PES5 - PS2 Review

[TristanAbbott7]

Ok, let's not dwell on how I got the game, irrelevant given I've already pre-ordered and paid top dollar for an original copy with priority shipping.

First Look
- Cool intro with some decent music. Much better than the WE9 intro. Rather than the street pick-up game, it has players doing skills moves against various backdrops with crazy special effects going on all around. The song that's played is really cool. The NTSC option is still there which is cool. Thankfully Konami realize there are a lot of us playing the game in N. America before we get WE9:I.

Main Menu
Terry replaces the Japanese player for the background. No 'Nippon Challenge' option equivalent. Load times seem faster than for WE9.

Edit Mode
*** Owen at Newcastle ***
Yes, mostly up to date freaking transfers - AT LAST!!!
Still a few ommissions but mostly up to date, the best Konami have ever managed with a PES release by a long way!

Gameplay
Faster than WE9. Not crazy fast but definitely faster, maybe a little too fast, not sure yet, maybe it'll just take some getting used to again. Most important thing for me - LESS FREAKING CONTACT FOULS FROM 50:50 SHOULDER BARGES. Thank you Konami. Bad points:
- Shots seem very, very fast even when not letting the shot bar go too far.
- Crowd on vacation problem still there.
- Bit of a slowdown in the box on some camera views (e.g. Broadcast)
- Dribbling still a bit of a nightmare on 5 stars even with Cristiano Ronaldo.
- Dang sidesteps still there 200 times a game! Have to get used to them for this year I guess.
- Goalkeepers will still only use two hands to save or just watch the ball fly in rather than make a one-handed save.

In-Game
Some new adboards, 4-4-2 Magazine, BT Broadband, to mention a couple. Look better than the default WE9 ones. Commentary seems pretty much the same as PES4 so far. Graphics very nice for the aging PS2, makes you wonder if there's anything left to pull out of it performance wise.

Overall
Well, I've only played about 10 games but it's an improvement over WE9 in a number of areas. The increased speed isn't a bonus for me as I thought WE9 was paced just right and the shots seem to zip off at a frightening speed even from people like Van Nistelrooy. The headers can be superhuman and the shooting from distance is still a little over-easy although they seemed a little more inaccurate than in WE9 which is good. After playing FIFA 06 on the PS2 for the last week which I've been enjoying, I can't say this has made me regret my decision to play both games this year rather than just stick with what Konami is offering. Looking forward to WE9:I though for my own country before I start any kind of editing in depth.

Anyway, worth the money as always despite my various issues with the game. Not sure it's going to move me from the fun I'm having with FIFA at the moment but we'll see.

Edited to say that the 'Network' option is disabled. This may be because this is not the final release (although I doubt it given the transfers are up to date) or some other reason.

 

[francis23]

I really can't understand what your problem is with this game wolf. Its streets ahead of Fifa. STREETS! You really have to now play football in this.....its a simulation not an arcade title like Fifa.
I really want to write a long reply to justify all the points but i can't be arsed.

 

[Han]

Edited to say that the 'Network' option is disabled. This may be because this is not the final release (although I doubt it given the transfers are up to date) or some other reason.

Just a reaction on this:
There was already a beta-version on the PS2 where you could play training mode and Network-gaming, no off-line play.
That means there will be Network-gaming on PES 5, no doubt.
The people where you got this version from just removed Networkgame for the sake of making the download smaller

About the review; Good review, although I find WE9 the best game ever.
IMHO the dribbling is fantastic now: No easy and unrealistic dribbles past 5 man anymore
You still are undecided whether to keep playing both FIFA'06 and PES 5 and that's your right, although I think that you are not very much interested in the tactical department of football-games. That part leaves a huge gap between FIFA and PES, apart from the gameplay!

 

[Y2K]

Dude, go easy on him. Fifa 2006 has improved. I agree it is still lagging behind WE9/PES5 but still Fifa 2006 has improved. In fact the have taken a few things from WE/PES games which you can roughly see.

 

[AlienSeafood]

ok i already have WE9....shud i still go n get this one!? :sun:

 

[HaterNob]

I mean no offence to anybody in saying this but I'll always take the view of an American on a Football game with a gigantic pinch of salt....

Fifa really is a sham, take away the license and does anybody really think it'd sell more than a handfull of copies?!

Funny how Premiership football players are always quoted as saying they play PES. Now, if they don't know then really, who does?

Anyway, I can't wait 'till PES5 finally drops, until then I'll have to make do with watching my beloved Rovers from the stands.

2-1, 2-1, 2-1, 2-1!!!! LOL!

pz

 

[Oliver Kalm]

I mean no offence to anybody in saying this but I'll always take the view of an American on a Football game with a gigantic pinch of salt....

Fifa really is a sham, take away the license and does anybody really think it'd sell more than a handfull of copies?!

Funny how Premiership football players are always quoted as saying they play PES. Now, if they don't know then really, who does?

Anyway, I can't wait 'till PES5 finally drops, until then I'll have to make do with watching my beloved Rovers from the stands.

