- Staff
- #3,001
I had a few games of eFootball earlier, after spending several hours on the EASFC beta (initially on default settings, but after the first game finished 10-5, it became apparent the default game is more imbalanced and cartoonish than ever).
It's been over a year since I last played eFootball. All my Dream Team players had "expired" so I had to start again in order to play a mode with any kind of progression.
In the last year of unopened messages, there was 300,000 GP waiting for me... Which was enough to spread thinly and purchase 23 players (the mode won't let you proceed without 23 valid players for your team and bench).
So, gameplay wise (because there's absolutely zero content)...
Well, put it like this.
I was gifted Harry Kane (because Konami are ridiculous like that). I bought wingers with high(ish) "lofted pass" (crossing) attributes but terrible physical attributes, because that's all I could afford - but I had a plan.
First match, I played a random game against a better team (AI, Barcelona, Top Player difficulty).
A lot of solid defending (thanks to AI defenders who do the bare minimum of positioning themselves properly, plus the "match up" defending system which helped to block passing lanes and shots a few times) helped me to a 0-0 at half time. 4-5 shots between the teams.
When I hit a couple of speculative efforts, I OOHED and AHHED without even realising it - until I did, when I realised I was enjoying myself, because I was having to carve out chances with intelligent passing (not just running through a field of scarecrows) and not hitting the target with every shot.
Automatically, that makes you more invested... Because you're thinking, I'm getting closer to the target, what if... What if the next one goes in...
I was having to play a certain way because of my players' attributes (which I absolutely love). Eventually, I managed to squeeze a cross in from the edge of the area and Kane rose above everybody to nod it in.
Full time, 1-0, and I had to work for it, and it felt fucking fantastic - which made me realise what a moron I've been, playing games in EASFC with 10+ goals in repeatedly (and with sliders, between 3-9), and trying to shape it into something it has zero interest in being.
Is eFootball brilliant? No, nowhere near. The ball physics are horribly floaty, there aren't many animations, there aren't a great variety of outcomes in terms of physics, there's lots of skating (like EASFC), the ball is never really loose (like EASFC), it has the 1v1 defending system at its core (like EASFC) and most obvious of all, it has absolutely nothing to do, other than the most boring mode on the planet where everyone has 5* teams and 99 OVR players in every position instantly (like FUT).
But that hard-fought, interesting 1-0 gave me an absolute ton of happiness compared to how brain-numbingly boring stupid scorelines and 20+ shots per game EASFC is.
I really hope Konami can turn a corner and get some more modes in there, because I think they're the only hope left, gameplay-wise. I would give them £50 for a half-baked ML right now.
It's been over a year since I last played eFootball. All my Dream Team players had "expired" so I had to start again in order to play a mode with any kind of progression.
In the last year of unopened messages, there was 300,000 GP waiting for me... Which was enough to spread thinly and purchase 23 players (the mode won't let you proceed without 23 valid players for your team and bench).
So, gameplay wise (because there's absolutely zero content)...
Well, put it like this.
I was gifted Harry Kane (because Konami are ridiculous like that). I bought wingers with high(ish) "lofted pass" (crossing) attributes but terrible physical attributes, because that's all I could afford - but I had a plan.
First match, I played a random game against a better team (AI, Barcelona, Top Player difficulty).
A lot of solid defending (thanks to AI defenders who do the bare minimum of positioning themselves properly, plus the "match up" defending system which helped to block passing lanes and shots a few times) helped me to a 0-0 at half time. 4-5 shots between the teams.
When I hit a couple of speculative efforts, I OOHED and AHHED without even realising it - until I did, when I realised I was enjoying myself, because I was having to carve out chances with intelligent passing (not just running through a field of scarecrows) and not hitting the target with every shot.
Automatically, that makes you more invested... Because you're thinking, I'm getting closer to the target, what if... What if the next one goes in...
I was having to play a certain way because of my players' attributes (which I absolutely love). Eventually, I managed to squeeze a cross in from the edge of the area and Kane rose above everybody to nod it in.
Full time, 1-0, and I had to work for it, and it felt fucking fantastic - which made me realise what a moron I've been, playing games in EASFC with 10+ goals in repeatedly (and with sliders, between 3-9), and trying to shape it into something it has zero interest in being.
Is eFootball brilliant? No, nowhere near. The ball physics are horribly floaty, there aren't many animations, there aren't a great variety of outcomes in terms of physics, there's lots of skating (like EASFC), the ball is never really loose (like EASFC), it has the 1v1 defending system at its core (like EASFC) and most obvious of all, it has absolutely nothing to do, other than the most boring mode on the planet where everyone has 5* teams and 99 OVR players in every position instantly (like FUT).
But that hard-fought, interesting 1-0 gave me an absolute ton of happiness compared to how brain-numbingly boring stupid scorelines and 20+ shots per game EASFC is.
I really hope Konami can turn a corner and get some more modes in there, because I think they're the only hope left, gameplay-wise. I would give them £50 for a half-baked ML right now.
