[catisfit]

I thought it would be good to get some user ratings of Pro Evo 2008 PS3, especially after the reports of slowdown and poor online play.

[CTR_Paul]

It gets a 6 from me, above average. The gameplay is still sublime, but it's let down by dire online play and a bit of slowdown when the pen area gets busy. Should both of those aspects be fixed it'd score an 8.

[reckless]

6 from me. I'm enjoying playing it but the intermittent slowdowns are irritating and I've also had some tearing on screen.

[TheShatter59]

6 here too, i love saving replays but you simply cant watch them, and its unplayable in certain stadiums. real disappointment.........

but, its still pro evo with the fun factor game play !

[Sinzer]

I gave it an 8, I think the gameplay is very good.

If they fix the slowdown and lag, a 9.

[kevin_irl]

Originally Posted by Sinzer

I gave it an 8, I think the gameplay is very good.

If they fix the slowdown and lag, a 9.

I would echo what Sinzer said!

[bazfoster]

PES 2008: 7/10 (and having thought about it, that's generous)

Unfortunately, only 7/10 and the tag of worst in the PES series from me. The gameplay, in my opinion, no longer 'feels' like football and is heading towards a more arcade style of action. It retains the fast pace of previous incarntions, but little things have been tweaked here and there, mostly for the worst.

Main gripes are the online side of the game, forgetting the terrible lag problems they're trying to fix, they've basically 'tarted up' the PES 6 (PS2) network part of the game and stuck it on PES 2008, even keeping the same horrible online music! At no point during the online experience does it feel 'next gen' or like it's conncted to the PSN (no friends lists etc).

The offline game is again, PES6 with 'hi-res' graphics, pointless diving, over fussy ref's, poor collision detection, un-finished programming, bugs, slowdown on replays and bookings, tearing in the graphics. Also the rubbish goalkeepers who all seem to have been dipping their gloves in a tub of butter before the game!

To me, the game needs a massive overhaul. The editing functions have been cutback, there are no premier league licenses and although the menu's have had a lick of paint, compared to FIFA, it's just becoming less and less realistic. The master league is so laughably unlike how a football league works it's untrue. Imagine Alex Ferguson buying Tevez with salary points?!

The whole thing just feels so 'last gen' and very 'Japanese' if you get my meaning. I wonder if this was developed in Europe, it might get a bit more realism about it?

Rescuing the game slightly is the fact that, as usual, the game itself is PES, and if nothing else, is pretty FUN and enjoyable in 2 player mode...therefore I think 7 is a fair mark, if patches improve the various glitches then I may revise the mark to 8/10. But currently, FIFA is winning the next gen footie war and I never imagined i'd be saying that

[prvjoker]

on the pitch, it's an 8 although i'm getting the sinking feeling it is already far too easy on top player.

everything else off pitch is pathetic, really is.

[MarkusThatch]

5. To release such an unfinished mess is deplorable. less than half the number of ps2 stadiums, less comprehensive editor than ps2 version. CONami.

[jayden28]

6 from me just does not feel like pro evo,waited ages for this game & the only reason why i brought a ps3,so yesterday i traded it in for the ps2 version and have never looked back,my advice would be go for the ps2 version 100%!!.

[SteveG]

7 from me. Gameplay-wise it's still Pro Evo and better than Fifa, but it doesn't feel like an improvement on PES6. Loads of stats missing, no options for crowd stance etc, cut down editing, less stadiums and of course the problems with replays. It also feels more arcadey than PES6, much easier than PES6 and the keepers are frustratingly useless. Despite all that, it's Pro Evo so no doubt I'll be playing this constantly until PES 2009.

[paulesparks]

I give it a 7. Great playability as per normal but very poor network mode and poor presentation and graphics.

Looks just a slightly jazzed up ps2 game with the crowd graphics looking like a zx spectrum game up close.

[pboreham]

A terrible 3...

I would have given PES6 (PC) around a 9 - never enjoyed a game so much in a long time.

