Fifa 09! finally!!!

FIFA 09
Release Date: 3rd October 2008

I recently downloaded and played the FIFA 09 demo and thought I might post some thoughts on it.

Gameplay

As with the FIFA series gameplay is basically the same, soccer (football), in the demo version there is only one team from each league available and I chose Chelsea. Advanced tactics are similar to the FIFA 08 ones. I am unable to comment on Manager Mode because that wasn't there in the demo 

A new feature of FIFA 09 is the ability to get weekly player form updates from EA so instead of having to rely on EA's guessing mechanisms you can well see how well your players are going. The one flaw in this is that usually gamers don't play one game a week so form updates might affect a month in game time or so depending on the user.

Graphics

The graphics have drastically improved in this version when being compared to the FIFA 08 graphics... The players are actually shown with high detail especially on the face. Physique differences are also noticable now. The graphics have improved to the point where I get 30-60fps which is exactly the same as I got on Assassin's Creed on the same machine both with details maxed out. The 60fps is the VSync if you haven't noticed already. I hit 30fps when the camera zooms in to a few individual players such as a goal kick or free kick. Anything in between is when the players are celebrating or when the ref is walking over to give the beloved red card. I wish they would make the audience a bit more dynamic though, they are just 2d objects waving their hands in the air, I don't care if you make 10 different 3d spectators and re-use them in the entire crowd, it'll look better at least.

I believe it is possible for a computer with worse graphics to still be able to play this at reasonable settings. (Low)

The Vista required rating for this game is a 3.0 and the recommended is a 4.0 if that gives you an idea.

EDIT: *In-Game Settings*

Graphics Settings:
Resolution
...

Level of Detail
Low, Medium, High

3D Grass
On, Off

Post Processing Quality
On, Off

Depth of Field (Shader quality must be 2 or automatically set to Off)
On, Off

Shaders Quality
0,1,2 (2 is highest)

Sounds

No commentary was available in the demo version unfortunately which I noticed instantly and missed . The crowd's cheering and booing reacts with what is happening on the field, make a bad tackle and they respond accordingly, ref makes a controversial decision and instant booing.


Conclusion

FIFA 09 is definitely a step up in terms of graphics but thats pretty much it. Manager mode isn't here yet so can't really comment on that. The User Interface has stayed the same so not much can be said. This is a demo version so they could always add stuff to the full version. People who enjoy the FIFA series like me should get it when it comes out and if you can't wait you can get the demo (link at bottom).

Pros 
- Improved Graphics
- Weekly player form updates
- Crowd cheer accordingly

Cons 
- Weekly form update a bit flawed
- Crowd is still.... 2D....
- No commentary... yet

Rating: Recommended!