PES 3D arrives at Kitana Media towers, and we manage to record a video and offer some quick impressions.
First up, 7min video below (or in HD here)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRiqL42O8fo[/youtube]
There’s no doubt about it, as soon as you start up the game you’re looking for the impact 3D has on the game. Visions of seeing players pop out of the screen, or have a sensation of the football flying straight at you certainly come to mind, but overall the 3D element is a side dish to the main course. That’s not a slight on the game or Konami, after all the machine has a slider that allows you to turn 3D off. But due to this option, hoping for the 3D element to have any significant impact would be too much.
Where the 3D does work and look impressive is in two game elements. First of all the menus. Text, editing player shirt numbers, changing kits pre-match etc, this all looks impressive. As you would expect, still images work really well, giving you an impression of layers and depth. The other 3D element that works really well is the preset behind the player camera angle. Something very similar to the Become A Legend camera angle in the home console versions, the view is fixed behind the player in possession. While difficult to play a decent passing game, the visual satisfaction and 3D impact makes it worth sticking with more than you would expect.
So onto the main course then, and the gameplay. I’ve been reading many gaming websites gush over PES 3D, so was eager to see exactly what I’d been missing. Quickly however, I came to realise that its the same magic PES gameplay from the PS2 days, more recently seen on Wii and PSP. And of course thats no bad thing, but made me realise just how the wider press have chosen to omit the good old PES days from their memory. Nothing like product knowledge, hey! So everything works well, from the passing to shooting to the keepers, just how you remember it. In all it’s brilliance however, it can seem a bit dated, and anyone who has spent many hours in this gameplay can have a feeling of fatigue, especially once the 3D buzz wears thin.
Away from the pitch, modes and features stay true to the way PES has appeared on the handhelds. Some key modes in (no BAL or League though), not a deep edit mode at all (edit team names and numbers, no kit editing), some wireless options but no online (blame Nintendo). Overall though, enough to satisfy any 3DS gamer. After all ML is in, what else do you need on the go?
Review embargo drops on the 24th, expect more info and a final verdict then. Watch out for the next podcast, where we’ll discuss the game further.
So far, so PES.