2-1, 2-1, 2-1, 2-1!!!! LOL!

pz

Ok I just took your view with a large pinch of salt as well.
@ Wolf: Cant wait for your patch man! I'm with you in playing both Fifa & WE/PES. Been doin that the past couple of years or so.

 

[TristanAbbott7]

I mean no offence to anybody in saying this but I'll always take the view of an American on a Football game with a gigantic pinch of salt....

Fifa really is a sham, take away the license and does anybody really think it'd sell more than a handfull of copies?!

Funny how Premiership football players are always quoted as saying they play PES. Now, if they don't know then really, who does?

Anyway, I can't wait 'till PES5 finally drops, until then I'll have to make do with watching my beloved Rovers from the stands.

2-1, 2-1, 2-1, 2-1!!!! LOL!

pz

Premiership players are ALWAYS quoted as saying they play PES? Really? Can you name more than 5 who have ever been quoted as saying that?

As for the American thing, you'll find the bulk of the FIFA series always has sold more in Europe than North America and it's the European market that has been responsible for it's success over the years. When I first started promoting PES, it was always the teenage English kids on the forums who would reply saying "oh, you're an American, you don't know what you're talking about, PES is crap and FIFA rules!" or something similar. So, I'm wrong if I say PES is the best because I'm an American and I'm wrong if I say FIFA is decent this year because I'm an American. Makes a lot of sense! It's like the whole "Canadians can't make football games" quote. Funny, but most of the EA staff are European, the bulk of them actually come from the UK. Who would have thought that the Japanese would produce the best simulation? With that logic, the Japanese must know far more about soccer than the British, Italians, French, Germans or whatever or maybe they just have the best programmers. As complicated as a soccer game is to program, it's not freaking rocket science to see as a game player if something isn't realistic or not.

I think whether I'm an American or from the North freaking Pole, I can make a subjective judgement of the game! I watch like 5-10 games a week and played pro (albeit for a European 2nd division club) for seven years and I coach soccer for a full-time job.

I just don't like a number of things about PES5 this year, the increased speed and super power of shots/headers being one of them. I've tried to ignore it as best I can but the game is as annoying as it is fun for me this year. That's not to say I won't be back playing PES/WE when it's released for the XBox360 in the Spring if they've ironed some of the problems out but at the moment, FIFA is just more fun to play and despite what the "loaded the demo, played 30 seconds and unistalled it" crowd say, there is a lot more depth to the FIFA gameplay then you first discover. Gameplay wise, PES5 is like watching the Road Runner on performance enhancing drugs! At least in FIFA you can slow the game down to your own settings. On the PC demo, PES5 is a little better paced but the PS2 version feels like PES2 with the double-speed option enabled.

Anyway, the review was supposed to be just that, my own opinions, not an avenue to bash my opinion because I live in America or even meant to bring up the whole FIFA v PES thing. It's funny how being an American didn't matter when I was working my ass off making patches for everybody!

 

[Nuno]

"The NTSC option." Does this mean it'll work on NA PS2s? I'm definately getting the PC version, but my friend may be interested since his PC is in the dark ages.

BTW, where did you order the game from??? I used to order mine from gamesplanet.co.uk, but their site has been down.

 

[aglioeolio]

Gaming Sites avaliation : 10/10

Wolf´s Criteria: 7,5/10??

Fifa é coisa de idiota, peloamordedeus

 

[Oliver Kalm]

Betcha he didnt use your patches with pinch of salt eh Wolf?

 

[aglioeolio]

I used FCH patches, for sure... and made myself one, that´s the great idea of editing

 

[Soda]

nice, so if i were to get PES5 and i am in N. America there is the NTSC option on the game so i will be able to play it on my PS2? will the online also work?

 

[TristanAbbott7]

nice, so if i were to get PES5 and i am in N. America there is the NTSC option on the game so i will be able to play it on my PS2? will the online also work?

That I'm not sure of. The 'Network' option is blocked on mine so I don't know whether it detects the mod chip as some other online games do and auto-disables all online functions.

 

[MightyTic]

I agree that the speed of the game (demo) is a lot faster than PES4 , players move quicker and the passing (short and long) the ball travels faster! Both these facts make the game play faster overall.

I think that I play the ball off as soon as I get it , the cpu AI is on you right away even as the ball is coming to your player and if you dally, you'll lose the ball..

For me Ive seen the game streach, passing is phyiscally faster as are players and add that to 1st time passing, and you can find yourself with "owen" (demo) running through or trying to get into the box and pass to ronnydo..

And I agree with him that the shots move a hell of a lot faster, even with the power bar not going over 25%, I said that in my 1st post on the demo a while back! The ball flashing in on goal , headers too and to high a rate.. If you put those speeds into a real life game the ball would be moving at over 100mph... Yeah it looks great when your 35yrder hits the back of the net, but nearly every player hits the ball at high speeds..

Ive found with the high player movement higher cpu AI (closing you down faster) the ball moves faster in long and short passes, all that added together , means a lot of the time I have 2 forwards away in front of the midfield and I am shooting anywhere from 35yrds to just outside of the box ...

