Review of eFootball 2022 v1.0.0, heir to PES

From his disaster Konami We have discussed this extensively with eFootball / PES. After the good eFootball PES 2020, the Japanese developer decided to take permission to transfer the game to Unreal Engine and have time to transform it from the very basics. The word was a game in constant flux, combining the oriental studio’s ability to synthesize the dynamics of the playground with the latest market trends that see free-to-play and live services as the dominant economic models. first of all because they are extremely profitable.

A few days after the launch of FIFA 22, the hit of genius: releasing an as yet unfinished version of the new eFootball to try and steal some loyals from the EA series thanks to this new business model. Too bad for two things: First, it’s broken not only in the “only” game modes of eFootball, but above all in the gameplay and the stability of the graphics engine. Second, Team PES has proven once again that they have biblical reaction times and it took months to fix the game.

As a result, most of the contracts with the most important partners are about to expire, a few professional players have found themselves forced to enter competition and many have left the series, also because nothing is left of the great PES. It doesn’t even have a title.

But on April 14, 2022, Konami finally released version 1.0.0 of eFootball 2022. According to the developers, this is the game they wanted to create from the very beginning, a quality product to rival the story of Pro Evolution. Football / Winning Eleven series. Will that be enough? Or is it too late? find in Review of version 1.0.0 of eFootball 2022.

Dream Team and?

his arrival Dream Team should make all potential eFootball fans happy. It’s actually a more structured mod than the friendlies of version 0.9, designed to attempt to do what FUT did, but with a slightly different look. In other words, the focus is always on building a dream team by fishing among the many champions in the game database. As always, it will be possible to decide which form to use or influence the tactics and attitude of the players on the pitch to tailor the eleven to their needs.

WITH FUT differenceHowever, not every card will immediately express its potential. For example, after purchasing a Pogba, you will need to spend experience points to train it and develop it in the most beneficial way for the team’s needs. Do you want him as an attacking midfielder? Better to practice dribbling and passing. Are you going to put him on the defensive? It is better to strengthen the physique and the ability to steal the balls. New versions of each card will be able to rely on certain hits and abilities to differentiate them from those already released, not only in stats but also in functionality on the field. In this way, we must thwart the EA-specific “arms race” that is looking for an increasingly creative way to deliver increasingly powerful versions of previously released cards each year.

The other difference is that for now, no packs to buy, but you spend the accumulated experience points both to buy new champions and to upgrade them. Also in this case, it’s always a designed move to avoid any possible connection with gambling. Shake pay ghosts to win, experience points that can be purchased to accelerate team growth.

The real inexplicable choice is to release the full version of the game after months of waiting…which isn’t complete either! Starting with Dream Team mode, everything is extremely limited, a few elements are still unclear, and it is unknown whether others will ever come. For example, friendships are only possible between Dream Teams at launch. Of course, friendships that no longer give EXP to grow their team.

Then, inexplicably, online friendships disappeared using licensed teams. You will only be able to use a regular handful of teams in offline friendly matches. Where are Argentina and Portugal, that is, the national teams that can be used in training? Where is Series B, eFootball’s private league? Where are the Seasons or online friendships that are the backbone of any self-respecting game? Where are the horse and rider? Where is the horn blowing? Maybe we’re moving away.

gameplay

Also from the point of view gameplay Konami’s work is polarizing. There’s no denying the Japanese developer’s effort to fix his game, both technologically and in terms of gameplay. eFootball 2022 is undoubtedly a good football game; but we can say with equal certainty that it is far from being a perfect game and fully expressing its potential.

Some things are commendable, like trying to make a more grounded game. midfield construction while running, differentiating the types of shots available, creating a risk/reward mechanic for those with hits, always keeping them pressed and trying to provide inertia to make the players’ movements less neurasthenic. When you look at the game, you no longer notice the bugs and flaws that turn into gods. instant breast On the Internet, it’s like CR7 shaking after a goal. The reading of corpses is also more precise, with more realistic and better calculated game conflicts, something that is reflected in the referees, is more punctual than in the past. But the impression is that hands went back two years. In fact, let’s examine many of the limitations that exist in PES 2019. very slow game, where it is impossible to shoot in a group, with various compulsions associated with the lack of more precise animations that can cover a larger number of cases in a playground. In other words, the skirmishes are pretty much the same, and both the light and heavy ones see the two heroes fly several meters ahead. Similarly, direction changes take so long because the game needs to close an animation before starting the next animation, and this indicates that some types of shots are missing, especially those that are instant or before. In general, it is the feeling that the game does not always respond to the given commands in a timely manner.

There are those who disarm even more artificial intelligence bugs. The lowball is very slow, and opponents often reposition themselves before reaching the receiver. Worse still, when this is aimed at a teammate far away, even if others can interfere, they don’t, allowing themselves to be predicted by their opponents, unable to dynamically interfere with what’s happening on the field. They all seem a bit slow and take a long time to react no matter what.

Therefore, eFootball 2022 will not adapt to you, but you will have to adapt to the game. eFootball 2022 can deliver good football, entertain and excite when you can always play with the players body facing the ball, cleanly and effortlessly. However, if you get rid of those parts, the game is struggling more than it should, more than we’d like it to do months after its disastrous launch on September 30, 2021.

A good leap forward

From technical point of view Konami has taken a good step. The macroscopic bugs of version 0.9 have been fixed and the code for bugs and flaws has been cleared, resulting in a nice game come out with good polygon modeling and some nice animations. It is also noteworthy that stadiums and sound effects, animations of the march and commentary are very monotonous. The real weak point is, as stated, various animations: If Konami can enrich the movement baggage of the players in the working process, we will be able to have a good football game soon.

from perspective physics, the ball moves well when it’s off the field, but there’s still a lot of friction when it’s on the ground, making the bass phrases very cumbersome. Conflicts between players are fine, even in this case the animations are low even if they change, making physical contacts still very approximate and random.

Online matchmaking looked good to us. It’s not particularly fast, but it allows for fairly stable play when there are opponents.