So there were a few more matches left in the season than I thought: 6. I have played 3 of those 6 matches. I will definitely finish the season in Friday’s post, and after that… There have been certain developments in my football gaming, but I’ll deal with all of that near the end of the post.
The situation heading into these last matches of the season was as follows. My club, Catania, were mid-table, but only a few points off the Europa League qualifying places. That’s where I wanted to finish. Here is a potted overview of the 3 matches I played, followed by a league table snapshot:
Catania 2-1 Parma
Incredibly, Parma came in with a cheeky offer for me in Negotiations just before the match. This would have unsettled me in real life. I gave the offer a good look. Hmmm… 43% chance of playing, AMF/SMF, a good squad, and Parma are a ‘name’ in a way that Catania somehow still aren’t.
But I turned them down. Their players are only about the same level as my current teammates. If/when I leave, it has to be a palpable step up. Othersiwse I could spend several seasons just traipsing from club to club, always remaining roughly on the same level.
In the match, we went 2-0 up and were cruising. I laid on one of our goals. Parma got a late goal to make the last 10 minutes nervy, but we held on. I thought I played well, and was disappointed with a post-match rating of 6.0.
Verona 0-0 Catania
A tetchy, bitty, frustrating game that neither side deserved to take anything more than 1 point from. I knew I’d had an average game, but was still shocked at my post match rating of 5.5. That’s still above-average, I suppose.
Napoli 2-1 Catania
A bitter defeat, and it could have been a hammering as well, with Napoli totally dominant for the first 30 minutes when they got their two goals. At one stage it looked as if they would give me a true thumping. I supplied one of the passes that led up to our late goal in the 75th minute. After that it was nearly all one-way traffic as we laid siege to the Napoli net, but nothing came of it. I got a 6.5 rating for this one.
After those matches, here is the table:
With three matches to go, I will definitely have the season finished in time for Friday’s post. After that… I don’t know if I’ll continue playing BaL regularly.
I picked up a 3DS this week, with a copy of PES2011 3D. It’s a decent game, very reminiscent of PES6 as many have said, if a little cramped on the small handheld console—and the 3D is staggeringly effective (I was braced for it not to be). I’ll write some more about it on Friday’s post, after I’ve played it some more.
At the time of writing (Tuesday night), I’ve only played two quick matches. But they’ve been enough to convince me of one thing.
I don’t think I can continue playing Become A Legend. As much as I’m enjoying the mode, it’s not entirely for me.
I have realised that BaL has been suffocating my football gaming for several weeks. I’m not a solo-player football gamer. It’s not what I want to do with my football gaming time.
I need the pure air of full-on 11 vs 11 gameplay. I need the freedom and satisfaction of playing with whole teams. What I need is Master League.
From Monday, I’ll be back to playing an orthodox Master League career. I don’t know yet which version of the game I’ll be playing. It won’t be the 3DS version—I can say that with certainty. It’s got to be on a proper, big console, with a big controller and screen
It could be PES6(360), it could be PES2010(PS3), it could even be PES5 on the PC. All three options have pluses and minuses. I’m inclined to favour PES6(360), as it’s the only one whose ML career I never actually ‘completed’. But I’ll see how I feel if/when I play it.