hadn’t released their active AI then it wouldn’t look so bad, but FIFA’s defensive AI is just so, so bad and dated. The games pan out exactly the same really, all the CPU goals are scored in trying to get their players to the corner of the 18 yard box one on one, and all my goals were scored when trying to play centrally through the middle of the 18 yards box with a combination of trigger one two movements. All the teams play with little or no variety in their gameplay, I can play Bolton, Arsenal (who I will analyse next), Barce, Burton Albion there will be no significant change in abilities and passing stats and how the CPU play. Because the programming is just ordinary, very ordinary. There’s also no sense of tempo to the game. In PES there’s always tempo changes, in FIFA it’s like one long beeping sound....you’d think that 4-3 would have had me off my seat racing round the room, this couldn’t be further from the truth. I will say that there were moments of PURE GENIUS, that Suarez move and goal was simply stunning, not just the goal, but it’s execution and animations, the deft movements in animation were totally convincing. But what FIFA has in very fleeting moments of animation magic, it is more than always let down by the appalling defensive AI, and only satisfactory attacking AI.
PES 2012, Game 2, Liverpool v Arsenal (2-2)
Game link here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74PNDARdbcM
0.54 – A sensational start, a brilliant cutting through ball and the Arsenal CB is completely caught unexpected, and outstretched leg is his only chance, but he misses. Kuyt is clean through, is it too early for the first chance? He controls it right foot and the ball bobbles, he commits the keeper and finishes left foot in style. He pauses momentarily to check that he’s onside, and he is, the goal stands, one nil to Liverpool!
2.21 – Kuyt unleashes a piledriver, over the bar.
3.47 – Glancing Arsenal header
4.16 – Walcott picks up the ball in midfield but I’m okay with Lucas, I jockey for a second, but try and be clever and release jockey to tackle, in a flash Walcott is past me and away (I should have held jockey, tut tut) his arse is for dust. He sees Chamakh and plays a nice through ball, he is the favourite to score, and rounds the move off, brilliant counter attack from Arsenal, I got punished for lazy jockeying against the fastest man in the Premier League, with Lucas, what did I expect lol
5.16 – A lovely Liverpool move. Numerous passes, numerous inter-changes, lots of movement. At 5.39 I work the ball with Gerrard giving Aurelio just enough time to overlap on the outside, this was achieved by both my other runners going forward into the box taking their men with them, the result is space in behind for the cross, brilliant AI, brilliant gameplay.
6.00 – lovely segment, Kieron Gibbs gets held up and comes to a standstill by Kelly, Gibbs tries to drag it back before Rodriguez comes over to help and gets his foot in, he takes the ball first then the man as Gibbs gets forced to the floor by Rodriguez’ momentum, Rodriguez is momentarily on the back foot reeling from the impact and sees Rosicky coming, he quickly regains balance to just pip Rosicky to the ball, toe poking it toward Gerrard. Wonderful.
6.27 – Lovely tackle by Skrtel in the centre of the park to dispossess Arsenal, he then lifts a nice lofted ball into Suarez who blazes over after a good first touch to the side.
7.55 – Suarez dispossess Arsenal again, gets the shot off, pretty tame in the end
8.23 – Game tempo change, to 8.33
8.46 – Lovely aerial interplay
9.25 – Lovely move again. Aurelio to Suarez, and then Suarez comes inside taking his marker with him, meanwhile I had triggered Aurelio’s run previously, with Suarez taking the right back out of the game, Gerrard needs to hold it for a second, which he does, before releasing the ball in behind the full back. Aurelio gets to the byline crosses a scrambling Arsenal back line to Maxi, where he power heads in off the bar with super effect. Great goal.
