Fifa 2005 And Pro Evo 4 Reviews

From an XBOX forum: -

***FIFA 2005 AND PRO EVO 4 REVIEWS*** READ!!
Posted: 10-05-2004 05:18 PM
Well, I have both games now, Fifa 2005 is the FULL PAL release/retail version, Pro Evolution 4 is a Final Alpha Version (the exact copy that UK OXM had) and below is my review/comparison of both games (so far!!!).

GRAPHICS
Fifa outshines Pro Evo 4 by a long, long wayon initial impact. Believe me, many of you will be dissapointed when you see Pro Evo 4 as it is almost a straight port of the PS2 version, albeit much, much smoother. Fifa has the best moddelling, the best animation (still over animates at times though) and resolution wise, its like a PC game (seems to be optimised for HDTV).

Pro Evo 4 is smoother on Xbox than PS2, no slowdown at all, but there are many graphical glitches in the replays and goal celebrations, with clipping a major problem. Both games have excellent collision detection, Fifa maybe having the edge here once again. The players themselves are defined better on Fifa, but on Pro Evo 4, they have the animation down to a tee. You see Thierry Henry or Ryan Giggs running and you know its them. Fifa doesn't have that advantage, but does seem to stand out on overall realism of the players. Although both games have some problems with newer Premiership players, ie: Gabriel Heinze looks like a man in drag.

Presentation wise, Fifa wins hands down. To be honest, Pro Evo 4 has the worst front end I've ever seen in a football game and the menu systems are awkward. Please make sure that when you same a game, you have to create a new save data and save it on that everytime. There is a bug in the game where the autosave function seems to only work for the option file (Hopefully, the final release will have this sorted).

One thing though - Pro Evo 4 is much more fun when editing players, teams, names, etc. Mainly cos you don't have to on Fifa, but I personally love to edit the teams. - Oh and you all know about the licensed Euro leagues, but you may like to know that the Premiership teams are all full represented and player names are correct, you just need to edit the stadiums and team names, ie, Man Utd are 'Man Red' on the game. And you can choose to keep these names in the Master League as well.


SOUND
Well... Fifa wins here again, with many famous name bands, 'The Streets', 'Scissor Sisters' to name two provinding the soundtrack. Pro Evo has tinny rock playing that really irritates you when in the menus. The in game sound on Fifa is like being at a real match. I suppose its best heard when you are not playing and watching someone as you can pick out the crowd noises. The sound changes as per the tempo of the game as well, so if you are losing and you are the home team, they cheer you more to help you, but boo if you lose!! Pro Evo 4's sound is abysmal for a next generation console. Always has been though!!! The commentary on Pro Evo 4 is a MASSIVE improvement over all previous versions though! Commentary on Fifa is second to none, only NHL 2005 has comparable commentary.


PLAYABILITY
Here we go... The icing on the cake for BOTH games. I actually enjoy Fifa, its refreshing to be honest and the passing system is superb. You can pass it directly to whoever you want, the new 'first touch' system does work and when you mess up a pass, its cos you rush or made a mistake... As it should be. both games are ruined by over animation, especially Pro Evo 4, where your players don't seem to be able to control the ball and the oppostion gain control, especially evident when playing on four or five star level.

But Pro Evo 4 has that 'just one more game' feel to it. You lose and you are pissed off. you win because you deserve it. Fifa, you score and you feel lucky. Fifa relies far too much on build up play and long shots, with few penalty box shots taken as the defenders are too good... Even West Brom, which is not realistic!!

Fifa has that weird ball mechanic though, where you don't know where the ball is going and it erratically swerves everywhere all the time, especially on crosses where the ball is in the air far too long at times and seems to se like a boomerang. Pro Evo 4 has it down to a tee. Almost perfect physics, apart from the over animation problems, I can't tell you how frustrating it feels running the ball out of play!

Now, Fifa is easier than Pro Evo in the higher difficulty settings, which I'd urge you all to play on, but the most annoying thing about Fifa is the fact you can't change the controls, or at least I don't think you can. Whatever you do, if you have both games, do not play one after the other has you'll be pressing pass when you should be shooting, etc (unless you make the default settings for Fifa the same on Pro Evo 4).


MULTIPLAYER
The Xbox live aspect of Fifa is actually very good, once in a game at least. You do wait forever sometimes in the lobbies (but it is early days, come Friday, they'll be thousands of players). I've not played the Live aspect of Pro Evo 4 yet, but it does seem like you can only play friendlies and not the leagues as promised. Fifa does have organised leagues and competitions. Thing is, Pro Evo 4 is two player alone is the best multiplayer experience away from LIVE, so I'm sure the LIVE aspect will be incredible, especially as the game is so smooth.


