Conclusions

There’s a lot more to FIFA ‘09 than you might think and anyone who disregards the game as another update in another one of the EA Sports' franchises does risk missing out on an enjoyable sports sim – one that doesn’t require all the commitment of a true sports buff too!

With the addition of a innovative new control scheme for PC users, EA Sports is perhaps trying to show that it values the PC audience at least a little and that suspicion does put a positive sheen on the fact that this new point-and-click system doesn’t work as fluidly as you might hope.

There are some pretty disappointing things about the game too though, with the background graphics being a notable letdown when you consider the fact that the developer doesn’t actually have to create super complex models or animations for these aspects as they’ll only be seen from set angles. Crowds made from clusters of sprites really are getting a bit out of date.


There are some more interesting features here though, some of which is surprisingly in-step with current gaming trends for a series that iterates yearly but rarely evolves. The mouse-based gesture system for doing quick tricks, circles and dodges for example may (oddly) be similar to the spell-casting in Arx Fatalis or Black and White – but it’s also a nod to the Wii and the accessibility that is becoming paramount in game design.

Add into this the ability to have some more tactical control in a game which is still essentially an arcadey football sim and the appeal starts to grow further. Not every football game out there will let you remotely instruct AI controlled players to charge the shooter during a freekick or call for a teammate when you take corner.

In the end, FIFA ‘09 does actually manage to add in enough new features and ideas to make the game appealing to the countless droves who will doubtlessly buy it. These additions range from the micro right through to the macro, from the ability to make your man-wall jump before a free kick right through to the Adidas Live Season feature which updates the team information to reflect real performance.

True, not all of these ideas work flawlessly and we’d certainly approve of the online stuff if it wasn’t so closely tied to EA and the commercialisation that it brings, but enough of the feature list keeps the game feeling enjoyable and relevant.

FIFA ‘09 isn’t the best football simulation we’ve ever played and a lot of the success for FIFA ‘09 is going to depend on how well Pro Evo Soccer 2009 is received later this year, but it’s a decent enough game to fill the time with until then.

What do our scores mean?