10.18 – Long ball pinged down the wing Arsenal concede a throw. NOW COMPARE AND CONTRAST WITH THE FIFA THROW IN MARKING I RAISED IN GAME ONE. 10.28 – the guy that Suarez is facing is being marked by the left back, the guy to the bottom left of the screen is being marked by van Persie. The Arsenal defenders are not in a fkin straight line across the 12 yard area marking nobody, they are bunched where the danger is, four Arsenal guys around my two strikers, with the two central midfielders being where they should be, hovering where the ball may break. Now this is basics. One game is organic, real, and has a pulse, the other game is just stagnant where the AI is clueless most of the time on how to defend and position themselves. The result is that the first throw is pressured and the reds guy tackled, forcing another throw. Similar setup for the throw, but this time, because Liverpool are closer to the goal look how one of the midfielders for Arsenal is now filtered in behind the left back (this is at 10.34). This is to stop the throw and a passing exchange between the thrower and receiver leaving the left back 2 on 1. Van Persie is still watching his man bottom left and the Arsenal defence is still on red alert. As the throw come in and then back to Rodriguez watch carefully at the top of the screen (this is at 10.36/7 ish still) the Arsenal CB has come out to play offside, if I had played the ball in then it would of been offside, brilliant AI. As Rodriguez comes back further (10.39) watch the Liverpool striker and the Arsenal CB (top of screen) tussle, the CB is inside the strikers shirt, again outstanding AI. Adam is released ball comes in but Arsenal deal with the header.
HALF TIME
11.56 – Diaby goes for the spectacular
13.10 – Nice slide tackle
13.43 – Suarez goes for the spectacular
14.02 – Totally organic, Szency (whatever the GK name is) gets it and rolls it to the left back, Gibbs hits a lovely ball upfield looking for the target man, Liverpool win the first aerial battle, but Arsenal win the second ball which bounces randomly. Arsenal pick it up. Simple passage of play yet so effective in showing PES’ aerial strength.
14.48 – Walcott gets the ball in the middle of the park, but I learn my mistakes, and just back off, eventually Rodriguez tracks back, More interestingly watch the off the ball battle between Chamakh and my CB, great stuff, Chamakh makes a run which is tracked, in the meantime I’m holding Walcott up with Aurelio, My CB just tails him and pauses, Chamakh has to come back inside where my defender is safe enough now.
14.57 – AGAIN LOOK AT THE DEFENSIVE AI OF PES COMPARED TO FIFA GAME ONE – the ball is on the right wing, the danger is on the right side. Instead of Liverpool leaving all players one on one with each other players like the midfielders are protecting the slower defenders. Here you have 3 Liverpool players marking the two danger men on the wing, so not outnumbered, and condensing the play to that side. You have the two Liverpool central midfielders in the buffer zone in front of the CB who is marking the striker (top of the picture). If you look at the radar at the bottom you will see that the Liverpool defensive unit is sound essentially a back six, then two midfielders in the zone where the ball may bobble to, and the two front men. Again, huge credit KONAMI
15.00 – The move develops and Liverpool’s defensive unit spring into shape, as the threat emerges toward the centre the two anchoring midfielders now take it into their own hands to come across and help out, the result is that there are now 7 Liverpool players in the area of danger v four Arsenal players.
15.15 – Another prime example of PES’ AI superiority. The ball gets taken by Arsenal at 15.15, and Koschelny makes a dash for it, at this stage I’m in trouble. Now if this was FIFA my players would just say fk it and leave my defenders sort it out against the likes of Chamakh, Walcott, etc etc, but here Kelly holds up play on 15.21, this gives three seconds for Kuyt to come back and help him 15.24 and for the defence to re-align. By the time the ball is deflected into the path of Doni, there are 8 Liverpol players in the box plus the keeper
16.44 – the ball is nicked by Aurelio, who hits a panicky clearance upfield, Suarez wins the header and the ball goes anywhere. Another aerial confrontation battle follows, which is won by Arsenal, the ball bounces to Liverpool, a lovely first time volley pass is then hit to the wing, where the defender covers and headers out. Again simple, yet so life-like and effective.
