Rodchenko • Comments

  • PES 2013 announced with new gameplay video

  • Rodchenko 24/04/2012

    "Included for the first time is full control over shots."

    Hear, hear... Didn't the hardcore PES-fans claim for years that shooting was 'absolutely unscripted' and 'totally realistic' and that 'you only have to practice more' in order to master it?

    Now let's also hear this: "excluded for the first time are the age-old rubberband-AI routines from the first PES codebase" and "included for the first time is a believable translation of player stats into the actual on-pitch action. This means, that stiff, old defenders won't be able to easily catch up with agile, young forwards anymore". And lastly: "included for the first time are the effects of stamina on the computer AI"

    Fingers crossed.     Reply 0

  • Grand Slam Tennis 2 launch trailer

  • Rodchenko 09/02/2012

    Was hoping that in between the demo and the final release EA had figured out that Nadal practically never plays at the net. Guess I was too naive... Reply 0

  • Does Fallout NV PS3 lag explain Skyrim issues?

  • Rodchenko 05/12/2011

    Well, tbh, I actually love the persistence of the world items.

    In every other game corpses fade away or magically dissolve into bubbles, chests are refilled and areas that you return to have enemies which respawn for the umpteenth time. Here I come across a wolf's carcass and it reminds me that I killed it 40 hours ago when I was still a miserable level 2 character and there I come across the skeleton of the first dragon I killed - they are both part of my 'history' so to say. I find that rather amazing, that the game keeps track of all these things. Then again, I am playing on the 360...

    That said, the game does remove killed NPCs, doesn't it? There is at least one instance I can think of (entering Markrath for the first time) where someone who is killed disappears upon entering the city again at a later time     Reply +2

  • December PES 2012 patch notes

  • Rodchenko 05/12/2011

    Too late. Reply +2

  • Digital Foundry vs. PS3 Skyrim Lag

  • Rodchenko 03/12/2011

    Had the PS3 version first but traded it in for the 360 one after the face-off. Quite happy with the much crisper textures on the latter and also love that saving takes about a fourth of the time it took on the PS3.

    That said, I had some heavy stuttering in Riverwood yesterday on the Alduin quest – first I noticed so far. Before that two freezes. Other than that it plays like a charm. Only thing I don't like is that the sound is sometimes unintelligible even when you stand two feet next to the speaking character.     Reply 0

  • Guerrilla making a new Killzone - report

  • Rodchenko 18/11/2011

    Somehow this thread makes me feel as if someone turned back the clock to 2006 and farticusmaximus rose from the ashes. Do we really have to go through this again? Reply +3

  • Face-Off: Skyrim

  • Rodchenko 17/11/2011

    @cloudskipa

    "the actual problems facing the PS3 version."?

    I am the first one to admit that the 360 version looks sharper, crisper, more detailed and has apparently a better frame rate (albeit – under certain circumstances – some texture streaming issues, which Richard brushed over rather haphazardly).

    But you make it sound as if the PS3 version was unplayable, which is far from the truth. Aside from the save file bug (which is arguably a bigger issue I am hoping to get patched along the way) my PS3 copy plays just fine and I am loving every bit of this game.

    And Eurogamer: why can't you put the comment field at the end of the comments thread (or even better: repeat it there), thereby avoiding the necessity for endless back scrolling?     Reply +4

  • Digital Foundry vs. Uncharted 3

  • Rodchenko 06/11/2011

    @weebl

    Exactly my thoughts. I loved the broken architecture and lighting of the desert town and if it was for me, ND could have build the entire level just around Drake finding some potable water, and, in doing so, further understrike his loneliness and desperation. Instead they decided to throw yet another stupid enemy wave at him understriking *my* desperation as a player who was already tired of shooting identikit NPCs in the ship level.     Reply +6

  • Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception Review

  • Rodchenko 04/11/2011

    I don't mind the one or the other hissy fit, act of fanboyism or rage. That's the salt and pepper in a gaming forum. What gets on my balls though, is the legion of patronizing fuckwits who constantly feel the need to remind everyone on here that "it's just a number" and "just one man's opinion" and that we should calm down and "judge the game ourselves".

