By guest: Brett Cocking
In short
We asked one of South Africa’s biggest soccer games’ fans – Brett Cocking [aka PW7H3AD ZA] to review the latest offering from Konami – PES 2012. Brett has played every soccer game since he could sit up with a controller in his hand, so here’s a Mega review from a mega critic.
Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
For fans of: Soccer games, good sport games
Reviewed on: Playstation 3
Also available on: Xbox 360, PC and those other devices people game on
If we had to give it a numerical score: 8.9/10
Review
When it comes to football games, there are 2 very distinct audiences. The gamer who enjoys football, and the football enthusiast who enjoys games. While they sound very similar, each group is looking for something different in their football game experience.
The gamer prefers a game he can pick up and play at any time, one which is accurate to the sport while still offering the excitement of a video game. Being able to use more tricks than Cristiano Ronaldo and Ronaldinho combined to score is a good thing, whereas the football enthusiast wants the most accurate, in-depth simulation of the sport. They will get their enjoyment from playing the game how they want, creating moves from the back and strategically creating space in the defence to take advantage of, to score their goals.
Creating a game to suite both audiences is one of the biggest tasks for both the Fifa and PES franchises. EA has found a good balance with their recent Fifa titles while Konami have struggled, and as a result Fifa has become the primary football game for both the casual gamer and football enthusiast. Konami have been steadily improving on their Pro Evolution Soccer series, to the point where PES 2012 is the game which is expected to compete with Fifa once again… but does it?
Boasting the slogan “Play It Your Way” and their new intelligent AI system, Active AI, Konami took the fight to EA where it really matters, on the pitch. The Active AI system promised a lot, and it delivered. The options available to you when you are on the ball are incredible. Whether its an overlapping fullback, a midfielder making himself available for an easy pass or the striker making a clever run in behind the defence, you are never without an option to take the attack forward.
Your players will also make sure that, while you are building your attack, you are never left vulnerable at the back. Should your fullback make a run up the field, one your other players, usually the defensive midfielder, will move across and cover the space he left to avoid being hit on the counter. If you are defending a break away and you send your keeper out to close the attacker down, your defenders will run back and attempt to cover the goal line. There is even an AI assistance option which will allow your players to shoot, pass and defend when you don’t have control of them. This means that you will very rarely be let down by the AI because you couldn’t take control of all your players you needed to at once.
The Active AI doesn’t just stop on your side of the field either, the AI teams boast the exact same intelligence as your team. They also have the uncanny ability to adapt to your style of play during the game. If you play too one dimensionally, after a certain period of time (depending on the level of opposition) you will find that not only are you struggling to play but the opposition is starting to bombard your goal. This adds an extra amount of difficulty to the game, which will be welcomed by fans of the series and football enthusiasts alike but means a fairly steep learning curve for a newcomer.
Konami have also introduced Teammate control, a feature which allows you to target a secondary player off the ball with the right analog stick and instruct him to make a run. There are two settings you can select from, Automatic which will have the selected player make a straight run forward and manual which allows you to completely control the direction his run with right stick. It takes some getting used to but once perfected adds a whole new dimension to your game, whether its opening up space for the player with the ball to run into, or simply getting you striker to make a run into the box to receive an early cross.
Teammate Control is also available at set pieces, allowing you to take control of a player during a corner or indirect free kick and have him make the run you want. Not having to rely on the AI to make the runs for you during set pieces adds a new importance to set pieces which hasn’t really been seen in any football game until this one.
While the AI system works incredibly well with the outfield players and allows you play the style of football you want, the game is let down by some minor problems with your players in the goal. The keepers have been improved upon over last years game, they are particularly good at saving free kicks as well as coming out to punch balls to safety and they De Gea is only the only keeper who drops balls (Not really, they all handle catches well), the problems lies with shots. The issue remains, where you will score what you think is a great goal, only to find out during the replay that the ball went right past the keepers head in a manner even Heurelho Gomes would be ashamed of. Luckily the keeper problems are pretty well masked by the impeccable AI of the defenders in front of them, not to mention that for every mistake they make, they tend to make up for with an incredible save moments later.
The entire gameplay experience is completed by the close control and reaction speed of the players, a player like Messi isn’t dangerous because you can wiggle the analog stick and he does trick, he’s dangerous because you can slalom in and out of defenders just as he does in real life. This close control and reaction time not only allows you to make space for a cross or a shot, but it also allows you to take advantage of even the smallest gaps in the defence at a moments notice and use it to beat multiple defenders at a time.
