Ah y'see this is my difficulty.
I've only played FIFA on PC which I hated after a yr of PES. I played FIFA on X360 for all of 10 min and got whupped, and I don't own either the game or the system.
So it's like you're evangelising to me but I can't even act on your msg. One of my good mates is a seeming convert from PESism (lol at the religious extended analogy) so when I'm next in London I think he's gonna educate me in the ways of FIFA.
Again, I never play online so I can't comment.
I can only present a straw-man defense for PES. Perhaps you're being slightly enthusiastic in your presentation of PES for dramatic effect, perhaps you're entirely accurate, but in my view:
-Riera is truly a class player in PES, I outdo most right backs with him, and his cut inside is just lethal.
-Masch plays in PES just like you describe him. I play him on a blue because he outplays his deputies of Plessis and Lucas.
-Kuyt is a great SS, and very serious on the right wing, albeit without the guile of Benayoun or Riera. Great shot, and on an orange or better is just an unstoppable force a la Gerrard.
-I love Carra and for all the dissing he gets in real life, in PES, he will always play, normally alongside Agger as he has all the essential stats[Covering, DF field, marking, sliding too?], and if he gets an up orange or better, he will just wander the whole of his own half stealing the ball from opponents. If you let him or Agger dribble forward with the ball they will just plow past challenges until you release the ball (or you meet another immoveable force in Puyol or Terry)
I *am* doing most of my play on ML, where stats have increased/decreased by 1 or 2.
That said, I just upgraded my parents' PC and its much faster for PES though not as handy to carry around as my laptop! I'll often get a random v random match going on the PC as I haven't started any ML on there. I played my lil bro [Man U fan] as Spartak Moscow and the AMF, Alex, had a blinder of a game, and their CF, (Wallton or something?) stuck 2 cleanly past VDSaar, and hit the post for Alex to slot away the rebound with his killer left foot (which hit an awesome free kick too)
So know what you mean about world travels, although I'd be loathe to say that you can only do that in either Fifa or PES. You're right though - as Barca are clearly so good in PES, most ppl will choose them online and off, and if you do most of your PES play against humans, you'll only come up against the same teams.
That said I played my old housemate as Liverpool v his Barca night after night until we switched to his supported North London (lol) and I learnt all 3 teams pretty well after 30min - 1hr a night of play for 6 months.
My random v random is awesome though, you should try it. Just hold shoot at the team selection for home, and then again for away - like 5sec for home, and 10s for away, and then just play the teams that come up on top player. It really teaches you to play from the back, keep possesion, not to dive in for challenges etc. Stuff we know, but don't do in computer games "cos they're computer games"
But Barca
Deary me
Have to come back to them
First game of PES today, I played LIV v Bar on exhibition.
First match, first half, Henry ran rings around my whole team, Alves robbed riera on the HWLine, and then rocketed a shot that beat everything including Reina and the crossbar (by about 3 inches). Messi never lost the ball, Ibrahimovic was pickpocketing Masch, and Xavi and Iniesta got on with what they do, dribbling and passing super-intelligently.
0-1 Barca
I tried to play properly, and scored a good team goal for 1-1
2nd half I thought I had the right tactics, but no, 1-3 Barca. Ouch. Obviously 20+ games of LIV v Bar over a cpl weeks is not enough practice - you have to do it everyday, and recently!
But 2nd game, I got into my stride and it was 3-0 Liv, job done.
So yes, Barca are scary even offline, but you have to play to your strengths. I don't know if FIFA is the solution, and perhaps it is in the wider scheme of football games, if not just for LIV v Bar...
...but for me it ain't an option, so I just got on with it, and I'll beat the Top Player CPU 50/50 in that contest, which is probably almost realistic if you think about the squads in real life.
Lol at the vinnie jones reference - that would be epic. He still looks about the same (in films) as he did on the pitch - big tall , pretty lean and very mean. And yes, when I get it fixed, I'll have to start playing online, and then save up for FIFA for my own comparison.
PS. When I do random random I almost always lose the first match, but I'll go back and replay 3 or 4 times until I "get" the team and players, after which I can hold my own. Definitely improves me as a player and in real life too, although, like real life, the less I practise the more I forget.
