TCrouch wrote:I get frustrated from time to time because I'm trying to just bump shoulders and do something, but then he pulls off some crazy move. I mean, I'm dribbling the ball. I'M IN POSSESSION OF THE BALL. Then, here comes Zeppo...splits right in front of me, kicks me in the groin, steps on my scrotum, laughs, spits on me, and the ref calls a foul...ON ME!
Meanwhile, my shoelaces touch his and I get fouled immediately.
I have yet to grasp the concept of the foul calls in this one, but I can't stop playing it. Not even close.
Honestly, though, for me the greatest improvement/tweak to WE9 from past iterations is the fouling and the overall physical interactions among players on and away from the ball. Fouling is far more realistic than ever before, and it makes the game much more realistic as a whole.
Fouling in WE9 is finally 'there,' or at least much closer than before (there still aren't enough accidental yellows yet, and it's hard to get a red unless you try to). I LOVE it in this game!! Most of my techniques have been learned in old versions of WE, but in WE9 they work so much better now.
Essentially, any time you are pushing a button, be it A-button to go for the ball, or a turbo of whatever degree (R-trigger or black-button), you are liable to cause a foul. However, a lot depends on what the guy in posession of the ball is doing. As the ball carrier, the best way to take a foul is to not push antything, no stick, nothing. Or, you can try to make a kick, like a pass or a shot or a B-button long-ball, at the right time and get that foul. For example, if a defender is on your back rubbing up against you with turbo, if you let go of everything, most times that defender's turbo will push you over, and you get the whistle. If you keep running, or worse turbo, your player will try hard to stay up, sometimes losing balance enough to lose control of the ball but not enough to fall over. A little letting go of the stick and everything, and your guy will now be susceptible to the slightest of nudges and go down like the proverbial sack of potatoes.
Now, on the other side, the use of the super-cancel can be very powerful. On passes that you can contest, you will find that your player is magnetically attracted to the ball. If you have a step or two on the other guy, this is great, and allows you to prep a pass, or a turbo touch or whatever. However, if you are neck-and-neck with the other guy, you will both be running on lines directed at the ball, and so usually will not make contact with each other along the way (if you do it will usually be the mutual rubbing deal), colliding at the ball. No turbo or L-stick moving or anything will change your player's trajectory. Only the super cancel will help you here. Using the super cancel and a little L-stick (both turbos, so R-trigger and black button for Xbox), you can get your player off this magnetic attraction to the ball. In these situations, the super-cancel will let you get your hips and shoulders into the other guy and at the worst slow him down. Love it.
The super-cancel is most useful in those situations where the ball is rolling towards a boundary line, and you don't want your guy to touch it. How often do you see your guy run full-bore after a bounding ball, only to trap it out of play for a throw for the other guy when, if your guy wasn't so fast, it would have been your ball on the throw in or goal kick? The super-cancel is your friend, in these situations more than any other. With the super-cancel, you can just run away from the ball and let it go out. Or, you can hold your position and shield the other guy away from the ball so he can't get to it. Super-cancel is also very helpful on those long, hopeful diagonal aerial balls. Here, use the super cancel to jockey for position with the other guy, or try to fake him out. It's amazing what a good striker can do against an average side back with a little super-cancel action when the ball is up for grabs.
With the tweaks to physical interactions among players, I really think the fouling in this game is sublime. I can foul tactically when I want to (most of the time) without fear of getting booked, allowing me to stop play and get my guys back behind the ball. I can work to draw fouls for good free kicks, or slow the agressive ball-chasing D down by falling like a Honduran team
It's never been so easy or so well implemented in a WE game before, and while it's not perfect, it's far closer to reality than anything before.
