I was scoring for fun on PES 2010 (Difficuly: Top Player) in comparison to FIFA 10 (Difficulty: World Class) with a semi-assited control scheme, which is more difficult than the default assisted control scheme packaged with PES.
In my opinion it is far more difficult to fashion a goal scoring opportunity on FIFA, than it is on PES. In terms of finishing off those goal scoring opportunities, it's a similar finding for me. I would get into crossing positions with relative ease on PES and get in a brilliant cross, unchallenged, far more often than not, and then see the ball hit the back off the net off a bullet header, if not the unstoppable diving header that happened way too often. It was all too easy. With FIFA I find it is not as easy to get into a crossing position, and there is neither as much time to dither on the ball to decide where to place your cross before an opposition player is on top of you.
I also find the centre backs on FIFA to be far more effective at getting defensive headers in, and generally making life difficult for your attackers in the area. It's a real physical battle to edge out your marker and then get a header away while trying to keep it on target with that marker leaning into you or throwing themselves desperately in a bid to limit your options. And on semi-assisted it is a hell of a lot more difficult to direct a header on target than it is on PES.
In regard to one on one situations. First and foremost, again, I find it a lot more difficult to get into one on one situations on FIFA than on PES. And when I do go through one on one in FIFA it's, again, more difficult to keep your effort on target due to a semi-assited control scheme actually bringing aiming into the equation. I do find that when I'm through one on one on FIFA, completely clear of any opposition defenders, if I can keep a cool head I can slot the ball home. But on PES it is being reported that the goalkeepers are pulling out brilliant saves a little too often in these situations. This is an area where PES has got the realism wrong, if this is true. If we all watch real football, and I assume that we all do, then we can all agree that when a striker is through one on one they're going to score far more often than not if they place their shot correctly. The fact David N'Gog managed to score a one on one against Edwin Van der Sar, at the first time of asking, backs that up without a need for any statistics. So EA have done nothing other than impliment a realistic approach to one on ones. Konami on the other hand have made one on ones more difficult than they should be, at the expense of realism, so to create more drama during matches. If you want a more arcade feel, then that is fine. But for those of us who want realism, it's very, very poor.
In PES you can score from crosses all day long, and bury long range efforts quite regularly. In FIFA you can score regularly from one on ones, which are harder to come by. I think the latter is just a tad more realistic. And it ultimately doesn't matter all that much that the goalkeepers in PES are fashioned to save a lot of one on ones (which is, again, just plain unrealistic), because they collapse at the mere thought of a fake-shot, allowing you to round them and score a tap-in.
On a different note; I am beginning to notice the player individuality in FIFA a lot more. I would say it is not as pronounced as PES but, it is definitely there. The supposed lack of player individuality is one of the main scratching posts for loyal PES fans to knock FIFA over, and well, it really isn't that big of an issue anymore. If you think Gary Neville is going to play the same as John O'Shea, or even similarly to Rafael, then you're sorely mistaken. I was worried that passing and shooting were going to be unchanged by player statistics, and initially it was difficult to tell, but in time it becomes more apparent that stats do matter.
And in response to the issue of PES and its passing actually being determined by player individuality. I ask this. What does player individuality really matter in PES when the passing is assisted and rarely ever miscues. You're going to see balls reach their target a shade quicker, and perhaps in a more appealing fashion but, it doesn't matter whether you play the pass with David Beckham or David Nugent, it is still going to reach its target regardless of everything else. On FIFA there is actually a chance that your pass is not going to reach its desired target unless you aim correctly and measure out the power to determine the pace. The majority of the time, in PES, all wayward passes were a product of the assisted passing choosing the wrong player as the recepient, or from poor timing on the gamers part in playing the pass at the wrong moment (nothing to do with accuracy) when the opponent was moving to intercept.
