Soccer Games: What We Learned At E3 2013 - kelvinmak's Blog

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Soccer Games: What We Learned At E3 2013 Stuck

Posted on June 19, 2013 at 05:59 PM.

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Back to the Future for PES

We've heard so much about the FOX Engine, then oohed and ahhed when we they teased with some promo shots. And yet, true to PES form, it's probably not going to be about the visuals, again. The game looks better, yes, but from what we saw in the gameplay videos and read from various previews, things don't look 100% smooth, and the rest of the visual presentation package remains lackluster.

So what part of PES 2014 are we looking forward to? Forget about all the press releases about new beginnings and whatever metaphors they decided to use this year, it's the same as it always was: the individual moments. The pace and verve at which an attack unfolds, the way your teammates exploit space, and the distinct feel you get when you're controlling certain players. And with the slew of improvements looking to expand on those moments-- TrueBall Tech perhaps the biggest one among them-- it seems like PES is going to concentrate on making the game feel right, before tackling the looking right half of things.

The one worry, after checking out the trailer and the gameplay video? Man, there's some seriously direct, end-to-end, stuff. Whether this is just a product of two fast-paced teams playing against each other, we have to see, but right now the fear is that while the core mechanics are fun, too many matches may turn into up and down, score-one-more-than-your-opponent goalfests.

FIFA Isn't Slowing Down, Either

(Have you read our very own Glenn Wigmore's hands-on impression of FIFA 14 at E3 yet? You should.)

It's pretty impressive, when you take a step back and think about it for a moment, how consistent the FIFA franchise has been for the last couple of years when it comes to continually building on its previous release. Now, whether you agree with how they've tried to improve it, or the team's priorities on what elements to improve, that's a different thing. My point is that the series hasn't felt stagnant for quite a while now, and that's a testament to the producers who are willing to continually stick their necks out, to keep on moving forward.

After two straight years of "big" features and coming to the end of a console generation (plus the first incarnation of next-gen games are almost always going to focus heavily on visuals), if there is ever a time to break out that dreaded p-word-- polish-- this year would've been it. But nope, not FIFA. EA Canada is keeping its foot on the pedal with another slew of gameplay improvements, namely the new momentum system, shooting mechanics, and added physicality. There's not really one unifying theme to FIFA 14's new features, but that's kind of the point, isn't it? Whatever parts of the game that the producers feel need improving, they just tend to it.

There's little doubt that FIFA 14 is going be very polished with its visuals and audio. Beyond that, with the rest of the new features, they certainly sound good on paper, but many of them are hard to judge until you have your hands on the gamepad. Only then can you really feel how natural (or not) these new features really are, or how much impact they will make to the gameplay.

It's also nice to hear producer Santiago Jaramillo mention the team's commitment to keeping the game balanced (in the latter part of this video), in terms of attack versus defense, so one hopes they stick to their word and the defending AI gets a jolt of aggressiveness. I don't want to read too much into two clips of gameplay, especially when they're human vs. human, but it's certainly encouraging to see the AI teammates giving the attacking team less space, so that when you eventually take control of a defender, you don't start out seven yards away from the ball carrier.

The one thing we haven't heard much about, and it's something quite a few folks here at OS have been bringing up fairly frequently now, is whether there are enough distinguishing features as to how individual players and teams play. This is an area where FIFA can certainly improve upon, but from Glenn's account during his time with the game at E3, it doesn't look like much has changed, so don't get your hopes up.

FIFA only for Next Gen

Going to have to wait until next fall to play it on your shiny new Xbox One and PS4, PES fans.

Good or bad decision? I know very little about marketing and finances so all I can really say for certain is "I guess we'll see." From the surface, it sounds very much like a defensive move on PES' part, and whether that costs them in the long run, we won't know for a while. But there is precedence for Konami to take this route: PES' first foray into X360 and PS3 went horribly pear-shaped, so perhaps it's not the worst idea in the world to hold the fort down for a year, keep their current-gen customer base (and maybe even grow it), then take the extra time and really polish the game up for a next-gen release next year.

Either way, I guess we'll see.

Comments

# 1 fearwhatnow @ Jun 20

I think you should have checked the new gameplay video of PES 2014, which shows the exactly opposite of the worries you mention on your article. There is impressive build -up play by cpu AI, players come to full stop to consider options, there are also plenty of backpasses by cpu AI (there is even a backpass to the GK). Here is the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TXK1ATi5ZA

# 2 cadalyst17 @ Jun 20

Big difference in watching than actually playing the game my friend

# 3 elprez98 @ Jun 20

Dude did even watch the GP videos for PES? The visuals look very good and the gameplay was not end-to-end. Plus, considering they aren't going to rush to get it on the next gen systems, I'd expect so much more improvement for 2015.

# 4 kelvinmak @ Jun 20

Quote:


	I think you should have checked the new gameplay video of PES 2014, which shows the exactly opposite of the worries you mention on your article.

Ah, thanks, I definitely missed that clip. You're right, the CPU build up was more methodical than the one in the Bayern/Santos match. Quite looking forward to the demo now and see how the AI responds to my 10 men behind the ball tactics (I know, it's only June...)

And of course, EA also makes me eat my words about FIFA after I mentioned the lack of news about player AI. Interesting though that Glenn didn't pick it up that much during his time with the game at E3-- could be the fact that it was only a partial build, or maybe they're still figuring out how pronounced the differences would be.