Here is my review of PES 2008 demo, I hope you enjoy reading it.
I believe We should look at PES 2008 from two different points. First, this is the first time they make the PC version a next gen version. We –PC users- have been blocked by the limits of PS2 for a few years. Visually Fifa had been the better game but thanks to the several patchmakers for Pro Evo, this game managed to be better than Fifa in every aspect including its already superiour gameplay.
Fifa vs PES:
I will not go into details of the comparison between two franchises as I believe there are three games now actually. Yes, three games. Fifa’s PC version and next gen versions are totally different games now with the new graphics engine built from scratch for the next gen consoles putting that game miles ahead of the same old Fifa on the current gen. I say this because the engine is what makes the game good or bad. Now there are different engines and a completely different producing team for these two versions, these games are actually different from each other except the name Fifa 08.
Let’s go back to our game: PES 2008 demo.
Graphics: 8/10
Generally, the progess is obvious. The new graphics engine using the power of new graphics cards it looks like a solid and quality engine. We can see this apparently in every bit of this game. The biggest enhancement is with the faces in my opinion. The quality of every face in this demo is first class. They did not only work on big name players but they worked on every single player’s face.
As for the stadium models, I haven’t seen much of a change. The crowd graphics are better but not totally excellent. I noticed however that the crowd is acting very accurately to what is going on the field. This is good news as it adds much to the realism of the game.
The kits have been improved. You can even see the wrinkles on the kits when the players move along with their hair moving in the air.
The pitch looks much better than PES6 but it seems a little low textured in some close ups. We can expect even more improvement in the next years.
Animations: 8/10
There are still issues with the player movements. The so called robotic movement is still there but the overall animations have been improved as well. They all look smoother than ever before. Especially with players fighting for the ball, pushing and pulling each other. It looks very realistic. Some collision bugs like arms through each other is still there but you don’t notice them if you don’t look careful enough in replays. This doesn’t matter in the end.
The goal net physics are definitely improved. They look so genuine when the ball hits them. These are totally the best nets I have seen in a football game. The balance between the flexibility of the nets with the momentum of the ball is very well adjusted, it looks real.
The goalkeeper animations, I didn’t see a major difference. They look pretty much the same but there are no big worries there in my opinion. Some animations could have been smoother tho.
Referees: I can’t tell how annoying was the referee in PES5, thank god they fixed it in PES6. The referee seems much better in PES 2008. I didn’t see any mistakes while playing the demo. The referee decisions were spot on most of the times. The cards, fouls, everything was very balanced. They even added new animations to the assistant referees, such as the direction of the flag when they call a corner kick etc. The referee is also not coming after a black screen to book a player, it looks very smooth when they call the decision right after you commit a foul or go for a dive, only to get booked by him.
I love the new animations when you are making a substitution and your manager congratulates the player leaving the field , also the other animations during injuries and goal celebrations. As for the celebrations, I noticed there are no more strange looking magnet effect pushing players apart from each other during celebrations. They look smooth and realistic.
Replays: They fixed it finally. Longer seconds we can see in the replays now. This means you will not miss some great teamwork to end with a simple finishing. You can save some nice teamwork goals.
Sound: 7/10
The biggest improvement here is on the pitch. You can see the reactions of the players along with some bench reactions after fouls and missed chances. This is really nice.
Crowd effects are not perfect but you can see the enhancement with the reactions to shots and misses. The reactions to cards and offsides are also good. I only did not like the goal sounds. I would expect a stronger crowd noise after a goal. Maybe in the full version…with the addition of commentary.
Gameplay : 9/10
We all have read about the new AI supposedly learning now. This sounds like a very unrealistic claim but I would wait till the full version release to decide on this one. I would love to see AI trying to copy our gameplay, maybe based on some statistical calculations. Tracking down our gameplay and find out how we score a goal, with long passes, short passes, when and where…Maybe they did it. We will see.
