Late to the non-existing party due to having been away on holidays. Since the changes are making this year's version by far the best Playmaker yet I feel it does deserve a belated OT. Non-Playmaker PES 2012 (Xbox360, PS3, PC, PS2, PSP, iPhone/iPod Touch/Android) OT can be found here, the previous year's Playmaker OT here, PES 2011 Playmaker OT here. And if you want to complain about the lack of visual changes (*yawn*), a thread for that is here.
By the creators of WE/PES Tactics (PS2), Akiyoshi "Greyhound" Chosogabe and staff, comes the sixth installment of the PES Playmaker (Wii) series.
Playmaker's origin as an AI testbed
In the Iwata asks about PES 2011 3DS series producer Shinji Enomoto states, that the Wii version was intended as a revolutionary AI testbed from the start for which it got its own separate team:
Official release dates
➡ Should be out everywhere by now.
What happened so far
★ First Playmaker version
★★ Introduction of Classic controls, targeted shots using B button, give-and-go/one-two passing, improved tackling control while man marking, intercepting passes using d-pad, improved free kick control, friend and rival lists for online matches
★★★ New 3D free kick view and controls, point, pull and control stick dribbling controls, control stick movement while man marking, stamina gauge to limit rushing
★★★★ Playmaker vs Classic control matches, 360° movements, pre-set player movement for set plays, adjustable camera for corner kicks, improved online, hiding the opponent's input
★★★★★ No new features this time. Roster update and a lot of tiny background tweaks, removing annoyances of previous versions. Much improved collision detection and best AI behavior to date. Difficulty also increased through the AI improvements.
New features
★★★★★★ Again no new features per se. But the most game changing engine and AI tweaks yet between Playmaker versions:
➡ Feels heavier, making it the most simulation-y and least arcade-y entry yet. Many players may dislike this at first.
➡ This is not achieved by slowing down the game as a whole, passing speed and reactions are still the same. What changed is the behavior and execution speed of the players, which is now more realistic.
➡ The slower execution speed makes the game more playable as far as individual actions are concerned, though it's now harder to surprise the player/opponent/AI with a fast string of actions. This makes it also the first game where online feels completely the same as offline (at least to me so far).
➡ It however also dramatically increases the importance of using space effectively, be it by the way of preset formations or live free runs.
➡ AI is finally actively aware of the ball. It usually does a great job blocking all the more obvious passing options on its own. Sending passes along the backs of the opponent's players is finally a fruitful way of exploiting gaps while catching them on the wrong feet.
➡ First touch finally exists in a realistic way. Since controlling a received ball takes time and bad tech makes it very easy for the opponent to catch the ball instead (see counterpressing), first touch is needed to pass the ball on into safe spaces. And this is exactly what happens now, first touch passes that a badly controlled and have a high distribution, but usually accurate enough to keep the ball in the own team.
➡ Duels now work as expected. Weaks can't duel with strongs without being pushed aside. Strongs against weaks with great ball trapping ability leads to fouls. Duels among players with same strenght are exhilarating, requiring good timing for standing (Z) and diving tackles (Z + shake). Those failing no longer automatically lead to fouls, instead the opponent will have a space advantage just like in reality.
➡ All these changes the usefulness of manmarking. Using automatic man marking/pressing is a good way for your opponent to rip through your formation, as it's usually applied too late. Manual use of man marking makes it possible to execute variations on pressing as successfully used by modern teams (like Barca and BVB), such as counterpressing (going for loose balls due to the opponent's weak first touch) and backwardpressing (attacking the opponent with offensive player from behind).
➡ Further exacerbating the past kind of powerplay is the faster draining of health, rewarding those players not overdoing the running.
➡ The end result is while individual player's abilities are still a very influential part of the game, outmanning the opponent whenever possible is now the true way to victory. And exploiting all these to successfully connecting many player with a straight chain of fast passes never has been this thrilling.
PES Wii specific community sites
➡ PES UP! (PAL region, predominantly British)
➡ Pes-up.de (formerly Play-Wii.org & playpes.de, PAL region, predominantly German)
more?