I've played virtually every single PES/ISS from the SNES days, so I know the game inside out. PES2008 is an insult.

Super-human fast players, terrible ball physics, high scoring matches, terrible online play, no real edit mode, same rubbish master league, no license....

Only gets a 3 for some innovations - like the quick free-kick, nice refs/linesman and thats about it!

[Rohail67]

I would give it a average 5 and that would be just for the gameplay!

The on screen menu's are poor, slowdown and framerate issues, horrible lag online, poor online menu system, less options to edit teams, players. Transfers are not updated, faster players are unstoppable, keepers are really poor, player AI is really poor, some teams are too good (barca!), graphics are about 20% better than the PES6 on the PS2.

Did I leave anything else out?

[nofear01]

I gave this a 2, this game is truly shocking. I played this online and am only pleased I got this game cheap.

[nokmond]

I give it a 3. Not too bad at first but now i've played on it a fair bit - how turd are the defenders ai! They come running out of position for no reason leaving massive gaps all over. The keepers - jesus wept - every goal almost is a result of a keeper spill or cock up.

I'm back to playing we11 club champ on ps2 now.

[Muzzaroo]

I gave it a 1.

In summary what a waste of £35!

Konami should be ashamed releasing this clearly unfinished game!

Not impressed tbh

[Bojanglez]

The main reason I play pro evo is for excitement and randomness of online play. This year the online play is random, but only because there is so much lag that you don't know where the ball will appear from second to second.

If online play is not your thing maybe you will want to test yourself against this years single player modes, the AI is super realistic, if you live in a world where retarded mongs play professional football.

In past versions of the game the fact that Konami did not secure all club and player licenses was not a major issue, you could edit all the club logos ,this year you can't.

To be fair if an online patch is released to sort out the lag these become irrelevant to me and I will be able to enjoy playing against people using the same controls I know and love but in HD. Until then the game is pretty much broken.

I gave it a 3.

[=adrian=]

It's only 6 from a disappointed fan --> me

EDIT - reasons:
Less stadiums, slowdown issue, unplayable online, too arcadey, AI is poor (poor goalkeepers, own defenders are shocking!!, too easy to score goal), no improvments, poor graphics, feels like beta version...

but it is PES, so probably I'll be playing that untill next version. Still - shame on you Konami.

[MaiaMan]

Gave it a 5 (which is not bad for an unfinished game). My prediction is that the finished product would get 8 or 9.

[davegreb]

Originally Posted by =adrian=

It's only 6 from a disappointed fan --> me

EDIT - reasons:
Less stadiums, slowdown issue, unplayable online, too arcadey, AI is poor (poor goalkeepers, own defenders are shocking!!, too easy to score goal), no improvments, poor graphics, feels like beta version...

but it is PES, so probably I'll be playing that untill next version. Still - shame on you Konami.

I returned mine that I bought from Asda. Unless we do this on mass, why will spend any more time/money on the next release if they know us suckers will buy the game whatever they put out?

[Miron]

absolutely unplayable, classical ripoff, just to kick out the money out of your pocket right before christmass.

compared to FIFA 08 which is smooth PES2008 shakes and judders. No matter if thru scaler or directly to plasma.

shame because it has some fabulous advantages over FIFA 08, but they should have finished it for real before publishing.

Edit: therefore 5

[CasDon]

Same here I'm loving PES2008.

It plays very similar to PES6 so it was a straight pick up and play for me, I personally think it is more realistic than PES6 with far more real game moves and plays than ever before.

Sure I'm a little disappointed that the graphics aren't any better for a next gen console but I think the player animations and player graphics are OK, they're better than PES6.

In the end it comes down to people's expectations and for PES2008 I recon they were just too high, we'd all gotten used to solid games on the PS2 because konami had such a long time to perfect them and given what had come before on the PS1 or N64 they couldn't lose.

This time well this thread says it all.

