http://www.fifasoccerblog.com/ - http://www.fifasoccerblog.com/

 

It's also worth looking there for the little player pictures.  I could have sat there all day and still not known it was Jens Lehmann.

 

I know. That was meant to be a cheap shot at EGM, not you. It's also the same magazine that I've quoted scores from many times.

 

Ever played with a lower league side?  I'm a Hartlepool United fan and so inevitably I play a few matches with them first thing.  They're not quite as prone to spannering easy chances wide as they were on the last-gen releases, they don't feel quite as sluggish to control, and after years of half-baked, half-accurate, half-arsed rosters from EA, their full squad is represented and, broadly speaking, playing where they're meant to be.

 

Once I was done messing around with that, I set up a semi-pro Barcelona vs Manchester United match, the one I've played so often in the demo, to see if the claims of added responsiveness are true.  They are, but it's not so much of an improvement that you could go from disliking the demo to loving the full release.

 

Be A Pro: Offline Training is really, really good fun.  As far as I can work out (and, of course, I haven't read the manual at all) you're stuck with controlling one of the outfield players in the default line-up of your selected team, so if you wanted to control Adebayor for Arsenal you'd find that you couldn't, since he'd start on the bench.  There are icons to show the location of your team-mates, whether it's a good idea to ask them to pass you the ball, whether you're offside or not, and where you should be on the pitch, along with which player you should be picking up if you're defending - I think you can turn these off, but it's an idea to have them on, at least to start with.

 

It was in this mode that I scored my first goal.  Not with Dirk Kuyt (the safest place to stand during that match was in the middle of goal - I'd never have hit you), not with Owen Hargreaves (England's midfield destroyer, and I wouldn't bet on him to score in a brothel), but with one of HUFC's finest, pinging in a 25 yard half-volley against our local rivals Darlington (oh, there's another thing - you pick your favourite team at the start of the game, and when you go to the team select screen it automatically sets up a match between your team and your main rivals, which I was more impressed by than I probably should have been).

 

Now, the goal itself was fine, looked fabulous as well as being convincing, and gave me enough satisfaction that I really did punch the air as it went in, but what impressed me most was what I heard afterwards.  Expecting that EA would have done a slack job on presenting the lower leagues, I was really quite startled to hear the PA announcer's, "The scorer for Hartlepool United, in the 73rd minute, number 8, Ritchie Humphreys!"  They haven't gone in half heartedly with the lower divisions, just like they haven't with the rest of FIFA 08 - this is a genuinely enjoyable football game.

 

Football, my friends, isn't always a pretty game to watch.  Trust me, I'm a Hartlepool United fan so there's nobody better placed to judge.  Playing PES, at least in 2008 demo form, it's sometimes easy to forget that there are football matches which don't include at least one flowing end-to-end move containing 20 passes, a 25 yard rocket into the top corner and a brief pause while the star midfielder picks out his parents in the crowd and gives a cheery wave.  Playing FIFA 08 is a bit different.

 

You can put those kinds of moves together - my goodness, you can, and it's wonderful to watch and to play when you do it - and it's not really that difficult when you're on form, but you could say the same about playing the game yourself at any level from jumpers-for-goalposts up to the big leagues.  FIFA 08 captures that well, but it's far better than its competition, in my opinion, when it comes to recreating those days when your passing is slightly astray and your shooting looks like an attempt to sabotage Telstar.

 

I have a fair few matches like that.  I enjoy those matches as much as I enjoy the free-flowing, thrill a minute matches, because they remind me of a proper match.  Not for everybody, this FIFA, but it's as good a simulation of the sport as I've played.

 

 

I asked this too in the PES thread, but do you think you could say which game you would choose, if you could only have one?

 

If I could only have one I'd have FIFA, because it's more like football to me.  As you said in the other thread PES 2008 is only a demo at this point, and what I've read on various forums seems to indicate that the final release is a fair bit different from the version we've been playing, but there'd need to be fundamental changes before I'd pick it over FIFA.

