Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 Playstation 3

Released on 21-Sep-2012

• Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 - Preview

  
  

  

  Counter attack

  There's no denying that Pro Evolution Soccer has lost the football gaming crown to FIFA this console generation in terms of sales, and even many ardent supporters of Konami's series admit it has fallen short of its rival in the quality stakes too. But an opponent can be most dangerous when they're at rock bottom, while a dominant force can become susceptible to complacency and being hit on the counter attack. Perhaps with that in mind, Konami is going all out with PES 2013 in a bid to steal back some glory from FIFA before the expected launch of next generation consoles next year.

  A recent first showing of PES 2013 in Brazil left attendees excited by the game's potential to mount a comeback thanks to significant gameplay changes, a slower, more considered pace to matches and a number of risky control introductions that promise to offer unpredictable but potentially mouth-watering results. Konami presented its PES 2013 feature additions in the form of a number of key pillars, the most significant of which is dubbed Full Control.

  

  Unpredictable outcomes

  This allows players to have a greater say on how matches play out in a number of ways. They can choose to activate completely manual shooting and passing, enabling them to determine the height and power of each. Of course, assisted shooting and passing are still an option for newer players, who'll be able to graduate to unassisted controls as they grow more confident.

  Konami is still working out how best to implement full manual shooting, but using it in its current form lets players pull off some ridiculous, unpredictable strikes, with curl and brutal deflections contributing heavily - sometimes realism is achieved in capturing the unpredictability of real-world football.

  Close control

  PES 2013 also introduces subtle new ways to receive the ball and perform first touches, from trapping a well-hit pass with the R2 button, killing the speed of it and instantly bringing it under control, to using the momentum of a pass to turn a defender with a well-timed flick of the ball into space. Of course, if you're control is awry or badly timed, the ball will bounce or speed ahead of your player, making it simple for defenders to clean up and start a counter attack.

  While wing-wizards and attacking specialists like Arjen Robben and Cristiano Ronaldo still have the ability to dazzle opponents with mazy dribbles, the general speed with which players move with the ball has been slowed in line with real matches. Attacking players now display improved close control and accuracy in confined spaces, with the ability to make tighter touches when under pressure, and perform little heel taps and ball rolls that not only feel great when teasing an opponent but also look fantastic thanks to a brand new roster of player animations.

  

  Holding the line

  Countering the wealth of new attacking options are more reactive defenders and improved goalkeepers. Defensive lines are more fluid, pushing further up the pitch when their team is under pressure in a bid to block off potential avenues of attack and take advantage of space, instead of simply camping in front of the goalkeeper as they did too often in last year's game.

  Players can also slow attacks by holding down the tackle button to harry opponents, while a double-tap of the same button prompts the defender to dive in with a leg in an attempt to make a last ditch clearance. Time it well and it can be a life-saver, but judge it poorly and you're likely to give away a free-kick or be made to look silly when your opponent hops over your desperate lunge. Goalkeepers also look better and act more realistically this year while benefitting from greater control, such as more precise distribution afforded by the introduction of a power gauge when they throw the ball, helping create opportunities for quicker counter attacks.

  Personality plus

  Players now look and act more like their real-life counterparts too. Perfectly recreating Ronaldo's free-kick stance or Yaye Toure's leggy runs is a claim PES and FIFA games seem to make each year, but PES 2013 appears to be making more of an effort than previous versions. A presentation video clearly captured the running style and shooting posture of Ronaldo, as well as Neymar's teasing stepovers and even John Terry's attempted superman headed clearance from the England vs. Slovenia game at the 2010 World Cup.

  Overall PES 2013's slower pace fits well with the introduction of manual passing and shooting controls, as well as the new focus on first touches, which combine to result in a more tactical game. The new additions can take a little getting used to, but with a little practice they can result in wonderful passing moves, blistering shots, last-gasp defensive heroics and plenty of realistic if unexpected outcomes. The virtual football season has yet to begin, but on this early evidence we're fairly confident it promises to produce a closer battle between PES and FIFA than it has over the last few years.

  Published: 15/06/2012

• Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 - Preview

  
  

  

  Stop me if you think that you've heard this one before. FIFA may be the undisputed king of the football sim, a position it's held for much of this generation, but this year it's going to be different. This year its arch-rival Pro Evolution Soccer is finally going to make good on its promises, and is finally going to find its glory days restored, the slick, organic football that helped make its name back and more brilliant than ever before.