18.00 – Lovely through ball from Arsenal, and Doni makes a one on one save, the pressure from Arsenal is starting to tell. 18.30 and scrambled defence. More pressure.
18.40-19.07 – It’s ALL Arsenal now.
19.07 – Penalty Arsenal, Kelly leaves his foot in and down goes the Gooner. Arsenal would say they deserved it they ran riot last ten minutes of game time. Penalty converted bottom left.
20.30 – Ooh so close, a left foot Gerrard finesse shot almost comes off, but just wide. Left foot isn’t his most powerful and it showed with the shot.
21.09 – WTF – the Arsenal keeper is up such is their desperation to win a game lol, sort it out KONAMI, I only really notice at 21.11 when he’s running back to the goals!! LOL Only fail in the game!!
FULL TIME
CONCLUSION – A brilliant game. Action, shots, lovely moves, great defence and offence. The game had just about everything.
FIFA12, Game 1, Arsenal v Liverpool (1-0)
Here is the game link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6SpNLGTWF4
04.19 – I lose possession and where does Ramsay start heading, that’s right people the corner of the 18 yard box. At 04.23 he actually stops on it, and then starts his diagonal assault on me as the CPU once again has glitched me, it’s now 50/50. I do okay this time (either that are or the CPU just decides not to score) But don’t worry the CPU will have another corner of the box assault, this time with van Persie, he tries to outstrip Skrtel, but Skrtel gets the tackle in, but the script has kicked in and Persie magically retrieves the ball whilst Skrtel goes for a jaunt (impact engine my arse). If Persie is stronger than Skrtel I’ll eat my hat and my mouse. He glitches into a goal scoring opportunity where the keeper saves it.
5.33 onwards – Oh man, I hate the scripting in FIFA, jeez. Arsenal do their illusory build up play and I know exactly what’s coming early in the piece. The CPU works itself to the corner of the box again with Arteta (at 5.41), only this time he passes back, but the ball comes back to him. He’s right on the corner of the box again. There’s only one winner here. But this is great stuff, At 5.47, Skrtel is positioned perfectly for any harm he’s the CB by the way. The Arsenal strikers are five yards behind him. At 5.48 Skrtel pulls away from the danger zone and lets the striker get in front of him, right from the Tampax League Division 15 South East Conference Section 1 Area B League defending....At 5.49 and by the time that Arteta has hit a little ball into the area, Skrtel is off on a jolly next to the other CB. Never mind Martin, there’s always the Tampax League Division 16 South East Conference Section 1 Area B league is you don’t make the grade with Liverpool. Jesus Christ. Watch the replay on 6.01, it’s even worse than I thought.
8.00 – A half chance on the spin, keeper saves, fair enough I didn’t put enough power on it and my body angle was wrong. Believable.
9.51 – I realise both me and the CPU are doing the same thing over and over again.
10.24 – Excllent stuff from FIFA the guy down injured in the goal area, that’s what PES has to take a leaf out of FIFA, the injuries side of things. Well done EA.
11.26 – The gameplay though is a grind, it’s the same monotonous moves over and over.
HALF TIME
(Note) Arsenal have a pass percentage of 91%, nice.
16.07 – I carve a chance on the right wing with Kelly and cut inside, Henderson gets it then lays a perfect ball to Suarez! Suarez, eight yards out just the keeper to beat, he hits it, hard, WHAT, I AIN’T HAVING THAT, the keeper makes a quite unbelievable save, SOO unbelievable that you could say it was scripted. Suarez blasts the ball from eight yards out, aims for the corner and then keeper saves it. I feel my anger levels raise a notch. It’s complete bull shit, later inspection on the replays show that the keeper was in position a micro second before the shot was kicked, sheer laws of physics and human reflexes would not have been able to stop that from being a goal. The only people capable of stopping that would have been Yoda, Young Skywalker and Lord Sidious.