This for me means that I am playing longer games (pes4 was 7.5mins each half) now I player 15mins a half and even then the games are like anywhere from 0-0 to 2 or 3-1..


You can see the difference when you go back to PES4, slower ball movement (in passes, long and short) cpu AI does not close you down as fast! And when you attack you have more than just one or two players in or just outside the box...


That's not to say I don't love the game, its just different, don't get me wrong there was a lot needing fixing in pes4, but I thought that the speed of the game ( apart from you faster player not being able to outrun the slow?AI_) was just about right and you had time on the ball.. As I said, you dally on the ball in PES5 and most of the time the AI will have it off you ...

Still I'll be getting it when it comes out for the PC!

 

[johan]

Guys, if you want to play PES5 you still need modded PS2, that NTSC option Wolf is talking about is something that comes up when the game loads. For example if you`re in the USA and have American PS2 that is chipped the screen will give you an option to choose from 50Hz or 60Hz. Now most American TV`s are set to 60Hz if you choose 50Hz then you`ll get black and white color, 60Hz will give you normal option with full colors. Also 50Hz and 60Hz might play a small role in "gameplay" speed.

 

[Soda]

ah i see, well mine is not modded so i am just going to wait for we9:i

i will probably get the PC version of pes5 through a "special operation" for the mean time

 

[kingpug]

Dribbling is just impossible, maybe if the sidestep wasn't automatic I could dribble better but jesus christ, I don't know what is actually harder, getting past a player or scoring a goal. And fouls don't happen THAT much but when they do, 95% of them are silly touches etc. WE9 was a nightmare with fouls, I struggled to finish a match because I got bored after one half but in PES5 I only do on average 10 fouls per game, sometimes the CPU does more, and sometimes they do 0 (bull****).

Finding space to get a shot out is also hard considering you are controlling a bunch of 90 year old men with anorexia (spelling?). Doesn't matter who you go really, they all turn like they have fake legs, bit of a dissapointment.

But tbh the game is brilliant, not quite sure why but imo WE9 was a disgrace and somehow I love this one, well untill I step into the ML that is.

 

[Nuno]

Guys, if you want to play PES5 you still need modded PS2, that NTSC option Wolf is talking about is something that comes up when the game loads. For example if you`re in the USA and have American PS2 that is chipped the screen will give you an option to choose from 50Hz or 60Hz. Now most American TV`s are set to 60Hz if you choose 50Hz then you`ll get black and white color, 60Hz will give you normal option with full colors. Also 50Hz and 60Hz might play a small role in "gameplay" speed.

Thanks. My friend will just have to wait or come over and play it on the PC. Do you know of any good online shops to preorder PES5 PC?

 

[TristanAbbott7]

In terms of ball physics, the game is perfect as can be except for the speed the thing travels, which for headers is super unrealistic at times and for shots, I don't think there's many players in the world who can make the ball travel accurately on shots from some of those distances consistenly but almost every player in PES5 can do it with the power bar not even half-way! In terms of weight and bounce, I doubt FIFA will ever, ever master ball physics as well as Konami unless they simply copycat it.

It makes you wonder if they deliberately made the game 1.5x faster to counter slowdowns. Remember the old questions we used to get with PES3/4 that if you can incorporate the double-speed option that works into the game, why the hell do we still have slowdowns. Well maybe this is the fix. 1.5x speed of PES4 so you don't notice the slowdowns so much. Even then, the ball still travels faster relatively to the speeded up players. It's like the players move 1.5x the speed of PES4 but the ball moves 2x the speed of PES4.

The default setting of FIFA is the same deal, too freaking fast but on the slower setting it's about the same speed or a little slower than WE9 which to me is realistic.

I agree with the comment of having to shoot or pass almost immediately because even against containment teams you don't have more than 1 second on the ball before somebody comes to make a tackle so in true terms, no team in the game actually plays containment even if the settings are such. They all play pressure. Not realistic for the style of some of the teams in real life where players will often get a good few seconds on the ball before passing, etc. but in PES5 it's rare you get more than a second before at least one player is coming in as if their team is 1-0 down with 30 seconds of the game left!

Guys, let's be realistic about PES5 and not make it to be the god of soccer gaming when it's not. There are still a lot of faults in the game and if we don't truly recognise them and make Konami aware of them, the series will never improve. That's what happened to FIFA for 5 years. The FIFA fanboys used to shoot you down or even ban you on the forums if any negative words about FIFA were spoken (even on Soccer Gaming) and as a result, the series never really evolved because the feedback to EA was constantly ass-kissing. We need to make sure Konami know when there are dissatisfied rumblings with their games and something is there which we don't like (even something minor like at throw-ins where the player keeps fake throwing the ball 2x a second like he's having a fit - they didn't have to introduce this!). I love Konami and I've loved the WE/PES series but I want the games to get better and better, not just with licenses, that's almost out of their control but we need to make sure when stuff isn't a move in the right direction, and few people will agree the super speed of PES5 is a more positive move compared to PES4, then we let them know it needs to change.