The long challenge between the main sports products of the year is now entering its hottest phase. FIFA and PES, which this year changed its name to eFootball PES 2020 (to wink even more at the eSports factor), are more ready than ever to battle, to the sound of more or less evident news. But if the little boy of Electronic Arts, also thanks to the success of recent years and especially in view of the transition to the next-gen, appears decidedly more conservative, the latest addition to Konami promises once again to bring several new features.
The path of development and evolution started in 2014 can be said to be almost completed, and the final yield of the product, albeit afflicted by some historical defects of the brand, has reached very respectable quality standards. After having stripped the official demo, present in the Microsoft, Sony and Steam stores starting from last July 30, we are ready to express our opinion (completely preliminary) on the matter. Ball in the center: let the game begin!
Beautiful and possible
The first impact with eFootbal PES 2020, the purely visual one, to be clear, is of the highest level. Thanks also to the implementation of the new camera, which also works very well in terms of gameplay advantages, the level of photorealism achieved by Konami's football is truly impressive. This is also due to the splendid work done in scanning the faces and modeling the athletes, especially the most important ones, who in their videogame counterpart offer a simply impeccable level of similarity. Even on the rather limited hardware of the PlayStation 4 Slim the general glance is of the important ones and is capable of raising Japanese production towards ever more flourishing horizons. Too bad, once again, for the chromatic choice of the turf, excessively tending to a high saturation and sometimes not very realistic. A trifle, of course, but we would have liked not to review this little appreciable detail in this edition.
I'm away from the stress ...
Where eFootball PES 2020 gives its best, also this year, is certainly on the gameplay front. Not surprisingly, we couldn't wait to try all the new additions to the already winning formula and we had every reason. Although without revolutionizing (rightly) the now unmistakable playful style, the developers have been able to prop up their creature properly, trying to focus as much as possible on the less convincing aspects. Above all, the team's efforts have focused in particular on aspects such as animations, goalkeepers, and defense in general, actually with mixed results for now. The new animations, to tell the truth several, work wonderfully and offer many improvements also on a visual level, but above all they manage to smooth out that feeling of woodiness that has now become an unpleasant trademark of Konami's title. This is inextricably linked to the evolution of the First Touch Impact, which makes every movement even more harmonious and credible.. The icing on the cake is again the physics of the ball, perfected to a near-perfect result.
A great job with this eFootball PES 2020 was also played on goalkeepers. The extreme defenders proved to be attentive, reactive and above all very difficult to overcome. In truth, their skill at times seemed excessive to us. Nothing sensational, honestly, considering the few steps forward made as regards the defense. The central defenders, in particular, are still too easy to overcome, especially with through passes. These two elements put together, combined with what appears to be some sort of extra difficulty once the action is finalized, perhaps make the final mission of any football team a little complicated: to score. Overall, however, we are faced with the usual, splendid, PES (now eFootball PES 2020) of all time, supported by slow and reasoned gameplay, in which the creation of the action appears very realistic and credible, moved by a network of passages that are closely linked to the ability to create spaces, also taking advantage of the continuous and intelligent movements of teammates.
Football show
One of the characteristic features of Konami football, especially in recent years, is the performance of the players and their team on the pitch. Playing with Messi's Barcelona or Ronaldo's Juventus can offer an ever-changing play experience. This year, however, this feature would seem to have undergone a slight downsizing. After trying all thirteen teams in the demo, in fact, the feeling is that there is no longer that strong differentiation between one team and another. Especially with the most famous teams, we didn't seem to see so much different styles of play, with excessively anonymous and similar forms and philosophies between them. Different speech for the players: thanks also to the new mechanics, defined Inspire, players behave very realistically on the pitch, discreetly mirroring their real counterpart. If on the whole everything seems to work just fine, we feel obliged to make a strong criticism. Set pieces are still too basic and hard to digest, especially penalties, and offer an excessively old-fashioned conception of console football.
The first contact with eFootball PES 2020 is much more than positive. Graphically and in terms of gameplay, the new iteration of football according to KONAMI seemed almost unassailable, driven by an extraordinary graphic rendering and a realistic and very believable style of play, it was able to conquer us during this short test and, frankly, we do not see wait to try the full game. Also on the animation front, the Japanese boys have been able to properly embellish an already winning formula, whose fortunes seem destined to increase, thanks also to an excellent work done on the AI front of goalkeepers and referees, now more precise and credible . Too bad for the usual problems with the defensive phase and the lack of customization of the teams, which are now less diversified with each other. Overall, however, we feel very satisfied with what we have had the opportunity to experience. For a definitive answer, we refer you to September, when the new chapter of the KONAMI football saga will hit the shelves. eFootball PES 2020 is expected for next September 10 on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
► eFootball PES 2020 is a Sport-type game developed and published by Konami for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 10/09/2019
eFootball PES 2020 is a beautiful game that cannot be missing from your collection: we have decided to evaluate it with a 91%, if you are interested in learning more you can read the Review of eFootball PES 2020
