UEFA Champions League For 360! (March 20th)

I'll get it for a bash at weekends. I got cash to burn on some new games as I am bored of PES6, have completed GOW and find it impossible online against the geeks, PGR3 is still amazing and can't find the initiative to play FEAR. I'll download it later, can you remind me Jack? Send me a message at 8pm via the 360. ;)
 
El Diego said:
I'll get it for a bash at weekends. I got cash to burn on some new games as I am bored of PES6, have completed GOW and find it impossible online against the geeks, PGR3 is still amazing and can't find the initiative to play FEAR. I'll download it later, can you remind me Jack? Send me a message at 8pm via the 360. ;)
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Haha, yeah, Gears Of War is ridiculous online. My 11-year-old nephew bugs me to death to play it every night, and he's like a fucking robot, everyone calls him Shotgun. Plus 90% of the time you get team-killers who think they are hilarious. I want to trade it in, but it's also one of the best games I've played... I don't know what to do.

Same with PGR3, actually. I've completed it offline and I know I won't play it again because the only way I can get a game is the player matches, and they all play Cat & Mouse (which I think is the stupidest game mode of any game on Earth). The gameplay is great though, even if I do prefer Forza (which I've only just started playing properly, and it is great; just a shame that it's last-gen, but the new one is coming along soon).

As for sending you a reminder... Yeah, if you send me that PS3, I'll be your secretary for the month. Until then, use a PostIt note. :thumbup:

Noted said:
I'm starting to love the freeness of it and I get where you're coming from Jack. Really frustrates me how its like the CPU decided whether your shot goes over or not in PES. And you cant direct them. Say the ball comes out from a defensive header from a corner and I'm there with Lamps to smack it. But it either goes miles over or straight into the keepers hands. In Fifa you choose where the shot goes.
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Exactly my point; my God, maybe I'm not just wasting my life away on these forums after all, maybe I am actually getting through to people. :D

I'll sound like the saddest bastard in the world here, but when I first saw the arena in FIFA 07 (where you control the one player) and I saw how you could aim for a corner, place it exactly where you wanted it to go with NO CPU ASSISTANCE, and watch the keeper desperately stretching for it but not being able to reach it, it was a pivotal moment for me, gaming-wise. When you go to a park to play football, you can spray the ball wherever the fuck you want to. In FIFA, it's exactly the same. You just choose the direction and push the button, and the ball goes to where you just put it. To me, that is what next-gen is all about. It's a hell of a step closer to reality.

What could be more satisfying in a game than knowing the pass you just pulled off was all your own work and it wasn't just the CPU auto-targeting somebody and landing the ball in-front of them (or, if you're playing the CPU, in an impossible position for you to get it), without any element of control? And that the shot that was just out of the keeper's reach went into the net because you aimed it just right?

PES is not realism. You press cross and the CPU does the work, you don't even need to power it. You press shoot and it will go to one of six places (seven if you include the goalkeeper's gloves), with the goalkeeper being able to save anything that the CPU feels like saving.

It's just a shame that there's still a few things that need fixing, such as the ludicrous through-balls and the heading system. But overall, I'm really looking forward to the 23rd.
 
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I'm looking forward to this, the videos look awesome in all fairness. I am bored to tears with PES6. It's like a fuc**ing demo. There is no depth and all of my goals seem the same of late: Pass to Tevez, cut in, square-ball to Saviola, tap-in - goal (yawn!). The player models look FAR better in this than FIFA 07! Skinnier and better faces! (or am I just tripping?)

Can someone send me a link to a review and some videos? Cheers. :)
 
uefa champion league is release on ps2 and pc on the.... does the pc version have next gen graphics this time? or based on ps2 one? i will buy the x360 one :), but curious to test pc version
 
FCD, the only versions with next-gen graphics are XBOX 360 and PS3. The PC version will have a quick set-play feature that the next-gen versions won't have though, which is really disappointing (as it sounds great - not just quick free-kicks but quick corners, goal-kicks, throw-ins, the lot).

Diego, I still say don't get your hopes up because it's still in the same vein as FIFA 07, but I'll tell you now that I've scored a cracker from thirty yards, a crap header from a yard out and a daisy-cutter that cracked the post and went in; so you get a variety of goals (as long as you vary your play - I've had to learn not to do my traditional football game tactics of passing to the wing and crossing every single attack, as the wing-backs will just block you if you keep trying it).

