Pro Evo 2008

[scotchedpommes]

Any of you playing it, either in current or next generation form, and what do you
make of it? Seem to remember edyz expressed some level of enthusiasm around
the time of the last version's release, but other than that I consider myself to be
very much in the dark as to more widespread .org interest.

[edyzmedieval]

I plan on ordering it, but momentarily I am trying to download the demo, and see how it works. Feedback around it is 50/50. Some people completely love it, some people completely hate it.

[scotchedpommes]

Well, already have it myself, having bought it on impulse. Did play the demo briefly;
was slightly underwhelmed by that, but thought Pro Evo has never disappointed
me too much before. [5 could be ridiculously difficult at times, but still.]

This new version just seems to get worse for me, unfortunately. Player touch is
extraordinarily poor, even with the skillful ones, meaning nine times out of ten a
pass will be missed or the first touch will deflect away. Ball physics has been
changed, and crosses are very rarely effective. [reminding me of FIFA] Shooting
is different - there is often absolutely no elevation on shots regardless of power,
and in many cases [tempted to say always] goals come from shots that you'd
think should be saved, while efforts which seem unsaveable are of course kept
out.

Keepers are incredibly erratic, holding shots less than I have seen in a Pro Evo
game, and three times already I have had a keeper push a cross into his own
goal when it looks easy to catch.

Other things regarding settings and menus are bothering me. Lack of stadiums.
The new patch has just made replay control completely bizarre. You can't select
kits before league matches, which is frankly inexcusable given the computer's
choices. I've had two games where both teams were playing in all white.

What else, ah yes, slightly aesthetic point, but keepers dive for everything. One
thing I liked in particular about the Pro Evo series was that if a shot was too
good, the keeper would be rooted to the spot. Not so anymore.

Don't hate it, but dislike significantly, yes.

[edyzmedieval]

I played the demo. Dissapointed. I never had a single effective cross, and every long shot was kept out. Shots from close, powerful ones, were kept out too. I lost something like 4-0 in the first match.

Dissapointed.

[hellenes]

I played the demo. Dissapointed. I never had a single effective cross, and every long shot was kept out. Shots from close, powerful ones, were kept out too. I lost something like 4-0 in the first match.

Dissapointed.

I envy your dissapointment...Im dissapointed with the full game for exactly teh opposite reasons...

[Mithradates]

Being a somewhat experienced pro evo player i always thought the real game was in the mulitplayer, the computer always had god like omnipotence when you play it anyway. So is multiplay any good?

[scotchedpommes]

Haven't played multiplayer yet, but when I do it's likely that it's going to be
on a PS2, and so in the game's current generation form as opposed to the
PC version I have. Current gen appears to be very much the same game, so I
would risk an assumption that the multiplayer would be reassuringly enjoyable.

As for the powers of the machine opponent, I'd certainly agree that in 5 it was
often unplayable. In 6 they certainly toned down aspects of the difficulty. Still
it's fair to say when you're a single goal up with 10 or 15 minutes remaining, you
can expect the computer to have all the advantages.

[ShadesPanther]

Well I play it all the time with my Brother on the Xbox360.

I'd say I like the way more goals are scored from headers from crosses and corners now and the free kicks do seem easier and you can actually score from them (I hated the amount of times my brother would hack down my man, who was clean through, to take the red card and then have you miss the free kick).

Although the keepers do seem more erratic (especially Mad Jens Lehmann) which I think is nice in a way because some teams do have dodgy keepers.

[scotchedpommes]

I'd say I like the way more goals are scored from headers from crosses and corners now...

Really? Thought it was so much easier to score from them in the last game.
Couldn't pay me to score from a cross or a corner in this - it never seems to
switch to the correct player when I try to move for the ball.

If I play a league in 6, most of the goals I score will be from headers, usually
just swinging them in close to the keeper and piling players forward. More
often than not one beats the keeper to the ball and slams it in, without even
having to jump. Excellent for late equalisers or winners. Played Crvena Zvezda
- Rangers in 6 and managed to come back with two headers like that in the last
5 minutes. Scored a winner in the last seconds of stoppage time, defence-cutting
pass and then rounding the keeper before slotting it home. Excellence.

[edyzmedieval]

The question lingers:

1. Is PES 2008 worth spending the cash?
2. Which is better? FIFA 08 or PES 08? I own FIFA 08.

[scotchedpommes]

The question lingers:

1. Is PES 2008 worth spending the cash?
2. Which is better? FIFA 08 or PES 08? I own FIFA 08.

1. Next generation, might venture no, perhaps it isn't worth a pre-sale price.
But if you're intent on getting it at all, maybe this hinges on your own views
regarding what I believe is currently being discussed in another thread here.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=94475

2. Have both. Would say it certainly isn't 'better', in many respects. The
discussion is worthy of a thread itself, but I'm not sure I can be too bothered.
It seems like difficulty has been increased to a point where it is simply too hard
to break down a defence on the higher difficulty levels, without resorting to
'tricks.' Given that the right analogue stick doesn't work in either game for me,
this is mildly annoying. [Mild annoyance equates to playing manager mode as
Jablonec 97 and only winning one game in the first twelve.]

Crucially, difference between skill of teams is far less apparent than in earlier
PES games. To test this, I played as Brazil versus Morecambe. Scraped past
them 2-1 with Morecambe scoring a ridiculously elaborate late goal.

[edyzmedieval]

I found FIFA pretty enjoyable, but after like 2 seasons, it gets repetitive and boring. I guess the only way is to play it online to enjoy it further.

[scotchedpommes]

Scripted and repetitive has always been the way with FIFA games, though.