Here is a playtest review by one of the bloggers on PESgaming.
Introduction
Thanks to Steve Merrett and Jon Murphy, myself and Ian of soccergaming.com attended what was the first play test of the latest cut of PES 2011 code on the 23rd of July. Unlike last year, I wasn’t like a child in a sweet shop, but had a more focussed look at the game. I will talk very little about the game’s graphics as they don’t primarily interest me. The game was not locked down to a couple of modes but was presented pretty much as we will see the finished product. So there was a lot to potentially cover, but I tried to stick to the core areas of the game, so apologies if I haven’t mentioned areas such as editing goal nets – I simply didn’t delve into fringe areas as much. There wasn’t enough time to cover the revamped Master League or Become a Legend. What I can mention is that the BAL mode now has changed to allow you to play as any outfield player.
The format of this write up will be to try to cover what I consider key areas which will be of interest to everyone, followed by a summary on the game overall. So without further ado, here goes.
PES 2011: The breakdown
Animations
During game play whilst playing I didn’t notice the animations all that much. By that I mean that I was concentrating on moving the ball about and working players into positions to receive the ball. Not once did I look at a piece of play and think that a player just performed a completely unnatural move. There are occasions in the current game where you think that some shots would require a double-jointed hip to perform them.
Even at this stage of development that wasn’t something that we thought. The animation set even at this stage was very impressive. There are evidently more animation styles for all sorts of actions, and I’m sure more will be added up to the final release, and we should see more variety in how players move, pass and generally run about on a pitch. There were no lag issues, or concerns on how players carried out certainly actions like running and dribbling. Get ready for a proper animation reboot!
Passing
The passing system has been revamped without a shadow of a doubt. You will need to spend time learning to master it to actually stand out as a player. It is easy to string passes together, as even lightly tapping the pass button will deliver the ball to the feet of the player you choose to pass it to when in close proximity. But if you don’t aim at the player you intend, then expect the ball to be there to be won by both sides.
There is a fair element of CPU assistance with passes with a healthy respect. I think there was always going to have to be a compromise to ensure the game is still accessible for all.
The basic passing system can be mastered easily enough, but you will need to learn how to add strength to passes when looking to play clever balls for players to run onto, or to break through defences.
Something that I was trying desperately to see was whether players waited for a pass to be delivered to them, and to see if they remained rooted to the spot until the ball arrived to them. But that didn’t really happen. Players tended to move towards the ball on occasion, or the ball arrived quickly to their feet since most short balls played to players didn’t give them much of a chance to run towards the ball. But the frustrations of having a player rooted to the spot didn’t materialise for me.
The pass power bar is a very natural addition to the game and doesn’t detract from the experience. You will find that passes are quite easily over hit if you’re not careful, so timing is everything.
Finally I am able to say that whilst playing PES, that when mistakes are made – be they rash tackles or passes gone wrong – that I am the one who is at fault. I can’t blame the AI for my mistakes. The CPU facilitates my intentions as a player, it doesn’t dictate them. This is a ground-breaking and fantastic new ethos for PES. Play the game your way. So when things go wrong, you need to take a look in the mirror rather than hitting forums and complaining about Konami’s game. So if you can’t handle the truth, I would suggest playing lesser games that are more accommodating of your ego. PES has finally grown up and will take you kicking and screaming into the future direction that has just had it’s foundations defined.
Manual passing
I believe manual passing is no longer mapped to the right analogue stick, but will require the use of either L2 or R2, sorry but I can’t remember properly right now. To be fair, I didn’t really try to use manual passing since the standard passing mechanism was very open and allowed for a good amount of freedom of direction for placing passes. As I’ve said above, I had to at times check where the passes were being played, since I would misplace passes due to falling back to old habits where the CPU would facilitate our intentions for passes.
Heading
There is now a power bar for headers, so you can expect to put timing and the power bar to good use. Once again, if you don’t practice these skills, expect players who have to out play you.
I didn’t get too many opportunities to head the ball, but using the power did give more beef to headers.
They didn’t feel too different from the current game either I have to say.
Crossing
Crossing is pretty much the same as it currently is, with double-taps of the cross button giving decent head height for crosses.
