Revised goalkeeping controls ensure more effective defending, as well as the greater control over a goalkeeper's movement. Similarly, new curved passes and shots for star players have been introduced per community request. This essentially means that players like Ronaldinho can be utilized in a way that more accurately reflects their on-pitch athleticism. Expanded camera settings also allow you to establish specific angles for viewing all of this in action, another of the hundreds of changes designed to make the experience sleeker and more refined.

FIFA Soccer 09 won't likely convert you if you're not a fan of the sport to begin with since it goes to great lengths to address fan requests more than focus on accessibility. The controls remain awfully complex, which all but assures that casual play is impossible with this increasingly deep simulator. For what it sets out to accomplish, however, FIFA Soccer 09 has certainly nailed the feature set – now we need to wait and see how it plays after some extended play time. For that, we’ll have to wait until October when the game hits the street.

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