PES 2013 Available Worldwide - Post Your Impressions Here

[steveeee]

Quote: Originally Posted by lnin0

I do not think manual keeper control online is a good thing. Manual keeper is typically abused by online gamers. I know FIFA disables and hopefully PES does the same.

hmmm I had FIFA 12 until yesterday and did not know that because I guess I didn't play much 1 v 1 online. weird. Well I don't agree with you about the abusive thing.. how is putting the keeper in the correct position abusive? that's not how I look at it.. and fifa manual keeper is much different than in PES. so maybe your saying it's abusive in FIFA because you can have assisted manual controls on and etc there is full keeper controls. IN PES you don't actually make the save.. the computer does it.. alls you can control is actually moving the keepers position that is it... which imo is not an abusive option and is not easy to do... I still give up many easy goals bc of it if I decide to use it.. it's not easy. I just like doing it. it's a lot different than FIFA... it's not easy far from abusive option in PES and konami should allow this online imo

no cheese factor at all.. not even close

[IWWROCKS]

Ok now i've been able to play the full game, here are the impressions of a PES newbie.

As I said earlier, I havent played PES since 08. Haven't owned one since like 06 or 07. Having played the demo I was impressed how far it had come and so got the full game.

The actual gameplay is very good. It feels very tactical which I like. The controls are taking time to get used too, especially the more advanced stuff like the whole trap and shoot thing. I will spend some time in the training lessons tonight.

The presentation is good visually. I love being able to play Champions League. As a Liverpool fan I miss that anthem being played on a tuesday/wednesday night!

The commentary i'm not too keen on. It's not really fluid. It seems like they're only ever really commentating when something dramatic is happening. That's a bit of a dissapointment to me. FIFA is a bit better in this sense. NBA 2k is the benchmark for me though, the commentary on that is fantastic.

Player intelligence for me is another slight dissapointment. AI just doesn't seem to make obvious runs. I pass it with Sterling to Suarez in the middle. The right back get's drawn in to Suarez, leaving a massive wide space for Sterling to run into. Instead, he runs back towards the halfway line?? :S

Master League is enjoyable. I've never played Master League before and it suprised me a little bit. I like it for the most part. Signing players i'm finding hard atm, but I did discover the "chances of signing" bit which has helped. Out of interest, what determines if someone will sign? Club reputation or something? ...I do not like the boots thing at all, but it seems that I share that dislike with alot of life long PES fans.

Overall it's very enjoyable. The speed and tactics of the gameplay makes it all worthwhile for me. I will try out Be a Legend later I think. I do miss licensing. It does seem a bit weird seeing Liverpool out there with a fake badge, kit and stadium. I want to just ignore it but I find it hard.

[rckabillyRaider]

played a few games now. I think it has improved over both demos. The differences between teams tactics are easily noticeable. The pace and flow of the game on 0 speed feels just right. The defense knows when to contain and when to press. Also, one thing that has always bothered me about pes since they added the different speeds is that it felt in slow motion. As if konami just couldn't really program a slow gameplay speed without making it look and feel in slow motion. Well I was pleasantly surprised that they seemed to have really made it a lot better in that regard. Better than the demos IMO.

A negative I've noticed from the demos is that the fouls have been toned down. I actually preferred more fouls. The game runs very smooth on my pc as well. No slow downs at all. All in all I'm pleased so far.

[FluffyTonka]

I've found with possession the CPU will play and react to how I play.

If I'm pressing them, they'll be direct. If I back off they'll knock it around and try and unlock me.

Another beautiful thing is when the CPU gets a lead and the clock approaches the hour mark. They'll get everyone behind the ball and wait for me. At that point it's pretty hard to break them down.

Longballs into the box from early crosses are a pleasure. I'm loving them.

Tactally there's so much more going on than FIFA ... It's great.

[fearwhatnow]

Quote: Originally Posted by FluffyTonka

I've found with possession the CPU will play and react to how I play. If I'm pressing them, they'll be direct. If I back off they'll knock it around and try and unlock me. Another beautiful thing is when the CPU gets a lead and the clock approaches the hour mark. They'll get everyone behind the ball and wait for me. At that point it's pretty hard to break them down. Longballs into the box from early crosses are a pleasure. I'm loving them. Tactally there's so much more going on than FIFA ... It's great.

