My Big Fat Greek PES 2012 v FIFA 12 Final Review!

Oh man.  Where do I start?!?

Okay so this year has been THE most frustrating PES v FIFA year ever for me.  Just a little background may be a good idea at this junction.  I played the PES demo's and the FIFA one, and by and large hated the FIFA demo, and loved the PES demo's.  I thought this year, PES could be absolutely fantastic.  Even at the early stage of development, keepers were an issue with PES, and this was something that had to be worked on.  For FIFA, it was another story entirely, it was a decent enough game, but it just lacked any charisma or life.

I then purchased the American version of PES so that I could trial it before the UK release on the PS3, and although I enjoyed it, there were some glaring problems that I thought could be catastrophic.  The keepers still were not up to scratch, and the active AI and player individuality, for my money anyway, had been toned down.  On UK release, many people felt the same way.  PES brought two patches out then, 1.1 and 1.2, both to try and address the keeper issues.  In short, they were terrible.  Patch 1.2 was a real KONAMI trying to pull the wool over the people's eyes, they essentially tried to solve the 'keeper issue' by making near enough all shots go centrally.  I am convinced to this day, that this was intentional and KONAMI trying to pull a fast one with rubbish keepers appearing to look half decent.  Patch 1.3, addressed many other issues as well as making the keepers bearable overall.  So PES 2012, patched to 1.3, on the PS3, had generally become a decent product.

FIFA was bought soon after, first for the PC (although the spec of my PC couldn't handle it truly) and then for the PS3.  PES 2012 was also bought for the PC, in what was to become my best purchase ever!

So, I have played both PES and FIFA, on both the PC and the PS3.  I have the games, on both formats, patched to the latest updates.

So, onto the general review.

First off, I am a PES fan at heart, although what I am after is the best football experience overall.  So for me, animations and extravagance mean very little if the core gameplay and match dynamics are not met.  I loved the old PS2 days of PES right up until next gen, when PES became laughable.  I played FIFA10 over PES 2010, but I loved PES 2011 with all my heart, massive flaws and all.  I also enjoyed FIFA 11, and only if they had ironed out the tackle radius, together with introducing a decent stamina system so that online sprint whores couldn't flourish, FIFA 11 would have been a great game.

This year's PES feels freer than its predecessor, lighter and more responsive.  One of the problems with 2011 was that people complained that individuality had perhaps been taken too far with the likes of Carragher turning like the QE2.  With everything though, there is a trade off.  Many people have now argued that individuality is lost in PES 2012 as things have become more freer less rigid.

FIFA on the other hand tried to go the simulation route.  Out goes legacy defending (holding down tackle button to track the player) and now we have tactical defending.  FIFA had ambitions too to become a little slower so that attacks were more thought out, and the games weren't so arcadey.  So, how do they both fair?

I am going to state my findings with regards to firstly PES 2012 on PS3 v FIFA on PS3, officially patched, with no modifications.  The second review will be a review of a modded PES 2012 on the PC v a slider changed game with FIFA 12 PS3.

So first -

PES 2012 v FIFA 12 (out of the box, then patched)

Both titles have good points, and shockingly bad points.  PES need to get its act together with the presentation of the game BIG TIME.  I have stated on countless occasions that this quaint little retro Japanese angle isn't going to cut it any more.  Gamers want pristine presentation, with cutting edge graphics.  The blurry stuff that is going on in PES just isn't acceptable, and the animations are pretty bad too.  Up to the patched 1.3 version, the keepers were a game breaking shambles, spilling the tamest of shots, and letting rubbish non powered efforts go in far too easily.  General gameplay in PES goes from being great, when playing against a team that is willing to play football like you, to a chore and a bore, when playing against a team who parks the bus.  Earlier patches meant that games would grind to a halt because of the infuriating nature of the CPU defensive units who would put all eleven players behind the ball, and then counter you with blistering accuracy.