20.46 – NO WAY AGAIN!! I craft another move Suarez has it and slide rules it to Downing who hits a bullet shot low and hard. Study the replay, the way the keeper was positioned and moving slightly forwards and to his right, combined with the velocity and range from which Downing hit it, there is NO WAY ON EARTH that any keeper would have been saving that. In fact if you stop it at roughly 20.49, you can see that the keeper begins to move his hand, in the normal universe that shot would have hit the back of the net before the keeper would have finished the animation of moving his arm, simple as. LOL, in fact looking closer at it again he saves it with his foot, which is even more incredible as right at the point in which Downing hits the ball at 20.49, the keeper is perfectly flat footed readying himself for the shot, it would be near enough IMPOSSIBLE for the keeper to adjust his feet in relation to a ball travelling at that velocity, simply MATRIX like. I’m not having that sorry Peeps, that is just blatant scripting.
21.18 – It’s around this time that I’m getting really bored, both teams have played exactly the same way since forever it’s the only way either of us can do it. This HAS to be the dullest FIFA ever released I’m thinking.
22.40 – More reflex madness from van Persie who shoots and hits the post. Arsenal have had three chances in the second half that if the game wasn’t scripted to finish 1-0, they would normally have scored. The effect of hitting the post is just that I’m afraid.
FULL TIME
Conclusion – Honestly, thank God. The game was dull and repetitive. The game was going to end 1-0 no matter what it seemed, I had two absolute gilt edged chances, the first one you could argue that it would have been a goal 85% of the time if you take natural laws of the universe into account, but that 15% there is always a doubt. The second one, there is NO CHANCE IN HELL that ANY man alive would have had the reflexes to save that, so that was just scripted bullshit. Arsenal glitched their way to three good chances which normally would have been put away, but were scripted to miss I guess. A mundane affair with little or no life and a complete relief when it finished.
THE FINAL OVERALL CONCLUSION
In case you haven’t been following this epic analysis, I think FIFA is below okay, and I think PES is head and shoulders better.
Why? Simple –
Primarily –
PES has infinitely superior defensive AI, this is handy in a multitude of ways, not least because you can apply positioning and jockeying to give yourself time and to make less space for the CPU. The defensive covering of your team mates in PES is sensationally accurate. In FIFA, once the midfield is breached your own your own Jack, usually in the shape of a computer programmed reflex-roided Walcott v your fat and clumsy Carragher.
The CPU play the same way ALL THE TIME. They look to hit the glitch area at the corner of the 18 yard box where they rely on said one on one, to skip past you. There they either finish one on one with the keeper, or they cross for the tap in. No team mates help you, nobody filters in behind defenders it’s just fight for yourself.
The CPU play the same way in FIFA, but so are you forced to. It’s basically pass forward run diagonal, come back on yourself, pass again, run forward, come back again, pass etc etc.
The lack of free kicks/corners/fouls in FIFA. The lack of an aerial game (the ball bounce is too scripted).
The eternal problem of goals ‘getting’ scored in the 40th plus minute and the 80th plus minutes. This has been scripting bullshit in FIFA since Moses was a boy. How can anyone claim that a game is Sim-like if the goals are so obviously loaded to be scored at certain times of the game? I just don’t get this. It’s like having a bend in a Formula One game that you constantly crash on regardless of how you enter it, or you being able to overtake the CPU car 150 yards from the finish line every race, it’s just scripted and it’s just pathetic. This has gone on blatantly in every FIFA release.
PES has infinitely superior attacking AI, this essentially is where the variation in games take place. You will never have the same game twice because it isn’t possible; if I’m with Gerrard for example in the middle of the park depending on my body position, the way I turn and angle myself or run a certain direction it will trigger a multitude of variables dependent on the person I control and what I’m doing. I can bring brings into the game or not, I can create angles and new attacking lanes but shifting he ball, and sometimes it is necessary to go across or even back to generate the angles to hit that glory ball that would open up a defence. In FIFA players are assigned to their positions and that is more or less where they stay, unless you keep constantly triggering them.