OVERALL

Now, at this moment in time, it would be unfair to say one is better than the other as my key aspect of any Xbox game is the LIVE function and I've not had time to check both out. The career mode in Fifa gives a great 15 season mode where you begin with a lower league team and work your way up and you can even work in different 'zones'. Ie: one Zone is Europe, another is South America. But the Master League mode on Pro Evo 4 is the business!! Transfers are great, injuries genuinely affect your squads, which are bigger this year and its much, much harder. I played four games in a row on five stars at 0-0 each game and don't know how I didn't win each one 5-0. Fifa is actually easy to win, especially if you score first as the computer seems to stop playing somewhat.

For now, I wuld say this: As a complete package, Fifa surprised me a lot. I didn't like 2004, but 2005 is actually very good and I think some of the games press have been unfair to it and not played it properly. Pro Evo 4 actually disappointed me. Maybe I expected too much, but the graphics in the game are not up to standard. I had Pro Evo 3 on PC as well and thats the level I expected from Xbox Pro Evo 4, it really is like a PS2 port.

So... You might thing I'll vote for Fifa 2005, as it did genuinely surprise me more, but Pro Evo 4 will always be a better game playability wise. If it had the licenses of Fifa and the graphical shine, it would be truly amazing, but hey, theres always Pro Evo 5!

SCORES:

FIFA 2005:

GRAPHICS: 94%
SOUND: 96%
PLAYABILITY: 85%
MULTIPLAYER: 90%
OVERALL: 91%


PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 4

GRAPHICS: 75%
SOUND: 70%
PLAYABILITY: 95%
MULTIPLAYER: 95%
OVERALL: 91%

Those are not overall averages of the scores as Pro Evo 4 would've got 80%, but I do think FIFA 2005 may surprise a lot of people and deserves to be reviewed in its own right and not as a direct comparison to Pro Evo 4 (which is exactly what I've done!!!). Pro Evo 4 IS a better game to PLAY, but there are negative issues about graphics and sound, which are EXPECTED on Xbox now and really let the game down. As a package, Fifa is stronger. A newcomer will always choose Fifa, real football game players will choose Pro Evo 4. Greedy, want everythings (like me) will get both and thats what I advise you to do... But be warned, as I say, NEVER play one directly after the other!!!

Make your own judgments if you do, but this is my review so far, if you have nay questions, add them as a reply and i'll tell you the answers if I can!

Thanks, hope you liked the review

Steve

ManxSeagull said:

From an XBOX forum: -

***FIFA 2005 AND PRO EVO 4 REVIEWS*** READ!!
Posted: 10-05-2004 05:18 PM
Well, I have both games now, Fifa 2005 is the FULL PAL release/retail version, Pro Evolution 4 is a Final Alpha Version (the exact copy that UK OXM had) and below is my review/comparison of both games (so far!!!).

GRAPHICS
Fifa outshines Pro Evo 4 by a long, long wayon initial impact. Believe me, many of you will be dissapointed when you see Pro Evo 4 as it is almost a straight port of the PS2 version, albeit much, much smoother. Fifa has the best moddelling, the best animation (still over animates at times though) and resolution wise, its like a PC game (seems to be optimised for HDTV).

Pro Evo 4 is smoother on Xbox than PS2, no slowdown at all, but there are many graphical glitches in the replays and goal celebrations, with clipping a major problem. Both games have excellent collision detection, Fifa maybe having the edge here once again. The players themselves are defined better on Fifa, but on Pro Evo 4, they have the animation down to a tee. You see Thierry Henry or Ryan Giggs running and you know its them. Fifa doesn't have that advantage, but does seem to stand out on overall realism of the players. Although both games have some problems with newer Premiership players, ie: Gabriel Heinze looks like a man in drag.

Presentation wise, Fifa wins hands down. To be honest, Pro Evo 4 has the worst front end I've ever seen in a football game and the menu systems are awkward. Please make sure that when you same a game, you have to create a new save data and save it on that everytime. There is a bug in the game where the autosave function seems to only work for the option file (Hopefully, the final release will have this sorted).

One thing though - Pro Evo 4 is much more fun when editing players, teams, names, etc. Mainly cos you don't have to on Fifa, but I personally love to edit the teams. - Oh and you all know about the licensed Euro leagues, but you may like to know that the Premiership teams are all full represented and player names are correct, you just need to edit the stadiums and team names, ie, Man Utd are 'Man Red' on the game. And you can choose to keep these names in the Master League as well.


SOUND
Well... Fifa wins here again, with many famous name bands, 'The Streets', 'Scissor Sisters' to name two provinding the soundtrack. Pro Evo has tinny rock playing that really irritates you when in the menus. The in game sound on Fifa is like being at a real match. I suppose its best heard when you are not playing and watching someone as you can pick out the crowd noises. The sound changes as per the tempo of the game as well, so if you are losing and you are the home team, they cheer you more to help you, but boo if you lose!! Pro Evo 4's sound is abysmal for a next generation console. Always has been though!!! The commentary on Pro Evo 4 is a MASSIVE improvement over all previous versions though! Commentary on Fifa is second to none, only NHL 2005 has comparable commentary.