This was not good.  1.3 addressed this issue a little, and made the game more enjoyable as well as being less pinball in feel.  PES has it's usual learning curve, and let me say, this year it was steep!  Through the demo's, I once went 10 games without beating Napoli.  I play PES on Top Player and now on Superstar.  However, Superstar, although technically should be harder provides a greater balance and more realistic footballing experience.  Top Player in PES, in certain situations just down right cheats.  This is a major problem in PES.  On Top Player, the CPU will hit diagonal balls in behind the wing backs, for the CPU to hit unstoppable crosses and headers whilst the CPU also drags your centre backs out of position.  Also, if the CPU wants to score, sometimes it will just parade through an entire defence, with Maradona-esque skills.  So for me, Superstar, provides fairness, even though it is still hard.

The presentation in PES is so-so, the music is sometimes annoying, and the graphics could be better.  Night games still don't have the vibrancy of a PES2010, and some of the animations for a modern day football game are just absurd.  Saying that, the things that I love about PES this year is the gameplay and the defensive game.

To put it simply, lots of people have been bitching and moaning about quite possibly THE BEST introduction of how to defend in any football game.  Tackling is an art form, and defending properly with jockey and contain is sublime when you pull it off.  I literally spend a thousand hours getting to grips with defending alone this year, and I love it.  You can defend deep, or high up.  If you charge into a skilful player he'll leave you for dead.  Defensive patterns and defensive positioning is vital in this years PES, both from you and the CPU.  Shooting is still another hot potato issue, with some people getting it and others not.  Shooting, for me, on an unmodded PS3 version is underpowered with directional issues.  Animations and ball physics seem a little off sometimes, and the game has literally played balls with my head.

In trying to get the best PES experience, I have used every setting, every camera angle, different tele's, different speeds etc etc.  You name it, I have done it.  The CPU attacks can be a little too direct at times although there is a nice blend of attacking patterns and angles together with an array of goals scored.  This is PES' great strength that almost anything is possible if you have the vision.

What would I give PES 2012 for the PS3?  Out of 10, I would say a 6.  The gameplay I find brilliant at times, but there are just too many other niggling factors that ensure I cannot give it higher.

Onto FIFA, PS3, no slider alterations.

To put it bluntly, the game was better than the demo, but was still a joyless bore to play.  The animations are superb, the physics are excellent, the presentation, fantastic.  Things like more managerial control over the players is introduced as well as news stories breaking, and an injury system.  The main introductions were the tactical defending (which is a broken disaster) and the impact engine (it's had stick, but I think it has been a great addition).  There are issues regarding the impact engine and player collisions, but they are understandable as it was a bold move from EA to introduce something like this.  Like I said previously, if EA had ironed out FIFA 11, given it greater array in attack, made the tackle radius smaller, and eradicated the pressure abusers by introducing a stamina fatigue system that meant you couldn't press all the time, they would have been onto a winner this year.

The general gameplay though is totally monotonous.  The game plays out in some sort of grid like formula, as you move slowly from one area to another.  There is no vibrancy to the plays, and both you and the CPU have to attack in one way only, a slow turgid ball along the floor game.  There is little or no variation in attacks and the goals that you score can be categorised in a couple of areas whilst the CPU looks for the reflex advantage, corner of the 18 yard box effort, to leave your unresponsive defender on his arse.  Bear in mind I play this FIFA on World Class level, where there is absolutely obvious CPU stats boosting.  There is no aerial game to think of, with the CPU winning all confrontations.  Because of this you never get the feeling that the ball is an entity on its own and that it could literally bounce anywhere.

Human controlled defenders are a disaster.  Veteran defenders like a Carragher are next to useless as a CPU stat boosted Tevez out reflexes you in another one on one battle, to score another tap in.  I wrote somewhere before that out of ten games between PES and FIFA, PES had the upper hand in terms of free kicks being give, corners, fouls, yellow/red cards, 50/50 challenges, penalties, variety of goals etc etc.  FIFA looks fantastic, but the games all pan out the same whether you play Burton Albion or Barcelona.  Every CPU team will pass the ball around like Barce, with the occasional variety thrown in.  It's essentially a joyless grind.