Something I’d like to see is more variation in crossing strength. Currently the crossing strength is fairly uniform. Having the ability to ping a cross at head height at the same strength as a shot would be great. It would bring a new element to attacking play. You would then need to try a deft flick with your head to guide the ball in a given direction making use of the power that is in the cross. But this would be an enhancement to the game, it’s not a defect of the current game!
Shooting
Shooting felt as responsive and natural as ever. It has always been a strong point of the series, and continues with that tradition. I found shots taken to be satisfying, and also responsive to body positions, and the favoured foot of players. I had a good few shots hitting the cross bar which was also good to see. The variety of shots was also pleasing. With the new abilities to perform tricks, and in particular either rainbow flicks, or just standard flicks ahead of your player can set up volleys very nicely. Shots from outside the area were also a potent weapon with the right players.
Long balls
Long balls aren’t an area of the game that I personally use all that much. I’ve never been comfortable with passes being cut out easily since players can practically walk across to where you’re playing the ball and win the ball.
But with the new power bar there is more variation on how they are delivered. I found that where previously playing a long ball would most often find it’s intended target, over hitting long balls now really do open up the game play a bit more. You may find the ball out of play, or find yourself running further to try to get to it. But that’s also indicative of the overall challenge that this new iteration of the game brings with it. Expect to have to learn how to play long balls to add another dimension to your game.
Physical play
As we all know, currently in the game, players whilst apparently jostling for the ball look like they’re holding hands and happily running alongside each other, with no real bearing on the physical battle which is meant to be taking place.
Those days are gone. Players now have a physical presence that you are made aware of immediately. You will find that if you just run into a opposition player that there will be contact, and more than likely a free kick to your opponent will ensue.
Lighter players will have to rely on guile and quick play, rather than trying to take on an opponent in a physical challenge. And equally, stronger players will stand a better chance of coming away with the ball after a tussle. Players bounce off one another when they come together, and it really does make you feel like you’re in a battle. You’ve got to earn your right to play your football every step of the way.
Having just completed a 5 hour play test, I’ve come away exhausted mentally. You can’t relax and just pass your way into the penalty area and score. You’ve got to battle all the way, and make those chances for your players. They won’t just appear there for you.
Goalkeepers
Goalkeepers were generally pretty good. They are functionally the same as they currently are, perhaps with a few more animations for saves. I have to admit that I’m not particularly good at spotting issues with keepers which many of you tend to have. My main gripe with keepers is the fundamental lack of speed of reaction when they’ve broken up play and are in possession of the ball. It takes a relative eternity to get them to spring a counter attack. I will discuss keepers in a bit more detail in the “Improvements Needed” section further down.
Referees
I didn’t notice the referees in the game, which is a compliment to them, as they called play very well. Niggly fouls as well as blatant fouls were all noticed, and dealt with. How pleased I was to have given away a few penalties through stupidity against my fellow play tester for the day Ian.
He was very grateful for having them, and there were no complaints from me. They were all legitimate fouls and I had it coming. Referees weren’t overly harsh unnecessarily. I had one red card for two yellows in a game, and I had no complaints. No random red card for a standard side on challenge, which can happen in the current version of the game. I understand that the referees are still undergoing tweaks to their play yet, so expect more refinements to come.
Tricks
The new control system means that tricks have to be pulled by use of the L2 button with the right analogue stick. There are a set of predefined tricks that can be pulled, but the really fantastic new addition is the ability to map available tricks to the right analogue stick and use the ones that you feel best reflect how you play the game. However, I have to confess that having mapped some key skills I couldn’t execute them! I am very confident that this was user error rather than the game not responding to what I was doing. Given the priorities of the play test I didn’t really pursue this issue further. Even if it is broken, it will most definitely be fixed but it’s not a concern at all. I will if anything seek clarification officially shortly to confirm I’m the idiot!
Even with the default tricks combinations which can be used in the game, I felt that the trick stick as such was more naturally in tune with the game play. Tricks are pulled off by pressing L2 with the right analogue stick in various combinations which once learnt should allow players of greater skill to find additional ways to get past their marker to open up opportunities to make a breakthrough in piercing defences.