In PES you can use decoys, use short passes/or long to vary the angle of attack, you can do this because you know that the CPU will play like a human being and therefore will have the same human weaknesses as the human player and so you can try what you want because the situation is never weighted against you. In PES you can use the CPU momentum and inertia against them for example and sell them like a human player, in FIFA you feel like you’re playing against a computer, and so everything is more cagey. When you hit that long ball up to Carroll on FIFA you’re not thinking about stats and who is most likely to win the header, you’re thinking I’m playing on World Class mode, the computer is 80% likely to win this header, regardless if Carroll is up against Jimmie Krankie (to the young pups look it up). All those aerial 50/50 balls in PES to get field position just isn’t worth doing in FIFA because essentially the coding at the higher levels means not that the CPU become smarter, but that more things go in its favour.
In the two games I chronicled here on FIFA I cannot remember having a corner, and I cannot remember the CPU trying to get to the byline to cross a ball in; so that's 180 minutes of football with no corners and no crosses from the wing?!? And this is sim?!?! And I probably only had one or two free kicks. For me FIFA is just lifeless. For a game to be classed as a sim it must have simulation aspects in it, to me the way the CPU attack is lifeless and dull, the way I have to attack is lifeless and dull. The entire games are generally lifeless and dull dispersed with time-mechanic coding that just makes things happen occasionally to spruce things up a bit.
The advantages of FIFA –
Well the animations for a start. They are lovely, if PES had FIFA’s animations there would be absolutely no contest that PES would wipe the floor with FIFA. FIFA also have the licences. Whilst the animations are better I still don’t like FIFA’s player models, they look like china dolls to me. Take Steven Gerrard for example, in FIFA he looks the cutest thing on the Earth, with his lovely little china head. In PES, there is the element of Resident Evil-ness no doubt lol, but the textures of the face and detail of their entire bodies (aside from animations) is brilliant, and they look like footballers, nice and mean, snarling at each other. In FIFA they all look like they are about to go to a doll’s house with Ken and Barbie. FIFA need to un-cartoon it a bit, and start getting their player models to look more sinister.
Injuries, PES should take a leaf out of FIFA’s book about injuries short ones and the longer more serious ones. This is a BIG problem in PES. I’ve played millions of matches now and the longest someone has been out is 6 weeks, just not good enough. The injuries in PES just aren’t serious or substantial enough to warrant wholesale changes that would de-stabilise an entire team, like IRL. I want people out with cruciate problems, I want the odd broken arm or something, I want flu problems, hamstring issues, I want to be selective and protective over certain players. If I went Arsenal and I played van Persie for four consecutive games including league and Euro games I’d want to see him generate some sort of serious long term injury, this would give the manager much greater control and make him manage the team. The problem FIFA has with the injuries is because player individuality is just terrible, if Gerrard gets injured then I can just replace him with Spearing and not feel any loss of performance within the team. In PES if Gerrard and Adam aren’t playing, then I really feel the problems in the midfield area. BUT, I can play Gerrard week in week out (if I watch his stamina accordingly) and this just isn’t good enough. I want to have to make a big chance whether I play my big players in Europa games and keep them for the big games, or risk them in both and risk injuries.
The more jazzier look. PES must grow up over this. I’ve argued this time and time again with fellow PES people who do not believe that KONAMI should change their presentation style, to me this ‘oh look how sweet KONAMI look with their quaint Japanese ways and retro style, oh bless them’ bollocks HAS GOT TO STOP. They need a complete overhaul of the presentation; I don’t care, get some cheesy fkin marketing presentation guy in and jazz the whole thing up. Everything about the presentation (apart from the gameplan screen which I love, this and is infinitely better than the mess FIFA has, it takes around 3 hours to move people from their ‘base position’ into somewhere else, only to find that you can’t because someone else is there, then you have to fk about with their position, change the role, and then you get so frustrated that you say sod it and leave it all there, why can’t they just have PES drag and drop) sucks, the music is annoying, the dark imagery and general gloomy feel, the unmodded blurry shitty pitches, we’re in the 21st here Seabass, where’s the high definition pitches that modders can churn out in 30 minutes on their own? On the PS3 version players are blurry and smudged, how can you go two years since PES 2010 on the PS3 and graphics have got worse?!? Insane stuff from KONAMI.