    I come to a gaming forum for the controversial, silly, funny, witty, smart and stupid contributions. Because it's entertaining and giving me laughs. Not because I want to be lectured on the obvious.     Reply +4

  • The first Grand Theft Auto 5 details revealed

  • Rodchenko 02/11/2011

    Apart from 'Los Puerta' not making much (grammatical) sense I am really looking forward to this. Reply 0

  • Welcome to the new Eurogamer

  • Rodchenko 24/10/2011

    Generally like it, even though I would have preferred it to be a bit less 'interface-y' and 'tablet-y' and remain a bit more 'web-y' if you know what I mean. There seem to be more buttons than on the deck of Starship Enterprise and all those 3D effects tend to deviate from the actual content (I also prefer reading text on a clean white bg rather than on something which looks like cheap plastic...)

    Biggest gripe: the body text is way to small for me, especially with that low x-height of the typeface you've chosen. Then again, I am above 40, so I am not in your target group anymore...

    Overall, impressive work, though.     Reply -1

  • Saturday Soapbox: Horrible Bosses

  • Rodchenko 08/10/2011

    I'd love boss-fights if you could skip them. I'd say leave them up to the hardcore or the masochists and award them with trophies or achievements or other perks but give everyone else the option to show the boss a finger and continue with the regular flow of the game.
     Reply +3

  • PES 2012 free DLC detailed

  • Rodchenko 08/10/2011

    "Cant quite work out why the US gets it before the UK. They dont even call it football for god sake."

    Neither does Konami.     Reply +3

  • Retrospective: Formula One Grand Prix

  • Rodchenko 02/10/2011

    Probably one of the first computer games I ever played coming late to the party. Got a patched up Amiga just to play it. I fondly remember the 'no-hands' steering and that Phoenix track. Reply 0

  • PES 2012

  • Rodchenko 29/09/2011

    I have both since Tuesday and as someone who exclusively plays offline, I think they're both rather disappointing again. In FIFA, on the difficulty levels that count, you spent hours watching the CPU dribble forward, turn, dribble backward, turn, dribble sideways, turn and so forth all the while you parade them along the way via a clumsy and counterintuitive new feature called tactical defending. The CPU never seems to shoot from outside the box and they hardly ever cross. It's aggravating to watch.

    In PES, on Pro and Top Player, and after the first five matches which arguably flow nicely, everything becomes too fast and too hectic quickly, even on lower speed settings. It's all designed to fulfill Seabass' vision: a low score line and every match an 'exciting', 'down-to-the-wire' encounter. In order for this to be guaranteed, the CPU regularly ignores the more-than-average stats of its own players and lets even fantasy teams in League 2 of the ML play a Barcelona-style football with pinpoint accuracy in their passes and amazing dribbling skills of their attackers. There is never any careful or halfway believable sideways or build-up play by the CPU – something which you would expect from a miserable second-league team of nobodies. It's always: win the ball, then immediately charge up the field with a string of perfectly timed passes and crosses. And since they all dribble and pass so immaculately, it's rather aggravating to defend against. Add to that well-known PES staples – such as 'magic' injury time blackouts by your defense, scripted deflections (which go the CPUs way in what seems like 9 out of 10 cases), an outdated over-reliance on 'super cancel' and familiar phases of AI momentum in which your players suddenly seem to walk on a limb – and it's equally annoying.

    I wish reviewers would recalibrate their scores on these games in the future a bit. Neither of these two games deserve an 8 let alone a 9 especially considering where other sports games are at this point.     Reply +9

  • FIFA 12 Review

  • Rodchenko 25/09/2011

    Still very much on the fence about this. I found the demo to be rather tedious with the AI opponent endlessly passing the ball around in midfield and since you are only allowed to play two minute halves, there was nothing much to try out.

