Interfering With Play 03/06/08
Posted by Dan Bolas in Interfering With Play on Tue 03 Jun
Welcome to this week’s edition of Interfering With Play. With the big four section now behind us, Interfering With Play enters the summer months looking towards information about PES2009 being revealed, made public and the wild speculation regarding features and game modes will surely follow suit. So much so, that PES 2009 is now listed on Play.com, allowing you to add yourself to a mailing list for news regarding the games, as yet unconfirmed, release date. It is crazy to think that 9 months after its release, we are still discussing its merits and flaws, with the underlining factor being, most gamers are still playing PES2008, in spite of huge titles such as Grand Theft Auto IV being in our gaming collection. If only the online mode… Anyway, on with this week’s column.
Metal Gears Of War
For those of you who own a PS3, the waiting is almost over for the first ‘real’ exclusive title. For those of you not keeping track, Metal Gear Solid 4 is released 12th June 2008, and as seems to be the big trend nowadays, the title is on worldwide release. I am well aware that bringing this up will have some members of the PESGaming.com community in uproar, as it doesn’t feature PES, but this release has ramifications for gamers all over the world. When speaking about Sony’s consoles, Metal Gear Solid has very much been a benchmark for which other games are judged. A lot of titles released over the past 12 years have been good, but many fall behind when related to “Is It As Good As Metal Gear Solid?” There is a lot of pressure on Konami once again to deliver and with the game being the final title to feature Solid Snake; there are a lot of questions to be answered too. Bottom line is, if Metal Gear Solid is poor, not only will X Box 360 obliterate PS3 in the next generation console war, but Konami will lose a great deal of credibility as a developer, not to mention income. Seeing as Konami are heavily involved in PES, granted at different studios, finances will definitely come in to play when money is being issued for licenses and marketing regarding PES 2009. I have intentionally avoided all the media hype about MGS4, and am quietly looking forward to what could prove to be a triumphant return to form for Konami!
“If I Had Another Chance Tonight”
I remember, many years ago, when you purchased a computer game and that was it. You played the game, either saved it or obtained passwords, and gradually made your way through to the final levels, defeating bosses as you go. If a game was rubbish, you would take it back, or simply not buy it. Some would claim that this is the way gaming should be and whilst it is slightly old school, I can appreciate where they are coming from. Nowadays, no sooner have your purchased a game, than the developers are adding a new patch for you to download, in order to increase camera angles, or control sensitivity or even giving you new levels and characters to play with. A prime example is PS3 flop, Lair. The game was toted at the PS3 launch to be one of the best looking games ever, coupled with a unique game experience involving a combination of regular controls and motion sensor movements. Then the game came out, the frame rate was too slow and the motion sensor controls shoddy. Reviewers slated the game and it was dunked into sales and bargains bins all over the high street. Four months after its release, the developers release a patch, combating all the problems reviewers had picked up on and turning it into a very playable title. I personally feel it is excellent commitment to a game that it is constantly being looked at and improved, even after its release, and sports developers should follow this trend as soon as possible. Yes, PES2008 had a couple of dodgy updates, but nothing that changed the online experience one dot. What are the views of the PESGaming.com community on gaming add-ons? Should developers be allowed to add bits to their games, or should they make sure its 100% perfect before release, resulting in delays to release dates? Your comments at the bottom, if you wish to do so.
Free Kick Specialist
A big talking point on PESGaming.com this week has been about free kicks on PES2008, mainly how they are too hard to execute. Whilst for a casual gamer, I can fully appreciate their concerns, but have no sympathy for them, and as for hardcore PES players the idea of a arrow pointing towards the goal is both insulting and far too arcade based. Yes, quick free kicks need to be made more consistent, and 100% yes, short free kicks need to be easier to control, but the idea of taking the shine off a 25 yard pearlier with Beckham by using an arrow sends shivers down my spine. I will spend a good few hours on the games training mode, practising Free Kicks with players from all different angles. I work on using the different power combinations, the different height combinations and the different swerve settings. I will place the ball out wide and whip 100’s of balls into the box, using a variety of different players, and will blaze the ball over the bar hundreds of times in order to find that perfect sweet spot. But when my player is fouled 30 yards from goal, I know I will be able to step up with Cristiano Ronaldo and cause problems for the GK. I know that if I get brought down whilst beating a full back, Ashley Young’s delivery will cause the opposition problems, and I believe my practise time was worth it. Of course, you are not going to score a free kick every time. Taller players in the wall may block a shot that would be goal bound should a smaller man be occupying that spot, but the idea of getting the power in the right area, getting the angles right and basically, practising provides the best results. I know hardcore PES players will be with me on this one, but for those on the fence, believe me when I say, put the hours in on the training field and the results will start to show, especially in multiplayer games.