Transfers and transfer day, love that feature on FIFA.
The way the players discuss their problems and moan, much better on FIFA. I am getting extremely irritated on PES now with all the bitching that is going on, these are just some examples –
** Gerrard is knackered after a strenuous derby match, he storms into my room and says he’s tired, so the next game I rest him on his say so. After the game he storms into my office to say why didn’t you play me? He then goes from yellow happy smiley, to nasty red sad face smiley.
** Gerrard demands the number 10 shirt, apparently he wants to ditch his number 8 shirt that he is synonymous with world wise, on top of the fact that his merchandisers and marketers must be going ape over this commercial suicide as he obviously hasn’t consulted them, it makes no sense whatsoever; Gerrard is number 8, always has been always will be. But he wants 10. So I give him ten, he then turns round and says it’s not what he’s after but he’ll have to stick by my decision. I shake my head and curse Seabass.
** Jay Spearing constantly bitching that he’s superior to Suarez, Lucas, Gerrard and Adam. Fk off out of my office you stupid potato head and play with the reserves for five minutes
Just the constant communication with my squad of moaners starts to depress you
But I think that is it.
I have grown tired of FIFA in just the two games that I played. The problem with FIFA is exactly the same as always. You spend a certain time playing it on purchase and reach a level very quickly. But no matter how many hours of practice you put into it, you still maintain that level. There is NOTHING more I can gleen from the product, I’ve seen it all. If I was going to be clever I could have just kept possession forever on FIFA and finally worked that one-two at the edge of the box, but I played it like it should be played. With PES it’s different, the learning curve is huge, but once you get there and feel comfortable with the game, all sorts of possibilities open up.
I enjoy every game, because the games are so unpredictable.
WHAT THEY BOTH HAVE TO WORK ON
PES – As mentioned it’s the entire presentation. Realistic injuries. Get rid of the rails element. A million animations, animations, animations, animations, this is key for going forward. Leave the gameplay AI alone, it’s fantastic. Improve keepers slightly. Get rid of the passing assistance bar, have 1 universal passing way, if it’s too hardcore for some then tough, get practicing. Which leads me to my next point, I don’t play online because it is a complete mess, but the passing assistance being universal would surely stop all these noobs going Real Madrid and Barcelona. For online gamers, KONAMI need to work really hard in making noobs going Barce and Real really inaccessible, introduce a harsh stamina system that turns even Ronaldo into Jabba the Hut as the human noob keeps pressuring non-stop sprinting for even twenty minutes, this will stop the noobs from pressure whoring and ensure that the proper gamers who want to play football get rewarded. Introduce a much better points system where if you win with Real or Barce fine, you get five points, if you win with Cesensa you get 500 points, make it THAT radical so that players are forced to play with all the teams in PES. That’s about it.
To all the whiners and moaners, the tackling system is perfect, if KONAMI mess this up next year and make it more user friendly I’ll kill myself. Seriously I will. I’ll then get my missus to post the lifeless corpse to KONAMI HQ and hope that Seabass makes a patch that returns the tackling system to the way it was; if I’m going to go I may as well do something productive in keeping this system! It’s taken me forever to perfect it, I suggest if you have a problem tackling and jockeying then do what I did, practice for 1000 hours and stop your bitching. If you’re in control of Darren Fletcher and you have Walcott running toward you at full tilt, then guess what, don’t try and tackle him?!? I mean for FFS, what do you expect to happen, just take the ball off the fastest player in the Premier League by sticking a foot out? PES’ attacking AI is a joy too, leave alone.
