Image via Complex Original
Recently, Konami posted a press release detailing the innovations and improvements that they are making to Pro Evolution Soccer 2013. Judging from the litany of comments, FB Likes and Retweets it received, the PES community is more than ready for the once dominant soccer title to return to the glory in the last-gen. We were present a couple weeks ago in Sao Paulo, Brasil where the PES team introduced a build of PES 13 and allowed us a few hours of game time. Konami assembled the entire PES team from Japan, Europe and Latin America for us to pick their brain and give suggestions and feedback and here are the results.
Full Manual Shooting and Passing
The PES community wanted better control on shots so Konami responded with FMS (Full Manual Shooting and Passing). The plan is to let gamers put the ball anywhere in the goal, which is really cool once you get the controls down. Instead of repetitive, mundane shots, you will be able to hit a variety of shots like curved shots that Kaka and Thierry Henry have perfected or loft shots.
Konami admits that FMS is a work in progress but thus far we'll say it is difficult to say the least. The hypersensitive controls make shots fly all over the place even if you are in the perfect angle for a goal. Thankfully the classic shooting is still an option during gameplay.
On a side note, the developers have not decided whether or not to include FMS on penalty kicks.
High and low foot passing are the key elements of FMP. Much like FMS, the level of control and effectiveness depends on the individual players skill set (some players can pull off backspin passes for example). One thing we noticed is when on a run, players should be very careful how hard they push the passing button because one precision pass can easily turn into a precision pass followed by a terrible pass that goes out of bounds or to a defender.
Deft Touch Dribbling
A big complaint about PES 12 is that the pace of the game was entirely too fast. This time out, the speed in which a player moves with the ball has been slowed down in order to be more authentic. The upside is that there are moves galore you can now do including: changing the speed of the dribble, knocking a ball past a player and collecting it, nutmeg or holding up a play by shielding the ball from a defender while your team gets in better position.
The downside of all these advancements is that the controls are increasingly complicated. There are so many button/stick combos needed to execute moves that it takes away some of the fun.
Player ID
With the advent of motion capture, gaming fans have become accustomed to the most authentic renderings and movements available. PES 13 will have reproduced skills, celebrations and signature movements of several star players from the pitch to goalkeepers.
A few of the players movements that have been recreated are Kaka, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Arjen Robben (unique gestures while he's running), Andres Iniesta, Neymar, Xavi, Frank Ribery, Carles Puyol (lunging tackle) and Thierry Henry to name a few.
Judging from the teams that were available to play, the overall presentation of PES 13 will be on point. The graphics and player movements were pristine. Hopefully this translates to the final product.
Proactive AI
If you played PES 12, then you know the defense played way too deep. In the next iteration they will play higher, be more active and work more efficiently. From what we saw, the defense adjusts a lot faster to where the ball is on the pitch. There are definitely still opportunities for top-notch players to outrun defenders and get deep for shots on goal.
With the advancement of 360-degree movement on the attack (players can now move, run or send a pass in any direction) it makes perfect sense for the defensive AI to improve. Be careful though, overaggressive D will get you burnt on the regular and from our experience it was hard to recover.
Goalkeeper AI has been stepped up tremendously as well. Konami says they consulted with real keepers and used that info to improve the AI keeper’s decision making in PES 13.
Dynamic First Touch
PES has always been ahead of the competition when it comes to first touches. 2013 introduces a few more ways to receive the ball including: traps, lifting it past an attacker to run on to or a variety of other real soccer moves. With advance trap, players no longer have to press L2 but what we liked most is a skilled player can trap using the R2 button to kill the speed of the ball pretty effectively. Of course the first touch is more dynamic depending on the receiving players ability and the trajectory of the pass but it’s an improvement on an already decent function nonetheless.
Konami says that they will announce what they have under development for online gameplay (including addressing rampant cheating) at E3. We hope they talk advanced Facebook integration and whether or not there will be a PS Vita version as well.
Overall, PES 13 looks like a step in the right direction for the franchise. With all the comments from editors and more importantly the PES community, Konami has a lot of input to work with before the fall launch.
