Review – PES 2012 

Football

1-0 (Helguson, pen 10.  Sent off:  Bosingwa, Drogba).

Mike

Konami wade back into the deep end with their yearly outing of the long-running footy sim and, for the first time in years, it’s a genuinely smart, punishing experience.

Last year’s engine is back in place and has now been tuned up to include some clever AI that’s willing to run around you. It’s a very welcome sight to see movement on the pitch which seemed absent (at first) from last year’s effort. That said, the opposition AI will work just as hard to close you down and space is at a premium. That, in theory, is where the new teammate controls come in. Click the right stick in and you can control a teammate and move him off the ball to create space. Sadly, in open play that’s yet another thing to think about and it’ll not always pick up the player you’re thinking of. It seems much more effective from set pieces as you create dummy runs and try to free up space for a target.

Basically not in-game at all.

There’s also new defensive controls which somewhat mimic what EA did with FIFA 12. You’re encouraged to jockey and contain threats, rather than steaming up with challenges. You’ll quickly realize this as you get countless fouls against you. Now, I never got on with FIFA’s defending and it’s still something of a learning experience here. It’s rewarding to land a sliding challenge on attackers and keeping a clean sheet against a top side.

Game modes remain largely the same with Master League returning with a few new tweaks. You take on club management on a daily basis and now have some communication between your players, as well as objectives being landed at your feet by club directors that range from giving prospects game time to qualifying for tournaments. It adds just a little bit more to a consistently engrossing mode. The online equivalent is equally time-consuming and runs fairly smooth. The option to watch highlights of online tournaments is neat.

Like why bother? Seriously.

Negatively speaking, goalkeepers do seem eccentric. Meanwhile, lofted through balls seem to be completely taken out of the equation and fatigue is now completely off the scale, leading to a lot of squad rotation.

However, your biggest hurdle in this game will be how it plays. The AI is brutal and will punish you. On top of this, every team seems to carry a different threat so settling on a way of playing is close to impossible. Plus, with the AI being so sharp across the pitch, the hard swings between success and failure are very evident. I’m hearing many say it’s broken but, defeat never feels unfair to me. I’m not cheated out of wins, just outplayed.

It’s easy to see why this game has been so well-received. It’s an intelligent effort with the smartest AI since the PlayStation 2 glory days but it also mounts a serious challenge for those willing to pit themselves against the AI. Those wary might want to wait for a price drop.

Rating: 7/10