Pro Evolution Soccer 2012
A triumphant return to form for the only serious rival to ‘FIFA’; the new ‘Pro Evolution Soccer’ (‘PES’) has at last rediscovered its leadership qualities.
‘PES’ is back, and what a relief. Several hours in the company of this true next-generation ‘Pro Evolution Soccer’ has provided revelation after revelation. And this is only in the offline modes – online isn’t active until 29 September, after which we can revisit this page for the final word.
Before breaking it down, our overall impression of ‘PES 2012’ is that the series now stands apart in a very positive way from its nemesis ‘FIFA’. In recent years ‘PES’ has become a poor man’s ‘FIFA’, oddly because ‘FIFA’ took what ‘PES’ had previously done so well then polished it to higher standards.
Now that the real ‘PES’ has arrived we can see that it has emerged as a different beast entirely. Forgoing, right or wrong, too much extravagant in-game presentation, the focus is on the game, pure and simple. No, scratch that. We mean pure and substantially complex.
The impact is deep, but gradual. You won’t be blown away within the first hour, or even two. Give ‘PES 2012’ time to reveal its subtleties however and what begins with a thin-lipped smile transforms into a huge grin as you realise that this is a whole new game of console football.
With respect, it is still true that ‘PES’ lacks the same devotion to lower-league teams and of course disappoints with its absent Premier League licenses. But as with the ‘PES’ series classics of old, ‘PES 2012’ gives football fans reason to reconsider which of this season’s football giants to follow.
The ‘PES 2012’ offline breakdown is as follows…
All the good things
Despite clubs such as Arsenal still going by such weedy monikers as North London, player likenesses are astounding. Real Madrid’s Ozil and cover star Cristiano Ronaldo are spitting images of their real-life counterparts. Since the ‘PES’ series only features the top clubs it can afford to go the whole hog on detail and has undoubtedly done so.
Despite clubs such as Arsenal still going by such weedy monikers as North London, player likenesses are astounding. Real Madrid’s Ozil and cover star Cristiano Ronaldo are spitting images of their real-life counterparts. Since the ‘PES’ series only features the top clubs it can afford to go the whole hog on detail and has undoubtedly done so.
But the real star is the gameplay that now encourages us to see the entire playing field in addition to head-to-head battles. Prior to ‘PES 2012’ console football felt sectionalised and idiosyncratic. By improving the artificial intelligence of individual players as well as the behaviour of teams overall, ‘PES 2012’ means that more players are aware of their roles at any one time. This is no more magnificently displayed than when struggling against Barcelona, in computer form mirroring the relentless pressing game of Guardiola’s legendary side while Messi demonstrates his trademark give and go, or else go… and keep on going until he scores.
Basically, if you love your team or fear (out of respect) your rivals, you will recognise their play style instantly in ‘PES 2012’. This is major.
While your team is in possession, new off-the-ball options allow you to encourage attacking players to make runs when you need them most, rather than waiting for somebody’s light-bulb to flash. Activating the desired runners is tricky, as with most of the clever stuff in ‘PES 2012’, but jamming the R3 (right-analogue stick) plus a direction soon feels comfortable. Main thing is that the results change the flow of gameplay so much for the better that we already can’t imagine playing without.
Similarly corner-kicks give you enhanced control of the 18-yard box by allowing you to choose the receiving player – or the guy you’d like your opponent to believe is the most dangerous. Peeling away from defenders to win a header that leads to a goal is a new skill you’ll feel proud to own.
The new ‘FIFA’ has a new physics-based system to calculate the effects of player collision, but the ‘PES 2012’ method could prove superior. It’s certainly less prone to silliness. The creative team behind ‘PES’ experimented with jostling in last year’s game, which didn’t turn out so well, but now it makes sense and the new physicality allows for not only convincing animations resulting from tackles, but believable situations where attacking players are shielding the ball or defenders use their strength to win back the ball. It has you gritting your teeth in some circumstances while buying enough time to find a man nearest the ball, and if this results in an attempt on goal it’s a small victory.
Indeed, ‘PES 2012’ is all about the small victories. It is now safe to look beyond the Champions League and League Cup modes for reasons to believe that ‘PES’ can be the equal of ‘FIFA’. This isn’t about how much the new Club Boss mode adds in terms of value (time consuming and rewarding but you’re still better off with ‘Football Manager’), or how much you’re looking forward to taking Master League online. ‘PES 2012’ very deliberately plots a new path to the future of console football, and this time doesn’t make it easy for competitors to follow.
Stuff we don’t like
Presentation within the Training Challenges is almost non-existent. We wanted to be trained, not left to figure it out for ourselves. Since ‘PES 2012’ offers such a wealth of feints and tricks, and retains its ‘mind’s eye’ approach to taking free kicks and corner kicks, more visual clues would’ve helped.
Presentation within the Training Challenges is almost non-existent. We wanted to be trained, not left to figure it out for ourselves. Since ‘PES 2012’ offers such a wealth of feints and tricks, and retains its ‘mind’s eye’ approach to taking free kicks and corner kicks, more visual clues would’ve helped.
Regrettably the cut-scenes for Football Life mode look dated, and the miniscule captions that spell out the dreary dialogue only add to the low-budget feel. It’s better than having still images of blokes yelling and looking concerned during negotiations we suppose, but even so this is embarrassing.
Commentary isn’t all that impressive, but is it ever? We heard Jon Champion talk about the art of dribbling way too many times before silencing him alongside Jim Beglin. Then you can’t help notice that the crowds sound more like food rioters than football fans, with many unrecognisable chants.
We will never be truly happy until Konami brings us fully-licensed Premier League teams and home grounds. And until ‘PES’ can bring us every league club in the country, or even the Championship would be a start, many thousands of fans are forced to consult the edit mode. Admittedly the edit mode remains the best in class… if only it didn’t need to be this way.
Should you buy it?
We’re going out on a limb to say that ‘PES 2012’ is the very best in the series, and everything this suggests to fans that have weathered the worst of it. The success of this new game’s online suite such as Facebook integration and establishing private leagues is yet to be decided. However for games against pals in the same living room, rest assured there is a wealth of authentic top-notch football to explore.
We’re going out on a limb to say that ‘PES 2012’ is the very best in the series, and everything this suggests to fans that have weathered the worst of it. The success of this new game’s online suite such as Facebook integration and establishing private leagues is yet to be decided. However for games against pals in the same living room, rest assured there is a wealth of authentic top-notch football to explore.
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