Greatest Goal - FIFA Vs. Pro Evolution Soccer

Hi, and welcome back to The Great Debates, where only the true all-stars get the cup.

Whether it's referred to as soccer here in the U.S. or as football everywhere else in the world, it inspires passion like no other sport can. Soccer riots are just the tip of the iceberg. If you think the passionate debate is limited to the pitch in the real world, you are very much mistaken. Soccer video games get debated just as fiercely. While Sony, Midway, and SNK among others have taken their own stabs at soccer video games, in the eyes of the world, there are only two contenders for the World Cup. They are EA's FIFA series and Konami's Pro Evolution series.

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When I wrote my sports game editorial on Vocal years ago, I spoke about how exclusivity deals crippled baseball and football video games. A commenter on Twitter pointed out how the battle between FIFA and Pro Evolution proved how vital competition was in the games industry. Well, it's time to put that competition to the test. Of course, this kind of thing worries me because both series have legions of devoted fans all over the world. So, if I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna do it right.

This debate will be in three rounds. I will be comparing entries that were contemporaneous for three console generations. I'll be judging based on aesthetics, atmosphere, modes, and especially the gameplay, both in the games themselves and how they've progressed from previous entries in their respective series.

It's time to start the match!

This round pits FIFA 2003 (played on the original Xbox) against World Soccer: Winning Eleven 6, also known as Pro Evolution 2 in Europe (played on the Playstation 2). For the record, I wanted to start with the first Pro Evolution AKA Winning Eleven 5, but that game was never released in North America. So, I had to go with the follow-up.

FIFA 2003 had an immediate advantage with the FIFA license. While Winning Eleven 6 had about a dozen official clubs in the game, most of its teams on offer were generics for various countries, similar to what was done with the first Madden on Sega Genesis. FIFA had teams from almost a dozen world leagues with official rosters for that season. That authenticity really added to the game's atmosphere, making it easier to get invested. The visuals helped there, too. Simply put, FIFA 2003 was a better looking game than Winning Eleven 6. While both look similar during gameplay, the difference in visuals really shows up close during replays. Winning Eleven's players are very angular with unappealing facial details. When combined with some stiff animation, Winning Eleven's visuals do actually hurt the atmosphere.

Winning Eleven does redeem itself somewhat with its bonus features. Winning Eleven has customization options. You could create your own players and plant them into your favorite teams, and the Master League mode, exclusive to the Pro Evolution series, allows you to set up a league with whatever teams you want involved and play through your own custom season. That mode's a great idea that would've really benefited from having more official teams in the mix. By contrast, FIFA 2003's options are barebones. You've got exhibition and season modes, and that's it. You can't even create your own players.

However, the gameplay is the deciding factor here, and both games have their strengths and weaknesses. FIFA had more animations and techniques to use, especially with the right thumbstick giving more control over dribbles. However, you almost don't need them as the AI is... simply... stupid. I was stealing and tackling like it was nobody's business, and the keeper AI was simply pathetic. It appeared that boosting the difficulty doesn't make the AI smarter; it just gives the computer speed advantages and makes the refs more biased against the player. By contrast, the AI in Winning Eleven is competitive without being unfair. I had to actually work for every goal I gained. However, the controls are a bit more cumbersome. It's a pain in the ass to switch players when you're on the defense. Also the stilted animations I mentioned actively hurt the gameplay. It's harder to time out kicks, and the keepers' robotic animation routines made some saves look unnatural. It looked in some cases like the goalies just teleported in front of the ball for the save.

While it's easy to run circles around the AI and the bonus features are limited, FIFA 2003 did have the better atmosphere and authenticity to replicate the World Cup experience. Winning Eleven 6 had the pieces to be a contender, but it just wasn't quite there yet. For the sixth generation, the point goes to FIFA.

The contenders for the second round are FIFA 2008 and Pro Evolution Soccer 2008, both on the Xbox 360. Needless to say, both series saw some changes over five years, and most of those changes addressed issues I had with the games I covered in the first round.

With the addition of several of the larger world leagues, Pro Evolution 2008 really boosted its feeling of authenticity, and the sharpened visuals gave the game the atmosphere I knew it was capable of. It even added some flair with its style, especially in the opening cinematic. FIFA 2008 provided even more official leagues and more modes to make it more worth the money. There's a full manager mode, similar to the franchise modes in other sports games. Custom tournaments can be set-up. There are special challenges to complete. There's even the “Be a Pro” mode where you create one player and follow him through his whole career. While a mode like that is commonplace in sports games today, it was a revelation at the time. You can even practice shooting against the goalie while waiting for the match to load! While Pro Evolution did add custom cups and a training mode, that pales compared to the smorgasbord FIFA provided this time around.