    That said, I had a chance to play the retail version of PES12 yesterday (for some reason my DVD-rental had the 360 version already in stock, but not the PS3 one) and I was a bit disappointed. I liked the second demo a lot, but the final release felt different in a bad way. Sluggish, scripted and full of silly moments (at one point my full back tried to clear the ball from the touch line near the goal and hit another defender's back from where the ball deflected into the net). However, maybe this was just an effect of me not being used to playing it with the heavy Xbox controller.     Reply -1

  • Battlefield 3 "much closer to reality"

  • Rodchenko 09/09/2011

    Good thing. I hated the pop-cultural references and 'funny' puns the protagonists in Bad Company 2's SP campaign constantly spat out while shooting people in the face left and right or blowing up villages. I know it's just a game, but picturing war as 'cool' and 'fun' is just a tad too cynical in my book. Glad, they've grown up. Reply +1

  • Konami scraps 1st PES 2012 Xbox demo

  • Rodchenko 07/09/2011

    I liked the demo. Well, compared to the offerings of the last three years anyway. I think it has the potential of becoming the best 'next-gen' PES which, frankly, would be about time.

    But, god, do PES-fanboys get on my nerves. Every year the same bullshit: "You need to practice it, in order to master it" – for which computer game out there doesn't this apply? "It only clicks after n games" – wouldn't it be much cooler if it clicked right away? "It's an art form" – No it's not. It's about football. "PES is for men, FIFA is for boys" – oh, just fuck off.

    Why can't anyone appreciate that there are two decent football games we can pick from, both with their individual strengths and weaknesses? We are actually much better off than years ago, when PES 6 seemed the only viable option. So rejoice.     Reply +4

  • Resistance 3

  • Rodchenko 06/09/2011

    Great review and looking forward to this series back on track after the abysmal second game. The only thing I personally don't agree with is the boss fights part. I think it's boss fights proper, and not the 'glowing pieces' in them, which are outdated and uninnovative, and at least as lame and annoying as journals or collectibles. Reply +3

  • F1 2011

  • Rodchenko 02/09/2011

    Second the curbs issue. Some of them (Singapore!) where way too high. And thank god that bloody Bahrain infield is no longer... Reply +2

  • Forza 4 shows off new Alps track

  • Rodchenko 05/08/2011

    @WinterSnowBlind

    It's still a bit funny imo, that they used the *exact* same location (Bernese Alps, Grindelwald region with its magnificent Eiger, MΓΆnch and Jungfrau mountains) that appeared in GT5's Eiger-course and pretend as if no one else has ever had this idea before ;). Then again, Polyphony doesn't own the copyright on the Bernese mountains....     Reply 0

  • PES 2012

  • Rodchenko 03/08/2011

    What Zomoniac said.

    Maybe two things missing in his list: one, the demo always feels more fluid and less scripted than the release copy, and two, the guys over at WENB basically pulling a 180 on everything they said about last year's version and drooling over features in the new release which practically address problems that have been pointed out ages ago by the less ardent supporters, but were always denied with foaming mouths to exist in the first place.     Reply +2

  • PES 2012 release date announced

  • Rodchenko 28/07/2011

    Once you learn and master PES 2011 with extended play, you'll realize how amazing it is. Not just 5 minutes of the demo and thinking its crap.

    I gave last year's game about 100 matches and I still thought it was crap. Robotic, on-rails, sluggish, scripted, full of dumb teammate AI and overall annoying as hell. Sorry. Sold it along with FIFA which was crap too, but for it's own reasons.

    I will be getting both again, hoping that either (or both) can deliver this time around. But I am increasingly tired of reading the same PES-fanboy drivel every year: "you need to master it. you need to practice it. It's for the real fans. It only shows its jewels after extended play." Blah, blah, blah.

    In my opinion the very opposite is true: we all know how football plays, how passes, dribblings, shooting, tackling, speed and weight of the ball should feel. It's no rocket science. If it doesn't klick within the first 30 minutes or remains to feel awkward, sluggish, robotic or too heavy afterwards, then it IS probably shit and it will remain shit even after game number 423.     Reply +1

  • Fresh PES 2012 in-game action

  • Rodchenko 14/07/2011

    Looks like they've finally changed the nets. Yay. Everything else: let's wait and see. We've been promised a 'completely overhauled AI' and 'real freedom of play' too many times. And Murphy's presentation style is about as stiff and robotic as the gameplay on show. Reply 0