First Online PES 2010 Review - PESFan.com Exclusive
Well, it feels as though it's been a long wait. Over the past year there’s been build-up a plenty, with more preview code than we could shake a stick at, rumours, hearsay, and lots of promises made by Konami.
So what has a year of waiting given us? Well, I’m not going to beat about the bush and tease you with the whys and why nots before giving my opinion - I’ll simply say this. I think PES 2010 provides a very fun, very rewarding football experience, and one that I’d recommend to almost anybody.
But there’s so much more to it than just that. Delve deep and you discover the most polished and absorbing PES in years, one that’s without question the best we’ve seen appear on the next generation of consoles.
Load up 2010 for the first time and you’ll immediately notice the improvements in presentation, from the soundtrack to the player faces. We’ve all seen them by now, and while I’m not someone who typically cares that much about visuals in a game, there’s no doubting that Konami have put an extreme amount of time and care into making PES 2010, are you ready for it? The best looking football game we’ve seen. Ever.
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The game moves along at a nice pace, partly due to the new turning animations, but partly by design. I can tell you that the pace is slower than that of PES 2009, and slightly slower again in comparison to the 2010 demo we got our hands on last month, so make of that what you will. I'm not personally certain what pace is perfect for a football game, on the one hand a slower speed is seen as more realistic, but in that you risk losing part of the fun. For now, I think 2010 has struck a nice balance.
Response time has also been greatly improved since the demo version, the dreaded “input lag” some users reported nowhere to be seen. The only time delay between pushing the button and the player making the movement comes from animations being given time to complete, but timing being the key to success is always something I've enjoyed about PES.
360-degree control is a feature that's been touted by some as revolutionary, but how has it made it to the final version? Well, players still run in what is essentially sixteen-directions-plus-change when running at pace, the limited options leading to the ability to sometimes predict the way a computer will respond in given situations. Playing with friends is different of course, as slowing the ball down to a walking pace speed gives higher ability to weave in and out to what approaches 360-degrees, but from personal experience the AI rarely decides to take this option.
The players themselves behave in a far more realistic and weighty manner than previously seen, hulking defenders such as John Terry and Carles Puyol able to bully attackers off the ball with ease. The trick, happily, lies in passing around good defenders. No players seem too overpowered, and it isn’t possible to fly through the whole team with someone like Lionel Messi or Fernando Torres. In fact, none of the cover box stars are particularly god like – a far cry from the years of Adriano scoring 50-yarders two or three times a match.
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Master League has been one of the staples of the series for years, and it returns better than ever. As mentioned in our Master League play-through, the mode now features a host of upgrades including youth teams, sponsorship deals, staff, real currency and Europa League inclusion. It all results in a much greater immersive experience, and I'm certain that even fans of the mode who've drifted away over the years will be tempted back with the promise of all the juicy new options.
It should be said that the Master League improvements seem to have come at a price, however, as Become A Legend mode is practically the same venture as in PES 2009. It’s perhaps understandable in a year where Konami have focussed huge efforts on fixing several key issues, the important online experience to name but one.
I’ve previously said that the new penalty system doesn’t work properly, but after some extensive trial and error sessions I can now reveal how unfounded those complaints were. My only problem was that I didn’t understand how to effectively take them, but I’ve since honed my skills and now think they’re a darn sight better over previous games. I do have some issues with the way PES 2010 describes penalty taking in-game, it’s confusing and lacks real instruction, but once you understand the mechanics they become far more satisfying than the lotteries of yesteryear.
While I’ve mentioned the improved soundtrack, now featuring artists such as The Chemical Brothers and DJ Shadow, other areas of audio haven’t been similarly tweaked. The commentary by Jon Champion and Mark Lawrenson is past its sell-by-date and the chanting heard from the crowds isn’t the best. It’s a nice touch that the crowd now appropriately responds to action on the pitch, such as fouls and other appeals, but here's hoping Konami focus more efforts on the area as a whole next year.
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There's a lot to be seen and tried in PES 2010, a lot to be seen and tried that we haven't really encountered before. Ultimately, it boils down to this. PES 2010 is a better package than 2009, 2008, or even PES6, and is an excellent return to form for the series. But you don’t have to take our word for all this, we decided to let two of the UK’s best PES players have the final word on 2010.
“One of the things that's been missing from the last few versions of PES is the feeling when playing for the first time that, although the game feels different, there’s a lot to learn and it’ll grow on you over time. That wasn’t there in PES 2008 or 2009 - it was too easy from the outset and offered nothing new to the table. For us, playing PES 2010 brought that feeling back, something we’ve not felt since playing PES6 for the first time.
The tactics, defending, shooting and passing are all improved, and while manual keeper being assigned to such awkward controls is frustrating and the goalkeeper AI can be questioned, it all adds up to the fact that the soul of PES has well and truly returned to the game.
The dribbling has been really improved, it’s great to know the ridiculous ‘running past the entire team’ ways have gone, and we think the slider tactics are fantastic. You really notice the difference after using them a while, and It’s something that will really make the following year a great one for PES Rankings competitions.
All in all, PES 2010 seems like a big advancement in the series, and we can’t wait to re-learn all that old magic when it’s released on the 23rd.
PES is back.”
This review was done using the Xbox 360 version of the game. For a Playstation 3 specific review, WENB will be covering that soon.
It should also be noted that some areas of the game have been deliberately omitted from this review. A look into other features will be made available in the coming days on PESFan.
At midnight we'll be giving you our thoughts on what you all want to know about - the online play.
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