14 DAY TRIAL // This week, demo versions for both FIFA 14 from EA Sports and Pro Evolution Soccer 2014 from Konami were launched, giving fans of football sims the first chance to compare the two rivals and maybe decide which one to buy later during the month.
It’s hard to known exactly what a game has to offer by only playing a limited range of matches, but the two demos show how different the philosophies of the two development teams are and what kind of experience they can deliver.
FIFA 14 feels faster as a game and more interested in the spectacle of football, with a lot of focus on the individual skill of each player and plenty of impressive dribbling and solid shots on goal.
EA Sports is adding more physics for the ball and the player, and the matches seem to be decided mostly by the battle between the midfields and the defensive, with a killer pass often leading to goals.
PES 2014 is a slower experience, with more space for individual touches and a smaller amount of overall chances for the teams involved.
Players have to string passes together and create spaces for their forwards runs, and I have seen quite a few matches that featured just a few shots on goal.
I enjoyed FIFA the most in demo form, but that might be mostly because this is the series that I have been playing for the last three years.
But, in some ways, the Konami football experience seems to be more intriguing as long as the player has time to learn its intricacies and can deal with worse overall graphics and presentation.
PES 2014 will be out first in Europe, on September 19, while FIFA 14 will be available on the continent on September 27.
Both games will be launched on September 24 in North America.