Pro Evo 4 Verdict

pro_evo4
It’s been a few days now since I picked up Pro-Evo for the Xbox (thanks to Shakeel) and while the game itself is no different to the PS2 version, I though I would wait until I’d played a few online games before posting my thoughts. I almost know that before I write any more that the rest of the text could be seen as being negative towards the game and thus making it a no purchase for any doubters.

To be clear, I cannot recommend this game enough. It’s still the most accurate simulation of football that you could buy, for console or pc. The changes from previous version of Pro Evo are subtle but noteworthy but I’ve covered most of them in a previous post. Some other improvements:

  • Headers are now far more difficult – you can’t just run up the wing, cross and score. And there’s no easy way to cross and score unlike Fifa 05 (and basically every Fifa game before it).
  • Through balls improved again after they had been made ‘difficult’ in Pro Evo 3.
  • Shirt tugging drastically reduced compared to previous version. Likewise the dubious ‘hand ball’ which seemed to happen at least once if not more per game has been binned.

While the improvements are all good the real feature that sold the Xbox version over any other was online play via Xbox Live. This was the one feature that lifted the game above all the other Pro Evo versions but there were some worries about it’s implementation. Will it lag, will it allow four plays rather than two, will it provide a decent stat system, will it allow people to change playlists and therefore cheat their way to a win?

Unfortunately the online play hasn’t been implemented as well as it could have been. For example…

  • Lag. Well, not lag as such but generally a lack of smoothness for the client connected to the host. As a host I have never seen any lag. However as a client connected to a host I generally see a lack of smoothness and sometimes a very slight jerkiness with the play. Most noticeable during a free kick or corner and you are controlling the flight of the ball – moving left or right with the pad causes a stop start motion whereas when hosting the movement is silky smooth. Still playable but you’ve more chance of winning if you host. The good news is that this has been recognised as an issue with Konami and a patch is on the way. If this delivers the goods then the number one issue will have disappeared and when playing matches you will no longer need to have home and away legs to allow both people to host.
  • Quitters. Some of the first Xbox Live games allowed for people to cheat there way to some impressive stats and rankings. Early games allowed you to quit while losing so not registering a loss, or pause the game indefinetly, forcing the other player to quit first and damaging his ranking rather than the guy that is losing. Crappy way to play, but a cheat will always find a way. Annoyingly people can quit during a Pro-Evo game without a loss being registered against their name, or a win against yours. CRAP. One of the reasons I looked forward to this so much was to play other people and pit myself against others, good or bad, and also to see how other people played the game. I was hoping to learn different strategies and find new ways of playing the game. While this has happened to a certain extent, people quitting near the end of a game just leads to frustration. All because they are obsessed with stats and don’t want to register a loss. Konami haven’t even acknowledged the problem but hopefully they will address it in the patch. I would rather have no stats and hence people not quitting than the current situation.
  • XSN Support. XSN was Microsoft’s answer to EA Sports and their reluctance to use Live as a platform for their online gaming service. While still up and running, no new games will be added to the service. The ability to create leagues and tournaments via XSN would have been superb and a great feature in Pro Evo. Extra stats like goals scored and conceded, best striker etc would have been easy to add if XSN was used. Instead the tournaments will have to be run manually, with results posted via e-mail, forums and custom websites. An opportunity missed.
  • 2 Player Only. Maybe they had no option due to lag and system performance, but 1 on 1 is a missed opportunity. Pro Evo shines with four players. Suddenly more random play takes place, intelligent running, better use of through ball and ultimately a bigger laugh. Shame.
  • Sloppy Live integration. The game isn’t Live aware from loading, so to let folk know your playing the game you need to sign-in via a special screen. Halo 2, Ghost Recon 2 and others all sign into Live as soon as you start the game. Friends invites stay on the screen until you cancel them off – why can’t they disappear after 10 seconds like every other game?
  • Widescreen. Or lack off. Graphics are almost the same as PS2, right down to the fonts and the lack of widescreen. You could see at least 30% more of the pitch if they gave you a widescreen option….but no. Swine’s.
  • Commentary. Still poor so as usual I switch it off. Seemingly there’s some bugs caused by the lag mentioned above which means the same phrase is repeated over and over and over (bit like this post).

But for me, that’s about it. The game still plays as well as ever, except this time your opponents are more unpredictable and you no longer need to pop round someone’s house for a game. And while waiting for a patch, turn of commentary and also crowd noise as that seemingly reduces the lag your opponent will experience.

For anyone who loves Fifa – try this. Even do a 10-day Game rental in case you don’t like it. No other football game is as rewarding as this. No other online football game will offer this much of a challenge. No other football game has this much longevity. No other game will let you play Old Firm Blue vs Old Firm Green.

 

Pro-Evo on the Xbox

More pro-evo news. I’ve got a ‘beta’ Pro-Evo for the Xbox and its mostly all good news. Graphically its good with all glitches and slowdown that was evident on the ps2 now removed. However on ‘Wide’ mode the graphics don’t look as sharp as the ps2 although when watching replays or a closer in view the graphics are sharper. The grass texture also looks more grainy. All the same options that are in the ps2 version are in the Xbox version with the addition of online support although it would look like this is 1 vs 1 only. The major dissapointment is with the controller. The ps2 has four shoulder buttons where as the Xbox pad has two and they are full size triggers at that. The only option has been to put L2 & R2 on the white and black buttons. Nooooooooo. I use R2 all the time and it is impossible to play (ok – not impossible but damned uncomfortable) with the Xbox pad. Also the longer throw of the trigger didn’t suit the game. A solution had to be found. Cue visit to Lik-Sang.