There were early problems with player development too with some players by the end of the first season having a huge, huge development curves, but that was straightened out.  The age old game-breaking goals and when they are scored is just as prevalent this year as any.  The amount of goals scored in the 45th minute and then in minutes 80+, is truly, truly, laughable.  Watch in horror as your defenders get pulled out of position, watch as the CPU win everything and your players run away from the defender with the CPU completely swarming you ensuring it is virtually impossible to get any route out from the back.  Once, in four consecutive games of FIFA, I scored two goals in the 45th minue, 1 goal in the 90th, whilst the CPU scored three goals in minutes 88+....give me a break, it's just ludicrous.

So essentially, we have one game in PES that plays well with variety, but has obvious cheating on Top Player, appalling animations and rubbish presentation and another game with lovely glitz and glam, but a totally dull gameplay experience and terrible AI.  FIFA 12 for the PS3, out of the box, would also get a 6 out of ten.  This is purely based on the fact that at least it's a solid game in many areas if nothing else.

MODDED GAMES


PES 2012 (PC, Jenkey's/Yair) v FIFA 12 (PS3, Slider changes)


FIFA

So here we have the nitty gritty.  Both titles out of the box are distinctly average if you take everything into consideration.  But this is where the real battle is I feel, and both games improve dramatically.  Let's do FIFA first.

I won't put what slider settings I use, you just need to know that I spent ages altering, changing, analysing what they do etc, to get to stage where the game becomes playable and a little enjoyable.  The settings themselves will obviously be different for different people, but at least I have a game in FIFA which at least plays a little more life-like.  With a faster passing speed, the game opens up from the monotony that it was before.  Needless to say that the game has more life to it now, and there are more opportunities for the CPU to score a slightly broader variety of goals.  One of the major problems with FIFA though is that you off-set everything, as going through the levels on FIFA doesn't mean that it gets smarter in its play, it just means that it will screw you over and cheat you much more.  The jump from Professional for example, to World Class sees ludicrous CPU telepathy as apparently inertia and momentum are not in FIFA 12 reality.  The main issue with FIFA 12 regardless of sliders, is that the defensive system is just broken.  You can see what EA have tried to do, but whilst the CPU defence defends in numbers and tries to crowd you out, your defenders stand around like divs whilst your defenders are left constantly one on one.  The only way to then make a fairer game of it is to change the CPU acceleration and speed stats lower than yours, as they already have an evident stats boost anyway.

Even if you defend well enough, the CPU will ALWAYS manufacture a one on one at some point in the game and out-reflex you with some blatant CPU cheating.  It's at this point where it doesn't matter what slider you set the CPU keeper to or your own, sometimes you can have 4,5,6 one on ones against the CPU and not score a single one.  Even with slider changes there are the 45/90 minute goals.  With my slider settings, the game is more open and with this openness the animations really shine through.  But still, the CPU still win almost everything 50/50 and you always get the feeling that the game isn't playing fair.  The best way to defend in FIFA 12 is just to move your player manually, the contain function is useless in the top modes and just serves to steer the CPU into your penalty area where it will inevitably score.  CPU defenders have the upper hand over you as they can always sense what you are doing before it's done.

There's also some crazy momentum scripting in FIFA which can destroy the game.

The bright points is that when it plays well outside of these 'cheat/glitch' time zones, some of the gameplay can be excellent.  But it still feels non-free.  FIFA still feels very do this to get to there, and then do this, and then do this, and then finesse it.  Very linear, very non life-like.  There's no sense of the ball being an object that can bounce anywhere, and the aerial game is practically impossible t play as the CPU wins the vast majority of duels.  However, what FIFA has with slider alterations is a product that appears solid, is easy to pick up for the casual gamer, and combined with the shiny presentation is probably the choice of most footy fans because of the accessibility.

So, my slider modded PS3 FIFA gets an overall 7 out of 10.

