Posted: January 04 2006 at 5:18pm | IP Logged

Ted, haven't played it for ages so I do need a refresher course before posting anything massively detailed but I can throw a few thoughts in now.

We've already covered the CPU build up play, but it's worth noting that your own attacking work has to improve this year.  It's harder now to create a scoring opportunity, and if you're playing a 10 minute match with two evenly matched sides then you'll find that chances are at a premium throughout.  The player now has to consider the idea of going backwards to keep possession rather than bulldozing forward, which was possible to a degree in PES4.  What that means, of course, is that when you do score the sense of achievement is greater than in any of the previous PES titles.

Free kicks - the system is exactly the same as before but it seems as though there's a bit more tolerance built into it.  It's easier to hit the target than before - I scored more free kicks in one week with PES5 than I did in a year of PES4 - but it does still require enough skill that goals don't feel at all cheap.

Here's where my lack of recent playtime hurts - I remember the application of the advantage rule has changed a little, I know I don't like it and I can't remember why.  Leave that one with me.  Awarding of fouls is generally improved but there's still the odd You What? moment featuring a foul that really wasn't.  I'd personally write a feature like that into the code anyway, whether it's meant to be there or not it does a fairly good job of representing how referees are.

The big difference without the ball is that your reckless, mistimed, nowhere-near-the-ball lunge at nothingness (fine - my reckless, mistimed...) will now be punished.  Give a CPU team any sort of space and they'll look to exploit it, making it more important than ever that you're capable of keeping defenders on their feet and in position.  Mind, there are times when you really won't want to do that - goalmouth scrambles with the net gaping and a gaggle of attackers pressing into the area, where all you want to do is get bodies in the way and if those bodies happen to be on the floor or lunging boots-first at the ball, then fine.  PES5 reproduces this kind of situation with an accuracy that promises to shred your nerves after a second.

Difficulty wise, I havent tried the lower levels but at the 4 and 5* end of things, it's undoubtedly harder - not necessarily to keep a clean sheet, but certainly harder to win matches.  The trade off is that as it gets trickier, it also plays a more fluid, convincing game of football than any Konami title to date.  Must buy?  Yup...having said that I've not played it recently, I only stopped playing it because I didn't once turn it off before 3 in the am...

Something I'd recommend doing at the earliest opportunity is unlocking the player cam.  Lock yourself to one player for 90 virtual minutes, and while you blindly charge around trying to score from left back, watch what goes on around you - it might not exactly be Brazil, but it's undeniably football.

Cheers,
Adam

Posted: January 04 2006 at 8:21pm | IP Logged

Great stuff, Ted and Adam...  Although I'm pleasantly surprised with FIFA 06 (don't laugh; I'm weak!), you guys are getting me pumped for WE again...

Kevin