PLAYABILITY
Here we go... The icing on the cake for BOTH games. I actually enjoy Fifa, its refreshing to be honest and the passing system is superb. You can pass it directly to whoever you want, the new 'first touch' system does work and when you mess up a pass, its cos you rush or made a mistake... As it should be. both games are ruined by over animation, especially Pro Evo 4, where your players don't seem to be able to control the ball and the oppostion gain control, especially evident when playing on four or five star level.

But Pro Evo 4 has that 'just one more game' feel to it. You lose and you are pissed off. you win because you deserve it. Fifa, you score and you feel lucky. Fifa relies far too much on build up play and long shots, with few penalty box shots taken as the defenders are too good... Even West Brom, which is not realistic!!

Fifa has that weird ball mechanic though, where you don't know where the ball is going and it erratically swerves everywhere all the time, especially on crosses where the ball is in the air far too long at times and seems to se like a boomerang. Pro Evo 4 has it down to a tee. Almost perfect physics, apart from the over animation problems, I can't tell you how frustrating it feels running the ball out of play!

Now, Fifa is easier than Pro Evo in the higher difficulty settings, which I'd urge you all to play on, but the most annoying thing about Fifa is the fact you can't change the controls, or at least I don't think you can. Whatever you do, if you have both games, do not play one after the other has you'll be pressing pass when you should be shooting, etc (unless you make the default settings for Fifa the same on Pro Evo 4).


MULTIPLAYER
The Xbox live aspect of Fifa is actually very good, once in a game at least. You do wait forever sometimes in the lobbies (but it is early days, come Friday, they'll be thousands of players). I've not played the Live aspect of Pro Evo 4 yet, but it does seem like you can only play friendlies and not the leagues as promised. Fifa does have organised leagues and competitions. Thing is, Pro Evo 4 is two player alone is the best multiplayer experience away from LIVE, so I'm sure the LIVE aspect will be incredible, especially as the game is so smooth.


OVERALL

Now, at this moment in time, it would be unfair to say one is better than the other as my key aspect of any Xbox game is the LIVE function and I've not had time to check both out. The career mode in Fifa gives a great 15 season mode where you begin with a lower league team and work your way up and you can even work in different 'zones'. Ie: one Zone is Europe, another is South America. But the Master League mode on Pro Evo 4 is the business!! Transfers are great, injuries genuinely affect your squads, which are bigger this year and its much, much harder. I played four games in a row on five stars at 0-0 each game and don't know how I didn't win each one 5-0. Fifa is actually easy to win, especially if you score first as the computer seems to stop playing somewhat.

For now, I wuld say this: As a complete package, Fifa surprised me a lot. I didn't like 2004, but 2005 is actually very good and I think some of the games press have been unfair to it and not played it properly. Pro Evo 4 actually disappointed me. Maybe I expected too much, but the graphics in the game are not up to standard. I had Pro Evo 3 on PC as well and thats the level I expected from Xbox Pro Evo 4, it really is like a PS2 port.

So... You might thing I'll vote for Fifa 2005, as it did genuinely surprise me more, but Pro Evo 4 will always be a better game playability wise. If it had the licenses of Fifa and the graphical shine, it would be truly amazing, but hey, theres always Pro Evo 5!

SCORES:

FIFA 2005:

GRAPHICS: 94%
SOUND: 96%
PLAYABILITY: 85%
MULTIPLAYER: 90%
OVERALL: 91%


PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 4

GRAPHICS: 75%
SOUND: 70%
PLAYABILITY: 95%
MULTIPLAYER: 95%
OVERALL: 91%

Those are not overall averages of the scores as Pro Evo 4 would've got 80%, but I do think FIFA 2005 may surprise a lot of people and deserves to be reviewed in its own right and not as a direct comparison to Pro Evo 4 (which is exactly what I've done!!!). Pro Evo 4 IS a better game to PLAY, but there are negative issues about graphics and sound, which are EXPECTED on Xbox now and really let the game down. As a package, Fifa is stronger. A newcomer will always choose Fifa, real football game players will choose Pro Evo 4. Greedy, want everythings (like me) will get both and thats what I advise you to do... But be warned, as I say, NEVER play one directly after the other!!!

Make your own judgments if you do, but this is my review so far, if you have nay questions, add them as a reply and i'll tell you the answers if I can!

Thanks, hope you liked the review

Steve

Click to expand...

biased wanker. fifa 2005 is shit, x box are shit only good for halo.

read that earlier on the PESFAN forum:
http://www.pesfan.com/bulletin/

good site

OCTOBER 15TH FOR PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 4

Konami of Europe confirms pan-European launch date for the PlayStation 2 version of its footballing legend…

Konami of Europe has announced the PlayStation 2 version of its eagerly-awaited Pro Evolution Soccer 4 will be released on October 15th. Versions for Xbox and PC-DVD will follow in November.

