When it’s on the ground it looks heavy and seems to slow a little too quickly (often making running animations look a little mistimed) but when it’s off the ground it seems to float like a beach ball. Finally, the ball physics still seem a little awry. Goalkeepers are solid most of the time but once the ball is in the six-yard box they seem to give up and just watch. Tackling is still difficult, with around ninety percent of sliding tackles resulting in fouls, whether the tackle is from the front, side or behind and regardless of whether the ball was won cleanly. There are a few issues with gameplay which cling on from previous versions.
As with all earlier releases of Pro Evo, the transfers are not particularly up to date. In fact, many of you might want to make the player transfer section your first port of call. There is always the option to get stuck in with the club- and player-editors yourself and tweak every aspect of your chosen team. If you can live with the likes of Chelsea being called London FC and West Midlands Village representing the city within a city that is Aston you’ll be fine. Fans are already readying a save file for release which will put all the correct club badges and kits into the game but that is entirely unofficial. There are still many licences missing, and to some that might be an issue. Menus are quick and responsive, player models and likenesses are better than any previous incarnations and the Champions League and Copa Libertadores licences are used to their fullest. As with everything else in Pro Evolution Soccer, you must time it right and only ever use it in the right situation. That’s not to say that you can just wiggle the right stick and dance through the opposition though. You can even use the link Feint editor to build your own sequences of tricks to mesmerise defences. Combining the right stick, left stick (for directional movement during tricks) and left shoulder button you can perform a huge array of feints, dummies and tricks very easily. During open play the right stick can be used to perform certain skills with the ball, from step-overs and feints to rainbow flicks and even diving. The new system of building flair moves onto the right analogue stick is an inspired move. It just got hidden beneath a layer of stilted controls and cumbersome animation. The deep-lying need to build from the back, apply pressure and use your vision to create chances has never left the series. I feel that over recent years PES has, to a degree, lost its way. I’ve owned every Pro Evo release with the exception of 2010’s. Ever since it was International Superstar Soccer I could appreciate its depth and accuracy. This is a review of Pro Evolution Soccer and, for the most part, we’re going to judge it on its own merits. The other half just want to know if it’s better than the other game. Both have fans that are entrenched in their chosen franchise and blind to the merits of the opposition.ĭeep down, of course, you know that half of the people reading the review have already decided which of the big two they’re going to get and are just looking for ammunition for the next year of arguments with fans of the opposing franchise. Both are packed with features to a point where it’s difficult to cover everything in the detail it may deserve. Writing a review for one of the two big football/soccer franchises is often a thankless task.