Besides from this learning AI theory. It is obvious they improved the cpu attacking play. I see the cpu is playing much better, passing into the openings, going for 1-2 passes, taking shots at the right time. This really is a more challenging game this year.
Shots: I see the shots have been redesigned. The shooting mechanics are very different. No more fancy volley goals from 25 yards at every chance you get. It is more difficult to get your best shot even with highly skilled players like Thierry Henry or C.Ronaldo. The exaggerated shots are history now. This feelsright.
Passes: I don’t know why they added so many scripted passed this year. It doesn’t kill the gameplay but I like free passes. These passes in PES 2008 are very scripted as far as I see. It is almost impossible to make a mistake in passes. The long balls are too accurate too. We will see more in the full version of course.
Crosses: They made the crosses harder. This is very good. You will need to time it right, aim it excellent to find your attacker in the box. No more cross and head the ball in.
Dribbling: I havent seen many additions to the fancy moves, except for Henry and Ronaldo’s fancy moves. I like the improved ability of dribbling past the defender with a sudden change in direction of your player, this is great to be able to skip the fancy tricks and do some old school dribbling.
Fighting for the ball. You hear the sounds whe n you are trying to steal the ball, going after Fernando Torres desperately, if you miss him he is gonna score, but you finally get infront of him and steal the ball in time. This is excellent. You can feel you are fighting for the ball, fighting to win. They balanced it so well, according to defending skills of your player, you will have greater or less chance to win the ball. The balance is so right .
Brand new additions: This new diving feature could have been a very bad mistake. Open to abuses and could have ruined the game for everyone but Konami balanced it so well you will have to think twice, no three times to press three buttons at the same time next time. The referee is not stupid. He will know if you dive funny when there is no charge on your player but at the same time you can try to use it with some good timing, when there is some slight pulling on your player, there you go, you dive and you win that free kick or penalty. I have to say again, they adjusted it so well, you will only succeed when there is some action between players. If there is nothing, and you dive, you get booked. You do it again, you are sent off. Use it carefully.
Overall: 9/10
I believe We should look at PES 2008 from two different points. First, this is the first time they make the PC version a next gen version. We –PC users- have been blocked by the limits of PS2 for a few years. Visually Fifa had been the better game but thanks to the several patchmakers for Pro Evo, this game managed to be better than Fifa in every aspect including its already superiour gameplay.
Fifa vs PES:
I will not go into details of the comparison between two franchises as I believe there are three games now actually. Yes, three games. Fifa’s PC version and next gen versions are totally different games now with the new graphics engine built from scratch for the next gen consoles putting that game miles ahead of the same old Fifa on the current gen. I say this because the engine is what makes the game good or bad. Now there are different engines and a completely different producing team for these two versions, these games are actually different from each other except the name Fifa 08.
Let’s go back to our game: PES 2008 demo.
Graphics: 8/10
Generally, the progess is obvious. The new graphics engine using the power of new graphics cards it looks like a solid and quality engine. We can see this apparently in every bit of this game. The biggest enhancement is with the faces in my opinion. The quality of every face in this demo is first class. They did not only work on big name players but they worked on every single player’s face.
As for the stadium models, I haven’t seen much of a change. The crowd graphics are better but not totally excellent. I noticed however that the crowd is acting very accurately to what is going on the field. This is good news as it adds much to the realism of the game.
The kits have been improved. You can even see the wrinkles on the kits when the players move along with their hair moving in the air.
The pitch looks much better than PES6 but it seems a little low textured in some close ups. We can expect even more improvement in the next years.
Animations: 8/10
There are still issues with the player movements. The so called robotic movement is still there but the overall animations have been improved as well. They all look smoother than ever before. Especially with players fighting for the ball, pushing and pulling each other. It looks very realistic. Some collision bugs like arms through each other is still there but you don’t notice them if you don’t look careful enough in replays. This doesn’t matter in the end.
