Latest Playtest Impressions - Part 2

Part 1 Here


360 control
Now that we have 360 control we need to understand what it is in PES. First I can clear up that the PS3 dpad has 16 way control and the 360 dpad has 8 way control. I’m being told this difference is due to hardware limitations and should not be attributed to Konami.
Anyway the left analogue sticks have full 360 control. What this means for the control system is that when you are not in control of the ball you have full control of how players move. This freedom may come as a shock to some people. Because we’ve been used to the players pretty much knowing where to expect the ball, automatically having total control of where you position players can be a bit of a shock. Some people may complain initially that the ball didn’t go straight to a player’s feet, or that they moved away from the ball when they were receiving a pass. These are the sorts of things you are going to have to learn to do, as you would in the real game. The game is less on rails, and the onus is on you to control your players and move them as you see fit.

Well, now everyone should expect to get reacquainted with how to play the game. Yes it does still feel familiar but be prepared for some new thrills and spills as you get to grips with how to play the beautiful game.
360 control does not mean you can pull off physically impossible movements from one angle to another.
It means that you have a fully subtle range of movements which you have in a normall physical fashion.
You now have to think about what your players body position is and how to move into another position naturally. For example whilst running forward you can’t suddenly change direction and start running in angles greater than 45 degrees with no change in pace.
As I’ve previously said you can’t run full pelt then change direction by 90 degrees as you currently can.
Players slow down when trying sharper turning on the ball. This means that you have to learn to slow down and speed up to make full use of your new found 360 degree movement. The faster you are, the harder it is to make sudden direction changes - obviously highly skilled dribblers will have an easier time of trying that less skilled players. Yes there is familiarity in feel and play, but there are enough differences to make you sit up and pay attention to what you’re doing in game.

Player movement animations have been considerably increased. You now get the feel that there are different types of players with more movement styles evident. The last two PES games have had a very robotic feel to them, with the same singular player animations in use. Now you have a few running styles which feel more natural. The stiff comedy running is no more.

Long balls
Another great change that I also found was that long balls were more satisfying to pull off. I generally don’t use long balls all that much in my own playing style because I tend to find them to hinder my game rather than enhance it. Long balls previously used to slow down play for my liking. But now I felt that they were more useful and helped keep the flow of my attacks more. The ball physics are better than ever, and have a very natural feel which means you feel more in control of the ball and what you choose to do with it.

Equally crossing from the wings is so much more satisfying since you now can practically pinpoint where you want the ball to go. I didn’t mess around with the types of crossing modes so it was in default mode, but there were times when my crosses went way over to a further area than I expected. But that was because I was expecting the usual semi auto crossing to take place where we generally know where the ball will go.

Shooting
Shooting also felt very satisfying. I felt like the players were really connecting with the ball.
Shots varied depending on body position so it was intuitive. Chipping has been fixed and I was instantly comfortable with them too. I scored a couple of great chipped goals, so thumbs up from me.

Part 3

Credit : www.pesgaming.com