Jump to content
Just visiting?

PES 16

GENTLEMAN

By GENTLEMAN
in Games and Gaming

 Share

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 840
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Popular Posts

Stevo985
Stevo985
Keyblade
Keyblade

So, summer of the 3rd season rolls along and I'm busy in the market once again...especially with a bit of dosh now from my 2nd place finish. Out go Lescott, Guzan, Bacuna and reluctantly Cassano. In c

Stevo985
Stevo985

It all finally clicked last night! FINALLY! Made some changes. The aggressive pressing defensive tactic wasn't working for me. I might go back to it when I have a better squad, but I think the pr

GarethRDR Veteran

GarethRDR

Posted
Posted

Between rather enjoying the demo and the apparent news that the PS4 will be able to import files and images to correct the fake teams (yeah, I know it's sad but I'm too much of a pedant/arsehole to not let the lack of licences bother me), I might just be buying my first PES in years.

I'll still get FIFA as well, as I'm in the perverse minority that actually likes the single player gameplay.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
omariqy Mentor

omariqy

Posted
Posted

Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 Review in Progress

130
Football evolved.

By Chris Schilling Editor's Note: This review-in-progress is based on countless hours spent with the offline game. We'll finalise the review when we've had time to play MyClub and other online features on live servers.

PES 2016 might well be the best football game ever made.

To explain why is something of a challenge. The improvements don't lend themselves easily to snappy back-of-the-box soundbites. I can’t point to a single change or addition that makes all the difference. Rather, it’s a game that has been refined in dozens of small ways, all of which have a cumulatively positive effect. This year, PES has shaken off the last remnants of PS2-era rigidity, delivering a faster, more responsive and more fluid game of football. I’m always a little reluctant to make direct comparisons to FIFA – not least as I’ve only played the demo version of EA Sports’ game – because the two handle in such distinctly different ways. For my money, while FIFA more accurately recreates the look of the sport, PES is the game that most closely captures the feel.

 
For starters, there’s a much stronger sense of physicality this year. It’s most obvious when players jostle for possession (and, indeed, for position). Before, it often felt like outcomes were binary, but it’s no longer quite so predictable. Context is everything: whether you win or lose the ball in a challenge is dependent on a number of factors, taking into consideration the skill of the players involved and their position in relation to the ball and one another. A clean slide tackle is particularly satisfying: contingent on player momentum, they’re among the most tangible demonstrations of your ability to read the game and your opponent. Referees are thankfully more lenient than in real life: you can barrel into a challenge at speed, cleaning out the player as well as winning the ball, but as long as you make contact, it won’t automatically draw a foul. By the same token, if you repeatedly jab X while running alongside an opponent to attempt a standing tackle, rather than waiting for the right moment to step in, then you’re bound to concede a free-kick.

The attacking game has been tweaked, too, and it’s here you’ll first notice the effort Konami has invested in individualising players. Anyone with a low centre of gravity – like Alexis Sanchez, Carlos Tevez and Sergio Aguero – is a joy to control, as these players have the balance to skip over challenges, occasionally stumbling when clipped but always striving to stay on their feet.

 

 

There’s a clear difference between these players and someone like Raheem Sterling, who has whippet-like pace, but his slight build means he’s outmuscled much more easily. You might win the odd free-kick with a bit of trickery, but if you’re planning to use his pace, you’re better off playing the ball in behind for him to sprint onto – aim through balls too close to defenders and he’ll be bundled off it all too easily. Shooting is similarly contextual, and the type of strike noticeably varies from player to player. Tevez in particular has a Howitzer of a right foot, and while you’d ordinarily expect the ball to rise the longer you press the shot button, it’s a joy to see him thundering a low-bouncing strike below the dive of the goalkeeper, fizzing off the surface to send the net billowing. Talking of ‘keepers, they’re more alert and reactive this time around, scrambling across their goal to palm away daisy-cutters, and getting up quickly to lunge at loose balls they’ve just parried.

The idea of player personality goes well beyond the game’s biggest stars. As a Manchester City fan, I naturally gravitated towards them for my first few matches; I expected to find Yaya Toure would be hard to stop when galloping at defenders, and that a typical David Silva through-ball would be a thing of measured perfection. But I was thrilled to see the tenacity of Pablo Zabaleta equally well represented, while Aleksandar Kolarov’s marauding runs down the left would invariably result in a cross whipped in with a palpable increase in pace from the norm. It works both ways, of course: Vincent Kompany might be imperious in the air, but his tendency to step up and try to win the ball early can be exploited by clever tactics. One opponent was able to use this to his advantage, regularly finding gaps down the channels until I made a change to tighten things up. Like last year’s game, some players are clearly overpowered, but then that’s true to life: Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are close to unplayable, but it’s up to you to find a way to deal with them, whether it’s doubling-up on markers, cutting off their supply lines – or even tactical fouling.