Basically one more here saying - its not superb but it is good and it plays better than PES6 on my PS3 so I'm happy

[catisfit]

I started this thread and the FIFA 08 reviews thread, I own both but I haven't voted for either yet, I'm giving it a little bit more time, but here are the first things that came to me as I started Pro Evo.

Firstly I should say that I have Pro Evo 5 and 6, and FIFAs 04, EURO 2004 and World Cup 2006, all for PS2. I've always been a massive Pro Evo fan due to its reliance on good build-up play, the perfect controls and the sense of achievement you get from scoring a goal. The last FIFA I remember playing seemed like every time you took a shot it was heading for the top corner, where 80% of the time the keeper would save it, the rest of the time you'd score. In other words, scoring was a purely mathematical exercise, and given as you'd have 25 shots per 5 minute game, they usually ended up 6-5 with no personal achievement whatsoever.

Okay, so I'm a big Pro Evo fan.

First impression: what have Konami done?

The only positive things I can say about the graphics are: it's in widescreen, the net bulges realistically, and the players faces are very good. Oh yeah, the shirt pulling is a clever effect. Apart from that, I don't know if they have a dodgy depth of field effect but the crowd are very blocky, even the ad hoardings at the top of the pitch occasionally look like a PS2 game being scaled up rather than HD. They've gone for a grass effect on the pitch which just looks rubbish (although I really like the idea, they've just screwed it up). The players (apart from the faces) look like plasticene models with tubes for legs, they still walk around with their feet out in front which just looks constipated. It really doesn't look very nice at all. The top menu is horrific, and there seem to be a lot fewer options for exhibition games than before.

As for the widely reported jerkiness, it's not really an issue. I have yet to experience a judder which affected my game in any way whatsoever, but I see it occasionally at corners when the ball is cleared. Also, replays are poor if you let them play, but I always slow them down to super-super-slo-mo so I didn't really notice. Having said that, this type of game should be fixed 30 fps as a minimum, 60 fps easily obtainable. With these graphics, coded properly they could fix it at 120 fps surely. Playing GT5 Prologue after this, there is no clearer indication of how if you get it right on PS3 you push the boundaries, if you get it wrong, you really get it wrong.

As for online, I don't know. I don't want to register codes etc to play because I'm going to sell either this or FIFA (I highly suspect it will be this), and I don't want the multiplayer locked out. Is that how it works?

I'm still not going to vote because I haven't made my mind up yet. But I will say this, FIFA is better. I feel dirty now.

[derek1971]

I have given it a 4 as it currently stands.

That may sound harsh but i really am seriously disappointed in PES this year for the first time ever and i genuinely believe this is below average.
Normally i play PES from release date (or earlier if i can get it) until the release of the next version. It is rarely out the machine.

This year i got it 1 day before the official release and played it for a few days but really have no great inclination to go back to it.

A large part of that is how poor the online side of things is at the moment. Last year i got the 360 version and played online more or less all year - despite its shrtcomings it was a great game which kept me entertained right up until this year's release.

Online this year is so poor it feels like we have been sold half a game. Frankly if the online was known to be as bad as it is (which undoubtedly it must have been) Konami should have either delayed it or released it as an offline only game with online to be added in as a patch later.

Offline is ok but only just ok. It is frankly ridiculous that there are posts dedicated to giving advice on which effects to turn off and which stadia to play in to avoid slowdown. If we are honest with ourselves would we really accept this from any other franchise.

This year to me the game looks pretty odd - the running animation looks very unnatural and the physics just don't feel right. There is no significant improvement in the gameplay imo over PES6. Sure there are a few nice new animations and the game plays at a slightly different speed but overall it just doesn't have that "just one more game" feeling for me.

So as i say i have given it a 4. I really hope it can be improved with a patch but i am not holding my breath - must try harder next year.

[howard5]

Originally Posted by Rohail67

I would give it a average 5 and that would be just for the gameplay!

