Andy Naylor reviews PES 2015…
The days when PES was the undisputed footballing champion of the console world are long gone. In fact, it’s nearly a decade since PES reigned supreme. In the years since, it’s fall from grace has been startling. It’s critical record on Xbox 360 and PS3 is nothing short of shameful, to the point where it’s been a completely irrelevant release to many football fans. The problem seemed to be that the game had so many flaws and every year nothing seem to be addressed, Konami just chucked out another version without every improving it. Well you know what, it might finally have clicked, PES is back!
The readiness for instant disappointment when playing the first game on PES 2015 just never materialised. At no point during any game had disgust or displeasure reared their ugly heads, in their stead were joy, pride and anticipation of the next match. Frankly speaking, no one wants to be playing FIFA. There’s a self-loathing involved in buying and enjoying FIFA, knowing that you’ve helped make EA just a little bit more money that will go towards extorting you some more in following years.
It’s clear that Konami’s budget for PES 2015 is significantly smaller than EA’s is for FIFA. The noticeable lack of substantial team licenses is still an issue that quality game play can still not overhaul. Everyone would prefer to play as ‘Arsenal’ rather than their PES counterpart, ‘North London Red’. It’s probably an issue that will never go away, but it is little details like this to hold PES back compared to the glitz and glamour surrounding FIFA. It’s not only that which is a problem, the menu flow and game modes menus are a long way away from user friendly and intuitive. While all these issues are hardly deemed important to a football game, they continue to keep the player and arm’s length and allow themselves to be immersed in the game as a whole.
That being said, once you’ve trudged through the menus, set your line up (the team management screen is another area in dire need of an upgrade) and entered gameplay, the first thing that stands out is how smooth it is. The frame rate is simply outstanding. Words simply cannot give the smoothness displayed in game the credit it deserves, not only does it put FIFA to shame, it puts many other next-gen games shame too. Graphically it is easily on par with FIFA, the only noticeable area it doesn’t match EA’s franchise is the facial modelling, FIFA still holds the advantage there.
Actual gameplay is where Konami appears to have focused hardest. The improvement from the PS3 incarnations of the game is so dramatic you must wonder why it has taken this long. The passing feels comfortable and natural again, while it does have the odd issue when you wish to pass to closer teammates, it prefer to bypass them for some longer pass no matter how gentle the button press, but it’s a negligible issue that also occurs with it’s competitor. The shooting is a dream on PES. The ball feels like it has real weight and behaves in a fashion at least similar to that of the real world. The real downside of FIFA is the ball always seems like it was inspired by the fly-away footballs you win as a consolation prize at a cheap school fair. Hitting a dipping volley in PES has a real feeling of satisfaction to it that is absent from FIFA. The player’s movement has also been upgraded, no longer does each position feel like it’s stuck to a track that it’s impossible to get off of. The AI players make smarter moves, and feels a lot more free-roaming than it has since it’s PS2 days.
One significant area within gameplay that needs work is the goalkeeping. Firstly, I’m not entirely sure the throwing motion used by the keepers was captured from a human being. It’s bizarre, strange and just looks downright weird. However ugly it looks it does work though, unlike some of the goalkeeping AI. More often than you’d care to remember the keeper can be seen punching or parrying shots that even an arthritic pensioner could catch. But that is the only real downside to PES’s gameplay.
The improvement in the franchise is astounding compared to where it was at. PES was in danger of drifting into the void and disappearing altogether, this year’s release proves that Konami still have the ability to make a game that is a worthy rival to EA’s FIFA. While undoubtedly there is still work to be done, improvements to be made and (hopefully) team licenses to be bought, PES 2015 is a huge step in the right direction.
Pros:
Amazingly smooth gameplay
Master League is still the ultimate footballing game mode
Superb ball physics
Cons:
Poor menu systems
No improvements to tactic selections
Big improvements needed for the goalkeepers
Rating: 8/10
Reviewed on Ps4.
Andy Naylor – Follow me on Twitter.
Originally published November 13, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