Recommended further reading
➡ Zonal Marking - insightful tactical discussions of real matches which can be applied to Playmaker matches as well
➡ Spielverlagerung - German counterpart to Zonal Marking, updates very often
more?
By the creators of WE/PES Tactics (PS2), Akiyoshi "Greyhound" Chosogabe and staff, comes the sixth installment of the PES Playmaker (Wii) series.
Playmaker's origin as an AI testbed
In the Iwata asks about PES 2011 3DS series producer Shinji Enomoto states, that the Wii version was intended as a revolutionary AI testbed from the start for which it got its own separate team:
Official release dates
➡ Should be out everywhere by now.
What happened so far
★ First Playmaker version
★★ Introduction of Classic controls, targeted shots using B button, give-and-go/one-two passing, improved tackling control while man marking, intercepting passes using d-pad, improved free kick control, friend and rival lists for online matches
★★★ New 3D free kick view and controls, point, pull and control stick dribbling controls, control stick movement while man marking, stamina gauge to limit rushing
★★★★ Playmaker vs Classic control matches, 360° movements, pre-set player movement for set plays, adjustable camera for corner kicks, improved online, hiding the opponent's input
★★★★★ No new features this time. Roster update and a lot of tiny background tweaks, removing annoyances of previous versions. Much improved collision detection and best AI behavior to date. Difficulty also increased through the AI improvements.
New features
★★★★★★ Again no new features per se. But the most game changing engine and AI tweaks yet between Playmaker versions:
➡ Feels heavier, making it the most simulation-y and least arcade-y entry yet. Many players may dislike this at first.
➡ This is not achieved by slowing down the game as a whole, passing speed and reactions are still the same. What changed is the behavior and execution speed of the players, which is now more realistic.
➡ The slower execution speed makes the game more playable as far as individual actions are concerned, though it's now harder to surprise the player/opponent/AI with a fast string of actions. This makes it also the first game where online feels completely the same as offline (at least to me so far).
➡ It however also dramatically increases the importance of using space effectively, be it by the way of preset formations or live free runs.
➡ AI is finally actively aware of the ball. It usually does a great job blocking all the more obvious passing options on its own. Sending passes along the backs of the opponent's players is finally a fruitful way of exploiting gaps while catching them on the wrong feet.
➡ First touch finally exists in a realistic way. Since controlling a received ball takes time and bad tech makes it very easy for the opponent to catch the ball instead (see counterpressing), first touch is needed to pass the ball on into safe spaces. And this is exactly what happens now, first touch passes that a badly controlled and have a high distribution, but usually accurate enough to keep the ball in the own team.
➡ Duels now work as expected. Weaks can't duel with strongs without being pushed aside. Strongs against weaks with great ball trapping ability leads to fouls. Duels among players with same strenght are exhilarating, requiring good timing for standing (Z) and diving tackles (Z + shake). Those failing no longer automatically lead to fouls, instead the opponent will have a space advantage just like in reality.
➡ All these changes the usefulness of manmarking. Using automatic man marking/pressing is a good way for your opponent to rip through your formation, as it's usually applied too late. Manual use of man marking makes it possible to execute variations on pressing as successfully used by modern teams (like Barca and BVB), such as counterpressing (going for loose balls due to the opponent's weak first touch) and backwardpressing (attacking the opponent with offensive player from behind).
➡ Further exacerbating the past kind of powerplay is the faster draining of health, rewarding those players not overdoing the running.
➡ The end result is while individual player's abilities are still a very influential part of the game, outmanning the opponent whenever possible is now the true way to victory. And exploiting all these to successfully connecting many player with a straight chain of fast passes never has been this thrilling.
PES Wii specific community sites
➡ PES UP! (PAL region, predominantly British)
➡ Pes-up.de (formerly Play-Wii.org & playpes.de, PAL region, predominantly German)
more?
Recommended further reading
➡ Zonal Marking - insightful tactical discussions of real matches which can be applied to Playmaker matches as well
➡ Spielverlagerung - German counterpart to Zonal Marking, updates very often
more?