The goal net physics are definitely improved. They look so genuine when the ball hits them. These are totally the best nets I have seen in a football game. The balance between the flexibility of the nets with the momentum of the ball is very well adjusted, it looks real.
The goalkeeper animations, I didn’t see a major difference. They look pretty much the same but there are no big worries there in my opinion. Some animations could have been smoother tho.
Referees: I can’t tell how annoying was the referee in PES5, thank god they fixed it in PES6. The referee seems much better in PES 2008. I didn’t see any mistakes while playing the demo. The referee decisions were spot on most of the times. The cards, fouls, everything was very balanced. They even added new animations to the assistant referees, such as the direction of the flag when they call a corner kick etc. The referee is also not coming after a black screen to book a player, it looks very smooth when they call the decision right after you commit a foul or go for a dive, only to get booked by him.
I love the new animations when you are making a substitution and your manager congratulates the player leaving the field , also the other animations during injuries and goal celebrations. As for the celebrations, I noticed there are no more strange looking magnet effect pushing players apart from each other during celebrations. They look smooth and realistic.
Replays: They fixed it finally. Longer seconds we can see in the replays now. This means you will not miss some great teamwork to end with a simple finishing. You can save some nice teamwork goals.
Sound: 7/10
The biggest improvement here is on the pitch. You can see the reactions of the players along with some bench reactions after fouls and missed chances. This is really nice.
Crowd effects are not perfect but you can see the enhancement with the reactions to shots and misses. The reactions to cards and offsides are also good. I only did not like the goal sounds. I would expect a stronger crowd noise after a goal. Maybe in the full version…with the addition of commentary.
Gameplay : 9/10
We all have read about the new AI supposedly learning now. This sounds like a very unrealistic claim but I would wait till the full version release to decide on this one. I would love to see AI trying to copy our gameplay, maybe based on some statistical calculations. Tracking down our gameplay and find out how we score a goal, with long passes, short passes, when and where…Maybe they did it. We will see.
Besides from this learning AI theory. It is obvious they improved the cpu attacking play. I see the cpu is playing much better, passing into the openings, going for 1-2 passes, taking shots at the right time. This really is a more challenging game this year.
Shots: I see the shots have been redesigned. The shooting mechanics are very different. No more fancy volley goals from 25 yards at every chance you get. It is more difficult to get your best shot even with highly skilled players like Thierry Henry or C.Ronaldo. The exaggerated shots are history now. This feelsright.
Passes: I don’t know why they added so many scripted passed this year. It doesn’t kill the gameplay but I like free passes. These passes in PES 2008 are very scripted as far as I see. It is almost impossible to make a mistake in passes. The long balls are too accurate too. We will see more in the full version of course.
Crosses: They made the crosses harder. This is very good. You will need to time it right, aim it excellent to find your attacker in the box. No more cross and head the ball in.
Dribbling: I havent seen many additions to the fancy moves, except for Henry and Ronaldo’s fancy moves. I like the improved ability of dribbling past the defender with a sudden change in direction of your player, this is great to be able to skip the fancy tricks and do some old school dribbling.
Fighting for the ball. You hear the sounds whe n you are trying to steal the ball, going after Fernando Torres desperately, if you miss him he is gonna score, but you finally get infront of him and steal the ball in time. This is excellent. You can feel you are fighting for the ball, fighting to win. They balanced it so well, according to defending skills of your player, you will have greater or less chance to win the ball. The balance is so right .
Brand new additions: This new diving feature could have been a very bad mistake. Open to abuses and could have ruined the game for everyone but Konami balanced it so well you will have to think twice, no three times to press three buttons at the same time next time. The referee is not stupid. He will know if you dive funny when there is no charge on your player but at the same time you can try to use it with some good timing, when there is some slight pulling on your player, there you go, you dive and you win that free kick or penalty. I have to say again, they adjusted it so well, you will only succeed when there is some action between players. If there is nothing, and you dive, you get booked. You do it again, you are sent off. Use it carefully.
Overall: 9/10
