Roberto Baggio

Roberto Baggio
Il Divin Codino

Friday 27 July 2012

Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 - Demo 1 Impressions

The Good
  • Goalkeepers are reworked and redone, and while you still see the old strange behaviours every now and then, it can be said that goalkeepers meet the standards you expect from a football game. One particular issue that was observed consistently however was goalkeepers seemingly going down far too easily when an attacker performs a fake shot. Here's hope this is toned down in future releases.
  • (Manual) switching system is modified and improved, giving you total freedom in choosing the player you want to take control of.
  • Long balls offer more variety, more types of lofted balls and curved crosses. Shots are also improved to offer more variety and freedom.
  • Full manual passing, shooting and crossing takes the freedom to a new level.
  • First touch control - while a subtle addition, gives players new weapon to outsmart the opponent defenders with.
  • Konami have perfected the defending system. With the contain button held, the analogue sticks give you the freedom to adjust your distance as well as your position as you contain a player to hold them up, as well as giving you the chance to time your tackle by pressing the same contain button twice - do it at the right time and you have successfully dispossessed the opponent. This is done perfectly to take player individuality into account, where better defenders perform lunging tackle and stretch far better. Overall, the most balanced defending system in a football video game thus far.
  • Aerial battles, while still quite lacklustre, are very exciting and have a real sense of randomness associated with them.


The Bad
  • Animations still lack a lot variety. There are new animations added and they are an improvement compared to PES 2012, however the game still needs a lot more variety in animations.
  • Taking set-pieces offers neither excitement nor variety. The system is also plagued with bugs, fro example where tall defenders don't join the attackers when a corner is taken while short midfielders are in the penalty area. It is time to rework the old gameplay. Oh, and penalties!
  • Game speed feels inconsistent on 0 (zero). Player movements and actions seem unrealistically fast and ball movement can be unrealistically slow at times.
  • Collision detection requires more tweaking, especially slide tackles often result in a foul (and usually a booking) even when clearly the ball is hit (first).
  • In the sound department, PES is still lacking a lot. The sound effects, for example the ball hitting the bar, are quite bad. Also quality of sounds and effects are not as good the competitors. And what's up with Italian/Brazilian fans roaring 'Yeaaaah!' when their team scores?!
  • Automatic switching system still needs a lot of work to be a viable option.



The Ugly
  •  One of my biggest concerns about PES 2012 was player personality/individuality which was not as pronounced as previous titles. With PES 2013, quite a few players get signature animations and abilities but this is only true to a handful of players, not to mention the results are mainly aesthetic. While I have never been a fan of elephant touches and the like, the majority of players are now too good at ball control, passing, crossing and shooting. These abilities and actions should be exclusive to special players with high ratings in the respective stats. For example, pretty much everyone on the game has the same first touch and ball control, regardless of their stat.
  • Passing is just too good. This was a major concern for me in 2011 and 2012, and unfortunately you can still see FIFA 10-esque ping-pong passing in PES 2013. It might get better in longer matches, but that should not be used as an excuse since online matches aren't that long anyway. Flair passing also exists in abundance. This should be exclusive to certain players only.
  • Shooting is also a bit too good to be true. It almost feels as if you can shoot very quickly as soon as your receive the ball. There is no 'putting your body' behind the ball. You get the ball, you can shoot instantly. I had the same issue with PES 2012's shooting system which was way too easy to pull off and unfortunately it is here to stay in the 2013 edition. You can almost shoot from any situation with a lot of them ending up at least on target, regardless of your balance, being pressured or surrounded by opposition defenders. Sure, the improvements to goalkeepers cause fewer goals to be scored unlike 2012 where every shot on target resulted in a goal, but it still doesn't mean it is realistic.
  • Stamina system is old, unrealistic and abusable. No team can pressure another team for 90 minutes without suffering any sort of fatigue or injury but it is completely doable and 'rewarding' in PES 2013.
  • Some first touch options, such as flicking the ball up are simply way over the top. Honestly, you can see that sort of skill being performed in 0.5% of matches and only once in real football. It's addition is not necessarily a bad thing, for it gives more freedom to the player, however I can already see it being abused to it's limits.
  • Playing against the CPU, the AI seems reluctant to attack and pressure when without the ball and always prefers to sit back and work on the counter, regardless of tactics.

1 comment:

  1. Hello ,,

    Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 - Demo 1 Impressions is so good and awesome... The game is touted as being challenging and exciting as it presents a virtual soccer playing experience that is second to none.

    ReplyDelete