Different year, same old rivalry. With the commencement of the new footballing season, the age-old rivalry between FIFA and PES resumes in the gaming world.
While EA Sports flaunted their licensed teams, kits, and leagues, PES boasted about acquiring rights to UEFA’s official competitions which is the Champions League and the Europa League. When FIFA delivered on providing real-life like atmosphere and commentaries, PES edged them out on player animation. Having come a long way, these two iconic brands are now set to battle it out in their 17th edition.
While gamers still have to be patient to get their hands on FIFA 17's full version release to give a final verdict on which one’s better, PES 2017, with its release, have taken the gaming community by storm.
Developers Konami have time and again reminded its audience about the new features and upgrades from the previous edition, especially on specifics like player ID, improving passing and first touch, a lot of new animated faces and of course, attaining license deals of some of the best clubs in the world.
With an insight into each aspect of the game, let us determine how it actually fares and if it deserves to be acknowledged as one of the best football games ever made.
Gameplay and Physics
PES 2016 in itself was a huge improvement from its previous editions and massively applauded for its groundbreaking quality. This year, they have gone one step further as Konami have worked towards refining those pre-existing features.
Has passing ever been smoother? The accuracy and flow of passes are delightful to the user and what makes it even better is the final product, i.e shooting.
Shooting looks improved as players have better control on the amount of power making it all the more precise. But the most notable improvement has been dribbling where close control is exceptional giving the user the opportunity to fully utilise the skillful players and go past opponents. A familiar feeling of older editions for old timers.
AI is adaptive and better which makes the offline experience realistic. They don’t feel computer-generated, following a set of commands anymore. Rather, they are susceptible according to situations and commit mistakes. They may let you off easy or become suddenly very tight and wary of spaces behind them if you start breaching the backline with ease.
Goalkeepers have certainly improved from their horrendous showing in PES 16. Powerless and unreliable to stop good shots, this time, they have certainly worked on goalie acrobatics and reaction. However, the refereeing continues to be disappointing as they have gone from being lenient to completely unpredictable. Get ready to be frustrated by unfair decisions time and again.
What makes you truly connected to the game is the fact that PES creates beautiful football with such little effort from the user. You don’t have to control a hoard of buttons to experience depth and quality of the game, a complication that has crept in FIFA.
Customisation and Licensing
Konami secured the licensing of few big names including Barcelona, Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool which opened the door to close real-world simulation when playing with these teams. You can now use the formations and tactics like tiki-taka and Gegenpress in the game and replicate their real-life counterparts.
However, with the limitations in the field of licensing when compared to FIFA, lack of variety should kick in due to scarcity in options. The counter to this problem? The creation suite.
PES developers have maintained a hard-working community to make up for its lack of key licenses, most notably the English Premier League and marquee clubs like Real Madrid. Here, you have the option to customize kits, logo, create players.
Another layer to the customization suite was added with the data share feature for PlayStation 4 users. With a thumb drive, creations and data can be transferred from one console to the next.
Graphics
Hundreds of new face animations have been added to this edition of the game. Of course, it won’t surpass FIFA’s new frostbite engine but nonetheless, the players look exceptional.
Strides have been made to make the stadiums look better than it’s previous editions. The player entrances look authentic.
However, commentary fails to meet expectations once again. Premier League voices Peter Drury and Jim Beglin are in charge of describing the game events. But, the narration can often seem lifeless and the sudden bursts of energy sound misplaced.
Master League and Online Mode
It is certainly the best game out there when played in offline mode. But, it’s a completely different story when played online.The free-flowing and smooth gameplay becomes a myth when you enter the multiplayer online mode.
Constant jarring and lags are a stumbling block and server instabilities are a hindrance towards achieving an enjoyable experience.
The Master League has been injected with a bit of density as transfer deadlines have been introduced making it possible for users to makes transactions after two hours. Other than that, Champions League, Europa League and Become a Legend mode are largely the same.
Rating: 7.5/10
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Review courtesy – Expressgames.in