Foul And Abusive Language
Reading through PESGaming.com the other day, some of the comments left by anonymous users are both humorous and at the same time, completely unacceptable. Writing this article requires a tad more than a barrage of four letter words, and structured opinions will always be listened to ahead of abusive slang. I am not really talking about comments left on IWP, mainly because it doesn’t bother me personally, but on the comments left to Seabass based articles, it is no wonder Konami don’t take the time to read their fans views. I can appreciate how being firm and forceful may help to get your views across, but racially abusing someone or swapping every other word for a curse certainly doesn’t get my attention. And it doesn’t particularly look mature either.
Cold As Ice
90th Minute, Master League, you have to score to win the title, and you are awarded a penalty. Unfortunately for the AI, if you place the penalty straight down the middle along the floor, you are virtually guaranteed to score. Every time I have done so, and the GK has saved it, the ball has rolled straight back to my striker for a tap in. This is based on maybe 100 penalties, and although I don’t go down the middle every time, when I do it’s a positive I will score. Any views on this from the community?
That’s your lot for this week. As always get involved by adding comments at the bottom of the article, or by e-mailing me direct on danbolas@hotmail.com. Just to back up a few views, the commitment some people show to PES is staggering, especially regarding editing. Its almost funny that Konami pay people money to do what many of us will do in our own time for hours on end, for free! Mad world, but I think PES does drive gamers to new levels of crazy.
Thanks for Reading
Oh, the good old editing world of an Evo obsessive : Friend to me - “What do you think of Evo this year? just gets better don’t it!” Me to Friend - “Haven’t played it yet mate. Yes I know ive had it a week but im just getting Scholes hair at the right tone of Ginger cos Konami have made him blonde again.”
Im by no means a perfectionist but Evo turns me into a bloody obsessive for everything to be just right - and I love it. Sad or what? Please tell me there’s more people like me out there. Hello? Hello?
I wouldn’t usually edit teams myself, except to get flappy hands Ricardo as far away from Portugal as possible, but I fully support your decision to make everything just right. Pro Evo isn’t just a game. It’s a way of life. It may be nine months old, but me and my friends still play it every day.
HAHAHA!!! Cheers mate, Im exactly the same with flappy paced Beckham in the England team. I play co-op with my mate and we’re always England and he always plays Beckham cos he knows it infuriates me.
metal gear solid 4 is going to be the biggest game of this year…it is amazing in all departments!! hopefully the new pro will be what we all want and to be released on time with many correct kits for the enlgish league and better game play!
i am with you on free kicks, arrows would ruin them completely. i love swerving it over the wall using my skill and past experience to score. one thing they coould change is to have an alternative to precision and skill, so every once in a while you can just ping one with a player and it flies into the roof of the net, or hits the wall and shoots in. you can only do this with a few players (carlos and co) but realistically, anyone can hit a ball hard, precision is different!
oh, and i edit players and teams, i hate some of the starting formations and some players are always undersold. micah richards, cesc, torres and toni’s stats were average, gariido was right footed as was chilavert. gullit had no pace. things like that always need changing
DO NOT Touch the FREE KICKS PLEASE.
just need practice.
the following video is a last minute goal with Riquelme
on semifinals of the Champions.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMudoBfsvKE
About the Penalty kicks,
I have both the EU and US Version,
the US had the pk change, cause the keeper does save the kicks on the middle.
I did play 3 master league seasons on the EU version and They never save a pk, always score on the middle.
I would not touch the Free Kicks, the are as closed to perfect as it’s ever going to be on a gaming platform.
Also, for the penalties, I have never had the keeper save my penalty when going down the middle and on the ground. Not once and I’ve been playing on Top Player difficulty since I got the game from Play.com.
Great stuff on MGS4, 8 more days until the midnight launch, can’t wait!
think the penalities in pro should do something very similair to how fifa08 takes the penalities beleieve this will be much better than the current penalties in pro08!
i find the free kicks are hard to excecute. but that has been a problem with serveral other games I have tried over the years. the penalties are ok i find…
In my opinion the free kicks on the last Pes were a little better, but I think that the way they are set out is perfect, no arrows… please! I’m with Stu on the variables to free kicks, such as deflections from the wall, etc. Pes 09 I don’t think will be a big change apart from the online play being fixed [FINGERS CROSSED!] and hopefully a lot of nice little touches, such as better diving [?] for example, or deflections from the wall in free kicks, and the ability to push the linesman over when he calls you offside in those rare occasions when you aren’t! (Joking… well, mostly…)
I read the blog every week but never comment, I will start to in future but keep it up, your opinions are nicely set out and well balanced!
im very happy with the free kicks, i’m especially good with pirlo…on penalty’s, i think you they should only be saved and never go wide or over the bar, it’s totally unfair. I understand the fact that the game could go on forever but at least it’s fair, and isn’t football about fair play? It’s god to think you won a match against a friend by guessing the correct way.
it’s all about useing the circle button(lob/cross) for a Direct free kick 4 out of 10 times for me its in the back of the net x
but you can’t beat a pro4 free kick
Can I just point out my comment on free kicks in the last IWP has been completely misquoted:
“I’m still in favour of a Madden/Tiger woods 3 click system.
