Okay so here's my take it on it all. Been playing now for a good few days, and have probably played around 30 games or so. I have played in Top Player mode in all my games, setting cursor change to semi-assisted, passing assistance to zero, and all other assistance settings off. I wanted to play the game from the same starting palette each and every time, so here goes.
Goalies - When I started playing the goalies seemed poor, diabolical even. The first matches would see me ship in 3-4 goals, where almost all of them I thought were rubbish goalkeeping. Don't get me wrong, they still leak that odd one which you think is an absolute travesty and that Stephen Hawking's could have done better, and you'd be right. However, the more I've played the game, and got better at defence, the more I'm seeing the keepers pull off some lovely saves and do what they are supposed to do, including a fair number of one on one saves.
Passing - not really decided on this yet if it's good, bad, indifferent. Sometimes I feel that the passing is just a little off, even with no assistance settings. I can't explain what I really mean, so I can't emphasise anything more in that sometimes the passing just does something completely what I didn't intend to do, and sometimes the power bar doesn't reflect where it goes (or where In intended it to go). Have to have more time on this.
Shooting - sometimes feels a bit floaty, and sometimes you can hit a belter. I lost a game one-nil to Man Utd yesterday as Napoli, and Lavezzi (sp) hit a wonderful strike that hit the underside of the bar before bouncing back out, that was a genuine wow moment.
The art of defending - Now, I really, really like the defence aspect this year. I have NEVER been a pressure whore, I always kind of defend the way this game intends for me to defend, that is to cut space and hardly tackle, so in a way I feel like I'm going to be completely rewarded this year. BUT, sometimes the attacker ghosts past the best defenders in the world a little too easy, it's like this cheat animation that they just shuffle past in a kind a 'cheat programme' way to make that one good chance for the AI.
General play - I like it. Teams set up well, the CPU cuts down space and pressures when needed, but they also back off and concede ground if you have partially opened them up. Now the one thing that is getting on my nerves is the lack of penetration I find myself having in all situations when I have overlaps on the counter attack. When I have crafted that wonderful break neck breakaway, I feel my strikers are never really active in looking to pounce the defence and break away for me, instead the move always inevitably ends up being slowed right down, giving time for the CPU to re-organise. So I'm just a bit cheesed off that my attacking AI isn't making breaks. Now I know everyone will jump on me and say, well use the right stick thingy for trigger runs, but I thought the whole purpose of the active AI was that it wasn't really needed, or that in essence, your strikers would at least be more active without the need for you to trigger anything.
Possession - I'm kind of mixed on this. Out of the said 30 games I've had more possession in every game but about two or three. But it could be the way I play as generally in all footy games, I average about 58% possession when playing FIFA or PES online. The good thing for me is that I hardly ever out-shoot my opponents, and indeed, in some games I can barely register a shot on goals.
Setting the team up to play for you - This is BIG in PES this year I feel, and really shouldn't be underestimated. Generally I look to play with the default teams and settings just to 'get into the game'. But I do feel this year PES could be onto something big time in terms of the tactical side to the game. You really do have to learn how to play with that team. For some reason, I play far more effectively when I play with Santos than say Manchester United for example. It took me five games to win with Man Utd yesterday. I also like using Porto for some reason, but get ripped apart when I play with Napoli. So there's something in there for everyone I believe, and this could be great as it may see the end (or near enough) of exploits.
So where do I sit - well firmly still on the fence.
I hate FIFA's lifeless Manager Mode, but have been playing a lot of FIFA online lately. Now when you play pressure whores and lobbed through ball artists, the game is a mess. But when you play someone like minded, FIFA online is fabulous. PES Master League I loved, but the game got a little too easy on Top Player, and when I'm signing Iniesta as Liverpool and winning the League and Euro's in my second season, alarm bells were ringing. I loved PES2011 for all it's failings. PES 2011 online is a joke, so I won't go there. My underlying thought for the demo though, and this is just my two pennies worth, is that there's something wrong, something unfinished. This year needs to be the year where it's a completely finished, polished product. I understand it's a demo, I understand that many people who are in the know say this is early code and there's lots left out from the final version. I am willing to trust the sources and Jon Murphy and Seabass et all, in this respect for this year only.
BUT, if the demo is nearly the finished article like many on here believe, and we have been duped this year, that is it for me and Konami.
I have NEVER been a FIFA boy, always PES. But this is the year where both companies have to step right up to the plate and deliver. We're in the year 2011 now, they deserve to give us the gamer a break, so here's hoping for two good football games, that can be enjoyable, whilst trying to eliminate all potential game breakers and cutting down any conceivable exploits to a minimum.