I've only played FIFA on PC which I hated after a yr of PES. I played FIFA on X360 for all of 10 min and got whupped, and I don't own either the game or the system.
So it's like you're evangelising to me but I can't even act on your msg. One of my good mates is a seeming convert from PESism (lol at the religious extended analogy) so when I'm next in London I think he's gonna educate me in the ways of FIFA.
Again, I never play online so I can't comment.
I can only present a straw-man defense for PES. Perhaps you're being slightly enthusiastic in your presentation of PES for dramatic effect, perhaps you're entirely accurate, but in my view:
-Riera is truly a class player in PES, I outdo most right backs with him, and his cut inside is just lethal.
-Masch plays in PES just like you describe him. I play him on a blue because he outplays his deputies of Plessis and Lucas.
-Kuyt is a great SS, and very serious on the right wing, albeit without the guile of Benayoun or Riera. Great shot, and on an orange or better is just an unstoppable force a la Gerrard.
-I love Carra and for all the dissing he gets in real life, in PES, he will always play, normally alongside Agger as he has all the essential stats[Covering, DF field, marking, sliding too?], and if he gets an up orange or better, he will just wander the whole of his own half stealing the ball from opponents. If you let him or Agger dribble forward with the ball they will just plow past challenges until you release the ball (or you meet another immoveable force in Puyol or Terry)
I *am* doing most of my play on ML, where stats have increased/decreased by 1 or 2.
That said, I just upgraded my parents' PC and its much faster for PES though not as handy to carry around as my laptop! I'll often get a random v random match going on the PC as I haven't started any ML on there. I played my lil bro [Man U fan] as Spartak Moscow and the AMF, Alex, had a blinder of a game, and their CF, (Wallton or something?) stuck 2 cleanly past VDSaar, and hit the post for Alex to slot away the rebound with his killer left foot (which hit an awesome free kick too)
So know what you mean about world travels, although I'd be loathe to say that you can only do that in either Fifa or PES. You're right though - as Barca are clearly so good in PES, most ppl will choose them online and off, and if you do most of your PES play against humans, you'll only come up against the same teams.
That said I played my old housemate as Liverpool v his Barca night after night until we switched to his supported North London (lol) and I learnt all 3 teams pretty well after 30min - 1hr a night of play for 6 months.
My random v random is awesome though, you should try it. Just hold shoot at the team selection for home, and then again for away - like 5sec for home, and 10s for away, and then just play the teams that come up on top player. It really teaches you to play from the back, keep possesion, not to dive in for challenges etc. Stuff we know, but don't do in computer games "cos they're computer games"
But Barca
Deary me
Have to come back to them
First game of PES today, I played LIV v Bar on exhibition.
First match, first half, Henry ran rings around my whole team, Alves robbed riera on the HWLine, and then rocketed a shot that beat everything including Reina and the crossbar (by about 3 inches). Messi never lost the ball, Ibrahimovic was pickpocketing Masch, and Xavi and Iniesta got on with what they do, dribbling and passing super-intelligently.
0-1 Barca
I tried to play properly, and scored a good team goal for 1-1
2nd half I thought I had the right tactics, but no, 1-3 Barca. Ouch. Obviously 20+ games of LIV v Bar over a cpl weeks is not enough practice - you have to do it everyday, and recently!
But 2nd game, I got into my stride and it was 3-0 Liv, job done.
So yes, Barca are scary even offline, but you have to play to your strengths. I don't know if FIFA is the solution, and perhaps it is in the wider scheme of football games, if not just for LIV v Bar...
...but for me it ain't an option, so I just got on with it, and I'll beat the Top Player CPU 50/50 in that contest, which is probably almost realistic if you think about the squads in real life.
Lol at the vinnie jones reference - that would be epic. He still looks about the same (in films) as he did on the pitch - big tall , pretty lean and very mean. And yes, when I get it fixed, I'll have to start playing online, and then save up for FIFA for my own comparison.
PS. When I do random random I almost always lose the first match, but I'll go back and replay 3 or 4 times until I "get" the team and players, after which I can hold my own. Definitely improves me as a player and in real life too, although, like real life, the less I practise the more I forget.