I'm really not sure where I stand on PES2014. After playing a number of games last night it is without doubt the best gameplay of any PES on this generation. That's hardly an accolade but I genuinely think Konami have finally created a great platform to build from.
Despite this, something doesn't feel quite right about the game. It certainly has an unfinished feel to it, rushed even. The game has lost many licences, well over half it's stadia, real player faces are minimal, we now have Master League Lite, all of which contribute to the sense of an unfinished product.
Presentation and UI are still clumsy, amateurish and dated-looking. Perhaps the easiest thing for Konami to get right yet they seem incapable of creating a slick, attractive, user-friendly menu system.
The PC version has received no optimisation whatsoever. I wasn't expecting much from what is essentially a console port, but with the new engine I think Konami should be looking to make better use of the power of PCs. If anything this game runs worse than PES2013 as it seems that cut-scenes run at console frame-rates.
Some simple HD texture packs wouldn't go amiss nor would some simple display options such as AA and AF levels, shadow quality, etc...
When I consider how long this 'revolution' has been in the works, I think the game is in a fairly poor state. It's going to take a few patches to get the best out of PES2014, not to mention a huge effort from modders to replace missing content.
At the moment it's a 7/10 game for me. With good patches, DLC and mod content behind it, PES2014 could easily be a 9/10 game.
