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Hands on with PES 2017

2 min read
11

With most of the company being allergic to sports in general and Alessandro showing his poor taste by supporting Chelsea it falls to me to go hands on with most sports titles we get… and no Darryn WWE is not a sport. So I headed down to our local Konami distributor, Ster Kinekor, and got myself some hands on time with the upcoming Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) 2017.

Disclaimer first, I’ve always been a FIFA fan and have never really gotten into PES. I’ve found the controls to be clunky, the graphics to be lacking and the number of licensed brands in the game to be quite disappointing.

So I have to admit I was surprised when I sat down with PES 2017 and pretty much straight away I was hooked, the game is simple to pick up. The controls are very easy to get to grips with and the graphics and mechanics are smooth as silk which surprised me right off the bat. And then it doesn’t take long for you to notice the complexity and depth of the game, there are numerous advanced tactics that you can set up before time, a slew of special moves that will take you months to master and that’s before we even get into the complexities of the dead ball situations and tactics surrounding that.

If you’re not a football fan then you are probably unaware of the depth of skill and tactics that the game requires to really dominate in. There is a lot more to football than just chasing a dead pig and kicking it into a net; and PES appears to be doing a fantastic job of opening that up for players to sink their teeth into.

From the complex skills layout for every single player in the game to the ability to set your formation exactly how you like thjem and then tell them exactly how to react to events, PES 2017 has you covered. Unfortunately I only got an hour with the game so it’s impossible to say how much of a difference all these tiny details make in the long run but Konami aren’t amateurs in this arena and I am optimistic they are ready to knock this out of the park.

Moving away from the gameplay mechanics the graphics have received a very noticeable boost, the players are instantly recognisable.. Their unique style, while not yet on the level of the FIFA series, is visible and the audio is definitely not going to leave you wanting.

I get FIFA every single year and for the first time in around 8 years I am going to hold off on my purchasing decision. I need to see some more of PES 2017 as well as give FIFA the right to respond before I finally open up my wallet. Either way, this is good new for consumers.

Freebie extra, here watch me be terrible at PES 2017… it’s okay you can judge me. I don’t mind.

Last Updated: August 12, 2016

11 Comments

  1. Jonah Cash

    August 12, 2016 at 14:31

    Mmmmm, every year this comes up and every year I still just pick up Fifa. I like Fifa, I want to play it all the time. The only game that could get me off playing Fifa every day is Destiny… But the newest Fifa being on a new engine has me excited to see how they screw it up…

    Reply

    • chimera_85

      August 12, 2016 at 15:36

      I’ve read similar reviews about past p(o)es games that said this and that and it’s a contender to Fifa and then I play it and laugh while playing cos it’s that bad imo :-D.

      Reply

      • Jonah Cash

        August 12, 2016 at 20:52

        The game is too quick. It is like it is always on arcade mode?! The goals go from impossible to score to scoring shit goals in a heartbreat.

        Reply

  2. VampyreSquirrel

    August 12, 2016 at 14:34

    Game looks pretty good… for a PES title.

    Obvious dives at 4:41 and 14:08 were terrible.

    Reply

    • Qthetar .

      August 15, 2016 at 00:36

      For a FIFA title, PES is gonna be better, and will stay better.

      Reply

  3. Fox1 - Retro

    August 12, 2016 at 14:44

    The runs by the forwards look meh, which makes the defending looking tight.

    Reply

  4. Mabenito

    August 12, 2016 at 15:11

    I have both FIFA16 and PES16 from a friend who tried to convince me to switch. I did put in enough hours in PES for a fairly unbiased comparison with FIFA and still couldn’t switch. By the way, I play soccer every Thursday and Friday, soooo I believe my opinion on which is better between the two, is justified.

    Reply

  5. chimera_85

    August 12, 2016 at 15:36

    I couldn’t take this review seriously when you start off by giving CFC crap 😀

    Reply

  6. Kent

    August 13, 2016 at 05:58

    I love PES and gameplay wise it is superior to FIFA,it is closer to realism as you are going to get in a video game, it lacks licenses and presentation and that is the main reason it get criticized, mainly by FIFA players who will point ridiculous little details.PES blows FIFA away on the pitch,all the previews and final reviews since 2015 has been all in PES favor!!!

    Reply

  7. T W

    August 14, 2016 at 04:32

    Is the PC port going to be $h1t again?

    Reply

  8. Spy Master Tokashi

    August 15, 2016 at 07:46

    Every year it is the same annoying argument… PES is better than FIFA blah blah blah … but how many PES tournaments do you see locally ?

    I enjoy playing against friends and playing it at work for that it is FIFA.

    I will just stick to the good old FIFA… it is again the same argument on COD vs TitanFall 😉

    Reply

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