FIFA- oh dear, where do we start? Well they have the licenses and the general razzmatazz so that’s all in place. They need to get rid of that gameplan screen and go PES drag and drop, it’s a pain in the arse to be honest. There’s lots of little things that they can work on, but the biggest worry is the AI and the game engine.
EA promised us lots this year, and to be honest, in terms of pure gameplay, I don’t see a great deal of change. They have gotten rid of legacy defending because people were bitching that online was becoming a pressure fest with the single and double pressure Chelsea/Real/Barce noobs constantly pressure whoring, much like PES online. So what did they do? Instead of introducing an effective stamina system that drains all players quickly from constant pressuring and decrease the tackle radius slightly, they rip apart the art of pressuring and introduce the ‘contain’ function something so extraordinarily pointless that it beggars belief. In PES the jockey space is perfect, it is far enough so that the opponent can’t skip past you, gives you just enough distance to get the tackle in should you wish, holds up the play so that team mates support in behind you, and contains to block shots from the strikers. That’s what its purpose is in PES. I really don’t know what the function of ‘contain’ does in FIFA apart from mirror the striker from five yards away. You cannot sufficiently tackle with any confidence because it takes forever for the tackle animation to generate; it’s like slow motion when you stick a foot out to tackle as the striker skips past you like Agent Smith. Then at the higher levels, you just mirror the CPU man into the edge of the 18 yard box where he can just pass it to other team mates for the tap in.
FIFA 11 online was a blast at times, provided you had a game plan to execute against the noobs. All it needed both online and offline were these changes in stamina and tackle radius, the game defensively, is now totally broken. I have no confidence in quelling moves as it is just all about the CPU reflexes against my own, which I cannot possibly win over 20 minutes, I’m a human being.
So the entire defensive philosophy needs to be shredded from a ‘contain’ point of view. They basically need to copy PES in this respect.
Defensive AI. The way that team-mates should react defensively needs to be ripped up, but I’m really not sure EA can do anything more with their engine (which essentially is the same since forever). They have coded more build up play than before, but this is just trimmings to me. I don’t think EA have it in their locker in terms of making the AI better. All the highlights from the games I’ve shown too many times my defenders (and sometimes the CPU’s) are just left one on one, whist the entire team watches. EA need to study real football defensive lines, and defensive units and watch what happens when teams lose possession. At the moment if I’m attacking and I lose possession the midfielders just retreat to their positions on the gameplan screen, uh uh, not good enough. In real life and on PES my midfielders are busting a gut to get back, if I then position myself and jockey well enough, I buy my team enough time to re-jig behind my jockeyer defensively. This may include people like Gerrrad, most certainly Lucas etc getting back behind the defender.
EA REALLY needs to work on this, but like I say this is an engine problem, I don’t think it can be done easily.
The obvious scripting also has to stop.
Right then peeps, you wanted it so here it was, my entire thoughts on the two games, together with evidence. My bias towards PES is based on the fact that I think it is the better game and as I’ve had two months with it, I simply cannot pretend that it isn’t the better game. What I have tried to do is objectively tell you why I think it is using video footage and why I think FIFA is lacking in terms of depth and deficient AI.
It’s taken me ages to write this, so I’m going for lay down now guys!! The bottom line is play the game you love playing, for me it’s PES, for others FIFA may float your boat. It all depends on what we personally are looking for. Peace out.
PS
I will edit this post by attaching games at the bottom in time, I have a game against Swansea uploading which is probably my most sim like game yet in terms of playability, speed etc etc. As always, it’s Superstar mode and either 17/20 minute games.
Any questions PM me or respond in the thread, if you hate me, then just ignore me. I have to actually g out and earn some money now, so have a good day!