A couple of tricks I was beginning to master was the ability to just either flick the ball ahead of yourself, or a rainbow flick to create space. I used Aimar whilst playing with Benfica to do a rainbow flick past a player in midfield just to the right of the box, and then volleyed the ball towards the left corner, with the ball just going over. It would have been a contender for goal of the season had it gone in. But the move certainly stuck in my memory, and that’s a great sign.
On reflection I am concerned that skilled players will perfect a series of tricks which may become very hard to defend against, and could possibly lead to them handing out thrashings. But since I’ve not had enough time to learn and apply, this may just be nothing. But now that tricks can be mapped, and combinations carried out, you could find yourself regularly beaten without means to cancel them out. But only further play tests with skilled players trying this out will give us more information on whether this could turn into an achille’s heel.
Defending
I mostly used the traditional method of defending in PES which was a combination of timing lunges or slide tackles, or trying to put a foot in at the right time to win the ball. These are the tried and tested methods to dispossess opponents. The new addition to defending is the ability to jockey attacking players to either take them on to their weaker side, or to allow your team to catch up with play and get back into position.
In reality for me it was hard work trying to get my defenders to jockey attackers. To jockey you have to press the “X” button (I can’t remember the equivalent button on the 360 controller) and press the control stick towards your goal. So you’re pretty much trying to run backwards effectively. What happened for me was that as I was trying to get myself into a position to jockey, attackers spotted gaping spaces ahead of them as I’d typically be just to their left trying to jockey, and they’d just go into the space on their right and burst through on goal to shoot and inevitably score past me.
So I think this is a skill I am going to have to go into training mode to perfect before trying to do that again. Till then I would prefer to rely on brute strength and timing of defenders to win the ball back.
I tried several times to sit back and watch another player take on the CPU in games and to get a feel for movement of AI controlled players. I have to say that generally they ebbed and flowed with the moves pretty realistically. You didn’t get clumps of players hunting down a single player leaving masses of space for other attackers to exploit. I found the defender closest to the ball closing down the man on the ball, and various other players almost trying to anticipate where the ball would be played to try to help out.
Super players
During the play test we attempted to see how good the game’s superstars were.
So this included trying to take on teams with Messi and see if he could waltz through the whole team and score. But this proved harder that we thought. Basically, if I was to ask you how you would stop Messi from wreaking devastation and havoc on your team, you would have to say that as in real life, the way to do this is to close down his space. And that is the case in the game. With the game’s physicality being a core element to dribbling and taking on players, I found that closing Messi down with a second defender, and applying pressure on him worked quite often. It’s fair to say that if you give a player space, or let them create space, then they can punish you for it. They won’t always create a scoring chance, or actually score, but the threat of creating space remains – much like the real game.
A side effect of applying physical pressure on attacking players does run the risk of giving away free kicks, which as with the real game is a strategy that you have to learn to cope with.
Menus systems
The game now has a pretty slick modern interface that has clearly been well thought out. It’s refreshing, and user interaction has clearly been central to it.
When in the formations screen, you can move players around in your chosen formation to further customise them. If you click on a player on the team, you will get players who could potentially play in the same position on the bench highlighted. It’s a very simple but brilliant way of helping you to chop and change players. You are therefore more able to tinker prior to playing the game. I didn’t explore all possibilities with the interface due to time constraints, but what little I did explore was very simple to navigate through and use. It’s going to set the standard for team management and general interaction with the game. Going back to the current traditional methods of managing teams is going to be a step into the dark ages.
PES Shop
PES Shop is back! Konami have scored a bit hit in my eyes with this inclusion which will be welcomed by many. I had a quick flick through the shop, and there were all sorts of things to buy with PES credits.
I won’t go into what they were – you guys have to have some surprises if you ask me!
Stadium editor
I’ve a newsflash for you guys: there is no stadium editor in the game. This is because there is a Stadium creator!! It’s ****** brilliant too!
You will be able to pretty much create a stadium however you like, with options to customise the stands, the pitch, the surroundings and various other aspects of the stadium.
General Editing
Editing was enabled for the usual suspects such as players, teams etc, as well as stadiums – and before some of you ask I didn’t notice a net editor. I didn’t explore this area all that much.
