PES has alway's been like an arcade game if you want to play it like that! but imo pes 2011 is fucking amazing when you play someone who plays build up football. The only thing that spoils it is you can't hold your defensive line you've always got to be tracking back with a player because you can't rely on the defender to track the attacker when facing a clever player, who always get the timing right on ther passes.But for slow technical football pes 2011 is so far ahead of every other pes that preceded it.I've played so many online game and i'm still seeing new thinks nearly every match.That's why i've always loved pes the random things that happens.Also i'd still say i'm still improving my game.
If they fixed the cursor switching / Defender tracking player's better /through balls on the ground toned down it would be class.
Yes the series has been been quite dissapointing on next gen consoles apart from pes 6 on the 360 .But come on you cannot say there's been noimprovement since last years 2010 game.The improvements have been huge.
Single player is shite though and referees i don't remember ever being this bad on iss.
First of all, my apologies for my exaggerated reaction a few posts back, I have a bad habit of overreacting, particularly when discussing PES.
As for PES. I agree with the point that PES11 offers more than the PS2 versions of PES. My main frustration with the series is that you can still play it like an arcade game if you want to, Konami is still trying to be appealing to as many people as possible, and that's a massive limitation on the evolution of the genre.
There has been improvement, but in my opinion the improvement is in unimportant areas, the fundamental areas remain as flawed as ever. To be honest, I would be completely satisfied with PES11 if I had not discovered the hidden tricks that PES10 offered.
Once I experienced the massive difference, of knowing that when I hold the L2 button + tap the short passing button: this player will move horizontally (without the ball) across the width of the pitch, towards the left flank of the pitch. And I also know that by doing the same thing again, the same player will move horizontally (without the ball) across the width of the pitch, towards the right flank of the pitch.
It gives you the freedom to create great passing angles, it gives you the freedom to determine where you begin your attack and where you finish your attack: PES10 offered that freedom, hidden underneath all the shitty animations, and the potential is impressive.
There is simply no way I will ever be genuinely entertained by just controlling the ball carrier and nothing else, because I already experienced just how fun it is to control the ball carrier and to control the script that determines the options of the ball carrier. PES10 is the concrete evidence on which I base most of my criticism.
If the idea of dictating the script of the game, works extremely well in a video game that was not designed to function around user-dictated scripts; that is, a video game where the computer does not know what the script will do, a video game where the computer does not control the amount of times that the script can be bended/manipulated by the user, etc.
If it works surprisingly well in a video game that was not designed to function around user-dictated scripts; imagine how well it would function in a video game that revolves around the idea of user-dictated scripts?
The result would be a video game where the computer would in fact know what the script will do. Therefore making it a video game where the computer, on the defensive end of the game, would automatically cursor change itself -- therefore getting rid of the necessity of pressing a button just to change from one player to another player, getting rid of the time that it takes to press one button in order to do something that does not add anything to the entertainment value of the game -- in order to give you actual control over the game, because that second that was previously used on something redundant, would now be used for something that would add a great deal of depth and structure to the game.
The player in possession of the ball, would trigger the script that he designed. And the computer would know what the script will do before the script is triggered. And as a result, the gamer who does not have possession of the ball, would not need to think about cursor changes, because the computer would automatically do it for the gamer, and as a result, the gamer whom is not in possession of the ball would actually focus on playing football.
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Tap the L1 button, you change from one player to another player, and directing the left analog stick literally determines the direction in which the player runs without the ball.
And since the gamer plays the game from a wide view perspective. The players on the pitch move like human beings with radars for brains. It destroys the essence of football, which is the fact that off the ball movement is determined by the position of the ball, instead of determined by the movements of one button.
Not substantial at all, because it's so blatantly obvious, that as a gamer you never actually think when it comes to playing without the ball. From the wide view perspective you can see where the play will culminate, you know that the play will culminate at Point B, and as a defender you move to Point B without thinking about anything, because directing the left analog stick literally determines the direction in which the player will run without the ball.
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The gamer in possession of the ball would be in control of attacker-one (the ball carrier) and attacker-two (without the ball). On the other hand, the gamer who is not in possession of the ball would be in control of multiple defenders at the same time: in the middle of the pitch, the L1 button would be permanently attached to defender-one who would be the key defensive midfielder, and the R1 button would be permanently attached to a secondary defensive midfielder.
If attacker-one passes the ball to attacker-two, the gamer who is not in possession of the ball would need to read the game and make decisions before attacker-two has his first touch on the ball. In other words, there would be a window of time for you react as a defender, after that window shuts it would be impossible to determine movement without the ball.
For example. If attacker-one passes the ball to attacker-two. As a defender you would need to read what attacker-two will do with the ball. The window of opportunity to make decisions would be the time span between, when attacker-one passed the ball, and, when attacker-two had his first touch on the ball.
1st -- Tapping the short passing button before attacker-two has his first touch on the ball, would mean that defender-two would run after attacker-two after attacker-two passes the ball.
2nd -- Not tapping the short passing button before attacker-two has his first touch on the ball, would mean that defender-two would stay put, defending the space that he already occupies.
At times the 1st option would be the correct choice, other times the 1st option could be a horrible mistake. And most importantly, the left analog stick would not determine the direction in which the player runs without the ball.
The only player who would have the ability to move in accordance to one button, would be defender-one, the key defensive midfielder, and it would only work once per pass: by directing the right analog stick in one direction, the key defensive midfielder would move towards the given direction. The R1 button would determine the off the ball movement towards the given direction. And most importantly, it would only be possible to determine one direction of movement only once per pass, therefore making it impossible to exploit.
The bottom line is, you would get rid of the insubstantial act of tapping one button just so you can cursor change from one player to another player, and you replace that with a new system that requires you to tap different buttons in order to close down the team in possession of the ball.
This is the FUNDAMENTAL area where we have not seen any improvement at all. The tactical end of the game remains an arcade game, where directing the left analog stick and pressing the sprint button, is all you need to think about when playing without the ball.
Like I said at the beginning of this essay: my main frustration with the series is that you can still play it like an arcade game if you want to. Therefore, Konami is still trying to be appealing to as many people as possible, and that's a massive limitation on the evolution of the genre.
Because we see improvements in terms of GIMMICKS... GIMMICKS such as more passing directions, more fluid animations, better graphics, etc, etc. But the FUNDAMENTAL areas of the game: the off the ball movement that determines what the ball carrier can do with the ball, the defensive system, remains the same old flawed system. I have not seen any innovation in the FUNDAMENTAL areas of the game. That's my argument.