I haven't really noticed much of a difference with the player models to be honest; but saying that, my nephew has, and he's the kid to ask about graphics (I quote, "WOAH, those graphics are amazing, the players look well realistic").
 
Awesome, cheers Jack. I will persist with it more than I did with FIFA 07 'cause I have given up on PES6 to be honest, I just play it occasionally for a quick-fix of footy. Silly question, obviously you can only play as Champions League teams in it? Not internationals for the odd friendly etc?
 
Diego, I don't think that's known yet, but I wouldn't think so.

After reading that blog a bit more, I'm really looking forward to the game-mode called "The Treble". It sounds like you play a selection of league games and FA Cup games (meaning that you only play the big games and not all 40+), and the full Champions League, with the aim of winning all three. Innovative!
 
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Jack Bauer said:
Diego, I don't think that's known yet, but I wouldn't think so.

After reading that blog a bit more, I'm really looking forward to the game-mode called "The Treble". It sounds like you play a selection of league games and FA Cup games (meaning that you only play the big games and not all 40+), and the full Champions League, with the aim of winning all three. Innovative!
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Yeah thats a good feature. I hope it's good online. PES online is AWFUL. I must have played roughly 8 players in a row one night and EVERY time they went as Inter. Get it to Adriano, slam it in - YAWN!
 
I'm sorry to say that online play will undoubtedly be a load of crap, seeing as the mess they've made of the through-ball is still present (i.e. you press through-pass and the ball will evade every opposition defender and go straight to your striker). I rarely play games online any more anyway; you just get hammered by someone who stays off school to play the game 24/7.
 
Jack Bauer said:
A) That's business, they're not going to stop making twice as much money each year because of "morals". B) Personally, I'm all for it, believe it or not. And I'll tell you why... Konami seem to purposefully hold back on things, and fuck features up (even the most ardent PES fan would admit to this if he was honest: with each new version, three things are improved and three things take massive steps backwards). EA seem to try and make the best game possible each year (whether you think FIFA/UEFA is good or crap, they really are trying, and you can see that from the amount of work that has gone into making a next-gen engine). So if they want to take £40 off me twice a year then they can, as long as the game is as playable as it is at the moment and they put that money towards bettering their future versions (and hopefully the lower-league teams will be high-def-ised and added at some point).
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I have to give you credit there you have made a very valid point, especially where Konami and PES are concerned.

Dj
 
Seven things I have noticed when playing the demo today...

1) Trying to do hard shots from far out is a bit hit-and-miss. I remember scoring a 30-yard cracker when the demo was first released, but I've been trying to do it again today and it seems that you need to be a special player to really boot the ball from outside of the box. You can fill up the shooting bar and it's still not very powerful. I hope they've worked on that a bit before release.

2) The game still performs overhead kicks sometimes when you just want a simple header, which is a bit of a bitch. You can get around it though by doing what had to be done in FIFA 07; leaving the button-press until the ball is a few feet away, rather than as soon as it's left the crossing player's boot.

3) Just how good are the penalties?! Sorry, I know it's not important, but watching the goalkeeper move around and try to save a shot that you deftly chip over the line is just immense. You can do a blaster or the cheekiest little lob. Love it.

4) The commentary is poor in places ("well the referee's got a yellow out there but I don't know why - yes that's a yellow card and they're losing it out there" - what? You just said you didn't know why he was getting a yellow and then you're saying he deserved it)... But sometimes it blows PES out of the water (Henry missed by inches and Andy Townsend said "ooof, that's a close miss from Henry, but if they keep giving him chances then he will put one away" - it sounded absolutely perfect).

5) The skill moves are great. I've just found out that if you (quickly) press one direction, e.g. top-left, and then press sprint and another direction, e.g. bottom left, your player takes the ball a tiny step one way and then POWERS away in the other direction. The skill moves are bastards to find and get used to, but when you do... It's another world.

6) I got a red card for a sliding tackle where, admittedly, I didn't touch the ball, but I thought "that's ridiculous, you'd get a warning first". Then, on the replay (and admittedly, this could be one of those freakish gaming coincidences), I noticed that as my player slide-tackled with one foot, when the opposing player was knocked down, he swung his other leg and kicked the guy quite hard in the leg before getting up (Beckham v Argentina style, except both were on the floor). It would have been a red card in reality; but whether this is the game being clever or the ref being quick to get the red card out I don't know for sure.