Camera angles
There are no new camera angles in the game. All the default camera angles are there.
What has been introduced is a wonderfully subtle camera tilt function to existing action. I only played in wide camera, which starts with a close up of the kick off, but then the camera pans out to reveal more of the pitch in the way we’re used to, and it really does add a natural and broadcast like element to the view. It’s very nice to see, although personally I would have preferred to have seen either more camera angles, addition zoom meters for all existing camera angles, or a custom camera angle setting ability. But that’s just my preference, I’m not sure how many other people would appreciate this ability.
Licensing
The list of officially licensed teams has changed. Liverpool have lost their official license in the game. It’s like the cloud that is currently over Anfield has spread to PES also. But that’s just a minor issue, since we have various editing champions in our PES communities who as ever take pleasure and pride in providing official strips for all premiership teams. We haven’t been told who the second premiership team is yet, but I’d guess at it being City – so time will tell.
And obviously everyone knows about the Copa Libertadores Licensing.
Game Speeds
A new addition to the game is the ability to change the game speed. This should finally please everyone that has always complained that the speed is either too fast or slow for their liking. You can now find the right speed for your type of play. There are five settings ranging from -2 to 2. The default speed is 0 which I have to say was the speed I was most comfortable with. Slowing the play to -2 felt like the players were running in treacle for me, and equally they were super fast with +2 game speed. But at least there is now an option to change it to your liking, so another big plus for the game.
Negatives
This section is dedicated to what I consider to be the current flaws in the game. There is still time to fix them, and part of my role is to highlight these issues for the benefit of the game.
- Couldn’t play a ball too short to near team mates – the ball always reached it’s intended target if played directly to a player or was typically over hit.
- Keepers – they are still the same as now– and do not have total control. This was very disappointing to see.
- Keeper as ever can only pass to the nearest player from goal kicks. This is plain shocking and lazy.
- Goal kicks do not have power bars.
- When kicking the ball out during open play, there is no power bar.
- Keepers are frustratingly slow when they have broken up an attack. They really don’t start off counter attacks quickly. Defenders don’t try to make themselves available to receive the ball early and to go on an attack.
- Defending – not sure about the jockeying option for defenders. Either I was unable to execute the option properly, or it didn’t work in the build. When I tried, attackers could just waltz past my player and bury the ball in the back of the net. Further play testing will determine whether this is a fair comment or not. I’ll happily retract it if it is.
- Stamina bar is green against green pitches – needs to be a different colour – red??
Positives
- Animations are superb. Very fluid and realistic. There are many animations for different running, passing, tackling, falling and diving styles.
- Passing is now a beast of an option. It’s assisted passing, not totally free, but that’s not a bad thing. There was always going to be a compromise, as new/casual players must be catered for.If people struggled to string a couple of passes together, then they would stop playing – pure and simple. That said, expect possession football to be a luxury afforded to the very competent amongst you. Yes you can start off passing a few balls to players with little to no opposition pressure, but as soon as they press, expect a battle to keep the ball.
- We had many midfield tussles in games which were very challenging. If you want to keep the ball you have to earn that right. For the first time in years, players will find that they are going to have to consult the user guide. I would recommend spending time on the training ground straight away to learn how to play football.
- I was immediately comfortable with the basic control system when I picked up the controller.
- The graphics for me weren’t too much of a notch up on the current graphics – but that’s a good thing in my books. Graphics are a secondary consideration for me, so I won’t really say much about them.
- The build was at around the 70% mark, so it was a more recent build than has been reported on already. Even at this stage the overall look and the feel of the game is impressive. Only on the odd occasion did the animations look a little funny. This materialised primarily when trying to string trick combinations together, rather than through regular passing, running and shooting.
- Droney chants weren’t present in the build, but there’s no guarantee they won’t return!
Improvements needed
Please note this section is dedicated to apsects of the gameplay which I feel could have been further enhanced this year. Given the more than apparent time and attention that has been lavished on the new game, it would be unfair to mark the game down with the features I’m highlighting, but I’ll still be passing this on to Konami in the hope that something may just creep into the game, though at this late stage, this is not very likely. If anything, it could serve as the initial ideas list for PES2012.
