FIFA Evolution Solid
And another FIFA Sunday is here. Almost from the outset on this blog, I’ve banged on (and on, and on) about this year’s high quality effort from EA Canada.
It’s won thousands of new fans in the PES community, and quite right too. FIFA08 gameplay is sufficiently different from all of its mostly-terrible predecessors for it to be regarded as the first iteration in a whole new football game franchise. It’s an interesting time to be a football game fan.
This is the point that so many PES fans have missed. The amazing news about the new FIFA is taking its time to spread. For too many PES fans, FIFA is a dirty word and nothing will change that. FIFA is simply FIFA. FIFA will always be FIFA. Anybody who contends, as I do, that FIFA is no longer FIFA is crazy, misguided, or even a traitor to the PES cause.
Actually, no PES fan has ever said anything like that directly to me. I’m elaborating on a conversation that still goes on inside my own head when it comes to PES2008 and FIFA08—even now, almost 9 months later. I’m going by just one or two remarks that I’ve seen on PESfan and elsewhere. I’ve said before that the PES community is, by and large, more mature than the average computer game community.
Somehow, I had time this week to play FIFA08. I played another few games of my ongoing Manager Mode career with Dagenham & Redbridge. I got Metal Gear Solid 4 on Thursday. I’ve only just managed to pick my jaw up from the floor.
A brief word about Metal Gear Solid 4. I think it’s worth a mention in this blog because it’s from Konami, the makers of a certain football game of my acquaintance…
To the right you can see the game’s disturbingly aged hero, ‘Old Snake’, taking a rest on a handy sofa early in the game. He had not just landed there after I carelessly walked him onto a claymore mine, okay? That is not what happened.
Metal Gear Solid 4 is staggeringly good. It’s just a superb example of a mature, immersive game (and yes, I accept and love the cutscenes, no matter how long). Already it’s shaping up to be the best game I have ever played. No joke. PES doesn’t come into the equation—I have always drawn a distinction between games like PES and game games like MGS4, Final Fantasy, Halo, etc., etc. It’s with that proviso that I say MGS4 could be the best game I have ever played. I’m getting the same kind of all-round satisfaction from MGS4 that I got from Bioshock, which up until now was the epitome of a next-generation game for grownups.
Metal Gear Solid 4 runs flawlessly. It matches the promise of those early trailers we all gaped at almost 3 years ago. There’s not a hint of slowdown or frame-skipping in any of the 8 hours of gameplay that I’ve covered so far. Those with long memories will remember that MGS4 was delayed by a few months, after initially being pencilled in for a March 2008 release. I believe that Konami looked at the storm of protest over next-gen PES2008 on the PlayStation3, and decided to allow MGS4’s developer the extra time to get MGS4 right. It shows in the sublime quality of the final build. MGS4 is what a finished game looks like. I hope PES2009 will show this lesson has been well and truly learned.
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I’ve all but completed my third season with Dag & Red. It’s been a tale of steady ascent. I’ve said it before and will say it again: assembling a great squad on Manager Mode is just far, far too easy. Next week I’ll be doing a Top 10 Things I Want To See In FIFA09 kind of post. “Realistic transfer market in Manager Mode” will be one of the things.
I’m top of League 1 with Dag & Red. There are two games to go and I’m 9 points clear of the team in 4th place. Promotion to The Championship is a certainty. I am toying with the idea of raising the difficulty level to World Class. The main reason I’m more or less sailing through these seasons is that Professional really is too easy for me right now—but World Class is too hard. It’s a dilemma, but I think I’ll have to go up to World Class from next season and stay there whether I like it or not.
