PES 2014 Demo Available Now For 360, PS3 - Post Your Impressions

[steveeee]

I downloaded both demos but only played the PES so far.. busy night between the uSA vs Mexico match and I also played a game last night myself..

some quick impressions after 15 matches straight on top player PS3... what a game I say. I need to and want to play a lot more though.

pros:
-dribbling is a joy.. after you figure it out with the R1 and R2 cutting in and out with the likes of Ribery or Robben is brilliant.. this is probably what I love most so far is the dribbling... there is no such thing as holding R1 to sprint and burst away from everyone with perfect ball control in this game

-shooting is tremendous for me.. feels so organic.. it just feels so good when you hit it and even barely missing the target sometimes.. You can definitely feel the weight of the ball when its kicked and it just feels good when u hit it good... I have hit several from good distance already that were close. I hit the crossbar from about 35 meters out with schweinsteiger. I would of recorded it and posted it went in

-you can play just about any ball on the pitch if you want.. even 1 bar passing feels like manual to me

-some of the keeper save are incredible.. I have seen some great stuff already I never seen before in a footie game from the keeper

-pace and tempo is spot on... buildup play is very good.. I'm very interested to how this plays online because I can't see anyone being good at this game without playing proper football... I don't think it will be like FIFA or past PES to where you can play against people online who don't play the game the right way at all and still dominate you with arcade like soccer gimmicks... so far from what I have played of this.. I don't think that will be possible in this game online which should keep the kiddies and run and gun only type of players away online. I also see weaker clubs have better chance against the Barca's of the world online. I feel people will use more of a variety of clubs online maybe because of this hopefully.. might be wishful thinking. I'm also hearing FIFA is harder as well so some of these people who like the arcade aspects of run and gun speed burst soccer might be disappointed with both games this years I would imagine.

-best football sim I ever played as far as representing the real thing.. no question about that

-defensive AI is a beast sometimes.. they know how to close down and press very well at times.. especially early on before I knew how to dribble as good as I did at the end of my play time and hold possision.. the AI would gang bang me every time I got the ball with Ronaldo.. I was frustrated but at same time impressed with AIs tacking ability

-automatic through balls looked tone down and don't always work

-this could be a negative for some but I really enjoy this games learning curve already... you can't just pick up and play this game and expect to be a decent player even if your familiar with the PES series or footie games.. your going to have spend proper time with this game to master all sorts of different areas of the gameplay on the pitch.. I can tell that already.

-this game still has that PES feel though as well... this finally feels like the successor of the PES 5 /6

cons:
-only 5 mins..

-replays suck... slow down.. etc.

-keepers seem pretty good and well balanced but I would say they still need a some work yet.. about 90% done

-some responsiveness issues... not button lag.. I'm talking more loose balls sometimes and players taking just a little too long to respond.. awareness needs to be turned up on how players react in these situations.. I'm talking the defensive AI as well. just the awareness can for sure be better in some cases with players just standing around being to slow to react

-I forgot to add... the ref doesn't seem right at times and needs tweaked

there is some other cons I'm not thinking of at the moment as well.. this game isn't perfect by any means but it is great to play so far.



I can't wait to get to play more tonight... I also need to try out the FIFA demo as well tonight. I didn't have time last night. THe PES demo is already gives me of sense of old School PES addictive gameplay. I had to force myself to bed at 12:30 last night .. I only played 15 matches but I felt I could do at least 30 in a row in the demo easily. I am really hoping Konami have improved online play because this game seems like it will be brilliant in multiplayer with good buildup play a must. THis game is a must buy for me.. and will be a classic if they can work out some of the minor bugs and things. I will probably get both games like I have the last couple of years at some point... so far though PES looks like a must buy for any serious footie fan I would say.

[dubcity]

I'm not as optimistic as some about the fouls being fixed for the final version.
The foul issue in FIFA has to do with the impact engine and the refs ability to recognize what is and what isn't a foul. I think we're seeing exactly the same thing in PES.

Just now in a match I dribbled the ball cleanly between a defender's legs and his arm stretched out and knocked me flat on my back. No foul. I would post a replay if I could.

It's a brand new engine, so I wouldn't be surprised if they feel like it's too complicated and time consuming to address. FIFA has had this issue for 3 years now and it just isn't important enough to fix. We are a tiny minority who care about and notice this problem. Uninterrupted end-to-end action is what people want.

[Krebstar]

Quote: Originally Posted by dubcity

I'm not as optimistic as some about the fouls being fixed for the final version. The foul issue in FIFA has to do with the impact engine and the refs ability to recognize what is and what isn't a foul. I think we're seeing exactly the same thing in PES. Just now in a match I dribbled the ball cleanly between a defender's legs and his arm stretched out and knocked me flat on my back. No foul. I would post a replay if I could. It's a brand new engine, so I wouldn't be surprised if they feel like it's too complicated and time consuming to address. FIFA has had this issue for 3 years now and it just isn't important enough to fix. We are a tiny minority who care about and notice this problem. Uninterrupted end-to-end action is what people want.

To an extent, I disagree.

PES itself is a minority, and those who work on the game are well aware that their players want a more sim aspect. Take into account what they've done to the game this year and I think that shows that they know their crowd is a little different.

Does that mean it will be fixed this year? Certainly not, but this is a situation where I do believe the games differ. PES developers will fix fouls to make it more realistic without worrying that it will effect end-to-end action.

