..: Hunter :.. said:
Have to say that is a superb post Wadderz, best I have seen in ages.
I have to agree with your review though, the game has improved vastly in the realism department. The way the players now pass, tackle, and shoot is so much more realistic. I have seen a couple more overhead kicks that have been attempted too which is good news. One sublime overhead kick made by the COM, edge of the box, just hit the bar though, and even though it was the COM which pulled it off, I wanted it to go in. If you have ever seen the Trevor Sinclair overhead kick for QPR a while back now, you will know what I am on about.
Finally, I can say the goalkeepers have improved. They are now pulling off some spectacular saves and catching or punching the simple ones. Yes, they still do go balls up sometimes but every Goalkeeper makes mistakes so I guess its not a bad thing as long as it doesn't become too common. I can't forget my favourite new Goalkeeping feature, the new longer distance overarm throws. They are highly accurate and work incredibly when on the break from lets say a corner in which your Goalkeeper has just come and collected the ball.
The new WE/PES is seeing the more physical side of the sport which is top-draw. A more physcial football game is what we need, still light and generous decisions are given but you can go into a tackle all guns blazing now and not be penalised if you get the ball. I remember on PES3 if you did a bad tackle anywhere on the pitch you'd more than likely see a red card. But those days are over now thankfully, and the game flows better. The advantages given by the Referee are much more effective too, sometimes he gives the advantage at the wrong time but you get the free-kick because usually your opponent touches the ball. Also the offside desicions aren't as poor as on previous installments, occasionally you are borderline and the decision will go against you but I guess no-one 'really' knows the offside rule anymore. Whatever happened to being truly proud when you finally explained the offside rule to your girlfriend and she actually understood it. Now we don't even know the offside rule.
The shots are a vast improvement from the last version. With some certain players having the Special Ability to be able to pull off more accurate and powerful shots from outside the areas. This works well too, I recently scored a 40 yarder with Paul Scholes, struck it about 4 yards in front of the halfway-line circle. With power and dip it flew over the head of a scrambling Mark Schwarzer who didn't have a chance.
The Editing Mode has vastly improved and is widely enhanced. Providing all the nifty tools needed to create a more accurate and realistic Emblem for your clubs with a 64x64 grid panel. Konami have blessed us with more Lettering and Number styles to choose from also included in this lot is the Premiership's. A great addition to the game for all us English WE/PES players. As when your playing a League Mode and you choose the Premiership it has a more real-game feel to it especially after you have created those wonderful Emblems/Logos/Sponsors/Kits for all the required teams. I added Wigan, Sunderland, and West Ham United to my game over the three relegated clubs. I must say the Wigan Emblem is by far the hardest thing I have ever edited, but the reward is priceless. Once finished, it looks stunning I admit and it was well worth the time and effort.
You can now Edit the International Kits which is a massive bonus. I have only created the England kits so far but I plan to make many more soon. Now, down to the Boots, there are many Adidas samples to choose from, I can't really remember exactly but I am guessing that there are around 12 to choose from. Although 3 have to be left out, only 9 are available to use at any one time. I can't see why Konami didn't just throw all of them into the one 'pot' to give you a better choice. Yet again Konami have found a way to sneak and slither around these licenses by cheekliy allowing you to create Nike Mercurial Vapors which I will say look pretty much spot on. Also being able to create many more accurate boots such as; Diadora, Asics, Puma, Lottos and Umbro's.
There are more in the Basic Settings for each individual player too. Now you can even choose the way your player runs providing for individuality. There are up to 5 running styles to choose between, anything from a light footed twinkle-toed run like C.Ronaldo to a hard flat footed run like Rooneys. A few more free-kick styles have been added to the game also, 9 run-ups now to pick. The penalty's aren't missed either, Konami have added a few more adding it to 6 I think in total.
Konami have got alot of the stats correct this time round I find. They made a few blunders which have been revised, i.e. Steven Gerrard is now a quality player and a vital part of the Liverpool team. Although I was still a little dissapointed with Frank Lampard's stats, they have improved him but only slightly. He should be as good as Gerrard if not better but he isn't unfortunately but hey, thats why we have Edit Mode, so you can just pop in there and adjust them to your liking.
There are 5 new stadiums that I think have been added, there are 2 that particularly catch my eye. One is called the 'Newlands' and I can't really remember the other one, it has two roofs extending over the stands to the side of the pitch, not behind the goals, but to the side. Just to make that clear to you all so you could maybe name this stadium and help me out. Its definetely an Asian stadium, I am 90% certain its Japanese and was used for the 2002 World Cup. I am just having a wild guess here and calling it the 'Sapporo Stadium' or ' Sapporo Dome'. God knows why but Konami have still kept the 'farmers field' in the series. Why though no-one will know, its nearly impossible to play on, causing you to squint every second and play while your eyes are watering.
All this talk makes me want to play the game, so I am. I may add onto this Review later on depending on how long I play on WE9 for.
