Right then - i may as well reply to this.
I'm a HUGE Pro Evo fan. I haven't brought a Fifa game for about 5 years as I've never really liked them as everything looks too small, and not like footy at all.
I'm not saying Evo is perfect, far from it, but I've found that you can really have some truly fist pumping stand out moments, unlike any other footy game.
Well, after seeing it got 9/10 in Official Playstation magazine, i thought "sod it, I'll give it a go".
And I'm glad I did.
The game is very realistic, pretty fast paced (for a Fifa game) although it all runs a lot slower than Pro Evo.
But, and this is the most important thing - it plays like football! I genuinely have fun playing this game. It's not too easy to score, and doesn't seem to have sweet spots. They can score some good goals too.
Online is just brilliant - full headset communication throughout the game (unlike Pro Evo), and just good presentation all round.
I still think the new Pro Evo will blow it away, but this is certainly worth having as an alternative, if not for the on-line mode only.
9/10 seems pretty close to the mark.
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Just to offer a differing view to this last one for people to ponder upon.........
I too am a huge PES fan, but have always kept an eye on the FIFA series as it in time became more "PES like" in terms of on the field gameplay.
I've always viewed the FIFA series as the "FRIENDS" of the footy gaming world. Like how the programme Friends is Seinfield for simpletons, thus FIFA is footy for those that don't really get footy.
I have been playing the new FIFA for the last few days on PS2.........
Again it comes with all the bells and whistles - if having the correct leagues, names etc is your main reason for playing a footy game - then this will be your bag.
Again the commentary is excellent, crowd chants rousing and the "Manager mode" a lot of fun (hell, weeks of fun), and far superior to the PES "Master league" - spot on there.
What I've always had a problem with is people raving over the graphics in the FIFA series..........the player models to me have always looked abnormal, and though players now look less like monkeys running around (ie. past FIFAs) the player movements are still "robotic". Arms, heads and legs quite often look like they don't belong to the player in question, and when running, players appear to take 5 little steps where one would suffice. Also the graphics on the PS2 are very choppy at times - especially when changing actions.
Graphics are best summed up for me when the goalie goes to throw the ball out (Whats that all about!?!).
The player graphics in the PES series are more natural, far smoother, and more varied. You can tell most players by the way they run in the game......now that I've got that off my chest.
Gameplay is summed up by me by something my missus said last night. I'd just struck a stunner of a goal from well outside the box when she said "you're not really enjoying this are you?". I asked why she thought that and she said, "Well when you score goals in your other soccer game (being PES5) you raise your fist in the air, or pester me to look at the replay over and over, but not once have you done this whilst playing this new soccer game...".
..and thats it in a nut shell - the game is too easy even on the harder levels, the goals more similar n nature to PES, and "tricks" to get you into scoring positons too easy to pull off/too frequent. Unless you are one -armed goals are not that hard to get, stunning goals far too frequent, hence I felt no real excitement in scoring them. The player AI is still average, the goalies go from brilliant one minute to appalling in the next, and there are still "SWEET SPOTS" as in all previous versions.
If you don't take your footy too seriously, like bells and whistles, and prefer higher scoring games and a less taxing play then this could be the game for you. For me I'll still play PES5 (I consider it far superior to this game) whilst eagerly awaiting PES6.
8/10
:bleh!: 
