I played it quite a bit last night. And its got good and bad points.
Firstly, let me point out that I am sure this DVD is a beta copy. Why? Well I'm pretty sure they'd have tested the PES3 option file import, otherwise it'd be a largely pointless feature. I booted up PES3 to check my option file, and all teams had their proper player names. So I boot up PES4 and import PES3 option file. It correctly named about 75% of the teams and ignored others. However it didn't attempt the player names at all (even though I explicitly asked it to during the import). Rangers and Celtic for example were full of fictional names, though they are correct on my PES file.
Gameplay wise it feels identical to WE8. So thats good. All the plays are just as fluid, the passing remains exceptional, running is still a joy, players still making nice runs. Graphically its no different either. So much improved over PES3.
However, I noticed that the widest view on WE8 (and previous WE games) is equivalent to PES Normal Long. Play PES4 on Normal Long and the graphics are smooth as WE8 and the animation and framerate remains silky, even at corners. Switch the view to Wide, and you get much more pitch to look at, exactly the same as PES3. However, here things suffer. The graphics look a little chunkier, and the framerate can really take a beating. That's stadium dependant. Some stadiums seem to manage to keep framerate nice and smooth even through a corner or cross, Caesar Stadium, Day, Summer, No Stadium FX, Fine weather, and its silky all the way. The grass on that stadium is of lower detail, which actually helps make the players look crisper, and the stands and objects are less intricate. The result is silkiness. Play on some of the more detailed stadiums with more textured grass, and things start to struggle. Corners get much slowdown, and even crosses and long passes can cause some stuttering. I play with commentary off, so its not the commentary thats the issue. It just seems like on Wide, there is too much going on for the PS2 to cope with.
Crowd noises are back to PES3 standards. So its clear that the quality chanting in my WE8 (OLE) was the result of a quality patch.
It still plays very well, and the longer camera angle is worth the occasional stutter, though Caesar Stadium helps here.
Given the option file import issue, and the stuttering, this would seem to be a beta right enough, presumably the 75% complete beta they were showing mags and so on, where they said they'd yet to solve the slowdown. If this is the case, then the final PS2 installment could be improved, and its almost certain the Xbox won't be hampered by the slowdown, given its power advantage.