I agree completely with the previous post. This game is the worst we I've ever played. The overall idea of getting it more realistic is fantastic and the first lets say 10 matches are impressive. But then you begin to notice all that crappy cheats that Seabass should call "AI" that make that game utterly crap at the end. I've played enough - 2 complete leagues and 2 master league seasons on 4*- and now I can make judgement:
1) STATS CHEATS :roll:
The game feels totally scripted, like playing one of those MOHAA titles. That's because of the stupid cheats thrown in the game massively. It's been a progression in the last installments, and it's getting clearly wrong. You can't outrun the slowest player in the world even if you play like Ronaldinho or Etoo. You can't have a clear counterattack, it's just impossible. On the other way, the CPU can outrun any defender when decides to. The same happens overall in all the stats of the players, so at then end Saviola can score a header over Staam against you, your players fall to the ground while the opposition stands up, the CPU defenders have 0 time reactions and so... VERY POOOOOOR, Seabass, very poor to insist in that. Please work a little harder and try to implement better AI in order to eliminate such blatant cheats.
The worst of all is that the CPU can steal the ball almost instantly while your players won't gain the ball almost never! It doesn't matter what you do, your position, anything. They can outrun you, dribble you and so. And if you succeed, a foul is granted to the opposition. yeah, great. VERY REALISTIC, yeah.
2) DEFLECTIONS
Well, the overall idea agains it's very right, but once implemented, you realise that deflections are always a weapon for the CPU, you almost never gain control of the ball in this situations.
3) PASSING :shock:
They try to make a realistic game and force us to pass the ball. Brilliant, I thought at first, as I'm the passing type of player in the game. But... heavens above!!!! Short passes are pathetic. You miss almost all of them, your players acting like zombies. High-Through passes are useless, and at the end you realise the only way to progress in the game is to do those stupid and UNREALISTIC 20 meters long ground passes to your striker and then turn and shoot. So at the end there's no reward at all if you try to build plays. Most of the times, i critical situations, when doing passes the pass goes to another direction or anothe player, so you have no PRECISION at all in the final meters. Added to the fact that you can't almost dribble... how are we supposed to deliver breathtaking plays to our fans???
4) TACTICS:
All the CPU temas play exactly the same. They pack 6 defenders in the box and can move 3 or 4 players to pressure, while you can't, obviously. Tactics wise, you feel the same playing madrid that playing west albion.
I've tried different tactics and it doesn't seem to affect to the overall style of the game.
When you are NEAR the box but not inside, your strikers seem to remain INSIDE the box. No one tries to get out to have a good pass or offer himself for an opening, no matter what individual instructions you gave them in tactics room. All in all, it gets boring after the first 10 matches. Always the same packed box.
5) FATIGUE :shock:
This time they have totally screwed that. Try to play a league, and when being at the 5th match, none of your players has enough stamina to play. Even you keeper is tired to death! Pathetic.
6) REFS :applause:
The referees are another sagnant point. They're as biased as they can be.
7) SHOTS :roll:
The R2 shot is a very good idea, but can't be the only way to shoot properly in mid-range. Long shots are too powerful if there's not a superman CPU player blocking it. It's easier to score from 30 meters than inside the box. Not right, I think.
Plus, When all your good plays end up to the post or inches wide, and the CPU only shot goes in no matter what, you end up asking yourself what's the reason on being cheated like that.
8) NON-GAMEPLAY IMPROVEMENTS? :lmao:
There aren't. No multiplayer master league, no chance to customize most of the things you would like to... The only useful improvement I see is changing the radar colors. Totally unacceptable.
At the end, I only can say the game is fustrating, irritating, and far from delivering fun at all. The obsession of close results is marking the game for bad. It's like a curse and it irritates me. I don't like the game being so pathetically driven to it. It feels SCRIPTED.
The only thing that saves the game is the player vs. player mode. But then again, it was already funny in PES2, so me and my friends could be having fun anyway with any previous installment.
CONCLUSION: Quite sad. This game series is getting totally wrong in the single player modes. It's not worth the hype. Let's hope that in 2 years, in PS3, we have proper AI and proper single player gameplay and off and on-line features.