Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 vs. FIFA 10 Review

Every year in mid-October, we take out the new Pro Evolution Soccer to a point on the football games on PC. FIFA 10 came earlier this month and now Konami is following the steps of Electronic Arts. This year will it finally get the chance to bring some new blood for publishers?

Unlike other genres, the two main football simulations moment are made, more or less simultaneously on PC and consoles. So, the comparison is easier, but not necessarily to the advantage of our Windows machines … especially in the case of FIFA 10. Infact, however, we should be clear that at entry there will be no miracle on the side of EA Sports and, graphically, FIFA on PC is still very far from its big brothers next-gen. This year, the gap between PC and PS3 / Xbox 360 is more embarrassing for EA Sports on the contrary that Konami has made great efforts.

Before the gameplay attack, continue on the graphical appearance to congratulate Konami. The Japanese did not laugh at us and the promise of visual enhancements are very much promising. Of course, it does not compares PES to titles like Crysis, but modeling of faces, taking care of lighting effects and lighting and rendering of grass are successfully made. On the other hand, FIFA is cut into pieces by PES 2010 game for PC which is not far to be named as the most beautiful soccer game of all time.

Alas, beauty is not everything, even when it comes to implementation, and PES is less at ease when it comes to animate our little world. Player races are realistic but with less stereotypical attitudes. FIFA 10, however, has made progress to this level and stealing the balls are made of sterner stuff. The best that can not yet fill the gap that currently separates the two graphs achievements is its beautiful animations that have better support the for comparison, FIFA is light years away from its direct competitor on our PC.

The system of dribble to 360° in FIFA 10 is interesting in this respect since it provides an increased fluidity in a game that was sorely lacking. Similarly, the inertia of the players is better controlled. In previous FIFA, the heavy feeling of the players was painful. If we are not yet fully convinced, we must recognize that this year, it helps. Finally, we acknowledge a significant betterment in managing the placement of players, which helps to give the parties a more realistic look.

It is with this orientation also chosen by Konami, perhaps with less success. It must be said that to combat the trends of artificial intelligence, the Japanese had the funny idea to include maps that we enable / disable depending on whether we want to curb the aggressive tendencies of a player. In practice the system works properly, at least for those players that you want to limit the escape. We are more cautious about the need to limit the dribble of Ronaldinho or acceleration of Walcott.

The second technique to change the intentions of its team during the match is based on patterns and tactics which is far more convincing. On this ground, it is difficult to choose between FIFA 10 and PES 2010. Both games give us all the elements to effectively influence the behavior of our team and change the direction of the match. At EA Sports side, we will have lease integration with more evident in the operation of defenses while on PES, as unrealistic as it may be, the attacks are favored.

We are talking about lack of realism, because it must be admitted that the offensive in percussion are a bit too systematic to our taste, but they have the advantage of being as spectacular as rewarding. In this sense, they reinforce the advantage of graphical level for PES. The same applies to support strikes and all aspects related to the physics of the ball.

EA Sports fallen into the trap of offside

Electronic Arts is once again caught up with the licensed content and we must admit that we do not understand the politics of Konami. Perhaps these licenses are too expensive, but the fact that many championships, but major (Bundesliga), subscribers are absent while the side of the English Premier League, mixing between licensed teams (Arsenal, Liverpool ) and others (Everton in Merseyside Blue) is absolutely ridiculous. This lack of content is actually felt at all levels of the game.

The competitions are proposed and clear to the advantage of FIFA 10 which offers a number of teams and players far more important, although Konami has made some efforts, when the World Cup requires. Thus, new national teams (Africa, Asia) make their entrance, but progress remains tentative. FIFA later, there are many more stages than it is expected to recognize from the first whistle. Alas, the overall graphic quality is not conducive to immersion and PES is ultimately much better, even with generic stadiums.

Fortunately for EA Sports, the battle of the soundtrack turns largely for FIFA 10. The chants of supporters are more numerous, more varied and more successful than sad moods of PES 2010. There seems to be same side of speakers, the two publishers did not seem to want to do a lot of effort at this level and the two pairs of commentators is utterly dreadful.

While the console version allows confrontation to 10 against 10, FIFA 10 on PC is always limited to 2 players when PES is performed through 4 players. The latter is also more stable when the parties play it over the Internet, but we regret that Konami still does not show a little more ambitious when we see what exists in the console competition… a limitation not too painful in terms of quality and pleasure that one feels on games far more convincing.

Conclusion

Once again, the confrontation of FIFA 10 / PES 2010 are running short on PC. While we would like to conclude on a more fierce battle, the game has virtually been a one-way … at least for all the unique elements to gameplay from our two competitors. Thus, FIFA has always contained the most successful growth and always has the largest number of licenses. Most spectacular in the game, but perhaps a little less realistic in its approach, PES 2010 is especially much better in practice.