A Return to Form – Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 Review

<p><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">The heavyweight clash between this year’s <em>FIFA<&sol;em> and<em> Pro Evolution Soccer <&sol;em>entries has never been so competitive&period; <em>FIFA<&sol;em> has had the glaring advantage for most of the last decade&comma; but <em>Pro Evolution Soccer 2016<&sol;em> challenges EA’s franchise this year with fantastic build up play in the midfield&comma; an added level of aggression and physicality&comma; and the ever addictive online modes&period; <em>PES 2016<&sol;em> signals a huge leap forward and an inevitable clash with EA’s <em>FIFA<&sol;em> as Konami aims to harken back to the days when it was top dog in the soccer game space&period; As a fan&comma; you&&num;8217&semi;ll probably recognize that professionals tend to prefer <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;footballboots&period;co&period;uk&sol;nike&period;html"><strong>Nike football<&sol;strong><&sol;a> boots on pitch&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">This year’s addition is jam packed with modes and as many game variants as <em>PES<&sol;em> fans are used to&period; MyClub &&num;8212&semi; a competitor to <em>FIFA<&sol;em>’s Ultimate Team &&num;8212&semi; has returned&comma; with the new ability to turn players into squad trainers and increase their ratings after every match&period; There are now players exclusive to MyClub as well and an all-new player comparison system&period; On the offline side&comma; Master League is updated with a host of UI tweaks that result in a snappier and cleaner menu format&period; Players can now view news from the world&&num;8217&semi;s various leagues as well as a few new cutscenes&comma; such as press conferences for new signings and when the player moves to a new club&period; <em>PES 2016<&sol;em> also boasts a division style multiplayer mode that has you rank up and face opponents of an ever increasing skill level&comma; which makes online matches fair and exciting despite some occasional lag&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure style&equals;"width&colon; 1920px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignnone"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;konami&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;gallery&sol;pes2016&sol;PES2016&lowbar;weather&lowbar;01&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"1920" height&equals;"1080" &sol;><figcaption class&equals;"wp-caption-text">&lpar;Pro Evolution Soccer 2016&comma; Konami&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">On the gameplay front&comma; <em>PES 2016<&sol;em> perfects the passing game in the midfield and as the player moves towards the opponent’s penalty box&period; Little dinks around the area and slight feints allow for spectacularly crafted goals&period; While I think tackles in recent <em>PES<&sol;em> entries have been a little too aggressive&comma; it is levied in <em>PES 2016<&sol;em> as referees are more lenient on that front&period; Surprisingly&comma; with the game putting an emphasis on the player’s position relative to the goal&comma; some shots fly in inexplicably that are not consistent with the rest of the game&period; The AI is more defensively aware and not many goals come down to lapses in concentration from AI&comma; but instead from the player’s inability to spot a move&period; There are&comma; however&comma; some weak aspects&period; The shots in the game either feel random or under hit most of the time&comma; and the defending is difficult to master as slide tackles are risky&period; Additionally&comma; overall movement is a bit floaty&comma; which doesn’t help on defense when you need firm controls to make last ditch tackles or organize your defense&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">All of this action happens in packed stadiums that give off a superb match day atmosphere with commentator Peter Drury screaming wildly when you go up 4-0 or score a late equalizer&period; <em>PES 2016’<&sol;em>s raw graphics don’t look that great from the normal television camera angle&period; Up close&comma; however&comma; the players&&num;8217&semi; facial animations really shine&comma; and you can see them get emotional during key moments in a match&period; The buzzing crowd at an Italian stadium&comma; or the roar after a goal is ruled offside is second to none and gives <em>PES 201<&sol;em>6 an added edge over its competitors&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure style&equals;"width&colon; 1920px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignnone"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;metrouk2&period;files&period;wordpress&period;com&sol;2015&sol;09&sol;pes16&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"1920" height&equals;"1080" &sol;><figcaption class&equals;"wp-caption-text">&lpar;Pro Evolution Soccer 2016&comma; Konami&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">It would be unfair not to touch on the licensing issue which has plagued the <em>PES<&sol;em> series for far too long&period; Where the <em>FIFA<&sol;em> games miss out on the Champions League branding&comma; <em>PES<&sol;em> loses the kits and naming rights for a huge number of top clubs&period; It especially hurts when you pick a massive team like Chelsea&comma; who are famous for their royal blue kits&comma; to then see green and yellow outfits roaming around the pitch with the club name &&num;8220&semi;London FC&period;&&num;8221&semi; Thankfully&comma; next gen versions of <em>PES 2016<&sol;em> have the ability to import kits&comma; crests&comma; and the like to your heart’s content&period; One can only wonder about the financial viability of the two franchises calling a truce and allowing each other to thrive without worrying about licensing restrictions&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;"><em>Pro Evolution Soccer 2016<&sol;em> is Konami’s valiant and successful effort at clawing back ground from EA’s <em>FIFA<&sol;em> franchise&period; While<em> FIFA 16<&sol;em> saw slight improvements to an already solid title&comma;<em> PES 2016<&sol;em> has been taken leaps and bounds beyond last year’s title and is within touching distance of the multi-million unit selling megalith that is <em>FIFA<&sol;em>&period; More updates and tweaks to MyClub as well as a more significant overhaul of both Master League and the general menu presentation would have been welcome&comma; but the improvements to the gameplay do not go unnoticed&period; <em>PES 2016<&sol;em>’s ability to make you feel in complete control when you dance around the edge of the box or chip one in over the keeper is unforgettable&period; <em>PES 2016<&sol;em> is a statement of intent&comma; and a warning call to the developers at EA Vancouver to watch their tails come the release of both <em>FIFA 17<&sol;em> and <em>PES 2017&comma;<&sol;em> as the David and Goliath battle continues&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><em><strong>A PS4 code for Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 was provided by Konami for the purpose of this review<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;