Crowds
Having the crowds quieter during play until either crunching tackles are made, or attacks build, resulting in an effort on goal, along with appropriate shouts of “ooh” for near misses etc.
Or booing,etc, especially for away players who may have made dirty tackles or been booked. It would really add to the game’s charm.
Passes
Having to set the correct amount of power for even short passes would be a great addition, since it would mean you have to constantly pay attention to what you are doing. Any complacency would mean that the pass is intercepted and could catch your team out, and pay the price with conceding a goal.
As it stands, you do need to ensure you not only play the ball in the right desired direction, as well as to put enough power on the ball, so as not to over hit it, but as I said under hitting the ball isn’t an issue – but should be! Perhaps having an option to switch off semi-assisted passing to full manual control is the way forward. This would allow the hardcore fans to have total control over their game, which many would welcome.
Having a new ability for passing
Pressing R2 whilst playing a ground pass or high pass, should bend the ball with the player’s favoured foot.
It can then be used to play balls around opponents for team mates to run on to better.
Manual ball control
Manually trapping balls when receiving the ball is a massive missed opportunity to declare PES’ authority as THE game of today. As it stands, both games will more than likely appear to be pretty similar, with perhaps online play being the key differentiator, putting the ball firmly in FIFA’s court, given the concerns we generally have about PES’ online pedigree. Had the ability to choose when to trap the ball or to choose to flick it on would have really opened up the game play and make it so much more realistic. When stamina gauges drop, attempting to trap the ball would result in ball control not being as good, which would leave the players with choices to make. They would either have to ensure there was enough space to attempt to control the ball, or otherwise have to kick it on first time. They could also think about subbing these players if possible to bring on fresh legs. This would have really been a cutting edge addition to game play that would have had people raving about it.
Goalkeepers
Having 100% control over keepers is crucial. Keepers are an integral part of the game and have been marginalised in the game for years. It will be criminal if they aren’t upgraded properly now.
For goal kicks keepers should be able to kick the ball anywhere on the pitch, based on their ratings.
If they can kick it very far, then they should be able to launch the ball in the direction you choose to play it.
When keepers break up attacks and are in possession of the ball, we should be able to throw the ball out immediately using either underarm or overarm throws to get the ball where they want to in conjunction with a power bar. We should have new control options to be able to throw the ball out as we see fit. Keeper statistics should define their abilities. Reina should be razor sharp at starting counter attacks for example. Engineered for Freedom has to apply to keepers just as much as outfield players.
Crosses
Having more control over crosses is desperately needed in my opinion. We currently have the same crossing model as has been used for years. Choosing when to get a cross in, along with the power and speed are the key ingredients for making crosses. Currently the format for crossing is the same. We can’t vary the types of crosses all that much. Yes there are the single/double/triple taps for crossing, but there isn’t an ability to float a ball in for a tall attacker to try to nod on, or to positively fizz a ball across the area to really mix up play.
Some crosses in real games are whipped in and either curling away or towards the keeper, which should give players decisions to make. Being around the area or cutting into the area and then curling either low balls, or chest height or head height balls should all be possible. Defenders having to lunge in to cut a ball out that is whipped in low and towards the back post should have them trying to push the ball away from the goal, and we know how that can go very wrong.
Crosses using R2 to add curl would be fantastic too. If you have a player with exceptional crossing abilities or with the time to cross, then R2 with the circle button could give some whipped in crosses which could cause defensive problems. Again this would have really set PES apart from the competition.
Headers
More control over the types of headers to try is needed. Subtle flicks, powerful headers, downward headers, upward headers etc should all be selectable, not randomly applied.
Allowing players to build up speed to get a running jump at heading the ball must be added. This is how players score from corners, as opposed to standing jumps on balls delivered in.
Give us freedom for headers – freedom is the key concept but isn’t applied enough to warrant the tag.
Throw-ins
Having ball boys throwing the ball back to the thrower immediately allowing for the game’s fluid nature to continue would be brilliant. This would mean that if you got a throw-in in an advantageous position, where players are out of position for example, you could punish them.
