Please, Konami, can we have some more?
Posted by: not-Greg in Bradley, Konami, goal replay, psp, scripting, tags: Bradley, goal replay, Konami, psp, scriptingFor the past week I’ve been playing my Master League career almost exclusively on the PSP. I hardly ever get much quality PlayStation3 time lately, what with work and various other things taking up so much time.
Since last week the Metal Gear Solid 4 disc has basically lived in my PS3. All of my sit-down, big console time has been spent sneaking around gorgeously-rendered locales, and being awestruck by the exquisite gameplay and immersive storyline of the PS3’s first real showstopper of a game. Konami, let’s have some more, please…
Playing PES2008 solely on the PSP is just fine by me. I love the PSP (am I the only one?), and I love PES2008 on the PSP. It’s a proper game of PES on a handheld console. I think it’s a great achievement that Konami and Team Seabass haven’t received the proper recognition for, for many reasons.
The main reason is that this viable, playable, fully-featured PES for the PSP came along shockingly LATE…. It was at least a year overdue—arguably two years. Also, the backlash against the next-gen consoles’ version of the game has shifted the focus away from the still-good ‘classic’ PES that’s available on PSP and PS2. I think it’ll take a pretty good PES2009 for Konami and Seabass to recover the ground they’ve lost with the fanbase.
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As I move into the last third of season 2018 it’s important to stay focused. I’m top of the league by nine points. My main league rivals, Valencia, are lurking in second place, waiting for a slip-up.
I played Sevilla and absolutely thrashed them. It’s quite rare for me to absolutely thrash any team. I was 5-0 up at half time, and wondered if I might be able to reach the fabled ten-goal margin of victory. (I never have on any PES—a 9-1 was my best, on the ghastly PS3 version of PES2008. *Shudder*)
The second half was slightly annoying because the AI turned to its old friend, God Mode, and I couldn’t keep hold of the ball for longer than a few seconds at a time. Yes, after a first half that I had completely dominated with excessive amounts of attacking and oodles of skilful play (if I may say so myself), suddenly those same players could neither pass nor kick nor head the ball a few yards to each other. Right. The AI naturally kept the funny business going until it got itself a goal, then relaxed long enough for me to grab another. The final score was 6-1 to me.
In the European Cup quarter final I met a stubborn old rival—Galatasaray. They held me 3-3 at home in the first leg, a torrid game in which I was 1-3 down by half time. I was just terrible. No excuses. Still, on the bright side it was only half time, and I had plenty of time to come back, and I did. I took the draw gratefully, worried about their three away goals but knowing that I could and should win the return leg easily. I’ve done it loads of time before. My game plan will be to score as early as possible and concede nothing at the back. We’ll see how that goes…
I played several more league games, winning some, drawing some. I’m still unbeaten all season—and I really want to hold onto that record until the end. I’m almost more motivated to accomplish an unbeaten season (it’d be my first since PES5) than I would have been about completing a Treble. Funny old game…
A noteworthy goal from these league games came from a cleared corner. I’ve done more than my fair share of moaning on this blog about PES2008’s many apparently scripted elements. One of those elements is the way that an AI clearance from your corner never seems to fall outside the box to one of your players (the kind of ball that always fall to the AI at the other end when you clear their corners).
Every rule has its exceptions, and here is one. This corner was knocked out to Bradley, who ran onto it and unleashed a cannonball of a shot that blasted through the penalty area and high into the net. I was proud of this one because instead of simply blasting in any old direction, I used the PSP’s little analogue nubbin to direct the ball high and to the left:
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