 

Having said that, comparing finished FIFA to unfinished PES, they offer two different things.  PES is the picturebook football, FIFA has the more considered approach, and it comes down to which you prefer.  I know, a terrible cop-out of an answer, but Pro Evo this year is fine for what it is.  I just happen to prefer what FIFA is.

 

Kevin

 

Thanks.  I suppose we should be thankful that there are choices. I like "fun" and "realistic" pretty equally - a shame that there is no perfectly balanced offering.

 

FIFA, incidentally, continues to impress despite a niggly little issue.  Those who've played the demo might have noticed a little problem with player switching, primarily when they'd taken a corner, had it cleared by the defence and tried to switch to a man on the edge of the area only to find that the game wouldn't let them.  This issue still exists in the final release, and given that I'm absolutely rubbish at finding my own men from corner kicks, I'm seeing it fairly often.  Sometimes the defensive header only reaches the edge of the box, and it's just begging for someone to run in and strike it on the volley, but your players are all retreating and you can't take control of them and bring them to the ball.  Not gamebreaking, just irritating.

 

Kevin

 

Now, just need to find a deal on FIFA -- I have yet to pay full price for a next-gen game!

 

Do you buy your games new or used?

 

Madden 2002 / NFL 2K2

Madden 2003 / NFL 2K3

Madden 2004 / ESPN NFL 2K4

Madden 2005 / ESPN NFL 2K5

NBA Live 2003 / NBA 2K3

NBA Live 2004 / NBA 2K4

NBA Live 2005 / NBA 2K5

NHL 2004 / NHL 2K4

MVP 2004 / MLB 2K4

MVP 2005 / MLB 2K5 / MLB 2006

 

 

Pete, FIFA's Challenge mode is an altogether different beast to the PES one - more of a scenario mode than anything.  As far as I know you're right, there isn't anything similar to the PES challenges in FIFA, though I should really check that to make sure. 

 

I would love to see one game, JUST ONE, that he likes.  The guy just gets an erection for a game with a bug.  It's rather amusing, yet annoying at the same time.  The guy really just likes to think he's the end-all of all sports games.  He's not...he's quite pathetic actually.

 

So I ended up going with FIFA over PES.  Despite enjoying the PES demo very much, it just seemed that there was too much stacked against it, from the sub-standard (for PES) editing options to the less-than-glowing developer interviews (which screamed, PES 2009 will be so much better).

 

So, I am, of course, enjoying the presentation of FIFA (love the commentary, Celtic-specific chants). The challenge mode is also helpful to keeping it fresh, but I really wish it had the practice modes of PES. I was just getting proficient at free kicks in PES, and they seem to be an afterthought in FIFA. I also wish there was an ability to edit some of the faces -- I can't expect EA to get all 10,000 right or even close, but some of them are comically bad and freaky (see Aiden McGeady, for example.)

 

I agree with a lot of the FIFA criticism about the balance of play (AI winning more fouls and headers) -- maybe this is something a practice mode would help?  Maybe if I knew how to properly shield the ball or "jostle" these would go away.  Adam, any tips?

 

I'll try, but I'm half asleep so this probably won't make sense.

I've never once even tried to shield the ball, being the direct attacking dynamo that I am, and my copy is on loan to a workmate until Friday so I can't immediately help out there.  As far as fouling goes, the best way to draw a foul is to knock the ball ahead of you and try to lure the defender into committing to a sliding tackle after the ball has gone - the timing is something you'll pick up with a bit of practice if you haven't already.

 

The jostle button is useful when defending, if you're alongside the man you're tackling, but before you use it make sure you are alongside.  If you're lagging a little bit behind but still close enough to jostle, the instant the AI player goes down he'll win a free kick because you've basically shoved him from behind - that's correct, so I've no complaint about it, but it takes a couple of matches to get used to.  Jostling while slightly behind my man was the biggest reason I gave away free kicks to start with, so if you can get a handle on that you ought to see the foul count drop and the balance improve.