I ordered a convertor called the Dreambox. This allows you to use the PS2 pad on the Xbox and also plug in a headset so you can still talk online. Tested it tonight and it works a dream – just had to swap L1/L2 with R1/R2 to get the controls exactly the same as Pro Evo on the PS2. Also had to buy a cable extender as the Xbox is a fair distance from where I sit. Just need to wait till mid November now for the game to come out. Oh…and resist buying Fifa tomorrow.

Traitor?

Its Scotland vs Norway on Saturday and I really am confused as to the result I want. 40% of me wants to see Scotland do well. The other 60% wants them to get cuffed and hopefully move a step closer to getting rid of Berti Vogts. His comments this week on how this game is not win or bust (a draw will do) were disappointing and made only to try and protect his job. His press conference at the start of the week when announcing the team was also very unprofessional and it’s now time for the Scotland manager to move on. I don’t believe a new manager would make a dramatic difference but do believe a Scottish manager would install more passion and pride in the players.

Pro Evo 4

I have it. It plays wonderfully. And yes – that’s far too gushing for what is a mere game, but there you have it. Oh…and I have it for the ps2 even though I swore I would wait for the Xbox version.

What did it for me was a visit to Graham’s. He had picked up a Slide Tool and was playing Winning Eleven Soccer 8. It was superb. Graphically a step up from Pro Evo 3 and with much better gameplay. To top it all it had been patched with English menu’s and custom music and graphics – absolute class (and if anyone is interested it was the Ole mix of Winning Eleven 8 – check out Evoweb for more info.) So I ordered a slide tool, got the Ole mix and waited patiently for Mr Postman to deliver. Then I saw a Pro Evo 4 torrent.

2 days later (1 seed for the torrent and 2000 people downloading) and I’ve been playing pro evo for the last couple of hours. Some notable improvements:

  • Player animations are increased and more life like. Players themselves look a lot more realistic
  • Improved AI – the off the ball movement of other players opens up the game. Console games are also a lot tougher than previous versions. If you are winning you can see a noticeable step up by the opposition – they really hustle you for the ball.
  • Free kicks harder (maybe just different rather than harder)
  • Speed – its fast. Really fast.
  • Referee giving you a warning and not a booking 🙂
  • Referee is now visible during play
  • Proper use of the advantage rule. If you don’t gain an advantage from it the whistle is blown and you get a free kick.
  • No slowdown at corner kicks (unlike Winning Eleven)
  • A better attempt at real player names. Team names still mince though – Old Firm Blue vs Old Firm Green? Still, there will be an option file soon enough to sort that, or you could import a PES 3 one while you wait.

There’s probably more to add to this, but you get the drift. All it needs is online support (Xbox this November) and a wide-screen option (hopefully Xbox this November…but I have my doubts).

*Update* – there is some slowdown with certain stadiums. The old ps2 just isn’t up to it. Select 50Hz at the start of the game and you should have no problems at all.

Magnificent Seven

What a player Larsson is. Great to see him back in Scottish football playing better than ever. In all honesty the better team won – if the game was judged on the first 20 minutes of the second half then Celtic could feel aggrieved but over the 90 minutes they were outclassed. At least there still in the Champions league!

One year on and what a difference a year makes. I’ve said elsewhere that McLeish would be out by November – I now think he’s one dodgy result away from being shown the door. The real poser is this – who could replace him and do any better?

PES 4

Soon to be released on Xbox, and it WILL support Xbox Live. Proof (kind off) can be seen here. Question is whether it will just be 1 vs 1 or support 2 vs 2 or more? I also might need one of these so I can play PES (Pro Evolution Soccer in case your confused) online using the ps2 pad. Good as the Xbox pad is, the ps2 pad might be more suited to PES. I’ll wait till nearer the time, which is hopefully 22/10/04 according to Amazon or 12/11/04 if you look at Play.

PES is by far the best football game you can buy (ok – Winning Eleven is arguably better/as good as) but to be able to play this over the net via LIVE makes this potential game of the year material. Yes – getting excited, but its PES!

The best team won

Cracking game of football last night, and like any team who loses on penalties England were very unlucky. However Portugal deserved the win. They played good attacking football and had the most possession. England seemed content to sit back and soak it up – they really should have chased the game and tried to kill it. As for Campbell’s goal that was chalked off, Terry did have an arm on the goalie and everyone now knows the protection a goalkeeper gets. If had been the other way round with Portugal scoring a late goal and the referee allowing it we wouldn’t hear the end of it from English fans saying they were cheated. Nae luck.

As for Beckhams penalty…I’m still laughing much like the Portuguese supporter last night. Priceless.

Dismal Rangers

The worst thing about the Man U defeat was the total lack of passion in the game. It’s easy to point out who had the strongest team before the start of the match, but I can hardly think of anyone who showed grit or determination to get the ball. Lovenkrands showed endeavour but had little service. Apart from that only Burke showed enough to suggest he has a rosy future.

As for Capucho & Vanoli – they should be shown the door. I would rather have youngsters playing than those two overpaid diddies. Rangers are now playing for a UEFA Cup place – I just hope they manage that.