PES 2011 vs FIFA 11

It’s that time of year again. The football season is under way, which means PES and FIFA are battling for your hard-earned money. Unless you’re incredibly hardcore you’re only going to want to buy one footie game a year, so read on to find out which comes out on top.

Authenticity

FIFA 11 has all the real teams and players you’d want, so if you fancy a game as Stoke, complete with proper kit, you can. PES has a smaller selection of fully licensed teams – only Manchester United and Tottenham from the English Premier League for example. PES does have the Champions League license though.

Winner: FIFA 11

This is a no-brainer. FIFA wipes the floor with PES in terms of bringing the official licenses. The Champions League can’t compete with official leagues from over 20 countries.

Graphics

From a distant view FIFA 11 looks as close to real football as we’ve ever seen. It’s a gorgeous game. PES 2011 doesn’t look as slick, but payer faces are on the whole more accurately modelled.

Winner: FIFA 11

PES has come on a lot this year, but FIFA 11 is one of the best looking sports games of all time. Some ugly player faces don’t bring it down too much.

Audio

Stadium noise and commentary are very important in a football game. FIFA 11 features realistic chants and some decent play-by-play commentary. PES 2011’s stadium noise is a bit more generic and the commentary is often all over the place.

Winner: FIFA 11

FIFA wins due to having much better commentary and more authentic crowds. PES 2011’s commentary is at times just awful.

Online

PES 2011 lets you play online against your friends and has a new online version of the long-running Master League mode. FIFA 11 brings full 11-vs-11 online play to the table, tournaments for user-created clubs and leaderboards for in-game achievements.

Winner: FIFA 11

11-vs-11 in FIFA 11 is a big deal. It’s the first time it has been possible in a football game and lets you recreate proper matches.

Customisation

PES 2011 has a raft of editing options, so it’s possible to spend time creating new players and editing kits. FIFA 11 lets you do that and a whole lot more. You can put your own face onto a player, use your own football chants and choose what music you want playing at various points in the game.

Winner: FIFA 11

PES lets you edit a lot of stuff, but FIFA allows for a whole lot more. It’s great to put your face in the game.

Gameplay

This is the big one. FIFA 11 builds on an already excellent game, making for the most realistic football sim we’ve ever played. It’s got depth, skill, flair, and precision. PES 2011 includes a power meter on every kick and header, so you’re able to weight every pass and shot.

Winner: FIFA 11

FIFA just feels more realistic and thanks to a better physics engine everything looks and feels as you’d expect.

Celebrations

When you score a goal in PES 2011 the players go crazy in celebration, but you have no control over what they do. In FIFA 11 you can trigger a variety of jubilant celebrations.

Winner: FIFA 11

It’s a small touch, but not being able to perform your own celebration in PES feels a bit dated. A win for FIFA 11.

Set-pieces

PES 2011 sticks to a tried and tested formula for its free-kicks and penalties, so don’t expect any radical new mechanics. FIFA 11, on the other hand, includes a new penalty system that takes into account composure and power.

Winner: FIFA 11

The new penalty system makes for tougher spot kicks and more tension. Free kicks are devilishly hard in both games.

Presentation

FIFA 11 is slick. From the brilliant pre-match arena to the info-rich menu screens, you can tell a lot of effort went into every aspect of the game. PES 2011 is better described as functional, but it gets the job done. PES tries to hit back with some cool licensed music, but FIFA has a load more.

Winner: FIFA 11

Every aspect of FIFA 11 oozes class, apart from when there’s a close up on Wayne Rooney.

Single-player

Perhaps the closest fought category. PES 2011 includes a slightly dated, but hugely in-depth Master League mode. For some it’s still the best career mode in any football game. FIFA 11’s career mode is far easier to get into, but isn’t quite as involving.

Winner: Tie

This one’s too close to call. It’s PES’s depth vs FIFA’s user-friendliness. We can’t pick a winner.

Overall

FIFA 11 9 ½ – PES 2011 ½

The fight between FIFA and PES was fiercer this year, but the end result is still complete domination for the EA Sports title. It’s a better game all-round, so PES will have to wait other year to try and re-take the football crown.

Find out more about FIFA 11

Find out more about PES 2011