I just read your previous post and I was ready to post an answer like yours above.It all depends on your style of play.My recommendation is to play PES13 by picking a mediocre or even a bad team.I do that and wait behind the ball with zonal defense covering space.CPU will try to find empty lanes/sides, will backpass, will bring the ball from one side to another with crosses and will make mistakes that will give an opportunity for good counter attacks.
My settings are Top Player, 20min, speed -1.
My concern now is that 15min or 20min halves are good enough when playing Top Team Vs Top Team but seems like I need to crank up the minutes because I use mediocre teams.

[demencia_total]

Alright, got my first win (had a few loses & draws in previous games). I can confirm what most people are saying in that the possession stats are sort of broken. I think another factor is that the AI tends to be reactive towards your play style. If you try and keep possession of the ball at all times, you will see them counter attack more often. This will be accentuated by the fact that they keep getting caught offside which is kinda cool considering the approach.

If you intentionally play a defensive game then you will see them play more possession but the reality is that very few of us play that way. The tactics play a huge part in the game in terms of how much your teammates move into space and such. If you change tactics to a defensive style, you will find it harder to move forward because your AI teammates seem to play it a lot safer and don't move as much into attacking positions. In my first few games, I saw myself dominating possession artificially. I was basically passing the ball in the backfield, whereas the CPU was smarter in how they attack and therefore got better chances. Still, the CPU is not a master of possession. It could use some work for next year's game.

I think where the game REALLY shines is on the defensive end. Defense is actually fun to play and you have several legit options. You can cover, rush, cover & rush (by rushing with your AI teammate), or rush & tackle (either standing or slide tackle). You have to be smart in most cases about how to defend certain players because if you keep rushing constantly you will get burned. Same thing if you give them too much space. It makes defensive play fully interactive instead of a passive activity as it is in most sports video games.

Scripting seems to be entirely gone. All goals & opportunities seem purely organic. I saw plenty of chances when in the past the AI would score on me to get back into the game and they actually missed chances that would otherwise go in automatically in past games. Mistakes will be punished but the AI is not infallible to errors without pressure. It makes the game unpredictable and gives you the impression that anything could happen at any moment instead of the "Uh oh, here they come to score" epidemic of past PES games.

On the unfortunate side of things, set pieces controlled by the human player seem pointless. More often than not I switch to the receiving player because every corner kicked by me seems to end in the same manner. No idea how to properly control placement on free kicks. It either goes out or hits the wall. I am hoping there is a trick to it although I don't expect to score often, just would like a bit more variety.

I'm still learning the controls but am improving slowly. Hopefully someone makes a few useful tutorials. Frankly, I don't care about fancy tricks but I do want to be able to know the intricacies of passing and close space dribbling.

[Matt10]

Nice review DT - as far as the free kicks, I've experienced (since pES4) that you need to hold L2 and the analog direction of your free kick. This puts a whole heck of swerve on the ball - and pace. Power up half way and use the L2 swerve - the ball will travel shorter than normal, but dip at the end.

I finally got the game too. Early impressions are enjoyable - but this game needs to be played on Superstar to get a true challenge. The CPU plays well, but doesn't seem to build up, or defend good enough, on anything below Superstar.

With that said - I think you are correct, DT - in regards to how the CPU reacts to the style of our play. This morning I was just trying to get a quick half in before work. I was in a hurry - and just kept passing very quickly, and trying to force penetrating balls. The CPU surprised me and passed the ball throughout the backfield - eventually a long ball over the top set up their chances. There were also some nicely played through balls when they had the chance. It reminded me of yesterday's Tottenham-Lazio match. Tottenham dominated possession for the most part; but Lazio had some great chances off of their possession.

I love the Player ID. I'm not usually one for features in an organic sport like soccer/footy, but this is one that I thoroughly enjoy. It is so evident when a dribbler is on the ball. You know, like Montpellier's Cabella against Arsenal. He was everywhere, and each time tried some kind of trick - then got fouled. This was happening exactly in PES. I loved it.

Looking forward to getting some games in. I need to come to terms that this is KONAMI's engine. I am not a big fan of the player models, but the organic game play makes it all work. With the upcoming PESEDIT patch (downloading now at home) and the many...many PES13 PC modifications, this will be an incredible season of PES. The no-blur patch by itself has already made a big difference.

[Altimus]

Uh, is it Tuesday yet?