I know the argument can be made that for PES to take players from FIFA they'll have to make it more favorable to casual gamers, but I also disagree with that. I think they're showing that instead of putting something else that is similar out, they're comfortable trying to lure away players by giving them something different.

With all that said, I really hope they address fouls this year, but I'm not expecting it.

[RoyceDa59]

Quote: Originally Posted by ezio

What offensive press option?

It is in the game plan menu when you adjusting tactics from possession to quick counter or long ball. I am glad that the tactic sliders actually work this year and don't have that placebo effect.

[dubcity]

Quote: Originally Posted by Beetlebum

Finally someone who said it. Guys, don't focus on the possession stat when judging the demo. Games are only 3 minutes long, so those stats can vary considerably (I've had possession as high as 62% and as low as 44% in all the games that i've played). In real soccer in a 3-minute span teams can keep possession of the ball for the whole time, so I'd rather focus on gameplay and on how the AI plays on the pitch.

I would agree, except that PES has a history with possession issues. Last year was really really bad. The match length didn't matter. The two issues for me are passing and defense.

I think passing is just too easy and too accurate. And I'm using a dodgy 3rd party xbox controller with 0 bars of assistance. I'll slowly build up at midfield, stringing together a dozen passes, but when the CPU gets the ball they make two passes and then kick a deep, lofted pass towards the box (which I intercept). Or, if they are a great team like Spain, they carve up my defense by running straight ahead with 1-2 passes and through balls until they get a shot on goal. Either way, I win possession by default.

I just think I should be able to hold up the CPU at midfield, and at least force them to hang on to the ball for an extended period of time. I want Spain to have 60-70% possession against me, but the only way to do that is to play the boring FIFA arcade style.

[Krebstar]

Quote: Originally Posted by dubcity

I would agree, except that PES has a history with possession issues. Last year was really really bad. The match length didn't matter. The two issues for me are passing and defense. I think passing is just too easy and too accurate. And I'm using a dodgy 3rd party xbox controller with 0 bars of assistance. I'll slowly build up at midfield, stringing together a dozen passes, but when the CPU gets the ball they make two passes and then kick a deep, lofted pass towards the box (which I intercept). Or, if they are a great team like Spain, they carve up my defense by running straight ahead with 1-2 passes and through balls until they get a shot on goal. Either way, I win possession by default. I just think I should be able to hold up the CPU at midfield, and at least force them to hang on to the ball for an extended period of time. I want Spain to have 60-70% possession against me, but the only way to do that is to play the boring FIFA arcade style.

What difficulty are you playing on? I only ask as the leaked demo was set to Superstar, and you could get the AI to hold up at midfield and pass back to defenders, and laterally.

Also, not saying you're doing this, but as weird as sounds, sometimes the best way to get them to play with more possession is for you to want them to play with more possession. So, when you don't have the ball, contain as opposed to trying to win it back and leaving them space.

Even in 2013, you could make their possession go from absurdly horrible to slightly absurdly horrible if you let them have the ball. If you're containing and not attempting to win back, and still can't get them to hold onto it more, then that is unfortunate.

[steveeee]

I haven't played on Superstar but I did hear a few people are saying that Superstar mode is broken in the demo. not sure that is really true or not...

I also did not list possession stat in my cons basically because I personally don't think you can judge that with the 5 minute matches and also how I already play trying to rack up the possession any ways. So I'm not going to judge that on my self... and even although I keep out possessing the AI (even when they are spain)... they are getting the better and more scoring chances against me still for sure. I will have to play a lot more to better judge this but I didn't see it as a major concern really yet.. but yes I would like to see spain out possess me. but like Krebstar mentions... I play to where I'm very good at winning the back against them in a hurry though. part of me wouldn't do this the entire match though if it was decent time limit... I was just playing like that non stop because well I want the ball the whole time when I'm playing these short 5 minute halves.. learning the game

[dubcity]

Quote: Originally Posted by Krebstar

What difficulty are you playing on? I only ask as the leaked demo was set to Superstar, and you could get the AI to hold up at midfield and pass back to defenders, and laterally. Also, not saying you're doing this, but as weird as sounds, sometimes the best way to get them to play with more possession is for you to want them to play with more possession. So, when you don't have the ball, contain as opposed to trying to win it back and leaving them space. Even in 2013, you could make their possession go from absurdly horrible to slightly absurdly horrible if you let them have the ball. If you're containing and not attempting to win back, and still can't get them to hold onto it more, then that is unfortunate.

I'm trying to contain (or "holdup play," as they call it in PES), but it doesn't seem to work very well. If I jockey (RB on XBox) the CPU, all they have to do is sprint at an angle past me because my defender can't adjust quickly enough to cut them off. And if I use the holdup (contain) command, my player won't stay in front of the attacker. He'll end up side-by-side with him, at best. All I'm trying to do is take up space to slow the CPU buildup. In 2013 in the CPU would literally dribble right into you, but in 2014 they just seem to get by you every time if you try to contain.

Also, I've been adjusting the team tactics and they seem to have very little effect. Example: I had my team tactic set to All Out Defense, which means low press, a deep line, and very low attack. The CPU kicked off with two forward passes, and their striker was alone with only the back 4 to defend him. I have no idea what my midfielders were doing.