PES 2011 first impressions

After over 400 hours of service, a sad moment is upon me.  However, the sadness is only fleeting as I retire my much-loved copy of PES 2010 and replace it with its shiny new successor. Just like they always do, Konami have promised sweeping changes to the Pro Evo formula with thousands of new animations, improved 360° dribbling, online Master League and so on. Unlike previous iterations on the current-gen consoles, the promise seems to ring true on this occasion. PES 2011 is something of a revelation.

Broadly speaking, the features are the same as last year’s effort with Exhibition, Champions League, Become A Legend and Master League all present and correct. Konami have managed to scoop up a few more licenses, so you can play a whole tournament of the Copa Libertadores (the South American Champions League) and participate in the UEFA Super Cup. Sadly, most of the teams from the Libertadores are exclusive to that mode and are unavailable to play as in Exhibition mode.

If you haven’t played the demo, the new on-field action will come as something of a shock. The pace of the game is slower and more measured and passing is now controlled by a power bar. Pass direction is hardly assisted, meaning lazy prods in the vague direction of the nearest player will go out of play rather than directly to feet. At first this was frustrating, but soon you realise that you can pass the ball wherever you want, allowing the you to play the through ball that you have in your mind’s eye.

I have also noticed a greater emphasis on physicality and player strength. People like Didier Drogba are almost unstoppable with the ball whereas someone like Theo Walcott can be easily muscled off it. To combat this, defending has been changed, concentrating on precise tackles rather than senseless hounding of the R1+X variety. Player likenesses have also been updated and improved. The top teams will have ‘face scans’ of all their players. I was surprised to find Laurent Koscielny’s face staring back at me during the UEFA Champions League anthem.

Other random observations include:

• Referees are a bit inconsistent. They seem to penalise most slide tackles, even when the ball is won. But there are hardly any fouls called for over-aggressive pressure.
• The ball seems to swerve more, allowing for some spectacular dipping long-rangers.
• Players like a flying scissor kick volley when the ball is headed out from a corner.
• The game shows replays for EVERY foul, complete with slightly dodgy motion blur effect. This can get tedious.
• The new menus are very nice.
• The formation screen now includes Football Manager style drag-and-drop for greater precision.
• The PES shop has returned! You can buy whimsical hairstyles, balls, stadium sounds and more.
• In edit mode, you can import your edit data from PES 2010.

It will take time to adapt fully to the new style of play in PES 2011 but first impressions are very promising. What’s more, I haven’t even dived into the time-sink that is Master League.

Modern day icons: Metal Gear Solid

Along with Final Fantasy VII and Gran Turismo, Metal Gear Solid is one of the games that best defined the original PlayStation. Hideo Kojima’s stealth/action masterpiece combined cutting-edge (for the time) graphics, an involving plot and epic set-pieces to create the most immersive film-like gaming experience ever seen. The game received stellar reviews and became a monster hit, spawning a much-loved franchise across numerous platforms.

So what exactly made Metal Gear Solid such a great game? For me, it can be broken down into 3 main areas: the gameplay, the character of Solid Snake and the sky-high production values.

At its heart, Metal Gear Solid is a stealth game, where the objective is to infiltrate a terrorist base and neutralise the threat they pose to the real world. The game encourages you to avoid combat, particularly early on, as Snake has limited health and poor weapons. The game utilises the wonders of 3D(!) and a fixed camera to give you a good idea of your immediate surroundings. The player has to evade guards and security cameras, which are helpfully given field of vision ‘cones’ on the radar. Guards can be lured out of place by knocking on walls, prompting a question mark to appear over their heads and an exclamation of “Huh? WUHWAZZATNOISE?”.

Snake does have various tools at his disposal to help him avoid detection including his radar, binoculars, cigarettes and cardboard boxes. Yes, that does say cigarettes and cardboard boxes. The game does actually explain to you that the smoke will make laser traps visible (fair enough I guess) while also reducing your health. The cardboard box on the other hand is a bit of a joke item which can actually help you sneak past the guards by hiding inside it and moving when they aren’t looking. This is helped immensely by the fact that the guards have the memory span of  goldfish, leading to much hilarity.

As fun as it is to mess with the soldiers, the game would be nothing without a good plot and Metal Gear Solid has an excellent one, full of manipulation, betrayal and double-crossing. The plot is complex but never confusing, unlike later entries in the series which tend to be stupidly convoluted.

NOTE: Major plot spoilers in the next paragraph!

A terrorist group led by Snake’s twin brother, Liquid, have taken control of a nuclear facility that houses a mech armed with a nuclear missile. Snake is called in to infiltrate the base and stop the terrorists and is given the tools to deactivate the launch sequence if needed. However, he is manipulated by Liquid and his crew to activate the weapon, believing that he is disarming it, and so he has to destroy the mech before the missile is launched. The plot also touches on genetics and the futility of war, while leaving open the possibility of sequel(s).

Solid Snake is one of the best characters ever created for a game, probably because he is such a bad-ass. He is harder than John McClane, Jack Bauer and James Bond combined and sounds even more no-nonsense, thanks to a great voice-over by David Hayter. Snake is so bad-ass he takes down a tank, helicopter and a nuclear-capable mech in this game alone. Once you learn even more about his past (and lineage), he becomes even more of a legend in the player’s eyes.

It’s the little touches that really make Metal Gear Solid such a fans’ favourite. The fact that you have to look on the CD case to get the contact details for Meryl, how hiding in a cardboard box before getting pissed on by baby wolves makes your progress easier, the way people get annoyed if you call them repeatedly. Then you can escape prison by using ketchup and faking your own death or hiding under the bed.

Probably the game’s best innovation was the boss fight with Psycho Mantis. Mantis is a gas mask wearing telepath in a gimp suit and is pretty handy at psychokinesis. His  telepathic ability extends to him being able to read your actions via your controller port and so he is invulnerable to your attacks. Not only that, but he is able to pick up on how often you have saved and will comment on your cautiousness or recklessness accordingly. Best of all, Mantis uses his psychic ability to move your controller with his mind! Obviously this only works if you have a Dual Shock controller. This was the first time I ever encountered a game developer breaking the fourth wall and it made a lasting impression on me.

Apart from its sequels (including the superlative MGS3) Metal Gear Solid has had a strong influence on other media. A comic and graphic novel were made, and a movie is rumoured to be in the works. My favourite example of Metal Gear Solid outside of the PlayStation games has to be the incredible parody on gigaville which is both accurate and hilarious.

Metal Gear Solid was a pioneering game that turned into a wildly successful series and it still is one of the best games ever made. If you haven’t played it yet, I urge you to do so. It’s available on the PSN at a bargain price so there really is no excuse.