You might find yourself doing more standing tackles than you normally would. Either way, there were numerous sendings off in our first few games, and this could well be something that players need to get used to. It might’ve been partially our fault – we’d recently played some ‘no rules’ matches on FIFA 19 – but it didn’t feel like we were being particularly outrageous. When it comes to sliding tackles, though, the referees felt pretty harsh during our time with the PES 2020 demo. Seeing the power bar just below your player for all of your passes and shots comes in handy, for instance, and standing tackles feel refreshingly simple to pull off. It’s an easy time-sink, and there are a few little features that make it feel fresh from a FIFA-player’s perspective. Once you get used to the camera angle and first-touch dynamic, PES 2020 feels very playable. Unless you know you’re playing the ball into someone who is good enough to take a first-time punt, you’ll find yourself taking that extra touch instead of swinging straight into action.
As the game warns you on its loading screens, making first-time passes or shots is a bit of a risk, especially with not-particularly-skilled teams: if you don’t have the ball under control, or if it’s coming at you from an odd angle, there’s a decent likelihood that your first-time pass or strike won’t find its intended target. In terms of gameplay, there is one thing that really stands out.
If only our eyeballs could actually do that! Although it takes a bit of getting used to, this viewpoint feels like a nicely realistic rendering of a punter’s typical perspective, albeit with one exception: when you put a ball into the box, the camera zooms and tilts slightly to give you a closer look at what’s going on. Likewise, if you’re the one defending, you might not realise where your defenders are until the opposition is running full-tilt in their direction. This is a neat alternative to the standard way of viewing a game of ‘eFootball’, but it does sometimes result in situations where the camera can’t quite keep up with a sudden change in direction and you end up sprinting into a defender that you didn’t realise was there.
If you punt the ball upfield, the camera will pan in that direction at a reasonable pace. One thing that did make an impact, though, is the default camera angle in the game: the demo automatically puts you in the ‘Stadium’ mode, which gives you a view of the pitch that feels like you’re sat in a decent seat halfway up a big stand. EA’s previous juggernaut was very fresh in our minds as we loaded up the latest contender from Konami, and we were both keen to see whether this new offering was worth spending time with. We were playing locally with a mate, having just spent a bit of time on FIFA 19 while the PES 2020 demo downloaded. But despite this impressive roster, as we load up the demo for PES 2020, we can’t help but wonder if there will be enough noticeable greatness here to lure fans over from the FIFA franchise. Gone are the days when you’d only get one or two fully licenced teams, and the deal with Juventus is an unprecedently exclusive one – the Italian icons will not feature in FIFA 20 as a result. That list alone is enough to make it clear that Konami is taking licenses and rights very seriously this time around. The demo allows you to play exhibition matches either locally or online, choosing from a roster of 13 teams that includes such big names as Barcelona, Juventus, Manchester United, Arsenal and Bayern Munich.
© Manchester United Football Club Limited 2020 All rights reservedĪll other copyrights or trademarks are the property of their respective owners and are used under license.Konami has released the demo for eFootball: Pro Evolution Soccer 2020, aka PES 2020, so Den Of Geek spent a couple of hours with it on PS4 in order to bring you some first impressions. Official product manufactured and distributed by KONAMI under licence granted by A.S. The FIGC logo is a registered trade mark of the Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio
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