  It's a cliché that's becoming as well-worn as any other in the game: football's a game of two halves; there are no easy games; for a big lad he's good with his feet and, yes, Pro Evolution Soccer will be great again this year.

  The Boy Done Good

  But, truthfully and honestly, this might be the year when the premonition that's always wheeled out at this early stage may well come to pass. Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 is looking fantastic - and right now it's looking good to nose ahead of this year's model from EA Sports, FIFA 13.

  

  If you've been following both games over the past couple of years, and charting their relative progress, that likely won't come as a surprise. Yes, FIFA's been dominant and last year's instalment can claim to have been the very best, but while it's been slowly crafting a studied and measured take on the sport, Konami's been pursuing its own, more dynamic path.

  Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 played a game of football in which the ball itself felt like it had been greased, slipping through the air with a heady pace, and opening up matches in a manner that felt, quite frankly, more in tune with a video game.

  The Beautiful Game

  For Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 the pace has been slowed down somewhat, resulting in a more realistic game of football, but what remains is the giddy sense of action, fun and of a dynamism and unpredictability that FIFA can't quite match.

  The appeal of the original Pro Evolution Soccer games was always that it felt like anything could happen, that with a little luck and a lot of skill a goal could come from anywhere on the pitch. That feeling returns in abundance in Pro Evolution Soccer 2013.

  So how has this happened? There are a couple of features at the heart of the new Pro Evolution Soccer that bring all of this to pass, the most influential of which being Player ID and Pro-Active AI.

  

  Players with Personality

  Player ID pays close attention to the movement and characteristics of real-life players and translates it to the virtual pitch. Ronaldo's tippy-tappy runs are in there, as is his irritatingly arrogant stance when taking a free kick.

  Elsewhere Messi's messianic skills have been captured and ported across, Robben's runs that make him look like a camp penguin are also in, and Terry's defensive dives make a hilarious appearance. There are over 50 players that have been mapped like this, and across the board it gives Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 a personality of its own.

  Dynamic First Touch means you can make the most of the skills, allowing you to trap incoming balls or to flick them past defenders. Finally, Pro-Active AI helps give you the options once a defence has been skinned, ensuring that computer-controlled players now make better use of space, making the runs that previously you'd be screaming at the television for them to do.

  They're the headline changes, but it's how they work in tandem with the commendable progress that Pro Evolution Soccer has made since its dalliance with mediocrity a couple of years back that threaten to make this year's game the best in class. Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 plays dynamic, flair football that's absolutely brimming with character - and trust us when we say that this really could be its year.

• Pro Evo developer takes aim at FIFA as footy rivalry hots up

  Konami, the developer and publisher behind the long-running Pro Evolution Soccer series, has taken a swing at rival franchise FIFA for concentrating on aesthetic improvements rather than gameplay.

  "Maybe EA thinks they've gone far enough with gameplay and they've got other things to do," PES producer Jon Murphy told Official PlayStation Magazine. "Maybe they want to attract a different kind of audience with different features. But I've always thought it's right that we should be concentrating really hard on the way you play a game against someone else, and that unique PES feeling, which is all about gameplay."

  This isn't the first time Murphy has gone after EA's golden goose in an interview. Speaking to Eurogamer earlier this year he admitted it was "galling" that people just assumed FIFA was better.

  "I don't think we've been given proper respect for that because so many have bought into the idea that FIFA is better, just in the same way people bought into the idea PES was much better than FIFA in years gone by," he said, recalling the previous console generation when Pro Evo was the footy game of choice with FIFA having to prove its worth. "It took a while for them to get out of that situation because it was so ingrained," Murphy continued. "We're now seeing the opposite's true. There's an automatic assumption now that FIFA is just better."

  Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 is out later this year for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. It features improvements such as PES Full Control, Dynamic First Touch and Deft Touch Dribbling. All aim to make the game more responsive, more realistic and more dependent on your dexterity on the thumbsticks.

  Rival FIFA 13 arrives on September 28th for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, Wii and pretty much every format you can think of.

  So which will you support?
  

