PES and FIFA, the two brands in console football/soccer titles, are back with their 2009 updates. A lot has changed and some things have stayed the same. Thats not always a good thing. I decided to do a head-to-head with these as I know a lot of people will only buy one of these and I wanted to make sure they got the right one for their money. I’ve put each through it’s paces, not with all gaming modes, but with the ones most games will actually use. I’m not knocking things like “Be A Pro” and “Be A Legend”, but most gamers want something they can enjoy and have a laugh with with friends, either with multiple controllers or via LIVE.

I’ll start things off with PES 2009. I’ve been a fan of the series since Perfect Eleven on the Super Nintendo and this is a worthy update to the series. It’s well polished, play is well balanced, and it feels more like a game of football. I dusted off PES 2008 and played that for a while before I dove head first into PES 2009. The first thing I noticed is that it is not as easy. Thats a good thing. In 2008 you could be in front of goal and most of the time you would score. This time round, even the best striker has an off day!! You could be one-on-one with the keeper, take it round him, knock the ball and it will just miss the goal by millimeters!! This, I think, gives the game a much more realistic edge. As too do the graphics, they are a lot brighter with the players you watch every week actually looking like they should!! The AI for off the ball players is improved as well. The runs by your other players, with them running into space, etc, makes games flow. The extra stadiums to play at, along with some from the previous release have been improved and make you feel you are actually at the ground. The crowd sounds seem to fill the grounds although a few chants sound like an ancient culture sacrificing something to their God!! The commentary is good, but it seems like they have just used the same from PES 2008. A lot of the comments sound exactly the same!! A few more licensed teams are here now, and more added with each update. It’s only the team names that are “made up”, the players are all here. This is one of the reasons why people prefer the FIFA series.

Now to FIFA 09. I haven’t been a big fan of the FIFA series the last few years. The developers have, to me, been putting presentation and league licenses over gameplay. Surprisingly that has changed!! The presentation and licenses are, as always, all there, and now so is the gameplay!! A quick change of the controller setup is needed to match the PES setup that I am so used to and it is into the game. This is a great football game. Everything from the graphics, to the presentation, to the commentary is just right. It feels like you are sitting down and watching it on TV!! I’m not knocking PES, but FIFA 09 does have a slight edge here. FIFA 09′s play is balanced just right and each game is none stop end-to-end.

The question most want to know is which is better on LIVE. The answer is FIFA 09. At the moment there are a few lag problems with PES 2009, but Konami are working on this all the time. I think FIFA 09 really shines with it’s online play. PES takes a while to get into a game, but with FIFA it is straight in. It plays as if your opponent was sitting next to you!!

There you have it. I’m not going to mark either game out of 10 for this. Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 is great one-player and multi-player. With friends around a big screen this is a great game and a great addition to the series. Fans of PES will not be disappointed. FIFA 09 has it just beat but only because of it’s slight edge on LIVE. Me, I’ll be playing through all the modes on PES 2009 and maybe keeping FIFA 09 as my LIVE soccer game of choice!!