Football games haven’t been as pure or nearly as immersive as Pro Evolution Soccer 3 on the PlayStation 2. Sure, the graphics may have improved immeasurably, the physics might be more realistic and the tempo might be be closer to the real thing, but they just feel increasingly synthetic with each passing year.
Tight deadlines can understandably mean that yearly versions of football games have incremental improvements each year with FIFA 16 looking like having the slightest ones yet. Having been on the EA Sports team since FIFA 11, I wasn’t exactly convinced by this year’s offering and decided to look to Japan for my football fix with Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 to see if the gap had been bridged. So far I am pretty convinced.
Unfairly overlooked by many, PES has struggled ever since making the leap to previous gen on the PS3 and 360. It lacked a lot of the magic that made it predecessors some of the greatest football games of all time and often said to be a hollow experience. With the release of the demo for PES 2016, that could be about to change.
Right from the off, there are noticeable improvements from previous incarnations: the pace is far quicker and the ball seems to work with you instead of against you. Passages of play are fluid and superbly satisfying once you string a few passes together, but don’t expect the opposition to let you waltz past them. Unlike FIFA, a speedy winger can’t just accelerate past a defender – they will close you down and harry incessantly, even doubling up on you from time to time. Once they’re in possession again, their counter-attacking is formidable; the AI in PES 2016 is anything but sluggish.
FIFA does a great job with the little details, which is something that PES hasn’t really embraced before; it’s always been more focused on the overall picture. The extra touches here are quite welcome and add a sense of immersion that were missing from earlier Pro Evolution Soccer games. Players always look to put a block in, celebrations are much improved (although still quite simplistic) and the variety of passing techniques is quite impressive also. More skillful players will look for the through ball with the outside of their foot and there are also many neat little flicks on the layoff that are pleasing to pull off.
It’s hard not to compare the game to FIFA as it does play more like it than ever before, though it is comforting to see one of the scourges of EA’s moneymaking monolith isn’t nearly as effective here: the lobbed through ball. Defenders will often put the block in too quickly for you to pull one off properly and they aren’t always accurate, which is realistic. Not sure if that will be the case online too, but here’s hoping. Crossing also feels satisfying when you manage to connect with a teammate and corners are much improved too. Don’t even ask me about free-kicks, it’s some kind of  crazy algorithm to get the ball over the wall and down again.
Pro Evo is infamous for being equal parts ugly and beautiful, a reputation achieved no doubt because of dodgy sex pest Rafael and remission Kyle Walker. This year’s outing sees some of the most sumptuous visuals ever committed to a sports game with the likenesses being spot-on for the most part. More detail is also apparent in the crowd animations but the officials still look completely dead inside, which I guess is reflective of real life.
Of course, being a yearly release, 2016’s Pro Evolution Soccer isn’t without its faults. The goalkeepers often flap at the ball like a hummingbird on a hundred Red Bulls, meaning they allow the squeakiest of goals to creep in on a regular basis. When the day comes that a football game has perfect goalkeeping mechanics, I will burn my Everton shirt and put a Liverpool one on instead, i.e. it’s never going to happen.
Although a feature limited demo is hardly the best way to find out if I should be spending £50 on a game or not, Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 has successfully made me think twice before playing for Team FIFA this year.
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