FIFA 11 - Demo

It probably didn't help that I played three games of Pro Evo before I downloaded the FIFA demo but as you might have guessed from my picture selection FIFA 11 is gone from my radar in the blink of an eye.  The presentation is great, it always is.  They've tweaked the menus a bit, made it a little more user friendly than before, but the gameplay, unbelievably, feels light years behind Pro Evo.

Why?  Hard to pinpoint but it feels a lot like a game of pinball.  On the hardest difficulty setting I was winning the ball back quickly, with a simple press of A and X (that's right kids, I downloaded the demo on my Xbox) and then getting tackled just as easily.

I scored a couple over my three games and conceded a couple.  Every game went to penalties where I got to see in detail EA's new penalty control system.  Awful, just awful.

The commentary even started to grate, so many of the comments the same as they were in FIFA 9 (a game from TWO years ago).  I think we've all had enough of Martin Tyler screaming, 'IT MUST BE!!!!' just before every off side decision.

It's more than playable, obviously, but despite all the presentation brilliance during the game it just isn't as good as Pro Evo, not by a long way.  All the subtlety of that title is missing here, the players are barely recognisable when your playing, on Pro Evo you know who's on the ball immediately because you can tell who you were passing the ball to.

The control you have over passing on Pro Evo, despite being tough to get to grips with initially, is missing on FIFA and you feel it in the game.  Big time.

FIFA still has the licences, knows how to use them to its advantage in the marketing, but Pro Evo makes you feel like you've earned every moment, every near miss, every thirty yard screamer.

I said after playing Pro Evo that it felt like a game for grown ups.  FIFA is a game that kids will love.  But if you want to be tested like a man, on this evidence, there's no contest.  Well done Konami.

*Does running jump, slides across the floor, high fives Seabass*

Now jog on over to AT's site for his view.  It's one of those big moments, we actually agree on something.