7) (My Personal Favourite) I was backed into a corner when trying to cross the ball in, and without even having to press the "player runs" button, a teammate came bursting up the wing from nowhere to give me someone to pass to. I was gobsmacked; he was running so fast that you could see he was being urgent about it (something that I've always thought has been lacking from PES, the feeling of urgency). The AI realised I was in trouble and sent someone up the field for me to pass to. It really did feel like the guy was thinking for himself - and this is on the easiest setting, bear in mind. For EA to get players thinking for themselves in such a fashion, even on the easiest setting, is just... Wow.

I'm fucking loving this game.
 
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Sounds good Jack, perhaps I have dismissed this game to early, maybe it has more realism and depth than I have given it credit?

Dj
 
I'm saying nothing, as everyone has a different opinion and I can see why people who are used to PES wouldn't like the game. But I will say that 4-7 in that list aren't things I noticed in FIFA 07, so there is definite improvement.
 
Nice pointers there Jack, I am REALLY gonna give this a go. I noticed the camera angles look more realistic on the videos I have watched on youtube - anyone else noticed this?

What teams can you play as in the demo?
 
lol @ El Diego never mind bud. You will just have to play the game as it is then.

Dj
 
Can somebody come round my house for a game tonight? Anyone? I'll supply the lager & crisps.
 
still cant get into this. just as it seems you are getting somewhere you need to reboot. And i cant grasp the shooting, you cant hit a low shot and i dont think the controlled shot is if anything worse than fifa 07, at least you could attempt a decent curler from outside the box. The ball just seems weird gravity wise when you shoot like it takes ages to come doen from the air.

I dont think pes is as shallow as people make out, when shooting you have to keep the stick pushed in the right direction. Problem is its very easy to let go of the stick when shooting which sends the ball down the middle and high over the bar.
 
id be concerned for jack and the others. i literally loved beyond words the 07 demo, just playing in the arena with the freedom of movement was unbelievable...but then got the full copy and didnt massively feel id got anything more than i had in the demo...like you kinda of expect it to improve again from the demo but i seriously doubt it will. theres still a massive satisfaction in scoring in pes (probably cos its so random!) which isnt there in fifa and i cant work out why...doesnt feel like you have to massively work for your chances its just whether in every one on one when you are close to the goalie why the little tap that the striker does regardless of power or button combos beats the goalie! Or a loopy header from a cross, or a high shot ridiculously lobs him, or if he fumbles it to the strikers, or everyone refuses to hit anything first time!
the game has got the engine in place now to be awesome, next full version or the one after could be absolutely mind blowing. undoubtedly pes has to up its game.....my favourite out of all of them is fifa 07 on the ps2! lol :D
 
I thought FIFA 07 on PS2 was okay, but then I started noticing PES-style moments where the same thing would repeat over and over, the same events led to the same outcomes (too close to the byline and you're tackled, players standing still when you do a really good pass to them etc).

Even if the retail version of UEFA is, for some reason, awful compared to the demo, then I'd rather play no football games at all. PES6 gives me PES-rage (where I seriously want to kick the shit out of Seabass for making a game that cheats so, so much), and FIFA 07 on the PS2 is not as fluid as it could be. I would rather play Forza Motorsport 2 until FIFA 08 than play a typically poor Konami game, just to get a football fix.

But I do genuinely love the Champions League game; it's just a shame that there's a few basics (such as the through-balls and headers) that need fixing.

Antred, you mention the shooting and I agree with you - but I noticed today that if you shoot from the half-way line, you can hit it quite hard, so there must be a knack to it (as I hit a belter with Henry before from quite a way out - no idea how though).
 
just tried the demo again and the pathetic goalkeeping struck again, i scored one parried bounced back and a defender ran in too k the goalie out and knocked it in. and henry just scored a freekick against me which was admittedly very well placed, but it was from about 22 yards out, and the goalie was effectively lobbed by it cos ala 07 he started on about 4 yards out and then dived forward when the shot came :(
 
That's weird, I've found all the goalkeeping bugs have been fixed... The bug that annoys me is with the referees. There's still too many perfect tackles that get called as fouls.
 
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One thing I wanted to ask you guys...

How do you feel about the keepers producing superman saves continuously? I agree that the way you can place your shots and passes is amazing, but it was so frustrating playing Fifa 07 after a while because even if you were 1 on 1 and smahed a shot into the corner the keeper would still save it.

Ive not tried Champions League yet, but Im presuming the keepers are the same. Does that not irritate you?
 
:| I can assure you the keepers are not like that at all, especially not in UEFA CL!! That's the one thing I love the most about it!!
 
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