PES Chronicles

It’s FIFA Sunday again, but since last Sunday I’ve done nothing on my PlayStation3 except play Metal Gear Solid 4. Luckily I’d already planned to do a blog-standard ‘Top 10′ list this week about FIFA09. Whew…

I’ll get back to actually playing FIFA08, and reporting about it, next week. I’m planning to make the leap up a difficulty level, to World Class, in my Dagenham & Redbridge career. The last time I tried playing on World Class I got my backside well and truly handed to me on a plate, and I fled back to Professional level like a scared little girl. Should be interesting…

So here goes with the list. This is just a personal list and will necessarily be influenced by my liking for career modes on football games.

TOP 10 THINGS I’D LIKE TO SEE IN FIFA09

1) An improved transfer market in Manager Mode.

The realism of FIFA07′s transfer market puzzlingly gave way to the disappointing unrealism of FIFA08. Michael Owen and Cristiano Ronaldo shouldn’t be coming to Coventry City in the first place. Having them declare it to be a lifelong dream and that they’ve supported the club ever since they were boys is just wrong in every conceivable way. Talk about an immersion-killer.

It’s peculiar that FIFA08 is like this, because FIFA07 got it exactly right. I played a couple of seasons in Manager Mode back then and Coventry City had no money, couldn’t attract any good players, and struggled to get out of the lower division (just like real life).

2) The little niggles should be resolved.

Night matches in Manager Mode—there are none in FIFA08. Playoffs in the English leagues—there are none in FIFA08. Cup finals played at Wembley—there are none in FIFA08. All of these should be fixed, along with the doubtless many other little niggles that I haven’t seen yet.

3) Players shouldn’t trap the ball in the box.

When I press shoot, let the player shoot. Please, just let them shoot. Not trap the ball and tickle it for a few moments, and then shoot.

4) More and better camera angles.

Come on, EA, display customisation was what FIFA used to be famous for. It certainly was never famous for its gameplay. Well, now that you’ve finally got the gameplay, let’s have all those lovely cameras back again. It might be too much to ask for all the pan, height, and zoom options to come back again, so I’d settle for a proper TV-style broadcast camera, just like the one in UEFA2008 but a bit closer.

5) Slightly faster gameplay.

The 6% increase of speed in UEFA2008 seemed just about perfect to me (although I have to stress that I’ve only played the demo). Various rumours say that FIFA09 actually sticks with the same pace as FIFA08. This’d be a good thing, I suppose, and I won’t complain if it turns out to be true.

6) A more flexible Edit mode.

This is rich coming from me. I don’t much care for Editing in PES, but I would like the option in next-gen FIFA to at least create my own club and take them from the lower reaches of the league to the pinnacle of Europe.

7) More leagues and competitions in Manager Mode.

It’d be fantastic to have the Conference-level league in England – and the League Cup in Scotland, and I’m sure the many other leagues and cups that were skipped last time for whatever reason.

8: A proper Formation and Tactics editor.

This is something else that has more or less been confirmed by the Rumour Mill. I badly want PES-style, in-depth editing of formations and tactics. FIFA08′s existing custom formations were a good start, but they still felt clunky. In PES it’s much more supple and responsive—you can palpably see the effect on the pitch, unmistakeably. Not so much in FIFA08. Hopefully FIFA09 will change all of that.

9) Replays saved on the hard drive.

This is a big one for me. I have never, ever been able to get the FIFA08 replay upload thing to work. I’m happy that so many people have, really I am. (Don’t those Flash videos look just great? I’m so jealous.)

The online upload is a great idea, in principle. But I’ve got a hard drive for a reason, methinks—to put stuff on it. That’s what it’s for. I want to see it filling up with FIFA09 goal replays from September.

10) Finally—more of the same.

Above all else, what I want to see in FIFA09 is a continuation of the solid foundation created by FIFA08. I want to see the next stage in the evolution of the new FIFA gameplay. Part of me has an awful fear that EA will have decided to turn back the clock, and we’ll get some god-awful version of FIFA2000 with HD graphics… *shudder*. I’m certain this won’t happen, though.

And that’s my list. It’s all a bit jumbled up and wistful in parts. I’m sure I’ve forgotten to include some really, really obvious things. But it doesn’t matter. FIFA09, like PES2009, is almost certainly substantially complete by now.