The upshot of this is that game management is more crucial than ever. Substitutions and changes of formation can make all the difference in a tightly fought contest. Introducing a tricky winger for the last 15 minutes against a tired defence, for example, can create havoc. On one such occasion I brought Franck Ribery off the bench in a bid to torment a flagging Borussia Dortmund rearguard: in the minutes that followed, a red card and an own goal turned what had been a tight game into a rout.

 

 

The movement of your team-mates, meanwhile, is sensational – to a fault. If you’ve got a full-back that likes to get forward, you’ll often see them streaking down the touchline ahead of your wingers, gesturing ostentatiously to receive the ball. Give the ball away in this situation and you can end up horribly exposed. You can curb their natural instincts by tinkering with tactics, though it’s not always wise to ignore a player’s strengths when you can adjust the system instead.

There’s never any need to remember elaborate button combinations to accomplish your goals. PES subtly simplifies everything, without ever leaving you feeling like you’re not fully in control. Sometimes you might use flicks and step-overs to bamboozle an opponent; sometimes you might only need a sudden change of pace to open up space. There’s a small degree of automation involved, but it’s perfectly calibrated: you might not be directly responsible for the tiny hop that allows you to clear a last-ditch challenge, but you’ll feel it was your own mastery that enabled you to get there in the first place. A step closer to the defender, after all, and they’d surely have robbed you.

Away from the pitch, menus are much more user-friendly, with the ability to pin your favourite game types to the home screen, while Master League has undergone an interface overhaul that makes one of the medium’s best career modes even more enjoyable. I’m not about to list all the licences that are present and those that aren’t, as you can easily find that information elsewhere; besides, it’s clear that while Konami is still trying to grab as many as it can, this is one area where FIFA will always have the upper hand. That said, this year PS4 owners will be able to use option files: assuming the PES community doesn’t suffer a sudden attack of lazyitis, then you should soon be able to import accurate rosters, kits, team names and more.

If Konami has found the right kind of chemistry on the pitch, it’s still searching when it comes to the commentary box. The ebullient Peter Drury is a welcome replacement for Jon Champion, but he’s a little too unrestrained, greeting deflected consolation goals and injury-time scissor kick winners alike with the same rhapsodic, full-throated delight. The contrast with the terminally unimpressed Jim Beglin is especially stark.

It’s hard to pick fault with what Konami has achieved. I think it’s still too early to say with absolute confidence that PES 2016 is the best football game ever. Historically, it’s in the weeks and months after release that a football game can really establish its place in the hearts and minds of its community. Only then can its idiosyncrasies be truly tested, and its nuances fully understood. Only then will sweet spots and exploits make themselves known. What I can say right now is this: hand on heart, I can’t remember ever being so consistently thrilled, surprised and delighted by a football game before.

After the rebuilding comes the refinement – though that doesn’t do justice to the myriad improvements that help transform a great football game into an all-time great. PES 2016 finds the perfect blend on the pitch while benefiting from some smart tuning off it. What a way to celebrate your 20th anniversary.

http://uk.ign.com/articles/2015/09/14/pro-evolution-soccer-2016-review 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
omariqy Mentor

omariqy

Posted
Posted (edited)

I'll walk to the shop on release day, buy it, and be playing it before you guys have taken your little red slips to the post office the day after your postie has not delivered it ;) ;)

That is what I usually do but with the baby on the way I just won't have time to do go anywhere. No doubt the contractions will kick in as soon as I load the game for the first time. 'There you go Dad, screw you for thinking you would have time to play a computer game'

Edited by omariqy
Link to comment
Share on other sites
lapal_fan Grand Master

lapal_fan

Posted
Posted

I'll walk to the shop on release day, buy it, and be playing it before you guys have taken your little red slips to the post office the day after your postie has not delivered it ;) ;)

That is what I usually do but with the baby on the way I just won't have time to do go anywhere. No doubt the contractions will kick in as soon as I load the game for the first time. 'There you go Dad, screw you for thinking you would have time to play a computer game'

The 1st month all they do is sleep :)

 

You'll have more than enough time to play between the nappy changes and feeds (if your wife isn't boob feeding).

Link to comment
Share on other sites
omariqy Mentor

omariqy

Posted
Posted

Pretty much every review is loving this. The worst review so far is from Bleacher Report and they gave it a 8.5/10.  Even they said that FIFA 16 will have to go some way to beat this game. Their main gripes were licenses (can be fixed), presentation (meh) and commentary (a PES game is supposed to have shit commentary).

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
NurembergVillan Grand Master

NurembergVillan

Posted
  • Moderator
Posted

I'll walk to the shop on release day, buy it, and be playing it before you guys have taken your little red slips to the post office the day after your postie has not delivered it [emoji6] [emoji6]

That is what I usually do but with the baby on the way I just won't have time to do go anywhere. No doubt the contractions will kick in as soon as I load the game for the first time. 'There you go Dad, screw you for thinking you would have time to play a computer game'

The 1st month all they do is sleep [emoji4]

 

You'll have more than enough time to play between the nappy changes and feeds (if your wife isn't boob feeding).

Yep. I thought my Xbox days were over but I'm well on with FIFA and PES :thumb:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...
Â