• Gaming's Sporting Heroes

  
  

  Olympic fever has gripped the planet, and we're only just over halfway through a year that has already been defined by amazing sporting action. From regular favourites like Wimbledon and the UEFA European Championship, to the glitz of the Olympics and surprise wins in the Tour De France, sport has never hogged so many UK headlines. As always, where there's an audience, there are video games looking to capitalise on the popularity - and a famous face certainly helps to catch our attention (although Mario and Sonic don't really count...). Here's our look back over the history of sporting heroes in games.

  

  You can almost go back to the dawn of gaming and find examples of famous athletes promoting games. Daley Thompson's Decathlon was one of the enduring classics of the 8-bit home computer era, a keyboard-bashing run through ten track and field events overseen by the ghostly white pixellated face of digital Daley.

  

  It was inevitable that a footy-loving nation such as ours would attract a flood of cheesy football endorsements as well, with everyone from squeaky scouser Emlyn Hughes to telly pundits Saint and Greavsie, to top flight players like Gazza and Beckham, putting their name to digitised kickabouts. We even had the bizarre sight of a Peter Shilton goalkeeping game, cheekily renamed Handball Maradona after the infamous "hand of god" incident at the 1986 World Cup. And while there's no name on the box, there's no ignoring the key players endorsing both FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer even today.

  
  

  

  Ever-obsessed with sports and strategy, it didn't take long for American software companies to follow suit. John Madden had already retired as both player and coach when his name first adorned the Madden NFL American Football simulation in 1988, but it kicked off a series which endures to this day and is widely considered to be the benchmark of gridiron gaming. Madden was part of the EA Sports stable, a label that knows the value of the right endorsement. In 1999 the company's popular PGA golf series became Tiger Woods PGA Tour, and the fairway superman has been the face of golf games ever since. Indeed, the close tie between game and name may soon become a problem, as the digital Tiger performs better than his struggling real-life counterpart. Will the series revert to plain old PGA Tour when Tiger's star fades, or will EA find a new golfing hero to carry the torch?

  

  That's the gamble when signing a player at the peak of their game. Sometimes, a games company will sign an up and coming athlete in the hopes of backing a long term winner. That worked for Nintendo, when it paid a young Mike Tyson $50,000 to use his likeness in the NES Punch Out boxing game. Within months, Tyson was on his way to being the world heavyweight champ, and the retitled Mike Tyson's Punch Out benefited from his success in the USA.

  

  In the UK, meanwhile, Punch Out was ported to home computers with our very own Frank Bruno as the main character. Punch Out returned to Wii minus its star, while Tyson makes a surprise return to games this year in WWE '13, re-living the brief sting he spent using his name to boost the wrestling company's ratings.

  
  

  

  Often, a sport will bubble up to the top of the popular consciousness thanks to the eye-catching feats of a particular sports-person. In the late 1990s, it was Codemasters that perked up long-running, but fairly obscure rugby and cricket sims, by shrewdly putting hot new stars like Jonah Lomu and Brian Lara above the title. Likewise, it was only when legendary racer Colin McRae put his name to the publisher's rally games that they became the owners of a blockbuster franchise, and while the DiRT series has continued to thrive without him, it was his name that got the customers through the proverbial door to begin with. Such moves weren't restricted to cult UK sports either. In 1999, Japanese firm Namco quickly rebranded the latest entry in its fledgling tennis series as Anna Kournikova Smash Court Tennis in order to attract European gamers.

  
  

  

  It's perhaps notable that the area where celebrity endorsement paid off most spectacularly was in the rise of extreme sports, where off-beat personalities are more openly celebrated and the players are more likely to be gamers. Tony Hawk pioneered this with his skateboarding games, lending not just his credibility but also his insight and expertise to ensure maximum authenticity. Snowboarder Shaun White and BMX rider Dave Mirra quickly followed Hawk's example. Hawk's back this year, too, in an HD re-jigging of some of his classic titles for Xbox LIVE; he's gone from extreme rebel to a traditional figure, but we still love him!

  Whenever sport becomes national obsession, you can bet an enterprising games developer will seize the opportunity. Gold medal-winning swimming star Michael Phelps has got a head start on his Olympic peers this year, with his Push The Limit game for Kinect already on shelves. Will we see Bradley Wiggins grace the cover of next year's Tour De France game? Will Jess Ennis and Mo Farah be running alongside us in the next Kinect Sports? Whoever is next on the podium, it's a good bet that gamers will be the winners.

