Thread: FIFA 09 First Look

The FIFA series is locked in a seemingly never-ending battle with Pro Evolution Soccer to be the best soccer game on next-gen consoles. The simplest analysis of the titanic struggle from the past has been that FIFA's had better graphics, but Pro Evo's gameplay has far surpassed the EA brand. Such an analysis doesn't do either party justice, but for an argument in an elevator, it worked. UEFA Euro 2008 marked a serious attempt by EA to focus on and improve their gameplay, with the result being a game that was given an 8.1 by resident IGN soccer reviewer Nate Ahearn. In our first look at the next iteration of FIFA for the 360 and PS3, FIFA '09 revealed itself to be a game whose play might very well make the above argument moot.

According to next-gen Line Producer David Rutter, there have been over 250 key improvements in FIFA 09 made to the core gameplay. That manifests itself in countless ways, but the primary examples that we were shown dealt with the responsiveness of the players. Players change direction more realistically. Their traps are quicker and, depending on their attributes, their first touches are significantly better. A forward making a run will gesture for the ball as he makes his run; his run off the ball will be faster than if he made it with the ball at his feet.



Collisions aren't often thought of as a huge facet of soccer (especially by Americans), but it's another aspect of the game totally redone and modified. Momentum dramatically affects collisions, leading to totally different outcomes. A player tackled by a player from behind after he's run for twenty yards may do a full flip before hitting the ground; one tapped from behind will fall slightly forward. Players can elude tackles on their non-standing leg, and there are in-air collisions when players go for headers.

The biggest brand new feature we were told about, though, was the new tactical system. While previous modes of FIFA have provided the standard All Defense/Defensive/Normal/Offensive/All Offense styles of attack, FIFA 09 breaks out those modes into eleven different tactical parameters, with the result being a tactics package that you can share with your friends. For those who find the idea daunting, plenty of preset tactics will allow you to ignore the feature and move on.



The idea for the tactical style was implemented to an extent in Euro 2008, where relatively smaller countries would buckle down and play for a draw against the elite squads of Europe. Now, though, you actually have the ability to control your team in a more stringent manner. There are three "buckets" for the tactical groups you can change. The Defensive bucket allows you to modify your team's mentality (or pressing), aggression, width, and positioning; the "Attacking Chance Creation" bucket defines how your team passes, when it shoots, how it crosses, and where its positioned, and the "Attacking Build Up" bucket determines your team's passing style, speed in attack, and positioning therein. As Rutter put it, users can "...dabble in the dark arts of gameplay." Unfortunately, these tactics weren't yet implemented in the game, so we're not yet able to say how effective they are at implementing the strategy of real football into EA's videogame interpretation.

There are other incremental improvements that make the game more appetizing; namely, the popular "Be A Pro" mode from last year has been expanded out into four seasons, allowing you to break into the national team and become a national legend. The mode obviously builds upon the "Captain Your Country" mode of Euro 2008, and ends with the "International Cup". All the improvements in Euro 2008 have been brought into FIFA '09 as well.

Interview with FIFA '09 next-gen Gameplay Producer Aaron McHardy.

IGN: What was the thing that you disliked most about last year's game?

Aaron: I was always e-mailing our database manager and saying Adebayor and Fabregas were rated too low! Every time Adebayor scored a goal, I sent him an e-mail with a link to it.

We made a really good game last year, and it's a testament to the game that we've been able to make improvements this year. It's huge for us.

IGN: What do you think is the first new thing long-time players of FIFA are going to notice about FIFA 09?

Aaron: The new front-end flow is the first thing you see! After doing a lot of focus testing on our front-end flow, we got a lot of good feedback and it's more consistent and it's easier to get into the game. Getting into the gameplay itself, the first thing you'll notice is the responsiveness, shooting, passing, trapping, once you've done all that and you're feeling the physical interactions, jostling, you'll feel the momentum that we're working on.

IGN: How does the new trapping system work? How does the system decide how successful a player will be at trapping the ball?

Aaron: We try and make everything attribute-driven. Trapping takes ball control, touch, and other attributes and incorporates all of them into the process. Positional trapping is another feature, which gives the players on the field a better understanding of what's happening and what's the easiest way of bringing the ball into control. The way the player takes the ball is more under control in the first place, and that's supplemented by taking the ball at the right time as opposed to at the first time. When you're swinging the ball around your back four, your old center back would face the ball and trap it, but the new system would have him take it at a 45 degree angle . He won't have to do an enormous turn. That's responsive, and that's huge. Every time there's a pass or a loose ball, there's a trap.

IGN: How have headers been improved?

Aaron: We refined the header system, allowing players the motion and freedom to position themselves. We've improved the visuals so that the jostling and fighting for position looks a lot better, and the context of what happened is a lot better. Two player headers can result in collisions, and players will act accordingly. That's not just a visual outcome, but we're bringing in mass and strength and jumping and heading and other attributes into the equation to find out what the best possible outcome is and who should win the scenario. That's the key thing we've been doing, and then implementing the trapping system alongside. A lot of this is being driven by customizable team tactics. [Peter] Crouch, for example, needs to nod it down to the guys coming alongside him. All these little elements come together to make a more authentic game.

IGN: Is there any concern that, due to the gameplay changes, the best teams in the game will be impossible to beat with lesser teams?

Aaron: We always look for balance in the game. Q&A tests it, animators and engineers test it, all the permutations of player ability test it. What I think is gonna happen is actually the opposite -- in FIFA 08, when we released it, Barcelona was very powerful. Everyone used Barcelona online and deterred people from using their favorite team if it wasn't Man U or Arsenal. Barcelona has all that guys who can dribble, but what we're doing is focusing on the personality traits of all players. Crouch isn't a lesser player to Eto'o, but a different player. That allows you to tailor your attack and your positioning to fit the personnel you have. Barca can be powerful because they have strong, skilled strikers, but if you adjust accordingly, you can compete against those teams and use those strengths that you and your team have. It's not just based on numbers but a lot of things, including your mental abilities.

IGN: What teams do you think are going to be most helped and most harmed by the new gameplay additions?

Aaron: I think the custom team tactics can be the great leveller. Ben Carter, who's behind the CPU side of custom team tactics, he's a QPR [Queens Park Rangers] fan. He always plays with them and is frustrated when I play as Arsenal, but now that he has these tactics, he can change how his team plays and this team will have an opportunity to play. The worst team won't be better than the best team since the attributes will still be hugely important, but it gives you the ability to overcome somewhat with play and tactics what the raw numbers say. When Barca got all those great players, they were supposed to be unbeatable, but they weren't.

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