After a four hour session I have to admit my criticism that I stated yesterday was mostly wrong, I don't think it is an exaggeration to say that his is the best football game I have ever played, in fact I would go as far as saying one of THE most enjoyable games, of any genre I have ever played. Before you guys call me an idiot or knee-jerker or what have you allow me tell you why first...
The games against the computer, at least on this Demo anyway, are perfectively balanced (on SuperStar difficulty). The possession battle is often very even, maybe on average I come out slightly on top but the competitiveness between myself and the computer is pretty much perfect. Surely Konami have put extra effort into this instalment, because the improvement over the last game in nearly every area is immeasurable. Last year playing the computer was an predictable chore, the computer's team would simply sit back every single game (I am talking about the hardest difficulty setting here) and counter attack in the same predictable way every time. I would come away with over 60 % possession nearly every game and a feeling of not being challenged (apart from trying to break down the computer's defence sometimes, but that was the only challenge).
Now the AI opposition harrie you all over the pitch, even in your own penalty box when appropriate. There is basically no comfortable zone on the pitch for you to rest on your laurels now. On the ball the AI is very intelligent, the most intelligent of any AI opposition I have ever seen in an football game, their decision making on the ball is spot on, they know when to make an exchanging of short passes, they know when to play the ball back to their defenders to escape pressure when even most human players would be tempted to go for an overly ambitious through-ball. Their array of attacking options is vast, they will equally attack you through the middle or down the wings. The only bad thing about them is their finishing, they waste too many good opportunities for my liking by overrunning the ball into my keeper, but that's no big deal really. Defensively they are solid but not superhuman like in some previous games, if you play well you can make a few good chances a game which is realistic. I can't stress just how perfect the competitiveness is when playing the opposition AI, playing them is a challenge but at no moment do you feel like you are playing an flawless robot (like on Fifa), it's very much like playing another human who is good at the game.
As for the technical part of the game, it's excellent overall but let down in a couple of areas. The use of the right analogue stick as a balance controller is an neat addition, it makes for a nice way to receive the ball when square on by holding the right stick in the opposite direction of the ball, this lets you open your body out and let the ball run past your body onto your other foot. This might sound like something insignificant but it can add another dimension to your passing game once mastered. There are other benefits of this feature but they will take longer to master I feel, basically it gives you more options for tricks and dribbling. But also you can use it to shoulder barge and lean into your opponents, both on and off the ball, this makes great use of the game's improved animations and is an simple yet effective tool in your arsenal. It can be a real joy to use, my favourite moment was when Rooney was running on to the ball, my player Javi Martinez was running alongside him so I shoved him out the way by jolting the right stick towards him, Martinez literally lifted Rooney off the ground such was his strength advantage, literally both his feet were in the air and he landed a full yard away.
The passing in general is very good, some of the moves you can pull off put a smile on your face because it is so realistic, challenging and it champions the essence of the beautiful game. But the main weakness seems to be the through-balls, their outcome seems to be very inconsistent, sometimes they come off as normal passes to feet, sometimes they come off as through-balls but are often too under-hit or inaccurate. Through-balls that are about 5 yards or less are normally over-hit too, making the use of manual-passing a better option to performs these. Through-balls for me are the biggest area of the game that needs fixing. Switching between players when you are out of possession can also be a struggle too unfortunately., this is one of the few areas that has worsened since the last game. Shooting is slightly better than the last game but still a bit too “floaty” for my liking. Headers seem to be fixed though.
Dribbling with the ball feels very rewarding. Pirlo feels like Pirlo. Xavi feels like Xavi. And when I made Iniesta do that trick of his when he turns clockwise with the ball, almost in one movement,by using the outside of this foot in such a way that it skins his marker and leaves him for dead, I realized just how much he felt like the real thing. It felt truly amazing.
The Goalkeepers are now perfect you couldn’t ask for anything more IMO. As well as the animations in the whole game, brilliant. Even better than Fifa IMO. Some of the tackling animations make you sit up in your chair.
They improved something which I plainly stated they needed to before the demo came out, that is your teams tactical options. In the previous game you couldn't keep a deep defensive line and “block” without your team continually pushing high up the pitch (often to the half-way line) whenever you got the ball or the all was in the oppositions half. Now, using the sliders you can truly make your team park the bus, there is also an in-play option with which you can actively adjust your defensive line to move it quickly either forward or backwards, being able to realisticly play an off-side trap, whenever you want, is just brilliant.
Once you play this game for a few hours you realize how shit Fifa is, on PES players are individuals. In Fifa it feels like all the players are somehow connected with each other, maybe that's why certain patterns in the game pop up again and again. Like the way most goals are scored with an cut-back across the 6 yard box. The same thing with the ball, in PES it feels like an separate entity to the players and so there is a lot of loose balls, in Fifa the ball feels like it is an magnet that is attracted to the players. That may be an exaggeration but it is an good analogy I think. So yeah, I played Fifa for a while not long ago, it gets stale fast.
So whether Konami have improved other issues, like online play for example, remains to be seen. However, unless they spectacularly fuck the final version up, I am talking specifically about the game-play, I think I can safely say that PES is back!
Now I'm finally going to bed because both my wrists and eyes are hurting !!!
Playing one-touch football seems an impossibility, regardless of how early I queue the pass before receipt of ball, the player will either take an extra touch or simply wait before executing the pass. Is there a new control or technique I'm missing?
It is possible trust me, I am starting to get good at it, it just takes practice. I think the success of one-touch football on this is to try and press the pass and direction buttons sharply, and let go of the passing button just before the ball reaches your foot. Some of the one touch passing I pulled off was brilliant, sometimes about 5 passes in a row in tight spaces too. It was best when I was using players like Silva, Iniesta and Xavi. Player individuality coming into effect again
.Use a mix of normal passing, the through-ball button and manual passing depending on the situation. Practice, practice, practice and you will learn.