Online
We need to provide groupings of teams to allow people to avoid having to play against the very best teams when they play against opponents. Many of us are fed up of constantly having to face the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid and other very strong teams. If we had a mode which didn’t feature certain teams, such as a category which was for non Champion’s League teams, then it would mean people had fairer games against other people with like teams.
Please bring back a quick menu option to play one versus one friendly games without having to set up game rooms. The PES6 online menu system was fantastic – some elements from it would really be appreciated.
Summary
Well I’ve tried to provide a frank overview of the game as I saw it. Yes there are areas which could do with improvements, but as it stands, bar keepers and referee tweaking, I’d happily take the game as it is. We’ve got a solid foundation for the PES of the future now. I have already been formulating ideas for PES2012 which can surely build on PES2011.
I can honestly say that during play I felt that if the game code I tried was the final code, then I’d happily take it right now. This may still be my emotional inference on how the game felt, but over the course of the five hours I managed to get playing the game, there was a lot to take in, and to savour. I’m sure that another fifteen to twenty hours of solid play testing would uncover more issues and delights too, but that’s not a luxury afforded to myself. I have mentioned to Konami previously that the official testers mustn’t get complacent as they have in previous years, since there is so much riding on this version of the game for many people.
So far, Konami have done a fantastic job, and with a few more tweaks and improvements built in, we will have a stonking game very, very soon. Looking back to the games played, there were times of intense game play, battling and missed chances, as well as a few well taken goals. Fist pumping celebrations and holding my head in disbelief at chances missed or games thrown away were sure signs that the emotions that PES used to draw from us is back again.
If we can kick up enough fuss in comments to this article and the many other play tests on other sites, then we can hopefully show Konami that the improvements we are suggesting really must be addressed to elicit our full support.
We’re so very close to getting a game that is finally worthy of the current generation of consoles, and Konami just need to keep pushing forward to ensure everyone is raving about the game.
For the record, we were unable to test the game’s online abilities in any shape or form. I have been told that online testing is and will take place with wider forums, as they do understand that this is a crucial area of the game. I took the opportunity to further express that online play will be a massive factor for most gamers, so it has to deliver 100%. I will be looking forward to my invite to perform online testing, and will be eagerly waiting to report how that went when the time comes.
Given the amount of work that has gone into PES2011, I think I am quietly confident that online play will not be neglected. It’s too important to be glossed over, but then we’ve been stung many times before. For now, I would ask you all to keep the faith, Konami will deliver. Equally feel free as ever to hit home the message about the fact that online play will overshadow game play improvements, since there is a competitor that is delivering on both game play as well as with online play. Many of us have been left disenchanted with the online side of the game, and nothing less than a working solution will be acceptable to many of us, myself included.
Getting back to the game, when some goals were scored, the old “get in there” feeling, and fist pumping celebrations were bandied about. That’s a massive compliment to the game as it is.
We had some intense 0-0 games, and the odd goal winning some games, and only one 4-0 win to brag about. We played on Top Player level to test the AI, and found that it did provide a challenge.
I am confident that the minor issues that remain in the current game play mechanics will be ironed out for the final release. Konami are working extremely hard on getting this edition of the game right, and having had the pleasure of the play test, I can assure you guys that there is most definitely going to be a lot of happy PES players in a matter of less than three months. My key reservation is solely around online play.
We’ve had plenty of stick bandied about from people in the past about how optimistic us PES sites get over PES, only to find ourselves disappointed. Well not this time. Anyone who has played it will be raving about the game. I challenge you to find a major gaming site that is panning it, or writing it off. Prepare for the game that we all knew Konami were capable of delivering.
I refuse to accept or hear the old argument fans have presented that Konami don’t listen to the fans. I said from the outset of PES2010 being created, that we needed to give Konami two years to truly incorporate our ideas into the series, and this perseverance on our part is about to be repaid and then some.
With more news and further refinements to follow for further play tests, these are exciting times to be a fan of the Pro Evolution Soccer series. Given how it felt to play the game, I think the name should change to Pro Emotional Soccer, since you’ll be going through a series of emotions – the elation of key wins, and going back to the drawing board when you’re soundly beaten.
PES has grown up and taken on a new persona, the real question now is, have you grown up sufficiently to get the most out of the new game?
Thanks for reading.
Dougiedonut
