Okay, here is my opinion on PES2010 online.
Tremendous. Quite simply tremendous.
Lag? Well apart from the odd screen freeze for a split second at the start of match simply non apparent. The game seems to 'warm up' a bit at the start of a game but that is about it.
Honestly, it is tremendous. I honestly feel like I could be playing someone sat next to me. I have traveled far and very well in my online experience and only once has the game let me down, and that was during a short spell in the opening 10 simulated minutes against a player from the Canary Islands.
People talk about button lag but I have yet to truly experience any of note, apart from in that opening exchange with the Canary Islands player I have already mentioned. If this is demo code I personally coud do without anything quicker regards response times. Y'see once you learn to appreciate that the game is no longer about lightning quick reflexes exclusively, you begin to understand the joy that appears to be PES2010.
R2 dribble is the key. I can't emphasise enough how important Seabass and co. have made this one mechanic. The game is no longer about long sprints into space, but instead it is about patience to the full, and R2 dribble buys you seconds you thought you never had and never did have before in a PES game. Where before we would see space and sprint towards it, PES2010 rewards the player who actually turns towards goal and tries to tempt your opposition into being rash in the challenge. Just like real football!
The variance in play patterns and tempo has truly been aced. Defending is an art, and the ability to finally play a patient, measured passing game online has finally been realised. Sure, you will play against opponents that seek Messi at every turn, and are possibly still rewarded for doing so a little too much for my liking, but the game does not demand you have to look for a winger in order to create, It rewards patience and gentle probing of your oppositions defence. Just like real football!
Keepers are not terrible, but neither are they great. A perfect balance thus far in my experience and it is because of the sharper defensive AI. Finally, it appears anyway, that you don't have to focus on a Messi dribbling past your full back but instead it feels as though it is all about positioning of the player you control who is not pressing him. You can actually 'sweep' in this game. Just like real football!
If a keeper spills, I get the sensation that players are present to do something about it. I still would like the keepers to push the ball a safer distance from goal but you have to think about the way PES will reward those that strategise there team in order to bear down on goal, and maybe all that will happen is that the parry goes further out towards a midfielder who has time and space to shoot solidly into the net, or that every parry results in a corner which would result in absolute boredom after a while. The seem to have got it near, but not quite how it should be.
Negatives.
They are all technical to be honest. I think the franchise needs to take a 'balls out' risk regards animation, and the mechanics that drive the game could do with some revision but by no means need an absolute overhaul. The game without doubt needs two separate set ups. One for those that play via d-pad, and one for those that like to play via the stick. The game still feels as though it has the d-pad user in mind and while I will never be one to demand analogue control exclusively, I do think the game needs to embrace the true potential of using stick control.
Finally, I want to say this. I am a moderator on WENB and one of my posts was highlighted by Adam in that I compared PES to the Street Fighter series. People baulked at the idea, thinking I was asking essentially for PES to just be PES5 but with shinier graphics and the exact same gameplay mechanics in this generation. This simply is not what I asked for. I asked that PES returned to it's roots as it would result in a return to form, but it needed to embrace the new technology and the potential that comes with it. The game needs an overhaul technically make no mistake about it, and the mechanics that drive the game need to to be enhanced somewhat, but thus far PES2010 is proving to be a return to roots. Street Fighter IV was a return to roots also, but it also enhanced it's gameplay, presentation, and technical assets into the bargain. PES2010 does not quite tick all these boxes, but it is returning to it's roots.
Huge post, and sorry for boring you guys but the beta is inspiring and stirring up some very fond memories of a classic franchise at the moment.
It really is that good!
Just 3D cinematic movie, but yes, will be great if PES looks like that (in the game).
