PES 08 still the winning eleven over FIFA?

by Darktrc

Almost every series of sports games, I’ve been torn apart on which version of the game to buy. 2K is the obvious choice for basketball, EA for hockey and while arguable, I personally claim The Show for baseball. Tiger and Madden are the only games out for their respective sports, and while it saves me money to decide on which version to buy, it also means they have no competition. This results in the developers being able to slap any simple football/golf game together and stamp “Madden [insert year here]” and there you go, another game another year. But when it comes to soccer, I have still yet to solve the mystery in my mind. PES 2008 (Also known as Winning Eleven) and EA’s FIFA 08 go hand in hand in this year’s soccer deathmatch for bragging rights. But my personal choice, the one I prefer, even though I buy both, is still PES (WE) 2008.

Now don’t get me wrong, FIFA 08 is a significant upgrade from the 07 version of the game. The players feel a little bit smoother in terms of movement and animation, but it is still continuously frustrating to try and score a goal. You can launch one into the stands, even when you are 2-feet from the goal line. Winning headers from corners and free-kicks are still a drag, and defending them…don’t even get me started. The plus about FIFA is that their online modes and manager mode (basically a franchise mode) is deep and well thought out. The most recent FIFA updates for the 360 were great, your rosters continually stay updated (*cough* NHL 08 *cough*) and the 6-on-6 mutiplayer, multiconsole game mode (much like the 3-on-3 in NHL) is fantastic. The online leagues are great, gameplay is smooth and like I said, it is an upgrade by far from 07. The manager mode is extremely deep, manager everything from selling and bringing in big name players, to try and manage your team’s chemistry all the way to trying to keep your own superstars from leaving and signing with another club. There is never nothing to do in FIFA’s manager mode. The only things is, I just feel that I’m controlling robots instead of players when
I play FIFA, and they still haven’t fixed it.

Now the bread and butter. PES 2008, many know it as Winning Eleven, is still superior in my mind. There aren’t as many options for online play, and there aren’t a complete roster of licensed teams and jerseys, but the gameplay is still far superior. Everyone moves with great precision, the fights for the ball are realistic and the Master League mode (PES’s version of manager mode…Can’t these guys just name is franchise?) is amazing. A lot of improvements will only appeal to the long-time Winning Eleven fanatics. Last year, the fighting for the ball was quite awkward. You and the guy that has the ball, can run side by side with each other for a long, long time, even if you are pressuring him with the A button. This year, players are smarter and when pressing the A button, your defender will try and stick out a leg and get as much of the ball as they can to disrupt the play from going on. The animations are great, fluid and the precision is so dead-on that controlling every player feels great. Of course, John Terry dribbling doesn’t feel nearly as great as Cristiano Ronaldo, but it feels like you are controlling the ball…even when Terry fails to keep it under control because his dribbling rating is low.

The Master League is what I play it for. You may choose to take over a team or create an entirely new team from scratch and play through the ranks of division 2, get promoted, win league cups and so on. And through all of this, you are keeping an eye out on the progression of your players and making sure everyone is in game shape when game day comes around. Each player has their own progression patterns, that are distinguished in 6 categories that I won’t bother to go into, but a long story short, some players may develop fast, but not for a long period. Some may have a regular developing process, some may develop slow, but have a long peak and etc. You get the point. Bringing back team creating was huge for me personally. 2007 did not have it and it was a real disappointment. It is a lot of fun creating your own team because you get a roster of no-names and you try and build your team to become the best. Negotiations will happen in time, when the windows open up during the season and at the end of the season. And this is where you have had to already done your homework during the season, it makes it easier if you spend sometime here and there during your season to make sure you have list of people you want to go and people you are aiming to come in. The list is very useless for those that just want to get back into the game.

In the end, I guess all I can conclude is I love Winning Eleven. The soccer mystery though is still yet to be solved, because I just know something is going to be big about FIFA 09. But for now, Winning Eleven continues to impress, and but instead of being up big a large margin, PES is going to have to step it up to keep this half-time lead and win the soccer trophy for me.