Well I have stayed away fro all the hype this year, having learned to manage expetations rather than let the hyper bowl snowball me into idealism.
Having downloaded the demo last night and played for a solid hour this morning I can honestly say this has the makings of the best footy game to date.
The ball physics are wonderful, it carries real weight and spin without the marble on a desk top feel, it really is a cut above past Pes physics.
The animations are all now nice and smooth with very little clipping between animations but the best thing of all, for the first time ever the AI jockeys the player allowing you to pick a pass creating time and space to produce a slow, methodical build up, rather than past foorball games that have the opposition flying in to try and win the ball.
The defensive AI is very clever in that it gives you space around the box, but squeezes you in to narrow channels so you are (like real footy) forced in to going backwards to create more space behind.
I love the little touches of the keeper shouting oreders at corners, players appealing for fouls and yes I have seen on more than one occasion the advantage rule for offside and freekicks.
The sound has improved, it's far more atmospheric and I like the pitchside camera, although for me I prefer the Broadcast camera when playing.
It's going to be a big challenge to master certain aspects, especially the multi task of triggering player runs which with a bit of tweaking will make a brilliant feature.
There are so many things to like, the desperate attempts that the AI produces to block shots and the way the ball rebounds is a sight to behold, I really do love it.
This a country mile ahead of 11 IMO and for preview code it is very good, yes the keepers do make a few gaffs but I have seen 2 in six games but to balance this out I have also seen some superb animation with some one handed (scmeichal type) saves from close range.
If you have not yet sampled the demo and you liked PES 11 then you will absolutely love this.
Definate purchase!
Dave