PES Chronicles

“Ohhhh, Pro Evo…” This, supposedly, is what Seabass was in the habit of saying, with his head rightly in his hands, whenever anybody reminded him of the fairly dismal first iteration of the game on the PSP. I wonder what he does when people mention the PS3 version of PES2008? I just wonder.

But it wasn’t completely terrible. As much as it’s tempting now to condemn it as an unmitigated disaster, I have to remember that for a month or so I thought PES2008 on the PlayStation3 was a pretty good game.

That seems incredible to me now. I thought it was good for so long due to my averageness at PES. It took me an age to discover for myself what many people were saying on Day 1. In PES2008, on the hardest difficulty setting, you really could dribble past entire teams using almost any player. After I finally discovered the universal ‘wonder dribble’ for myself, I could no longer take the game seriously. It was no good trying to stop myself doing it. Knowing it was possible was enough.

And in many ways the ‘wonder dribble’ was among the least of the game’s problems. When you factored in the shoddy graphics, the slowdown, and the frankly disgusting quality of online play (how Konami have got away with that one in particular is beyond belief), it was easily the worst-ever showing for our beloved franchise. Ohhhh, Pro Evo….

It’s been almost a year now and the wounds still haven’t healed. I still feel raw and emotional. I still haven’t got over the shock. One of the many kicks in the balls that PES2008 represented for me was that I was one of many who had bought a PlayStation3 specifically with PES2008 in mind. Yes, it’s safe to say that with PES2008 I got burned badly on almost every front.

Is it any wonder that my spirits refuse to rise (much) at the prospect of PES2009? By this stage there have been plenty of rumours and leaks, enough to pique even the most jaded interest. Call me an old cynic, but everything we’ve discovered so far about PES2009 is just too evocative of last year’s false hopes and ruined expectations. I remember last summer very well. I remember frequently thinking that within just a few short months I’d be playing Pro Evolution Soccer on a next-gen console.

I think my expectations were in proportion. I expected a good, rewarding PES game. I was never one of those who believed it would be the most staggeringly great football game ever created.

A favourite hidey-hole for PES2008 apologists is that the fans’ expectations were too high. Well, my expectations for PES2008 were for a Pro Evolution Soccer game. Nothing more, nothing less.

And that’s what I’m expecting for PES2009. All I want is for it to be a worthwhile game of Pro Evolution Soccer. Not an arcadey, tween-oriented mess.

We’ll see in good time whether this summer’s hopes for PES2009 all turn out to be misplaced. For now, I’m going to set aside my cynicism and examine the most significant leak of information yet. Last week a wealth of information appeared online, courtesy of a supposed games-tester, fresh from testing PES2009.

I’ll glance over this alleged Deep Throat’s main points about PES2009, one by one:

• “Gameplay is PES2008, the way it should have been.” I may be the only man alive who can get worried about a comma, but the comma in that direct quotation does worry me. For me it places undue emphasis on PES2008, as if PES2009 will indeed just be an updated PES2008 (the Doomsday Scenario…).
• “You can no longer run straight through anyone with Eto’o or Ronaldinho.” Setting aside the fact that in PES2008 you could run straight through anyone with the likes of Gary Neville, this is good news if true. But are we really going to start being grateful to Seabass & co. for taking things out of the game that should never have been in it in the first place? I’m not. I’m grumpy and I’m staying that way until further notice.
• Refereeing and diving have been improved. PES2008’s referees gave instant red cards for tackles in non-critical areas of the pitch. They were too fussy, too card-happy. Hopefully they’ll be back to normal for PES2009. And diving was a pretty good idea IMO, if a little misapplied. After trying it a few times in PES2008, I never used it again.
• Attacking and defensive play are more balanced. Goalkeepers in particular had to be improved and hopefully will be. Fully 50% of all goals scored came from the keepers’ useless pat-a-cake saves.
• Licensed teams and players. Don’t care, never have cared, never will care. It’s all about the gameplay. Licenses are a luxury item in PES and always have been (and that’s what Edit mode is for).
• “Become a Legend” mode. This sounds like a cheerful rip-off of FIFA’s Be A Pro mode. That’s okay, really (good games borrow; great games steal). I doubt I’ll bother much with it myself but I hope it works.
• Online vastly improved. As it damn well should be. I’m not much of an online gamer. But I’d love to actually have the choice.
• Crossing is a bit ‘floaty’ and shooting is more difficult. The Seabass giveth, and the Seabass taketh away.
• Graphics are similar. This is quite disappointing, but still borderline acceptable. The graphics for PES2008, although relatively poor compared to other ‘next-gen’ graphics (notably FIFA08), were still acceptable—just. The initial slowdown, though, was almost unforgivable. Shipping a game that works out of the box should be a games developer’s (and publisher’s) #1 priority. It clearly wasn’t in the case of PES2008. What does that tell us about how they see their customers? That’s right—as idiots. Any hint of slowdown in PES2009, and they might as well start including copies of FIFA09 in the same box.

Considered all together, this leak would seem to bode well for PES2009. The big question is: is it all true? Until I see a full hands-on preview from several separate sources that all tell me we’ve got a proper PES game on our hands for 2009, I’ll keep my expectations down low. It’s the best thing all round. But my hopes are slightly rising, I have to say. If this leak is pre-release propaganda from Konami, it’s slightly working on me.

——–

In my Master League career on PES2008, meanwhile, I’m well into season 2021 now. I should reiterate here, for any new readers’ sakes, that I am playing my customary year-long ML career on the PS2 and PSP version of PES2008. The PS3 version might as well not exist for me now.

In 2021 I’ve won 6 of my opening league games, drawn 2, and lost 1. Yes, the unbeaten record attempt has gone early this season.

In Europe I’m in a group with AC Milan again. They were tough in our opening game and it looked like 0-0 all the way. Then I brought on Prieto as an emergency left-back, and went on a late run with him down the wing.

What resulted was probably my single most favourite long-range goal so far. I literally SHOUTED out loud when this one flew in. It’s the angle that the shot comes from, and the placement into the corner of the net, and the keeper’s despairing flap, that all combine to make it for me:

Similar posts:

• Tears of a clown
• Wasted Potential: PES2008, the PS3, and the Patch
• Shallow waters
• Hearts Of Irony
• I can’t go on, I’ll go on

This entry was posted on Friday, August 1st, 2008 at 10:00 am and is filed under Konami, PES2009, Seabass, goal replay.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.