Head to Head, FIFA 11 vs PES 11 – Part 2

Last week we were happy the ICT Africa 2010 Exhibition was upon us; to be honest I wanted to see if any exhibitors would bring some games and gaming consoles with them. After having just gone through a copy of PC Format and seeing how the E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010) had left visitors mesmerized. You can imagine the expectation I had, and how disappointed I was to see none of that. I just ended up going through the stands aimlessly, with disappointment smeared across my face.

Hopefully by next year we will have mobilized a strong enough gaming community to prompt a serious lot of exhibitors, to cheer our spirits.

Here is something to cheer you up though; we move on to look at what’s hot and what’s not? We look at the claims by the developers, about their games before we put them to the test.

Gameplay improvements

FIFA who in the past have been met by criticism for minimal improvements on the previous games seem to have added a few additions for the upcoming FIFA 11.

Personality+: This is supposed to reflect each player’s individual attributes more resulting in a clear differentiation between players.

Pro Passing: This will mean that the gamer’s accuracy in passing will reflect the actual accuracy of each pass in-game, also the accuracy will depend on the player being used in the game.

Fifa Theatre: For the first time ever in the Fifa Series, Players will be able to create their own soundtracks that can be imported into the game. Players can also create customized chants that can be imported and set to play when the players are coming on the field, at halftime, when goals are scored and at the end of a match.

Creation Centre: Players can now edit kits, names, home stadia and players on the internet and download to their console and share it with friends.

Pro Evolution Soccer who in the past generations of football games were considered the king ahead of FIFA, have struggled to match FIFA on the Next Gen Scene. This year looks very promising for PES fans as Konami have promised a much improved game with lots of new features.

Total Control: Konami are said to have improved the 360 Degree passing ratio, meaning the player will have a much higher level of control over passes, shots, throw ins, through balls, and lofted through balls. Players must weight their passes precisely and anticipate the runs that their team mates will make.

Shot and Stamina Gauge: The all new stamina gauge will detail the exact level of the players fitness. Constantly sprinting will hurt the players fitness level, this will affect the players movements and passing ability.

Speed of Play: The additional levels of control in PES 2011 allow the speed of play to change dependent on the situation of the match. For instance the game will quickly liven up when a counter attack starts. Passing will be the key aspect in PES 2011 with long runs not being as effective as in the previous games.

New Defender AI: The new defensive AI means that the defenders now stay in position and no longer chase any ball that enters their area, instead they try to close down the attacker forcing them to make a mistake.

Stadium Editor: With the stadium editor you will be able to recreate any stadium in the game, You will be able to choose the capacity, the turf style, the nets, the roofing and the tunnel placement, whether the stadium has a running track or just grass around the pitch and the distance the stands are from the pitch. There will be space to create 25 additional stadiums on top of the 25 that will be in the game by default.

Teams

Pro Evolution Soccer 2011

The Italian league, French league and Dutch league are expected to be fully licensed as always, however, it is yet to be confirmed.

The Spanish league is expected to be partially licensed, at least 12 teams.

Only 2 teams from the English league will be fully licensed, Man Utd, and it is thought to be Chelsea but it is yet to be fully confirmed.

FIFA 11

FIFA have not unveiled any information on any teams yet, but it is expected that many leagues will be fully licensed.

We also expect that the English, Italian, Spanish, German and French Leagues will also contain lower divisions.

*****

Both Konami and electronic Arts have since released video game trailers on YouTube. But we wait for the ultimate games with itchy fingers to put claims to the test and see who emerges the winner.  For those who haven’t had the pleasure of playing these games, please do get a copy of the 2010 versions, they are available locally, I’m particularly biased towards PES2010 over FIFA2010