eFootball 1.0 is out, offers improved ball physics and Dream Team mode

Upon its initial, half-formed release, eFootball – Konami’s renamed successor to PES – quickly became the worst rated game on Steam. It still now has a mere 15% positive reviews. Yet Konami haven’t given up and have now released v1.0.0 of the limping kick ’em up, promising a “new gameplay approach.”

Here’s a trailer, which breaks down the changes and additions.

Those changes include: better balls, better kicking of balls, and a “Dream Team” mode where you can construct your own squad and level their stats.

It’s pretty basic stuff, made fancy by an accompanying press release which claims that “the help of research institutes in Japan” has led to a more natural ball trajectory. There are also now “Stunning Kicks”, which are a special type of pass, cross or through-ball described as “ground-breaking.” They look less impressive in the video above, in which a through-ball is played between opponent players, all of whom are turned away from the ball and running towards their own goal before it’s even kicked. counterfleeing.

The update also brings new licensed leagues from Japan and North America, and on April 21st various PvP tournaments will begin that let players compete against one another in divisions from which they can be promoted or relegated.

A glance at the eFootball Reddit community suggests people are pretty happy with the ball kicking post-update, but still disappointed by the relatively paltry selection of available modes, the limited availability of teams outside training mode, and more ways in which it sounds like a thin package.

These criticisms are expressed with greater frustration, as they were at the initial launch, by the two-year gap between this eFootball and the previous game in the normally yearly series. People like PES and they had expectations that the longer development time would produce an even better game of football. Alas, it seems unlikely that any update will reverse the review scores now. That’s a shame because FIFA could sure use the competition.