Another year, another chance for PES to claim the top running spot from FIFA’s largely uncontested reign of dominance. Always prioritising substance over style, Konami’s approach to football games is as stubborn as it is long running. Can PES finally pull one back after years of away losses?
Sporting the official licences of the UEFA Champions League and Manchester United leads it off to a good start, other teams and leagues are also fully represented, but these two should garner some attention at least. The acquisition of one of the worlds largest football teams is understandable in terms of fan service, yet the decision to spend big on the UEFA Champions League is questionable to me. The only real differences between that and a generic cup are simply some ‘official’ fancy graphics behind the tables before and after a match. It’s a nice touch, but a lot more fun is to be had in Master League.
Essentially a career mode that lets you play about with team management, signings, financial situations and the like, Master League is where you’ll likely be spending most of your time. It’s inevitably fun dragging your favourite team, kicking and screaming up the league, outperforming the so called ‘greats’ and finally winning that fabled, shiny cup you’ve been eyeing up. There are only two issues marring this great experience, the first being the frequent and oh so lengthy load times, if you opt for short games, you’ll find yourself pondering upon the ratio of time spent waiting at menus and load screens, to actually playing the game itself. Which isn’t good. The second, somehow more infuriating, problem being the infamous resilience of Konami to modernise their bland, uninspired and unintuitive menus. FIFA gets around both of these issues with both ease and grace. Their pause menus resemble a smartphone/tablet interface whereas PES’s look like they’ve been ripped straight from the PS2. When FIFA loads a match, you jump into a training mode, along with objectives to complete whilst you wait. In PES, you get a generic load screen with no indication of progress to gaze at disparately.
When you do finally make it to a game, you’re in for quite the treat however. Subtle controls and delicacy will serve you well once some of the assists are turned off. The physics of both the ball, the players momentum and their inertia factor in to create a more realistic sense of immersion. Getting shots on target is easy, precise placement of said shot is another story. Overcooking it even just a little will turn a guaranteed effort into a laughable skyward miss. Fortunately, there are always options available to you in front of goal, a chip or a slower, more deliberate shot are both performed via holding a shoulder button whilst shooting. Alternatively the brave, or those with just more experience, can opt for a manual shot. Despite requiring more pad dexterity, if performed correctly, is often a superior attempt.
Defending has been given a slight tweak in that it’s more about controlling the attacker and altering pace as opposed to jabbing limbs in their vague direction; hoping they don’t make a meal of it. Positioning is paramount and trying to perfectly maintain speed whilst wingers are flying past, tempting both you and the opposition into making a move is hard, satisfying when accomplished correctly, but hard nonetheless. The through ball is the deadliest tool I’ve noticed, often splitting defenders wide open, literally leaving them standing whilst a lurking striker pounces.
There are of course the feints and the dummies to help progress the attack, yet these are incredibly difficult to perform and time correctly. The returning training mode attempts to place you in familiar scenarios and then teach you how to progress, the problem being that the instructions are disconcertingly vague and often leave you floundering around trying to guess the timings of the required moves.
Once the AI is set to a comfortable level, the games flow smoothly; probably more realistically than FIFA. Unless the computer is set to a brain dead, moronic level, you won’t be smashing in goals left right and centre. The AI holds the ball, makes smart passes and aggressively attacks when the times right. Of course at some point, you’ll want to test your battle hardened skills against scary, real life people.
When you’re bored of thrashing your same screen, couch companion, the online proving grounds are your reward. Two main options are available, either the simple, jump-in, play against the most ‘over powered’ teams and rage because you want to play as your home town team. Or, the infinitely more entertaining Master League Online in which it vaguely mirrors the offline mode. You start by picking a league that represents your playstyle: Galactico, Association, Continental and Lega Catenaccio, each of these specialise in certain player types; give discounts for signings if they correspond. For example, the Association specialises in fast and physical styles, so purchasing a player with these qualities whilst you’re in the Association league will be cheaper than if not. Of course that’s only the start, winning, and to an extent, losing will earn you points to spend on more competent signings; inevitably, this is where the addiction starts! Building your squad of nobodies who can’t score for toffee into a ferocious team of unrelenting force is the dream to chase; maybe one day, achieve…
Despite utilising many new and impressive player movement systems, physics engines and the like, it can look a little rough around the edges. Player animation looks and feels great, but the detail on the crowd looks a tad outdated. Sound effects are competent but the commentators repeat themselves far too often, you may well hear the same lines recycled several times in one match and it just comes across as stunted and breaks the immersion time after time.
As far as the gameplay goes, once you finally get past the loading screens, it doesn’t get a lot smoother than PES. Matches play out well, the handling feels weighty yet fluid and the online Master League is predictably addictive. The consistent downside of Pro Evo remains to be the presentation and distinct lack of consideration to newcomers; that’s what will continue to keep it down unless it swallows it’s pride, let’s go of it’s ancient ‘distinct’ look and learns from it’s peers.
Reviewed on PS3, also available on Xbox 360, PC, PSP, PS2 and 3DS.
