Gaming Sundays: PES 2011 (PSP)

Introduction

I suppose the Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) series needs no introduction. Original known as Winning Eleven, PES has always been a strong contender against the other well known football game, FIFA. I decided to give PES a try, which I haven't touch since Winning Eleven 7, which was at friend's house. Also since most of my friends are football enthusiasts.

Gameplay

And he shoots it towards the goal!!!!

Again, no story here. Unless you play the Become a Legend mode, but that isn't much of a story, just your days as a football player. It begins with your first match, and then you will sign with a premier league team. From there, you play until you retire. It's the first time I've encountered this game mode, and it feels refreshing to play only one player, however, it does get bored sometimes.

Controls are easy to master as well. It would seem that it is a tad bit different from PES 2010. Not sure exactly what though. Game difficulty ranges from a piece of cake to tough as hell. Apparently FIFA 11 is more challenging, though I'm not so sure yet. And yes, there are commentaries for the PSP version this time. PES 2010 does have commentaries, but it was cut from the PSP version. But the commentaries is somewhat funny sometimes. I could score one goal, and miss the other, and the commentator says "Two miss chance this early in the game, I'm sure they will score sooner or later" or the opponent gets the first shot on target of the game and he says "the keeper has been kept busy today" or something along that line. Point is, the commentators make no sense half the time.

It does lag sometimes though, for whatever reasons. Adhoc gameplay is superb. Either play with your friend or against them, up to 4 people can play at a time. Commentaries are disabled during ad-hoc matches. One tiny problem though, connection is easily lost, not sure if it's the problem with the PSPs or the game itself.

One BIG thing does effect me however. A lot of the teams have not been licensed. You will see Man Blue instead of Manchester City, Merseyside Red instead of Liverpool, and their jerseys are lame. Just their color and a strip of white in the chest area. Add the club logo to that as well. Probably editable with you have the time, but I rather spend the time playing it.

Graphics
Not the best graphics out there. Feels like the older FIFAs, around the early 2000s. Menu interface-wise, I think it's leagues ahead of FIFA, in terms of the design and style. FIFAs feel a tad bit...normal. Though the pause menu matches could use some tweaks. Such as displaying the team names. For God's sake, that's the most important bit. That and the opponent scorers and scoring time. With those two, it would feel much more better.

Conclusion
Not the best game out there, but for football enthusiast, this is a must. Either get this or FIFA 11, whichever fits your taste better. My still searching around for FIFA 11 for the PSP, though I have it on the PC.