With FIFA steadily pulling away from its old rival in the sales charts, PES 2013 has nothing to lose by really pushing the innovation this year - and the results are surprising.
As seems to be football game law these days, Konami's presenting the new game in the form of three pillars: Full Control (PES FC), Advanced AI and Player ID. These didn't exactly blow us away when they were announced earlier this year, but our first hands-on session teases one of the most tactical, exciting Pro Evo instalments in ages.
But the best addition to the attacking side of PES is Full Manual Shooting, which lets you turn off all assistance and perform some ridiculously unpredictable strikes. Konami is still working out its final implementation, but we saw some truly unexpected, fantastic goals with lethal curve and brutal deflection.
The extent of Advanced AI's influence on play isn't hugely apparent yet, but Player ID certainly looks promising. Konami's captured the running, shooting and general stance of 40 to 50 superstar footballers, which means that - combined with the new dribbling systems - you really can feel the difference when controlling Cristiano Ronaldo compared to less talented players.
In action, PES 2013 is slower-paced than its predecessor, so it suddenly feels like a game that demands more creative play - seeking the next killer pass or looking for the top corner with a devastating manual shot. Combined with the great Full Control additions, this year's PES already has the makings of a more tactical, skillful footy game that shakes off last year's 'arcadey' image, and could seriously close some of that gap with FIFA.
3 comments so far...
danhalen74 on 26 Jul '12 said:
does it still have bad presentation and "west london blue versus glasgow green" nonsense? that was always the most annoying thing about pes.....just gets too irritating on repeat plays.
Sakdov on 26 Jul '12 said:
It's got nothing to do with bad presentation and its really not nonsense ... If that 74 at the end of your name represents your birth year then im sure you should understand how the licence issue works by now :S .... If not then the lack of licences is due to exclusive rights purchased with a truck load of cash by EA so only Fifa can have them... Konami have to do the best they can with what that can have.
Personally looking at PES and kicking it the curb or having negative comments just because of the lack of licences is not the best thing to do tbh ... Its a cracking game in terms of gameplay and at this very moment is the best football game you can play (ive been playing fifa 12 for the last 6 months but we have yet to get or hands on fifa13 but can see it having too much spit and polish and not enough gameplay again).
delmariachi on 28 Jul '12 said:
Played the demo and It would be nice if they fix the standing players when there's a header from a goalkick, Am i missing something with say a jostle button or something as depite my constant hopes of it returning to some glory, the very idea that 2 players stand and wait to jump for a ball drives me insane... Gameplay looking promising but the physical side needs sorting, Really cannot complain when I can actually beat an AI player with skills... either that or i'm just crap at FIFA....