angrymonkey said:I love the RTS type of gameplay with the pointer - I want this incorporated into madden and hockey as well. I actually love the control setup more than the sport, I mean I like playing soccer outdoors but I think this is the first soccer game I've ever owned. Haven't tried fifa at all.I don't think it's selling too well though - at least not in north america.
I think it did just fine in Europe and Japan. America will never be sold on soccer though, whether it's the real thing or a video game. Not unless Mega Man is in it anyway.
Really, really loved 08. It was how I'd always wanted football games to be. I had complete control over my team, and I could play any style I wanted, and not have to worry about the AI putting my players in the wrong position, and not timing their runs. i could also play a ball and know tha the player knew where it was going to be played, because I could move them there! It really was a joy to play.
Of course apart from the lack of features 08 had its problems. Defending, AI, shooting etc. btu I've heard defending and shooting has been fixed in 09. I really need to get it, but hopefully the AI is improved a bit! I was beating the classic teams 10-0+ far too quickly. 
angrymonkey said:You've got some skills then. I'm winning my games but only on the default difficulty and not by 10 goals. I need to work on defence and controlling my players smoothly. Attacking is such fun though. Hope they keep improving it.
To be fair I was coming to it after playing PES for years, so the learning curve was smaller. But it did feel quicker than from PES to PES.