Pro Evolution Soccer 2011

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First, let me start by providing my experiences with FIFA 2011. After reading rave reviews on FIFA 2011, I decided to give it a try after skipping FIFA 2010 (also had glaring reviews) and going with PES 2010. You can read my review on FIFA 2011, but bottom line is I ended up selling it mainly due to unrealistic and indistinguishable gameplay despite FIFA touting the "realistic" gameplay.

Unrealistic because you can never execute a deadly thru-pass with a top player with just one lowly defender who stood between you and the forwards running/waiting for that thru-pass. A defender would always intercept the pass unless you direct the pass to a completely open area which defeats the purpose. In real life, playmakers like Gerrard, Iniesta, Xavi, etc provide deadly thru-passes toward inside the box past 2-3 top defenders.

Indistinguishable because no matter which team you play or who you're controlling, they all have the same characteristics and speed. Messi or Ronaldo can't out run a lowly defender. The game was boring and tedious. I loved FIFA's clean presentation, soundtracks, editing capabilities, even down to customizing the chants, but it failed to deliver in gameplay and fun factor which is the core of any video games.

So I went back to PES series and my experiences have been mostly positive. PES 2011 have a much more streamlined and clean interface. You still don't have all the licenses or real stadiums but the game play is so much better and exciting compared to FIFA. First and foremost, you can forget about all your previous skills that you may have acquired from previous PES series. The new gameplay takes some getting used to, especially the new camera angle. There is no tele angle which showed most of the playing field panning side to side following the controlling player/ball. It is now been replaced with "wide" angle with options to follow the ball or the players. When you're deep inside the opponent's half trying to provide crosses, the angle is skewed much like the "broadcast" angle that you really can't see your players waiting inside the box with a quick glance, so you really have to rely on radar. However, with practice and some getting used to, it quickly became a non-issue. The gameplay is much more realistic and fluid with no "ball sticking" that plagued previous PES series. Passing now requires well timed direction and control with power gauge indicator. But most importantly, thru-passes work in PES unlike FIFA. I can pin point and execute thru passes between defenders and experience the gratification of forwards receiving them leading to a potential goal. There are definite differences on players' mobility and skills when you're controlling a top player as opposed to other players. Messi can out run and execute some deadly feints to get past a defender, Drogba can bully couple of defenders with his size and strength, and other players' real life skills are accurately portrayed in PES 2011.

Online play is more accessible now with instant game matching within Exhibition menu as opposed to drilling down inside Online menu. I did not experience any noticeable lags even with subpar network connections. The new game plan (tactics/strategy) with drag-and-drop interface is so easy and intuitive that I find myself tinkering with different settings something that I haven't done often in previous PES. Feint settings where you can combo series of feint moves with the right stick is also a welcome addition and fun to watch.

Sadly, this game isn't perfect. There are some glitches or short-comings:

I lost control of my players when I accidentally pressed series of buttons on my controller. CPU took over and was controlling both teams as if the game is running in demo mode. I regained full control after a dead ball. Fortunately, I've only experienced this once.

There are some graphic "tearing" when players are near or inside the goal. They go through the goal net with some eerie effects.

Penalty kick system should be completely gutted and reworked. I really liked FIFA's "metered" or "gauged" controlled penalty kick system.

Minor issues aside, I'm enjoying PES 2011 more than FIFA 2011 and I think it's unfortunate that PES 2011 don't get the credit or fair reviews that it deserves from the game review community. You could find a number of high reviews for FIFA but only a handful of lukewarm reviews on PES. Not that I rely on these so called professional game reviewers' verdicts dictate my purchasing decisions but still, I think it's a shame.

Pros:

1. Realistic gameplay and physics without sacrificing fun factor in soccer simulation game

2. Ease of menu navigation and game plan (tactics) settings

3. Reliable, quick and fun online gameplay

4. Does not require online access code you have to enter like FIFA

Cons:

1. The new gameplay and camera angles take some time getting used to

2. Some graphic glitches but this could be ironed out on future updates

3. Bad, inconsistent penalty shootout system

Overall, PES 2011 is a step in right direction and despite some minor issues, it's still a fun game that you should definitely experience.