• PES 2013 will feature 150 licensed teams from around the world

  Konami's resurgent football game, Pro Evolution Soccer, has gone all out this year to topple the reigning footy game champ, EA Sports' FIFA, and it's just announced that a hefty 150 real life teams will be recreated in the latest version.

  Clubs including Manchester United, Bayern Munich, FC Porto, AEK Athens, Galatasaray Istanbul, Shahktar Donetsk, FC Kopenhagen, Zenit St Petersburg, CSKA Moscow, RSC Anderlecht, Dinamo Kyiv and Dinamo Zagreb have all signed up to feature in the game. They'll be joined by seventeen national teams, including England, Italy, Germany and France.

  Konami has also renewed its arrangement with UEFA, ensuring that the Champions League and UEFA Europa League will feature exclusively in PES 2013. For fans of European footy, the entire Spanish league will be represented as will every club in Italy's Serie A.

  PES 2013 kicks off later this year for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC. It boasts a host of new features under the banner of PES Full Control, including greater manual ball control and improved AI for players off the ball.

  Published: 20/08/2012

• Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 - Review

  
  

  

  New Season

  Pro Evolution Soccer, once the king of the football gaming genre, has fallen behind rival series FIFA during the current console generation, both in terms of sales and critical acclaim. But while developer Konami has struggled to close the gap on the new table topper over the past few years, PES 2013 succeeds where past efforts have failed, meaning football fans should have a really tough time choosing their side in the latest round of the annual PES versus FIFA battle.

  Crucial to this year's resurgence are greatly improved player control options which open up new ways to approach both attack and defence. Dribbling feels more precise thanks to a refined close control system that allows players to manoeuvre the ball at their feet in confined spaces.

  New ways to receive the ball and perform first touches, such as trapping a pass to instantly bring it under control, and using the momentum of a pass to flick the ball into space and buy yourself an extra yard, also make for a more lifelike simulation once you get the hang of them.

  

  Flair Game

  Spend a bit of time with the game and you'll soon be shimmying past and sidestepping defenders, or performing little heel taps and ball rolls to bamboozle opponents on your way to their goal. Even fancier moves and flourishes can be honed on the practice pitch, which gives you scope for exhilarating individual flair.

  Passing and shooting have been improved too. The power gauges are easier to judge, while a manual passing and shooting mechanism lets you determine the trajectory of individual ball strikes. Assisted shooting and passing are still an option, but the extra level of control manual affords you feels really satisfying once you master it.

  Countering all the attacking wizardry at your fingertips is a new defensive system. Holding one of the controller's face buttons sees you approach and shadow an opponent in a bid to contain them, before double tapping the same button to put in a challenge. It's a great way to apply pressure, but you can be outwitted if you dally or the opponent pulls off a skill move.

  Holding a combination of one face and one shoulder button also lets you instruct the player you're controlling or a team-mate to rush towards the ball possessor and attempt a tackle, but manual tackles performed without using any kind of player lock-on offer the highest success rate. You have to time them yourself, and sliding ones are particularly risky, but they're all the more satisfying when you steal possession.

  

  Back On Form

  PES 2013 features an impressive range of game modes to accommodate all types of football fans, from those simply interested in quick online or offline matches, to those who want to take a more hands-on approach to team matters and off the field affairs. This could involve guiding a custom created player on a journey from novice to superstar in Become a Legend mode, or taking control of a team and buying, selling, training and playing your way to the top of world football in Master League.

  For all its improvements, PES 2013 isn't perfect. A few niggles remain, such as the lack of numerous official licenses, as well as uninspired commentary and crowd effects, but it does do the important things right. Overall it offers a fantastic game of virtual football which is arguably the finest PES experience yet on PS3 and Xbox 360 and a genuinely worthwhile alternative to FIFA.

  GAME's Verdict

  The Good:

  • Loads of gameplay improvements.
  • Game modes to suit all types of players.
  • Lovely graphics for the most part.

  The Bad:

  • Lack of numerous official licenses.
  • Commentary could be better.
  • Master League presentation is too similar to PES 2012's.

   

  Published: 20/09/2012

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