Great stuff, Timmay! This is exactly what I'll be looking/hoping for once we all get some time with the actual game. I'd like to pull together some thoughtful and well-written mini-reviews like yours from our community to email to the EA community manager for him to pass along to the dev team after release. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it...
My thoughts exactly. I don't/can't mess with the BAP camera in FIFA, I just use the Tele cam.
There is no way to answer this question at this point. Unfortunately, you'll probably have to wait until both games are out for a week or so to get a better feel for what they have to offer. Also, with so much of it being subjective, others opinions may not necessarily tell the whole story...
*****
I only had about 45 minutes this morning before I left for work (and I was still late -- oops) but I managed to get in 1 regular game on All-Star and two BAP games on Pro. I haven't played 08 in a month or so, so I was rusty to say the least. I didn't have a feel for the new controls, so I can't really give any worthwhile impressions at this point. I'll probably give it a good run tonight, assuming the wife cooperates...
My first take is that the default settings are much more palatable this year. It still feels a little fast for my taste, but much better than 08 default. I may actually be able to stomach ranked games. Hitting power is overdone, but we know that can (and will) be toned down via sliders. Shooting seems better and I particularly enjoyed seeing some weak backhanded shots that would have been ripped last year.
I'm hesitant to comment on the AI & teammate positioning after such a short time, but my initial reaction was that my AI-controlled d-men still backed into the slot and gave away the blueline too easily. But that could be due to the strategy I was playing and what not; as I said, I only got a period of regular play in so who knows.
Be A Pro was fun; I played one as Crosby and one as Hank. I found that I'm the opposite of the previous poster who said he was better on the wing than at center. I did find some of the positioning arrows to be somewhat questionable in certain situations. I'd like to think that I know where to be on the ice and often it wasn't where the arrow was telling me. FWIW, I still earned an A- for that aspect. Oh and I didn't score aside from the shootout, but I hit the post two or three times. Man is going to feel good to finally score! I completely understand and agree with the idea of making a good play of any kind being more rewarding in BAP mode. On a side note, I often play as a DM in FIFA OTP and it is so great to score or set up a goal on my one or two chances that I get to contribute to the scoresheet...
Once I get more time, I'll try to give more in-depth thoughts. But at first blush, I'd have to agree that major steps were taken, although there may well be more that are needed. Until later,
Steve