If you are a fan of football, you will undoubtedly know the constant banter, sometime friendly and sometimes not shared among fans of PES and FIFA. FIFA has dominated in terms of being the favoured football simulator of choice for what seems like the last decade. I myself am a FIFA player, and have been since I could hold a controller. But with EA seemingly unable to innovate with the last two instalments, PES has a chance to close the gap and maybe challenge FIFA for the crown.

Recently I was able to play the PES demo, however with FIFA I can only judge from what I have seen online. It must be noted, though, that both games are notorious for having completely different final release games to their demos sometimes. I’m not attempting to do a like for like comparison between the games but rather demonstrate what each franchise can bring to the football fan’s table.
Ed: If you want a true football experience, play the Football Manager series instead/

Pro Evolution Soccer 2020

The PES community has come to expect Konami to publish a good game each year taking into account fan feedback, something that FIFA fans may not have experienced lately. Having played the PES demo I found that I enjoyed the majority of the gameplay purely due to the game’s consistency. PES does not have those random “freak” goals and gameplay glitches, that we see circling around social media for FIFA. It is a simple football simulator that tries to emulate the sport as closely as possible. Player mechanics, such as runs and general movement, are far superior to what you get in FIFA. Gameplay is also slower than FIFA, something that takes getting used to when switching franchises. I struggled to get used to it, however once I got into a rhythm, It became easiet to see that Konami have created a game imitating that pass and move style of pure football.

Where PES has always held an edge, is in the graphical details of players and the attention to detail in the stadiums. PES is miles ahead of FIFA in this department. The level of detail, from the blades of grass on the field to the individual strands of hair on the players is phenomenal.

PES’ downfall comes in the form of online play - FIFA is a global giant due to the ability of players to challenge friends and strangers alike. While PES wipes the floor with FIFA when it comes to offline game modes (Master League and Become a Legend), it cannot compete with FIFA as the primary online gaming platform.

Where PES has managed to make inroads into FIFA’s dominance is by slowly accumulating licenses of some of Europe’s biggest clubs, such as Cristiano Ronaldo’s Juventus. (Ed: When did the Old Lady become “Cristiano Ronaldo’s Juventus?!). With the latest instalment in the series they have managed to get the full license for Juventus, forcing FIFA to change the club’s name in to Piemonte Calcio - talk about role reversal.

It is a small victory as FIFA still holds the majority of licenses, owning the rights to Europe’s biggest leagues and tournaments allowing them to still share the naming rights of clubs that PES have – with Juventus being the singular exception.

Overall I was impressed with what I got from PES in the demo, they still lack the variety of modes that FIFA has in the online sector this year – but will retain their loyal community and maybe even expand on it depending on what EA does with FIFA 20.

FIFA 20

Ah yes FIFA, I firmly believe EA cannot afford another bad FIFA, and that leads to the host of changes we see in 20. They have paid attention to their neglected offline modes but are still far behind PES’s Master League mode. They have scrapped the poor The Journey mode and added the exciting Volta football mode. This mode has surprised me as it may very well be a good, fun alternative mode to FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT), especially considering how much EA try to push players towards FUT.
The biggest change EA have made to FIFA 20 from what I have seen and heard, is that they finally listened to the community. The FIFA community, in general, are not the greatest, and have also given themselves a poor reputation within the general gaming community. Many of the influential members in the community rarely advocate for changes because of that whole “EA Game Changers” program not really working out.

Because FIFA 19 was so broken, they were in danger of compromising their extremely profitable FUT mode, I have little faith that FIFA20 will be considered a great instalment in the series. But I do believe that FIFA 20 will be a step towards the returning to the good old days. While FIFA is not an accurate football simulator, its arcade style towards football makes it a lot of fun when done correctly. PES will reward a better player because they simply are the better player – which is where FIFA’s randomness comes in and quite literally, makes it the most frustrating game known to man. Those who played FIFA 19 will know, that along with the broken mechanics, you can be outright superior to your opponent and still comfortably lose the game. Therefore, I cannot judge FIFA 20 until the release, because even the demos of the past were different to the final build of the game. You can only truly judge FIFA after a month, due to all the patches EA implement in the game to try and keep the casual player happy.

I am quietly optimistic about FIFA 20 because I truly believe it has the potential to be one of the best FIFA games we have had in a very long time. Judging by my trusted none “EA Game Changer” creators that I follow, they believe the game is heading in the right direction. With a few patches here and there in the correct places before the final release, FIFA 20 looks like it has nothing to fear from PES - just yet.

Final Thoughts

If you are the purest player looking for that authentic football simulator, I would hands-down recommend PES. If you are looking for a much faster arcade style game filled with skill moves and insane goals, you would naturally go with FIFA. Same goes for the competitive aspect, FUT dominates the online world and Volta football could give you an alternative mode to go skill crazy by yourself or against friends. If you’re one of those players that enjoys the Manager and Career modes, then you go with the offline modes of PES’s Master League and Become a Legend. Ultimately, both games offer completely different styles and approaches to football simulation – it’s up to you as the player to choose the one that suits you best, or you can get the best of both worlds, it’s your choice.

PES 2020 is set to release on September 10 and FIFA 20 is set to release on September 27. However, you can pre-order the Champions or Ultimate editions of FIFA and get the game on early access 3 days before official release.