Can anyone remember the game in which you had a ‘ghost’ line that showed you roughly where the ball was going in a freekick prior to the kick?”
Above is my quote. Firstly, there is a return gap - hence a new paragraph - hence a new topic. At no point did I say I wanted arrows in next yrs PES edition!! My comment was merely pointing out that I like the old GOLF style 3 click system in both the Madden and Tiger games!!!!
Personally free kicks in PES are too basic. Having played all versions I know what players and button combinations to use and hence can score about 1 in 5.
This is not me being big headed but I struggle to read peoples comments about how hard they are. My advice - Pick a team - Pick a player and get practising in the training mode!
I would consider myself to be a hardcore PES player and your comment about the idea of an arrow pointing towards the goal is both insulting and far too arcade based for hardcore players is fair, although I do believe that they need a different system. After all there is not much to it other than a slight variance in power bar level and whether you hold Up and triangle or down and X depending on how far out you are.
I must admit, I’m really not a fan of set pieces in general on PES2008.
First of all corners - they are far too random. I play a lot of player vs player matches and they are a source of immense frustration to all. Sometimes the marking is just non existent, sometimes there is marking but the defenders just don’t jump, but the thing that annoys me the most is when the player of the line fails to react.
Secondly - Quick free kicks. There are lots of times when I would love to take a free kick quickly, but the game doesn’t let me!
Next - Penalties. It really bugs me when I get a penalty, and the player slots it wide or blasts it over, because there is nothing I can do about it. Some times you can dive the right way and the keeper will still let it in. Again, nothing I can do about it. I would love a new system for penalties in the next game, possibly with a power bar combined with the ability to aim the ball anywhere, leaving the player with the choice of going to place the ball or just blast it.
On the main subject of regular free kicks, I have had a lot of practice and score what I believe is about a realistic amount of goals from free kicks. I still think some changes need to be made for the next version of the game, especially because currently the computer scores about 90% of the free kicks they get!
My final point is on the wall for free kicks. I do like the option to add/remove more players to the wall, however I believe you should have the option to position the wall as well. Sometimes I find that half the wall is outside the line of the post and just generally useless. If you have received a red card, sometimes there may be a gap in the wall as well! When taking a free kick, if it hits the wall I find the attacking players always react a lot slower to it than the defenders and I find myself repeatedly tapping the change player button to try and find a player who will move!
Thanks for reading, and thanks for another great article Dan.
what about the injuries on pes they need to put more injuries in the game it just unrealistic for a all players not to get an injurie al season and also different types of injuries annamations as well its always the same
i hope thaie is an change in that foe pes 2009
penalties should go back to the old system used on nintendo where you had a box and the better the player, the smaller the box and the easier it was to control. when you shot, the ball would end up within the box depending on where you had placed it. the keeper had a similar box. you could either watch the box or press a button and make it invisible which was brilliant for mind games when playing mates.
biggest problem with freekicks is that for kicks where you are fairly far out and want to put one up to the back post, all the players stand in line way away from the box. i want my CB and CF attacking the goal.
i like the randomness on corners, makes it more realistic, frustrating at times but better than being able to predict every movement. one corner i try often is floating the ball out to the edge where there is often a player lurking. scored some great volleys
90th Minute, Master League, you have to score to win the title, and you are awarded a penalty. Unfortunately for the AI, if you place the penalty straight down the middle along the floor, you are virtually guaranteed to score. Every time I have done so, and the GK has saved it, the ball has rolled straight back to my striker for a tap in. This is based on maybe 100 penalties, and although I don’t go down the middle every time, when I do it’s a positive I will score. Any views on this from the community?
yes, i have noticed this a long time ago, its very frustrating because it takes all the anticipation out of the penalty, knowing hitting it low down the centre will score every time, not once has the keeper ever stayed central for me, sometimes i go to the sides but you can guarntee if its a big game it is difficult to resist this cheap flaw.
i would have bought pes 2008 but the demos framerate really let me down on the ps3.