The release of Pro Evolution Soccer 4 is rightly seen as one of the high points of the gaming year. Each new installment delivers ever more realistic football action, and Pro Evolution Soccer 4 is easily the most accurate and intuitive football game for any system. The new game has also enjoyed a number of major additions, including the use of 56 clubs under the license from the Spanish and Dutch leagues and each club from the Italian league, and will also feature three of the game's most recognizable figures on its packaging, in the form of Premiership Golden Boot holder Thierry Henry and Italy's prolific front man, Francesco Totti. They are joined by Pierluigi Collina – the internationally respected match official – who also appeared on the packaging for Pro Evolution Soccer 4's predecessor.

"Each year, the Pro Evolution Soccer franchise gets bigger and bigger, and the launch of Pro Evolution Soccer 4 represents possibly the biggest advance for the series to date," commented Martin Schneider, European Marketing & PR Director for Konami of Europe. "The addition of licensed clubs, vastly improved gameplay, and its association with some of the biggest names in football in Henry, Totti and Collina prove how important it is to Konami, and we anticipate huge sales as eager fans queue for their copies on October 15th."

©1996 JAPAN FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION ©2002 JFA.MAX

©2001 Korea Football Association.

adidas, the adidas logo and the 3-Stripe trade mark are registered trade marks of the adidas-Salomon group, used with permission. Roteiro is a trade mark of the adidas-Salomon group, used with permission.

the use of real player names and likenesses is authorised by FIFPro and its member associations.

Officially licensed by Eredivisie NV

Gioco ufficialmente concesso in licenza della LEGA NAZIONALE PROFESSIONISTI

Campeonato Nacional de Liga 04/05 Primera y/o /Segunda Division Producto bajo Licencia Oficial de la LFP

All other copyrights or trademarks are the property of their respective owners and are used under license.

KONAMI® and PRO EVOLUTION SOCCERTM are either registered trademarks or trademarks of KONAMI CORPORATION. ©2004 KONAMI & Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo

Pro Evolution Soccer 4 will be released for PlayStation 2 on October 15th, with versions for PC-DVD and Xbox in November

not biased

cannot WAIT for the new Fifa


*ducks and covers*

braders, sorry mate fifa 2005 is shit wont beat pro evolution 4.

i'm gonna get both ( my first PES game) so that i can make the right decision , but i've played the other 3 PES's and haven't been impressed


apparently this ones going to be a bit more "realistic" so i'm gonna see if thats the case



but the new Fifa looks shit hot !

I agree mate Fifa is the mutts nuts. Can't wait to play them both on Live though...finally the XBOX slams the door shut on the lowly PS2.

Can't wait till Pro 4

i hate fifa games because you have to press about 50 buttons to do one thing

Long live Pro Evo if you ask me!!

pro evo will be absolutely immense. fifa just rellies on its name to sell and the last one was ACTUALLY painfall to play when with mates. just awful game.

I've played both, so I'd just like to point out what a load of utter bullshit that review is. Fifa still handles worse than Fabrice Fernandes after a few shandies.

Thanks, hope you liked the review

Steve [/B][/QUOTE]

Thanks Steve. Great review and exactly waht I needed? As I have XBOX have only played FIFA last couple of years and was quite frustrated by it. Had decided to get Pro Evo this time...e specially cos I like editing teams. There were three things that really bugged me about FIFA

1) Dribbling... you can never dribble apst anyone
2) Heading and volleying - you hardly ever score, except if it's a corner.
3) Shooting. Outside the box 90% time.

Seems like (3) still hasn't been dealt with. What about (1) and (2) and is Pro Evo better at these?

Oh and do players get better on Pro Evo? You can take Brighton into Europe with FIFA but only with the same players if you like playing Div 2 style!

Cheers

Fifa is a great game....for novices'!!
you can basically get the ball and run like a little twat round everyone at the speed of light and shoot - BOLLOX GAME!

Pro Evo is a real footballing piece of genious.

it reqiures skill, creativity and a f***ing whole sick week off to fully enjoy!

i used to be a fifa lover, til my mate got me onto Pro Evo....although i did find it a f***ing mission to learn all the controls....THERE IS NO CONTEST!!

roll on oct 15th - got mine pre-order from play.com!

BRING IT ON!

I despise FIFA - the graphics are utterly awesome and the detail is great, but the players handle like barges and in no way resemble part of a real game, whereas ISS, despite a few bugs, actually feels like you're playing football - FIFA just involves running straight through a team, holding down shoot and seeing the ball boomerang into the top corner, there's no skill involved.

ISS is the true champion.