Assalamualaikum,

On the day I went to see Madagascar : Escape 2 Africa, I came across a video game booth and suddenly it reminded me of the PS2 console I've abandoned for such a long time back at home. I started browsing through some of the game folders and found several game titles that interests me based on the online forums and websites. The two most competitive game which have the same genre, football. Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 from Konami and FIFA Soccer 09 from EA Sports.

These two gaming company have been at each others back ever since the late 90's where both have tried to produce the best football or soccer game of every year. In the past, they are actually neck to neck in my opinion because I've played both. But today I am just going to compare these two specific versions and announce my winner for the best soccer game of 2009.

PES 2009
Gameplay has been improved for Pro Evolution Soccer 2009, with key additions as an improved Teamvision system, tactics change according to situation, better of the ball fluency AI recognizing strategies that works accumulating data on an ongoing basis within Master League and League modes. Another new addition is the readjustments for ball movements. PES 2009 has new air resistance calculations for the trajectory of the ball. There will also be new friction routines to affect ball movement in terms of ground conditions, backspin routines are calculated so that ball slows accordingly, and the bounce of the ball can be used more effectively: players can flick the ball up to tee a shot, or to lift it over a defender's trailing leg. Skills are now integrated more into the game. If a player has the ability, they will be able to perform skilful turns. There will also be adjusted controls to make close control more intuitive. All new Manual Passing and there is no slowdown in replays or matches. PES 2009 will also feature a new game mode called 'Become A Legend', much like EA Sports FIFA Series Be a Pro mode where you will take control of a chosen player throughout his career.

Unfortunately, being the fan of the english league. I am still frustrated over the unlicensed team which causes the teams in the league not recognizable like the previous PES. However, they have taken a step forward by adding a license to my favourite team, Liverpool. Not bad.

FIFA Soccer 09
Among the improvements in the new FIFA are improved responsiveness that allows for quicker release of the ball, greater urgency in the off-the-ball running, a new jostle system that takes into account the strength of the players when going shoulder to shoulder and subtle animations that enable players to take first-time shots.

Another of the edition's biggest changes is a completely revamped collision system, which calculates speed, weight and power when the players collide, as each player will have their own individual strength and power statistics depending on their body characteristics.

New goalkeeper technology has also been added which allows for better positioning, better reactions to saves and faster recovery after a save has been made.

A further improvement from FIFA 08 is the weather and time. Rain and snow can be switched on and off before games, which affects whether players wear gloves. Games can be played at either day, dusk or night depending on the stadium choice.

If a player is substituted during half time, the replacement player is seen warming up and running on to the pitch. However if a substitution is made during play, the players are seen approaching each other. The score of the game has an effect on this, if a player has scored then he waves to the fans and claps before being substituted, however some players react badly to being substituted for example, if they are having a good or disappointing game, or if they are a key player in the squad, however this wasn't the case as the above did not appear in the final game. Captains have more of an effect in the team. Choosing a squad member who has good captain qualities for example from the players stats under leadership will help the balance of the team.

Overall after experiencing these two games for couple of hour, here's my verdict. I hereby declare FIFA Soccer 09 as the winner for this year's footballing game. But I think they only won it by a small margin. [The license problem for PES is a major setback for me...hehe]