There were changes in the gameplay, as well, and, unfortunately, not all of them were for the better. The biggest changes to both games were in the AI. True, I remarked about how the AI in FIFA needed improvement, but FIFA 2008's AI isn't better. It's cheaper. While the computer will still blow easy shots, it'll get more chances since it can strip the ball from the player with little effort. Even special dribble moves do little to prevent it. Pro Evolution 2008 drastically improved the animations which made the difficult AI feel more fair. I still had to fight for every goal, even more so this time, but the magical teleporting saves were nowhere to be seen. When the AI kicked my ass, I knew it was because I needed to get better, not because of some cheap tricks.

The improvements in visuals and atmosphere allowed Pro Evolution's gameplay to shine. While I give props to FIFA for adding more stuff to improve the game's value, I had to struggle the find the fun in the frustration. The point for the second round goes to Pro Evolution.

It's all tied up, and the deciding point will be for either FIFA 21 or Pro Evolution Soccer 2021, both on the Xbox One. Please note that I was able to do this comparison thanks to both games being available on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

Visuals between the two games naturally improved, but both games' graphics improved in different ways. FIFA gave its biggest improvements to the character models. You could be forgiven for thinking they were real people, not digital replicas. While Pro Evolution's player models are very good, too, that game's big visual improvements are with the stadiums and the animations. The arenas feel so alive in this one with energetic crowds and incredible detail. Despite the polygonal crowds, FIFA's arenas feel the same they did the previous generation. As for the animations, Pro Evolution blows away FIFA. Everything looks smooth and natural, from the tackles to the celebrations after a goal. How could FIFA's animations look so robotic this late in the game?

Basic gameplay is largely the same from the previous generation. Pro Evolution's difficulty is still the same tough but fair balance, though it seems like the ref calls fouls a little too easily this time. It doesn't break the game, but it does get rather annoying. FIFA's AI stopped being cheap and went back to being pushovers. Seriously, it made the AI in FIFA 2003 look like a MENSA candidate. I was blasting past opponents and keepers like it was nobody's business.

Modes in Pro Evolution and FIFA are largely the same though both added more leagues. FIFA 21 even has women's leagues now. However, there is one mode in each game I must address. They are FIFA's Ultimate Team and Pro Evolution's MyClub. In general, both modes have a similar concept, gaining various random players from third-stringers to All-Stars and building a master squad to compete with other players. However, both games go about this in different ways. MyClub builds its mode like a franchise mode, complete with hiring agents and everything. FIFA's Ultimate Team is more of an arcade experience with multiple modes and earning or buying more things for your custom arena and team. Both even have multiple currencies, one earned through play, and the other largely acquired through microtransactions though some can be gained through completing certain goals.

However, there is one key difference between the two. MyClub is ignorable. Let me explain. Anyone who has been paying attention to the gaming industry has heard about all the trouble EA has gotten into with paid loot boxes. No, EA, they are not “surprise mechanics” or whatever other stupid term you're using this month. While the use of randomized rewards which encourage further spending in Star Wars Battlefront 2 got politicians involved, they've been far more egregious in FIFA Ultimate Team, to the point that reports have popped up frequently of kids emptying their parents' bank accounts by buying loot boxes just in the hope of getting specific players. Now, to be fair, other sports games are doing this, too, including other companies. Sony even started doing it with MLB The Show. However, FIFA is FAR more vigilant with it. A third of the achievement list is devoted to FIFA Ultimate Team, as opposed to just five achievements for Pro Evolution's MyClub. Also, FIFA actually hounds players to go to Ultimate Team. No joke, the first time I loaded up FIFA 21, I was hit with three promotion screens for Ultimate Team. Considering the mode bothered me already thanks to those news reports (including one about a leaked corporate memo that talked about funneling players to Ultimate Team), the constant harassment royally pissed me off. When I booted up Pro Evolution 2021, the game stopped to promote MyClub only once. Konami didn't hound people to go to the premium mode the way EA did. Considering the newest iteration of Pro Evolution is only $30 brand new compared to $60 for FIFA, I'd expect Pro Evolution to nag more.

It was no contest in this round. Pro Evolution 2021 kicked FIFA 21's ass. The gameplay was more rewarding, the atmosphere was top-tier, it doesn't try to cheat money out of people, and it's even half the price! FIFA adding in more leagues doesn't come close to making up for its gameplay deficiencies and constant money-grubbing. Pro Evolution takes the point.

The winner of this debate is... Pro Evolution!

Pro Evolution wins this debate 2-1 over FIFA. While Konami continued to improve and evolve its soccer series over the years, EA let its series stagnate, hoping that just improving the character models, adding more leagues, and roping players into paying for loot boxes would make up for weaker gameplay. Konami's soccer series has earned the World Cup.

What do you think? Did I miss something? Think I was too harsh on Ultimate Team? Let me know, and game on!