The 'only' real footie sim is back for another try, and boy does it need to be better than last year's effort.
PES 2008 on PS3 was broken. Unforgivably. While the core gameplay was good old PES, the horrendous porting job to the PS3 was god-awful. Frame rate issues abound and the graphics were barely above ps2 standard, even in HD.
Yes, I can confirm, all the technical issues that plagued last year's game have been solved. The game plays very smoothly and the graphics are noticeably better.
Now that that's out of the way, lets move on to the gameplay of the new title...
Little has changed in terms of structure. You still have cup, league, exhibition, and the venerable Master League modes to play. I won't talk about the 'be a pro' mode, or whatever it is, cos I will probably never play it. I'm in it purely for the multiplayer (not online, I have real friends), and the master league, where I hone my skills.
I must say I'm surprised that once again, they have increased the difficulty of scoring. It IS more realistic now, I can't say it's not, but it's very frustrating to be in the 78th minute, 1-1 the score, and your star striker is through on goal after a sublime series of passes, only to have him side foot it weakly to the keeper, or hoof it wide. I don't know if the likelihood of scoring is contextual, I know it is to a degree. I've been playing this since it's first iteration on PS2, as the follow up to ISS pro on the PSone, which I also played, so I know how to play the game a little bit. I know that you need to run onto it with the right foot back, I know it's all about timing, but I want my chance increased by the quality of the move that builds up to the goal.
As always the difficulty change has changed the balance of the game. Whereas I used to score most of my goals using fast dribbling players through the centre, I find myself increasingly relying on crossing from wide. I don't mind so much, but when will they strike a balance?
Don't get me wrong, I like the way the player movement is more realistic, I also like that they seem to make more mistakes (its true that not even shevchenko can strike for the top corner every single time), but in my opinion, it is now a little too difficult to beat the defence and the keeper.
But I'll persevere, like I always do with the new PES games. Overall it seems like an improvement in the gameplay, and I'll probably find it more rewarding in the long term, as it will force me to improve my technique.
The quite apparent difference in core gameplay will also make it easier for newcomers to pick up, as both new and old players will have to spend time getting to grips with the new demands made on you to score goals.
Overall, I like it, it's even more like the beautiful game than ever before. Heartbreaking frustration and all. Thanks for reading.