PES

Quite simply a modded PES, PC, is a joy.  With the latest Fire Patch to get the stadiums and players and kits, it was down to the long winded journey to seek out the perfect gameplay patch.  This has been an experience.  Using Jenkey's stuff at first and now using Yair's, the game is exquisite.

Gameplay is varied, CPU attacks ate intelligent and varied, the keepers are excellent and even the animations are being made better and better by the day.  Through Jenkey's you can specifically change shot power, add curve, disable cheat scripts and add or lessen ball weight as well as a plethora of other options.

Jenkey has done a brilliant job, but Yair is the man at the moment for me.  His gameplay patches incorporate things like Jenkey's shot power but add some brilliant gameplay alterations.  Gone are the CPU cheat glitch areas, gone is parking the bus, what we have now (certainly with his latest Yair's 1.1 gameplay patch) is a game of football that is truly stunning.  The graphics are stunning and clear, the ball physics excellent, player faces great, variety of goals from you and the CPU is almost infinite.  The ball is alive, it can bounce anywhere and everywhere.  Duels are seen al over the pitch with defensive lines and positioning being replicated.  The defensive system works as always with the emphasis on contain and timed tackle, and it is key to keep your team in shape formation wise.  You can trick the CPU with body movement and use inertia and momentum, you can play a long ball game or possession football.  The levels through to Superstar are made harder but by crafty play rather than blatant CPU cheating and stats boosting.

I use Yair's with -2 gamespeed for a realistic game of footy, but I can honestly attest that a modded PC version of PES 2012, is wonderful.  I'm sure that given another month or two this game will be a 10/10.  But for now, there are minor, minor quirks that ensure it's a 9/10.

OVERALL

PES 2012 on the PS3, for me, is disappointing.  I had high hopes this year that this would be THE year that KONAMI raised their game.  They still haven't got their head around this 'next gen' thing, and seem happy and content to make games in the stone age, presentation wise.  People whined also that the demo's were too hard and so they cut out some aspects of the active AI that made the demo's great.  They then botched up many things with the release and then the patches, and finally, about two months AFTER release we had a game that was playable.

FIFA on the other hand is just there.  It sits there and is sturdy enough in all departments.  What it lacks is the nuances of football, which make the game so special.  EA has got to work on the gameplay a lot, as the AI in FIFA is truly terrible.  Human attacks are good enough and with slider settings some of the football you play is decent to very good.  But the defensive system in FIFA is awful.  The CPU stats boosting cheating is awful.  The 45/90 minutes goals are awful.  The CPU keeper making 6 one on one saves is awful.  The presentation is brilliant, and the polish makes the game sell.  I think it outsells PES 25 to 1, but if EA put a piece of dog poo in a box, that would sell 25 to 1 against PES too.  What FIFA lacks is the life.  The enjoyment factor.  Players are still not intelligent enough to behave like footballers pressuring where need be and standing off when need be.  It's all very clear cut, very linear, very do this to get here, and do this to get here, when football isn't about that, it's about creating, changing angles of attack with short balls, long balls.  This is what PES gives me that FIFA has never replicated.  Can FIFA just make this happen?  Who knows.  The coding is weak but the marketing is second to none.

A modded PC version of PES 2012 is something else.  A wonderful game of football.  But this isn't the work of KONAMI, this is the work of genius programmers who change the game and out-strip the crap from it.  The vibrancy in PES 2012 modded for the PC is astounding.  The game plays like football, with it's scuffles, players crowding each other, long balls, short balls, changes of the angle of attack, yellow and red cards, different shots and deflections, excellent AI etc etc.

But whilst PES gets a 6 from me for the PS3 version and a 9 for the PC version (modded) and FIFA only a 6 for PS3 no sliders and 7 with sliders, you have to really mark on the overall product from the supplier, without any modifications.

In this case, this year you would have to say that FIFA gets a 6, 6.5 out of ten for the overall product, and PES would get a 6 from me without the help of third party gameplay experts.

Everyone has their opinion, and this is mine!