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I just got the game yesterday and only played one game under Professional difficulty with RM vs Milan. I won 4-2. I felt the control is much different from the previous versions, which need some time to get used to. The only complain that I have is the camera angle, which, sometimes, is hard to identify the right direction to pass and shoot, especially under the new passing system. Also, the strategy setting is a little to complicated to me. End of the day, we are just trying to play some soccer, not trying to play the Football Manager game. Other than that, the game looks great to me.

PS. I have been a PES and WE fan for over 10 years. No matter how good people say FIFA is, I aint to touch it. PES is for hardcore soccer fans.

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First off, never write or trust reviews based on demos. Demos are never true presentations of the final games, at least for both PES.

I started playing soccer games since Fifa95 and Winning Eleven 95. For me, the WE series has got it right in the first place. Folks at EA have never understood the real mechanics of the sport, and have never delivered the "right" game that you can only enjoy as a fan or a player. To me, FIFA has done better in recent years than PES by offering more features and more real-name teams and players. But its core fun factor has never progressed.

PES has been fun because of its overall feel: ball physics, movement, team support, strategy settings and pass/shot/cross realism. Every goal is different. Now every save, tackle and cross seems to be different . You have games that really reflect the differences between player stats. I started off in Master League with the PES lineup, and after losing 2 games, I felt convinced because you could feel the difference in every minute of the game between your Castolo and C Ronaldo.

And in this installment, Konami takes it seriously to add more features. There are more settings that you need to go through before playing a real game in ML or Become a Legend mode. And there are extra content that seems to be real fun. And the sound track seems to have a nice update too.

This is a real upgrade to the franchise for PS3, unlike the previous 2 installments. Maybe the first really worthy PES game to play on PS3.

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We ask for a more realistic football simulation game. Without a doubt PES 2011 is the closest you are going to get to the real game. Fifa 11 tried but you can tell for those of us that has a better understanding of soccer that it is not quite there yet. I grew up as a kid playing and watching the game. Not reading and learning from a text book. The reality is that in the real game not all the passes are accurate. The game of soccer requires skills and team work to accomplish scoring goals and defending well to win a game. PES 2011 is more closer to emulating this reality of the beautiful game of soccer. Now playing PES 2011 forces me to think smarter and execute better playing strategies. Fifa 11 does not live up to that capability. The reviews from IGN and others should focus on how close each of these games emulates the real game. I agree that PES 2011 is going in the right direction in simulating the real game. Therefore for all those who want a better simulation of the real game then PES 2011 is for you. What you are experiencing playing PES 2011 is more of what it is like playing soccer on the field or watching it on TV. It is easy for us and the commentator to make critical comments on how a team is playing. But it is easier said than done when playing the game on the field. We have good defenders, midfielders, and forwards in the game of soccer and you do have to appreciate the talents of these players. Messi, Kaka, Ronaldo are good players. But look at how they struggle at times during the world cup. This is just to show you how competitive the game of soccer can be. Even the best is not guarantee to be successful all the time. This is what makes soccer such a wonderful game. PES 2011 is bringing that reality to the game where you are force to be more creative in playing the game well to win. Fifa 11 to me is still in the infancy stages. The passes, shots, etc are too perfect too many times. That is not an accurate simulation of the real game in my opinion from Fifa. The real game requires more indepth team play to make good game play happen on the field. To me most of the so call review experts are missing the point that many of us are asking for a soccer game that simulates the real game and Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 is on the right track towards giving us that realistic feel.

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For me, FIFA 10 was way better than PES2010, but this PES2011 owns FIFA 11.

I've played Pro Evo (Winning Eleven) since PsONE but IMO PES 2010 was a let down. Konami revamped the series with PES 2011.

Believe me PES 2011 is a huge improvement for the series. I think that if Konami keeps following this path, PES 2012 will beat easily FIFA 12.

A note for the newcomers (or haters), this game is difficult to mastered compared to previous versions (because of very realistic passing system, shooting and gameplay), to avoid frustration I recommend to start on "easy" or "normal" mode. Precision is the key.

I'm very glad to return to the PES series. Great work Konami.