 

For headed passes and clearances, hold the jostle button while moving towards the ball with the left stick, allowing yourself to gain the advantage positionally a second or two before you press the button to play the ball, and you should win more than you lose.  Treat that like you would a real-life high ball - to win it, you've got to have a tussle with the man contesting the header with you.  In game, the jostle button is what allows you to do that, though you might find the end result can vary - sometimes you'll get in front of your opponent, other times you'll climb over him from behind.  In front of goal, I'm afraid I'm hopeless so I can't really help there.  I'd have thought the same practice ought to work, but my crossing isn't particularly good so I don't get a lot of chance to check.

 

Edit: Forgot to mention that if you're in front of and facing the attacker, the jostle button will then put you into a crouched defensive stance, from which you can then steal the ball from the attacker's feet with a well-timed jab of your standing tackle button (it can help to begin moving towards the attacker just before you start the tackle).  Get the timing down and it's the safest way to win possession, though if you manage to miss the ball you'll give a free kick away every time.

 

If I weren't the only PS3 owner at SGN, I'd offer to play somebody online the next couple nights -- sometimes I feel like I'm leading the (one man) Resistance movement at xboxgamingnation!

 

I haven't put too much time into it yet, but I'm excited about it for sure!  We need to set up some online games with this...

 

Kevin

 

Kev, if you fancy a game against my mighty Hartlepool United give me a shout any night that isn't Wednesday, with the standard qualifier that I must remain mute after around 11pm GMT.

 

I think my reply includes at least one use of 'mate', though criminally no mention was made of apples and pears or Dick Van Dyke's Cockney accent, nor did I remember to hum the Benny Hill chase music.  I'm also not the slowest speaker in the world, and I don't imagine you've heard that many Hartlepool accents - translation is available on request.

 

 

Shoot me an invite if you see me around, mate - I live in a small house and the folks will be asleep so any time after about 11 pm my time I fall silent, but I might be available to play.

 

I will say that it seems my back line doesn't respond well to crosses, as they tend to stand around as opposed to attacking the ball.  I'm not having much luck on the offensive end, either.  I did adjust and started jostling for the ball, which made a world of difference.  In WE, it was just cross it, time the header, score a goal.  It's not so easy in FIFA, at least yet.

 

Other than that, I'm loving it.  Having success is a real challenge for me.  Honestly, it feels a lot like the first time I played WE.  I've got a long way to go to get these controls down pat...

 

Kevin

 

Pete,

 

XBox Live is incredible and it's even better when you know legit players to play against. It's been a blast playing against Brent, Web and Ted on a regular basis.

 

Here's some info on it:

 

Creating and delivering the OTP Update took a huge amount of work on the part of the dev team who really believed they could release the new feature for FIFA 08 even after the launch of the game. During all this hard work they found some time to optimise some other areas of the game after reading feedback from the community. Enclosed is the list of issues we were able to fix in the launch of the 5v5 Online Team Play update.

 

Source: http://www.pastapadre.com/2039/fifa-08-otp-patch-fixes - PastaPadre.com

 

I was playing an EPL game as Fulham at home against West Ham, and when one player for them had the ball, my fans would boo and jeer consistently.  A few moments later, I heard the announcers call his name...  It was Luis Boa Morte, former Fulham captain, who was a bit of a lightening rod with his attitude!  Too cool...

 

Oh, I won 2-0.  I've won two and drawn one in my last three, as I'm starting to get the hang of it.  I'll be moving up a difficulty level soon.  I'm still concerned about my defense, though, especially trying to head out balls in the box.  I just can't ever seem to get there ahead of the offense.  Any ideas?  Plus, I still need to work on my one-v-one moves, although I'm getting a little better.

 

Here's a tip - I didn't see this in the manual - if you double-tap the "B" button when shooting, you keep it on the ground, just like double-tapping "X" for a cross.  That's helped me shoot much better.

 

Kevin