Fans have reacted in horror after images of the new eFootball offering from Japanese gaming giants Konami were shared on Thursday, showing Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo looking radically different from reality.
When Konami announced that it would be ditching its Pro Evolution Soccer title and replacing it with eFootball, many fans of the popular video game were game were skeptical about the future of the franchise.
However, when the game finally launched on Thursday many fans were left stunned by how bad the game actually was.
While critics slammed the gameplay and realism of the game, the thing that stood out most to fans was the players’ faces – in particular those of superstars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
The images of pair’s disturbingly distorted mugs were widely shared across social media, with one user simply saying: “Please tell me this is fake.”
Another user simply said “they look drunk”, while one added: “It went from one of the best football games in the world to a game you don't want to play before you go to bed as it can give you nightmares.”
The face scan for Messi is all the more embarrassing when considering that the Argentine is the cover star for the game, and that a previous trailer released by Konami showed him looking almost life-like while he was still at Barcelona.
Others, however, have defended the game, saying it’s not all that bad and the images don’t do it justice.
Konami didn’t release a full game in 2021, instead opting for updated transfers and kits so they could put more focus into getting a version ready for next-gen consoles.