My Demo Impressions: Pes 10

I’ve always leaned slightly more towards FIFA than PES. It’s not that I don’t acknowledge that PES was better during the time of the Playstation 2. I just didn’t play many football games then. Between FIFA 1999 and FIFA 2008, I only really played the World Cup games (as they came free with my PS2 and then my 360). Since the newest generation of consoles, it is widely acknowledged that FIFA games have been the better games. PES games still seem to be using the same tried and tested, but old, formula from the days of the PS2. In comparison, EA Sports made a whole new engine for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, resulting in a vastly upgraded, and downright more entertaining, game than previous iterations.

As PES 2009 was a massive improvement over PES 2008, PES 2010 once again is an improvement over PES 2009. The game still feels very arcade-y though when compared with FIFA. It no longer holds the title of a “football simulator”. The game also seems to move more slowly, as the players almost seem to be too small for the pitch on which they are playing. The close-in camera style also makes it harder to play an expansive game, as your view of the pitch is quite restricted.

Another feature which disappointed me was how simple it was to set up a team-mate, who was completely free, inside the six-yard box. All that I needed to do was run down the wing, cut into the box slightly, then pick out the man who was standing completely unmarked. As you might expect, that made it rather simple to rack up high scores and easy wins over teams like Barcelona or France, who should provide far sturdier tests of skill. This may well be because this is a demo and has been placed on an easier setting, to give a wider audience a more enjoyable experience of the game.

I was particularly impressed by the graphics of the game. Although they aren’t anything special in normal play, the detail and precision is obvious when taking corners, free-kicks or goal-kicks, or when watching replays. Konami have clearly dedicated a lot of time to improving the likeness of a lot of the players in-game, making the game more immersive and enjoyable.

All in all, this game represents a big step up from the previous iteration. The graphics are improved massively, but the game still has a real feeling of the arcade games of old. Based on this demo, Pro Evolution Soccer still has a long way to come before it reclaims its title as the king of football games from EA and FIFA.