FIFA 09 First Impressions (FIFA Soccer Blog)

[SoCal-Phenom]

FIFA Soccer Blog has posted their first impressions of FIFA Soccer 09.

Quote:

"The first thing you're presented with is the arena, which looks the same until, of course, you start taking shots and start moving around with the player. Players felt less heavy and seemed like they could turn and react to the positioning of their bodies much quicker. But for a better impression you need to play the game from the normal camera angle, obviously. Gameplay is obviously the most important part of all, so I'll break my thoughts down into several key areas."

[thegoons21]

Great writeup. Game still sounds great. I'm less than excited about hearing that headers are actually easier. It seemed most goals in 08 were from headers but that could just be me. Outside of that I can't wait. I just want more vids.

[foreversport]

I thought it was pretty easy to score off headers in 08 too, especially from corners if you hit them short in front of the goal for your guys to go up and get.

These notes have me so pumped for this game!

[Qb]

Hopefully headers are more effective with the better aerial players thanks to the new jostle system, while guys who shouldn't be aren't. I thought Euro made a big improvement in this area...

One thing that stood out to me (more in a bad way) was the mention that shooting from distance is more accurate. It's hard to interpret someone's impressions from a brief time with the game, but if he's saying that it's easier to pick the corners, I'm not sure that's a good thing. I've been using manual shooting lately in 08 and that seems to help out with what I thought was already overly accurate intermediate & long range shooting, but it sure is frustrating missing the sitters...

Also, the author again mentions that larger defenders can muscle attackers off of the ball and that defensive pressure will affect passing. Both of these are good things, but if the fouling/referee logic isn't significantly improved it could lead to the same old issue of being able to charge the ball & double team without consequence. While the improved responsiveness helped to get away from this at times in Euro, you still knew as a defender that you for the most part hard carte blanche...

[ChaseB]

Qb I really believe that at worst you'd just have to jack up the one tactics slider to get more foul calls. I think a good amount of fouls were called during my time, some people might just be thrown off because guys in FIFA tend to fall down a lot, and not every time someone falls is something called -- though some look borderline. It's really the animations that I think may need to change, rather than the amount of fouls for this year.

Maybe for shooting he just meant you'd be rewarded for good shots from a distance now -- wher as in Euro they were basically non-existent.

[Qb]

Quote: Originally Posted by ChaseB

Qb I really believe that at worst you'd just have to jack up the one tactics slider to get more foul calls. I think a good amount of fouls were called during my time, some people might just be thrown off because guys in FIFA tend to fall down a lot, and not every time someone falls is something called -- though some look borderline. It's really the animations that I think may need to change, rather than the amount of fouls for this year. Maybe for shooting he just meant you'd be rewarded for good shots from a distance now -- wher as in Euro they were basically non-existent.

Your point about fouls not being called every time someone goes down is a good one, as with the EPL back in session, it's apparent that a lot of rough stuff is allowed IRL. However, the problem in 08 was that stuff that sure looked like a clear foul often was not called. I know the devs have said that they re-did the ref logic, so I'm hopeful that there will be improvement in this area.

As for shooting, references to a less floaty feeling (this goes for passes & crosses as well I hope) and more realistic curl are promising. What I was trying to say is that I don't want to see the majority of 25-30yd shots going on target or even worse, finding the upper 90s. Even the best players routinely miss the mark from that range.

As always, thanks for your input, Chase...

[PodSquad]

Quote: Originally Posted by Qb

As for shooting, references to a less floaty feeling (this goes for passes & crosses as well I hope) and more realistic curl are promising. What I was trying to say is that I don't want to see the majority of 25-30yd shots going on target or even worse, finding the upper 90s. Even the best players routinely miss the mark from that range.

Hopefully. I played Fifa 08 so much, that I could score from 25 yards almost at will if no one closed me down, it was much more realistic in Euro, but maybe even bordering on too hard.

[KG]

I like the sound of players being more responsive but I wished he would have touched on teammate AI, specifically them being in better position compared to '08.

I also hope they sped up some of the reaction times of the goalies to counter what could be an easier time with headers. Too many times last yr my keeper would get beat by a slooooowww header.