The on screen menu's are poor, slowdown and framerate issues, horrible lag online, poor online menu system, less options to edit teams, players. Transfers are not updated, faster players are unstoppable, keepers are really poor, player AI is really poor, some teams are too good (barca!), graphics are about 20% better than the PES6 on the PS2.

Did I leave anything else out?

Not trying to cause an argument or anything or indeed picking on you Rohail67 but you say it scrapes a 5 due to good gameplay. However all the stuff mentioned afterwards like bad keepers, poor AI, players unrealistically fast...aren't these all gameplay issues? What exactly is good about the gameplay? Is it the things I like such as players react straight away, when you pass your players move to the ball rather than standing around and waiting for the defender to intercept, throughballs are played into space not to a defender etc?

EDIT, I went 4 due to it feeling too quick and it being too easy to rack up 6-5 scorelines

[Miron]

Originally Posted by howard5

Not trying to cause an argument or anything or indeed picking on you Rohail67 but you say it scrapes a 5 due to good gameplay. However all the stuff mentioned afterwards like bad keepers, poor AI, players unrealistically fast...aren't these all gameplay issues? What exactly is good about the gameplay? Is it the things I like such as players react straight away, when you pass your players move to the ball rather than standing around and waiting for the defender to intercept, throughballs are played into space not to a defender etc?

EDIT, I went 4 due to it feeling too quick and it being too easy to rack up 6-5 scorelines

howard5,
if you are refering to FIFA 08 game there is definitely a possiblity to pass the ball into free space (with ∆), and it is also apparently possible to move the player towards ball (right after long pass is played) but this is obviously not solved the best way (sometimes wrong player reacts)

and even though I am extreamly dissapointed with PES 2008 (I was expecting too much, as everyone else I guess) I still think 4 is too low.

[=adrian=]

I was just thinking that I should change my vote from 6 to 4. Yes, it is that bad for me. First time in history of ISS/PES I'm actually not pushed to play. I've got a game for less then two weeks, usally at this stage with previous versions I was playing one game after another, going through a season (in ML) in few days. Right now I haven't play even one game since saturday.

I hate this arcadey, unrealistic gameplay. I've never thought I'll write something like that about PES. Konami, how could you messed up such a beautiful game?

[winstano]

Anyone else tried the Winning Eleven demo from the Japanese store?

They better have one of 2 things ready...

1) A patch that allows PES2008 to run like that
or
2) A re-done version of PES2008 with fixes for the framerate issues that people can exchange for free.

The demo of WE2008 is just SO much smoother in the replays, little to no framerate problems, and no slowdown whatsoever (I must admit I've noticed it creeping in over the past few games I've played on PES)...

Why can they get the Japanese version working oh so well on the PS3 but us Euro peeps are shafted?

After playing this new WE demo I'm actually feeling a bit let down by Konami... I was enjoying PES loads, but thought I'd give the WE demo a shot... Did so and the replays were just how I was expecting them to be on the full game. Disappointed now really.

[Houghsx]

Originally Posted by winstano

Anyone else tried the Winning Eleven demo from the Japanese store?

They better have one of 2 things ready...

1) A patch that allows PES2008 to run like that
or
2) A re-done version of PES2008 with fixes for the framerate issues that people can exchange for free.

The demo of WE2008 is just SO much smoother in the replays, little to no framerate problems, and no slowdown whatsoever (I must admit I've noticed it creeping in over the past few games I've played on PES)...

Why can they get the Japanese version working oh so well on the PS3 but us Euro peeps are shafted?

After playing this new WE demo I'm actually feeling a bit let down by Konami... I was enjoying PES loads, but thought I'd give the WE demo a shot... Did so and the replays were just how I was expecting them to be on the full game. Disappointed now really.

I have tried the demo and noticed that it runs smoother than our version. I also noticed that the ref's aren't as harsh about every tackle.
Do you think it runs a little slower (I couldn't make my mind up on that one)
I have tried to look on the positive side, they have the game running alot better so a patch must happen now.
Anybody else that has a jap account give it a go and see what you think.