I got the game yesterday and played it for about 2 hours, it takes a while to get used to, here are my initial thoughts

Here are my first results on 3 star in two European Championships.

England 1-3 Belgium
England 2-0 Slovakia
England 2-4 Portugal

Spain 4-1 Turkey
Spain 6-2 Austria
Spain 1-1 Russia

p.s Torres is amazing

I have many hundreds of hours worth of Pro Evo experience over the last decade but unlike the old formula where a seasoned pro player can jump into a new version and start winning immediately this takes some getting used to.

The controls are initially easy to do individually but confusing to use in unison but after a few matches i was able to play a decent match. After a while they just seem to flow and i think that the old chesnut "Easy to pick up, difficult to master" is how i would best describe the system.



Attacking:

Brilliant, it is well documented how it works so i will not go into it but i will say that although we are supposed to control the main movements the automatic movement the computer makes your other players do is quite good and your others players do move in in a good fashion. I am pleased about that because i was a bit worried.

Passing is magnificent, i still don't have the passing system sussed quite yet but i can definately see the potential and it is already a real joy to use.

Shooting was my biggest concern because all you do is shake the nunchuk, no power bar and no aiming, it is all down to what player, what angle/position, timing and what foot. Thankfully i have had no qualms so far, the shots taken are situationally and player realistic.

Free kicks are nice, i scored a pearler yesterday although i hope it is not that easy usually. Unlike shots you can aim where in the goal you want and then shake that nunchuk.


Defending:

Tough, i have conceded some stupid, stupid goals. Mainly because the oppponent has run through 5 players and scored because i could not apply the right pressure in defence. I have got better though but there are still dodgy moments. It could be frustrating but i am not finding it so, the key is positioning your players for pass intercepting runs, it is hard but something to work on.

Overall it is hard and you do not have as much control as attacking but practice will reap benefits. I have improved but sometimes i do feel i am just hoping for the best. Easily the most difficult part of the game but that is not necessarily a bad thing, plus the offside trap is awesome.


Computer AI

Too soon to tell so i will come back and edit this later. The computer does seem to be able to finish which makes a change (especially for 3 star) but i will not make any snap judgements.


Player Stats:

I was most intrigued by the stat system after watching a clip on you tube, I could not read it properly but it looked small. It turns out to be very different indeed, there are no stats for passing or shooting whatsoever.

The stats are

Attack, defence, Stamina, Pace, Technique, Strength and Goalie.

However each player has up to 6 special skills which include all the expected such as good finishing, shooting, dribbling and a load others. The amount of special skills is quite broad and it does make the players realistic despite a lack of stats.

I much prefer the old stat system, i like to know the subtle differences in shooting stats between Yakubu and Johnson at Everton for example or who is the better passer out of Xavi Alonso or Fabregas. However i have not found a player that does not behave like they should and as far as i can tell, as usual, Konami research has paid off.


For those of you confused at the whole stat thing i think the special skills are the most important with Technique being much more important in this version than before.

I am not sure though so if anyone knows how best to read the stats then please post up a thread about it, that would be handy.



Editing

Disappointing but we can't have everything, all you can edit is Player and Team names. No kit edit and no registering players so out of date transfers cannot be ammended. This is a shame and may annoy some but the game makes up for it. This is a work in progress so hopefully things like this will be sorted for the next version.



There is no masters league but the Champions Road looks like a fun replacement. You start off with a team of amateurs and you get to pick one player to add to your squad from every team you beat which is a nice touch. Plus the usual heroes of Huylens, Castolo and Espimas are back so we can all sleep easy. I have not started mine yet but i will soon.



These are my initial thoughts on the game, what are yours?

Post any questions here too if you are worried about buying the game.