I’ve got a favourite kind of goal that I like to score in football computer games: volleys from aerial through-balls. I love them. I can’t get enough of them. I spend my nights dreaming about them… I’ve scored a few in PES down the years. Until a few weeks ago I’d never scored one in FIFA. Then I scored this goal with my Coventry City team of galacticos—Babel applies the memorable finish:
After I discovered it was possible I’ve spent the time since trying to do it again, without success. The shooting mechanic in FIFA08 has repelled many a curious PES fan, and I can understand why. In PES the game assists your aiming to a remarkable degree. In FIFA08 you have to do most of the aiming yourself, and it can seem primitive, awkward, clumsy, anti-intuitive…
I finally reproduced the goal (almost) with my Dag & Red team. The strike came from Baiano; the aerial through-ball was from Huckerby. The replay is slightly too fast to show it, but you can just tell that there’s the merest hint of a chest-down by Baiano before the volley. Thus, speaking as a purist, it’s not really a second version of the Babel goal. Either way, it’s a pretty good goal and I enjoyed scoring it:
When I moved back to Kansas and started supporting the Wizards (Kansas...
Greg
Nice goal mate, I know from playing FIFA regular the past few weeks, that this is so hard to do.
I cannot pull off this move on FIFA 08, I pulled it off on EURO a couple of times, not to the degree of your finishing, hitting it 1st time. My guy usually runs onto ball, takes a touch and slides home.
I may have to play a few friendly matches and try perfecting the through ball. I found it easier to pull off in EURO. I am struggling to score goals in my manger mode as it is and giving the ball away is a cardinal sin.
MGS4 has claimed the honour from my previous best PS3 title UNCHARTED “Drake’s Fortune”. It is a masterpiece, I too like the cut scenes, adds to the story-line. The visuals are amazing, I thought the HD Trailer Konami brought out was amazing, to actually play the game, WOW.
I agree with your thoughts on PES and the delay of MGS4, maybe Seabass should have waited till he was happy with next-GEN PES and then released. I think he said he was being pressured into releasing it. Many gamers have stated that they would have preferred to wait, till title was ready and worthy of series.
I am awaiting WENB podcast, Adam said it should be ready for the weekend. I am awaiting the sound from my inbox. Seabass will prove many people wrong with 2009, I am sure of it.
I have bought MGS4 and it must be one of the greats. It’s looking like displacing MGS2 as my favorite game of all time.
Poor PES or Euro 2008 aren’t getting a look in.
Nice to see Spain doing well in Euro 2008! Lets hope they don’t choke. It’s proving the PES stats that Villa is a better player than Torres too.
heraldo – Don’t despair over the long through-ball/volley goal. My first one came after 9 months. You’ll soon start knocking them in Manager Mode as well. Have you discovered the delights of the double-tap cross/corner yet?!
You mention as well something about FIFA08 that I find annoying and unrealistic and want to see taken out for FIFA09 – the way your player will sometimes trap the ball and then shoot instead of shooting immediately. I know it’s my fault, and all down to timing, but I still don’t want to see it. I think that even if I’ve pressed too early the player should go through the shot animation right then, not wait until the game decides to execute it!
Not Given (& heraldo) – I am in awe of MGS4. I seriously am. I’ve always loved the MGS games. I thought nothing could top the moments in Snake Eater when sweat trickled down my sides and I literally shook (the sniper boss fight). MGS4 is like it almost all the time. I aim to play it intensively until I’ve finished it asap. I usually stretch such games out over a long period (it took me a month to play Bioshock). But not this game. It’s a good job I’m several days ahead with my footie games, because there’s only one game in my life until I finish it.
It’s also inspired me to go out and get the only MGS games I hadn’t already got – Portable Ops Plus and MGAcid2 (I know, crummy card game version; I only slightly liked the first Acid game, but it’s the Metal Gear world and I’m collecting here!).
I hope the original PS1 game does pop up on PSN over the next few weeks as rumoured (but on the PSP how would you get past the boss (Psycho Mantis?) where you have to swap PS1 controller ports?).
Have you completed chapter 3? Honestly made me pretty sad, in a good way..
Not Given – NO, and please don’t post any spoilers! I’ve been avoiding games forums since Thursday just because I want to avoid any hints of any kind about how the game unfolds.
I’m taking it slowly so far, just in Act 2 in my 8 hours. Having to go to work all weekend hasn’t helped, but I’ve got time off now and am about to get into it.