He shoots, he scores.
I sat down and spent time with FIFA 09, and though absolutely bollocks at it, realised the game seemed to move a lot slower and a lot more time and effort was put into the actions, the passes, the manouevers, an aspect that certainly needs dramatised within a soccer game as these smaller moments and intricate details are what create a successfully viseral game of football.
The animations are fluid and players are detailed, moving realistically and keep up the impression you are playing a game of premiership football. I really captures more of an essence of the sport this season than PES 2009 does. The game feels more organic and less arcadey.
The masses of sponsership is there to keep the real soccer nut happy and everything down to the grass on the pitch is 100% licesned. The shirts, teams, players, shoes, balls, stadiums, menus etc. are all there and definately feel like the over mediated and advertising heavy sport football is.
The commentary is very accurate and less of a pantomime of PES 2009 laughable chit chat, motions are reflected with the proper concern and the soundtrack is a finely compiled list of anthems and modern rock tunes which are comfortably tailored to the sport.
Online is ridiculously astonishing with league matches, three on three, six on six, and everything else in between you could hope for. A great addition would be a league creation where you could invite say twelve or so teams to compete in a tournament, but in all honesty, it seems a bit of an unreasonable ask bearing in mind what content is on offer.
The game is more accessible and yes, it is slightly easier, but its not neccessarily a bad thing. For how involving the experience is, I don't feel a slight dip in difficulty is a problem.
Stadia and players look great, some players still look plastic, but are a damn sight prettier than the melted faces of 08. The atmosphere is almost there, juts the occasional pop up within entrace videos and still, there are sections of 2D crowd WHICH SHOULDN'T BE THERE ON A NEXT GEN CONSOLE (more on that in my WWE Smackdown vs. Raw review coming soon).
FIFA 09, is currently the best football game this year and out does PES 2009 in almost every area. The game feels more emotional and actions feel more like "Yeah that's it!". Though a dip in difficulty, matches remain hotly competitive and the online options are increasingly fun and ever growing. A truly great season.