A vast majority of your life could be spent playing PES4 against friends. When a game can produce raised fists, jumps for joy and various outrageous celebrations one minute, only then to make the very same person throw his controller away in disgust a few moments later, you have a special game. Playing alone, particularly in a Master League can be great fun, but competitive games need to be played against human competition.
Crowd effects are good and the classic PES style music is back in full force. Elsewhere the sound is perfectly respectable. On occasion you will feel that it is doing a good job, but it constantly fails to keep up with play and bombards you with inappropriate comments or analysis of the game. This may be our eyes playing tricks on us, but we certainly feel the slowdown is more apparent when playing in 60Hz.Ĭommentary is, to put it bluntly, still a shambles. One point to note is that here at Pro-G we have noticed that the game seems to play smoother in 50Hz mode rather than 60Hz. The newly added on screen ref is a nice touch, but if his removal had helped reach a steady frame rate I think we all know what we would prefer.
It appears to be dependent on the stadium, so wont be noticeable in every game, but a bad case will hurt your timing.
Slowdown rears its ugly head more than you would like, being especially evident at corners. There is however a rather annoying blemish that can at times hurt the gameplay. New to this version are a variety of off the ball incidents and a few rather shocking looking goal celebrations.
The series has always been known for its great animation and PES4 is no different. Almost all of the most famous players can be recognised, although a few look more like their unknown brother than the real thing. While not quite in the same league as the FIFA series in instant wow factor, player models have been improved significantly since PES3. The menus have been smartened up while remaining functional, but the biggest change comes from the in-game graphics. It is clear to see that the developers have tried to improve the presentation of the game over the previous instalment. Any mistakes will be punished anything other than total concentration isn’t good enough. This is solely for those of you who want to die early. Playing against Five-Star opposition is challenge enough, and probably won’t ever be completed by the majority of gamers, but the PES shop will let you buy a Six-Star option. The Master League returns and is harder than ever. Too smug a grin could result in some controller-to-mouth incidents. I’m sure a few unfortunate controllers will be slung into a wall after a dance celebration in your mates face is interrupted by him shouting “Off-Side, Off-Side”. There is also the rather infuriating (especially when it happens for the first time) disallowed goal after you have started your celebrations. On the whole the refereeing is very good, although there is still the odd insane decision that leaves all players baffled.
Constant harassing of an opponent with the X tackle will more than often result in a foul. The referee’s also seem a lot stricter than in previous games. Other new additions include an always present referee, who this time can play the advantage rule properly (almost) and doesn’t blow for handballs every two minutes.
While nothing revolutionary it does offer some variety to free kicks and can produce some great goals. Most will find that their shots will need a little more power to threaten the keeper, but as with all good games, a little bit of prolonged play makes everything fit in place.įree kicks now offer you the option of a second kicker, who can strike the ball after a step over by the first kicker, or strike the ball after a lay-off. Shooting in particular takes a little while to get used to. As with all new games in the series, the few changes that are made make a veterans’ first play a little disconcerting. Upon starting your first game you may find that things feel a little out of control. So, while PES4 still rules the roost, are these yearly updates really worth it? That remains true today, even with numerous competitors trying to go one better. Ever since its ISS days on the Playstation it has been regarded as the best footy game available.
Anyone not familiar with the Pro Evolution Soccer series has either been living under a rock or has never played a football (soccer for our American visitors) game before.