Our dear friends over at Level7.nu have sent us a link to their preview of the PS2 version of PES 2008. I would like to thank Erik Hansson for sending me this Preview. The article is in Swedish so it will be difficult for most of our viewers to read, but we have a little summary in English. Also thanks to Sinan Akdag we have a full English Translation, I'm sure its not easy translating from Swedish to English but Its fantastic work. Here is the link to the article:
http://www.level7.nu/texter/read.php?id=145097
Summary of Preview:
* New and Improved commentary
* Better passing and first touch
* A lot of new animations
* Easier free kicks
* Community - new game mode that lets you track stats, cups and leagues for you and your friends while playing each other.
* World Tour - new game mode with mission based matches against random teams. Win without running offside against Morocco. Defend a lead against Costa Rica. Etc.
* New, lousy music in the menus.
* No improvements of Master League at all as far as I could tell without being able to save in this version of the game.
Full English Translation At The Bottom
It has been much publicized that this years PS2 game will be a new experience with fully reworked animations and new game modes. This preview supports this even more. However, very disappointing that there were no changes in the Master League up until that point. Every year, the fans hope for some changes to the Master League so lets hope Konami do make some changes before release.
Much Love,
W.E.N.B. Team
We’ve played PES 2008
Observe that this preview is based on a Beta version of the
PS2 game. Things can change before the game is released, but probably not that much.
Furthermore the PS3 and 360 versions will differentiate from the PS2 counterpart.
I first tested PES6 about a year ago. I still remember how impressed I was. Konami had polished the game on the field so much that the lack of licenses didn’t bother me. The 360 version, however, was a really sloppy made game that pointed the direction for things to come. No doubt the PS2 version got most of the love. This year, that’s over.
Scraps are enough for starving fans
I have now spent over 10 hours with a Beta version of PES 2008. I’ve played all of the game modes, thoroughly tested the fullbacks movements by constantly giving the ball away, studied the speed and direction of passes, practiced free kicks from different distances and tried to be creative in the 1-on-1-Vs-goalie-situations. My conclusion; Konami still got faith that our strong love for the series will make us buy each instalment because of the little scraps they throw us. This year’s scraps are smaller than last year’s, but they are enough however.
But this is a preview of the PS2 version. The next-gen versions could very well be better off. I’ll come back to that shortly.
Much left undone
During the first games I almost believed that I was playing PES6. Sure, I did notice some small things, but it took a while to realise what had actually happened. Of course there are a lot of things left to improve – free kicks in your own half and no-one seems want the ball, passes that try to go to the wrong player, defenders that aren’t in their positions and players bad awareness if the sidelines. But after a few games the realisations of improvement also was there.
Noticeable improvements
Here are some of the improvements I’ve discovered:
* Passes are some what more realistic. With good players you can now execute much better through passes than before. The ordinary passes do also feel better and is often struck quicker than before.
* More animations when player receives the ball. It’s a bit more usual that the players handle the ball like the pros they are. The PES6 fumbling-with-the-ball-thing isn’t as usual as it was, but it’s still there. But the fumbling itself does now look a bit better.
* The balance of the players is now more realistic. There are more varieties of what close contact can result in. It’s not as obvious anymore, that the com wins all the “close combat situations”.
* In general the players have got better ball handling which leads to the play in small spaces have been improved. Thanks to smarter passing and some what faster control of the ball, you can now pass the ball around even under close marking.
* More animations. Something that does a lot for the game play is that new animations are constantly added, and therefore there is a greater variation on the pitch. Even if I constantly experience new events in PES6, despite the hundreds of hours with the game, there’s still something special to experience these new events as early as in the first game.
* New commentators. Even if they recycle much of the previous sentences, it does feel fresh with a new set of voices and so far I think they’re better than the previous.
* In free kicks it’s easier to hit the goal. I taught myself to master them enough in PES6 and for my part it’s nice to see that even players like Kewell can hit the target nowadays. They could be too easy, only time can tell.
The game play has improved even if there’s a lot left to work on. The players all to seldom behave like the pros they are.
Two new game modes
When it comes to game modes Konami has actually put in some effort. Two completely new game modes have been added; World tour and community. The first is a mission-based mode where a team of your choice are to fill certain demands to progress to the next round. The demands could be to win over Saudi Arabia with at least two goals, beat Morocco without making a substitution or win over Costa Rica with the winning goal scored by a sub. Funny Konami copying a FIFA feature.
Community is also a theft off of the EA series. In this mode you can create profiles for yourself and up to 15 friends. You then get extremely well detailed statistics that makes it possible to check which of you that actually scores the most goals and a lot of other things. It’s also possible to use community mode to host tournaments and leagues.
Konami ignores master league
Ordinary cups and leagues are there like before, as is the career mode, master league. The sad thing is that the master league hasn’t received any development time at all. Or well, a new layout to the main master league menu that hadn’t passed in the kindest of teachers art-classes. I play a lot in master league and this is an utter disappointment for me. There are so extremely many small things to fix in master league that it becomes extra painful to see Konami ignore it.
Sack the Graphics & Sound technician
PES6 could very well have had the worst menu music of any game released during 2006. This year, Konami has put a bit more effort in arranging a lot of songs that you can put in your own playlist. The problem, however, is that the songs at their best are average, but to a considerable majority are terrible. The fact is that some were so bad they made me laugh.
I don’t know who it is at Konami that has the world’s worst graphics- and sound taste and is bossing the team, but he or she should really do us all a favour and leave the company.
License fiasco
As usual the licenses are miserable. Its fun to see that a few new teams have been added and that, of some reason, us Swedes have got more teams than, for an example, Portugal and Germany. But Konami still got reasons to be criticised about licenses. There are tons of nameless teams in the database which you can make your own teams of, but Konami should really be able to fill them their selves with something more interesting than pure creatures of their fantasies.
Hooked for another year
The feeling I got when I played PES6 for the first times was that I was never gonna return to PES5. When playing PES 2008 I get the same feeling, but it’s not as strong. The gameplay has improved and the few new teams and players that have been added is a sufficient reason for me to let go of PES6, but the step isn’t as big this year.
We have to hope that Konami has had their focus on the PS3, 360 and PC versions of the game. Perhaps its there we’ll find the biggest improvements. If not, it’s just to be sorry for the fact that Konami isn’t doing more than required of them to regain their devoted fans. How long are we gonna’ have to watch as EA has time for a lot of new stuff in their new versions while Konami just are doing what’s required of them?
Though, I have to admit that I’m extra harsh on the game since it’s so close to my heart. There is no other gaming series I’ve played as much through the years and it’s frustrating to see that nothing happens. Despite I know that what has happened is enough too hook me for another year. Furthermore, I’m convinced that PS3-, 360- and PC versions will be supreme this year. I’ll return with more information regarding that in the near future.
So i dont look so bad 
