Collision Detection System With 360 degree coverage players behave according to their physical attributes
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Shielding System Player strength and momentum determine outcomes in challenges
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Pro Skill Moves 32 tricks in your arsenal
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Controls Pass, shoot, and score using a graduated control system. Start with the simplified two-button control system and then learn more controls at your own pace on-the-fly
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7 of 7 found the following review helpful:
Fun but has its flawsApr 10, 2009
By Noah M. Chafets I've been playing this game pretty steadily for the last 6 months or so. Here's a quick summary of what I'm going to say at greater length below:
Fun (4/5): The gameplay has kept its charm for me after about half a year, even though I'm winning 95% of the matches I play at this point. The game has a flow that gets passably close to the flow of a real soccer match, which will make it engaging for players and fans of the sport. Getting to control a whole team as they try to win possession, keep it or break down another side is a fantasy experience only available to video and computer gamers, so realism in the flow of the match is a make or break quality for these sorts of games.
Difficulty (3/5): Once you've mastered the game controls and figured out the most effective means of scoring, the game becomes pretty easy, even on the unlockable, 6th difficulty level. That said, it's important to note that there's a high learning curve.
Learning Curve (4/5): It took me about a month and a half to get good enough to beat the computer comfortably, consistently and on the highest difficulty level. My last PS2 soccer game was Winning Eleven 8 (2004), and the controls are much more involved in FIFA 09. Probably the most difficult and most important controls to master involve through-balls, which can be played on the air and on the ground and are extremely sensitive to your control of them via the analog directional stick. This means that, as you begin to try to play through-balls, they'll go all over the place. But it also means that once you build up some competence with the analog stick, you'll be able to play much more precise passes than you otherwise would have. Another difficulty to overcome is learning how to score. As with all of the previous (and much older) FIFA games I've played, there are some magical spots in and around the penalty area from which you can score with much more frequency than from other spots that might look like better candidates. It took me about a month to figure out where and how to score - notably, you can take 3 kinds of shots in FIFA 09: driven, controlled (inside of the foot, curled) and chip. Learning when and how to use which one is key.
Computer Intelligence (2.5/5): This is the game's real weak spot - the thing that makes me most likely to yell four-letter words at the screen. In general, teammates you don't control are morons. Attacking players on your team are woefully ignorant of the offside rule - if one of the last defenders abandons an attacker to double-team the man with the ball, the attacker inevitably runs offside as fast as he can, giving the defense an unrealistic advantage. On breakaways, supporting attackers will sprint ahead of the dribbler, leaving them offside if you try, for instance, to pass around the keeper for a one-time shot. There are 11 in-game tactical options a player can turn on. This is a great idea but doesn't work out well in execution (even though I still use them every game). If your opponent is killing time playing possession, for instance, you can tell your team to press them while on defense - sounds great, but your players are slow to react to passes and generally don't press the other team's defenders, which leaves the player more or less helpless in the face of this sort of strategy. Switching between players on defense is a problem - you can control it manually with the right analog stick but it's pretty clumsy even then. Defenders also tend to run into one another fairly often, disabling both of them and allowing attacking opponents to dribble freely through them. Very annoying.
Physics (4/5): The physics is decent for a PS2 game. Players muscle one another off the ball, smaller ones are punished more in collisions and the players' balance on and off the ball is relatively realistic. Shots aren't nearly as hard as they should be - if a defender is hit in the head with a driven shot, say, from the top of the box, he has no problem directing it more or less where he wants it to go.
Appearance (4/5): Again, for a PS2 game, it looks pretty good. Much better than Winning Eleven 8, for instance. Full array of real teams and players, nice looking stadiums and pitches, pretty good animations for in-game moves.
Manager Mode (4/5): This has some fun features but is a bit less wieldy and a bit easier than it need be. It's impossible, for instance, to sim more than one game at once, and if you sign free agents and immediately sell them, you can make Barnsley's budget look like Manchester United's very quickly. There are some nice features in this mode, though, like scouting, stadium improvements, medical staff, etc. This mode has kept me entertained and has high replay value.
Extras (3/5): The most important unlockable extra is the 6th and highest difficulty level - this takes shockingly long to unlock - I unlocked it after about 4 months of steady play. And it's not too much harder, but enough so to make a difference to someone who, for instance, is more or less unbeatable because he's spent 4 months unlocking it. Other than this, there are pretty standard extras - 3rd kits, different balls, stadiums...you get the picture.
I'm pretty happy with this game overall. Glad I bought it. But playing it on a nicer system seems like it would make a huge difference.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Amazing soccer gameJan 24, 2009
By Carlos Cuellar Fuentes For the soccer lover this version of fifa 2009 you gonna loveit, amazing movements, incredible graphics, more options, good soundtrack. Its my favorite fifa game
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
fantastic graphics and a lot of fun!Dec 26, 2008
By caz I bought this for my boyfriend who had fifa '06, and so this was a much improved version from then. The graphics are so fantastic, you have to see it to believe it! We also had a lot of fun making our counterpart graphic players. Highly recommend it to soccer fans and girlfriends who even dont like sports, a lot of fun is had!
3 of 4 found the following review helpful:
Finally Konami Has a Rival (Or almost)Jan 01, 2009
By smartx what i dont (or didn't) like about EA's Fifa is player's stiffness and all-round laws of physics of the game, thats why i never bought the game since - well i can't remember but i guess since first winning eleven games were out. used to be no matter how a player body is positioned or wherever he looks the ball can be passed around just as accurate or as quick as if the player passes the ball forward. this has changed. added to the game is the super excellent graphics. arguably FiFa 09 is better than konami's winning eleven/pro evolusion 09.
3 of 4 found the following review helpful:
Great GameDec 29, 2008
By G. Morales I have played this game since Fifa06 and it keeps getting better each year. The game play is great and the stadiums are realistic. I only wish they would have Champions League tournament.
based on 17 reviews
( 17 customer reviews )