Defending this sort of thing can be tricky at first, especially against a player with great ball control, but with the simplified defending controls, your options are simplified to jockey, tackle and teammate tackle. Tackling is now all about your timing, jockey the attacker until you get the opportunity to go in for the tackle, choose the wrong moment and the attacker could get the bit of space they need to get the shot or cross in, get it right and you will walk away with the ball leaving the attacker with only the screams of his teammates. This gives defending a very realistic feel while remaining simple enough to pick up in a few minutes.
Overall, the gameplay is truly something you have to experience to fully understand. There is a slight issue with balance, particularly between the lower and higher rated players. Shooting with a lower rated player can, at times, lead to the shot hovering awkwardly above the ground for too long a period before reaching its destination. These strange shooting physics don’t apply to the higher rated players, if you shoot with a player like Ronaldo, not only will it rocket towards goal but it also moves around in the air. This only becomes a problem when you have a small team up against a big team. It makes taking those precious few chances extremely difficult and makes the match a somewhat frustrating experience.
Graphically, the game looks great, particularly during night games. The lighting during the day doesn’t quite have a realistic feel to it, it looks too artificial to be sunshine. The player models are a near perfect likeness of the vast majority of the players and the detail in the veins on their neck, hairs on their arms and the way the shirts react to the players movement is quite astonishing.
The animations, while much improved over last year, still have hints of jerkiness which can make the game look slightly lacking in fluidity. It isn’t something you pick up while you’re playing but becomes fairly apparent when you are watching a game.
Konami’s attention to detail really comes to the fore when you take a look around the stadiums, the whole place looks alive. The supporters wear their teams colours and you can clearly make out the away end. They also stand up in anticipation when you get near the goal. It is not only the supporters though, around the stadium you can see stewards who will occasionally turn around in their chair to watch the game, officials in suits who walk up and down and sometimes even stop for a chat with another official. On the half way line, there are television cameramen who follow the ball throughout the game as well as photographers in the corners who follow the players as they run down the wing or take a corner. These are little things that won’t be noticed while playing a game but they are always going on in the background, adding to the overall televised feel of the game.
The commentary is the only aspect which ruins the realism, and it is by far the game’s biggest downfall. Having no commentary at all is better than listening to Jon Champion and Jim Beglin go on about a match that seems to be happening somewhere else.
The referees in PES 2012 are much better than previous years, none of them seem to be on Man United’s books, the decisions are always fair and justifiable. The only issue is with advantages. If the ref decides to play advantage, any possible cards that would have been given are simply forgotten about. The ref will never go back and issue a card for a foul which occurred during the run of play. It is not something game breaking but it definitely affects the games overall realism.
As for game modes, all the usuals are on offer, Exhibition, Champions League, Copa Libertadores, Cups, Leagues, Online, Become a Legend, Master League, as well as the new Club Boss mode, which first has to be unlocked using credits earned for playing matches.
Club Boss is an interesting mode where you take on the role of club chairman, you hire a manager to manage your club and give him a transfer budget from your personal funds. You can also “suggest” to your manager which tactics the team should play as well as which players to sign, you even get the option to add a bit more of your funds towards securing that player you want signed. In essence, you play as Roman Abramovich. The aim of Club Boss is to make as much money as possible. While it is an interesting concept, there isn’t enough interaction to add any longevity, playing a full season will be an accomplishment in itself.
Master League is the game mode you will be spending most of you time in. It has received a nice revamp this year, you start with default players in division 2 and work your way up as usual however the bombardment of text menus from previous years has been replaced with visuals. You will now spend most of your time in Master League with your Head Coach, he will update you on the results of training, negotiations, and players who want to talk to you (they usually just come to moan about not getting a place in the team, most of them are packing quite an attitude too). Before each game, the head coach will give you a run down on the upcoming opposition, with the use of his trusty whiteboard, he will tell you the formation they are expected to play, what style they will adopt, who their key players are and the best method of beating them. The club chairman will also occasionally send some “missions” to complete for a small reward. These usually entail playing a certain player or not receiving any cards in an upcoming match.
With the user created manager avatar, interaction with the chairman, coach, and player, the whole master league experience is taken out of your imagination and brought to life in front of you, making it more engrossing than ever before. There is the worry that with the new visuals, things could become rather repetitive but none of the areas stay around long enough at a time to make them repetitive.
Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 is a simply incredible football game. The niggles with the keepers and the commentators do nothing to take away the overall enjoyment of the game. The Active AI system and in-depth formation and tactics allows you to play the game exactly how you want to. Master League alone will keep you entertained for months. Konami have rejuvenated the PES series this year with a brilliant iteration. Does PES 2012 compete with Fifa? It not only competes, it offers a level of gameplay never before seen on a football game. A level of gameplay and sense of accomplishment with every goal that will please both the gamer and the football enthusiast.
Zombiegamer Rating:
*Thanks to Brett for an awesome, insightful review.*
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