Here at the Tokyo Game Show, we’ve had our first hands-on play with both FIFA 10 and PES 2010.

 

We’ve played through a few exhibition matches in each football game; here are our impressions of how one stacks up against the other.

First up: PES 2010. We've been very disappointed with the last two releases in this series, but this version grabbed us right from the off. As with any football game, however, what's right about it is somewhat intangible.

The new 360-degree control system certainly makes a huge difference. You won't necessarily notice much difference in the way the players move on the pitch or in how they are animated, but the feeling of controlling them is delicately transformed. In particular, the ability to move in any direction at all - rather than just eight directions - brings manual passing via the right thumbstick into its own. This helps to quickly set up flowing moves that feel like real football.  

 

That's always been the strength of PES, but in the last couple of games it's been tough to create that sense of total football unless you were willing to invest endless hours perfecting tricky button combos. After just a short period of play with PES 2010, it feels like you are getting into the heart of the game.

 

Adding to the sense of realism is the sheer power on show. Take a shot using a top player and you know all about it. As I threaded a pass through to Ibrahamovic, he quickly got it out from under his feet and let fly with an absolute scorcher that you could really feel – which is just as it should be.

 

On top of that, the graphics in this series go from strength to strength. PES 2010 looks fantastic. In my match between Liverpool and Barcelona, Steven Gerrard looked so accurately craggy that I suspect even his pub landlord would struggle to tell the computer simulation from the real thing.

Onto FIFA 10, which some people would argue took the footie sim crown from PES for the first time last year. As ever, this game looks the part from the off and it also has the 360-degree control system. But putting the two games side-by-side instantly highlights why these games inspire opposing camps of such ardent fans. FIFA feels like a more arcadey experience: a representation of football rather than an attempt to recreate the real thing.

 

Gameplay works in a very FIFA way; you'll find yourself almost exclusively funnelled down the channels or running through balls to the strikers from midfield. On the default difficulty mode, it's a pick-up-and-play experience that feels designed with the casual gamer in mind. Unfortunately, it wasn't possible to change the difficulty level on the demo machine, as it would be interesting to see how the game plays out as a tougher challenge.

There are some great additions, though. Keepers play much more realistically. They come for the ball better than keepers in PES 2010, and they don't act like superglue-hands whenever a shot is struck at them.  One goal was scored despite the ball being hit straight at the keeper; as he went down he managed to let it under his arm.

 

Also new are tiny flags that appear above a player during game time if he has strayed offside, so you know whether you should hold off your pass. Of course, the question of realism rears its head here too; it would be interesting to know if this feature could be switched off, although I found it useful.

 

There even seems to be room for referee errors. Another of our goals was shown in the replay to be clearly offside, yet it stood. This could make for some great arguments when playing a game with your mates at home, though if you're playing online you might want to turn down the volume on your headset...

Finally, FIFA retains the one-touch feature on its right thumbstick, which I love as it enables you to instantly take the ball under control or turn a player. If only it was also able to utilise an intuitive manual pass system, as PES does.

Our early impression is that PES has made significant strides in creating the kind of gameplay that will satisfy not only its purist fans but also those looking for an easy-to-learn, tough-to-master footie game. FIFA has a stack of new features and also feels slicker than its predecessor, but at the moment our money goes on PES. Just.