The latest annual release for the Pro Evolution Soccer is here with PES 2017. Since its introduction to the series on new-gen with the 2014 instalment, the Fox Engine has been pivotal in going from strength to strength and PES 2017 is no exception. Sport games, especially of the football genre are a difficult one to explain, because it’s a lot about how the game feels, the weight of the ball, the movement of players and the satisfaction of firing a thunderbolt winner in stoppage time.
However, upon loading up PES 2017, one of the first improvements that you will notice is just how faster the game brings you to the main menu. This is improved simply because the amount of signing-in screens have been drastically reduced. So it’s great to see that instantaneous irritation has now been removed. Then when you get to the main menu, you’ll notice just how well its presented, with far less clutter on the selection screen, it not only makes it more pleasing on the eye, but it’s also easier and quicker to access the mode of your choosing.
Then when you get to play your very first match, you should notice how great the game feels. What I mean by this in the best way I can put into words, is that even more so then ever, you feel the weight or every pass, cross and shot than ever before, and this feeling can vary depending on the player in possession and the calibre of the team that you choose. Obviously playing as a team such as Barcelona, pinging that ball about the pitch will be pure poetry in motion. In comparison to a team with far less calibre. For example, playing as Shanghai IPG F.C in the AFC Champions League, it was a stark contrast in quality and overall comfort on the ball.
How teams play and feel is largely down to Konami’s Team ID mechanic, where teams will play like there real life counterparts. For example, Barcelona (especially on the higher difficulty setting) will pass the ball around you to the point of submission, while teams in the English lower leagues are more likely to play more compact on the pitch with plenty of players deep on their own half, many of which playing a long-ball tactic in an attempt to sneak a goal against the run of play.
Likewise, the Player ID is even more evident this year with players at times is uncanny to their real-life counterparts. It seems the years of fine-tuning by developers PES Productions have been doing since the Fox Engine was introduced into the series in 2014; seems to be paying off. While gameplay feels more refined this year, it seems to have a more realistic manner in which it plays, but yet manages to have the slightly higher tempo pace that we saw in its early years, when the series was arguably at its higher point.
One other huge addition that is noticeable when in-play, is the improvement made to goalkeepers. Whether its PES or FIFA, almost every year the publishers will bang on about how this year we’ll get the most realistic and reliable goalkeepers ever, but in truth, nothing really changes. This was even more evident in the PES series, where the goalkeepers will seemingly have transparent finger tips as almost every shot will fly past them, annoyingly more so when it’s the CPU hitting an injury time winner.
Frustration grew even further, when keepers would constantly make clanger after clanger and I’m not talking about realistic mistakes that we might see in real-life as most of these errors would be a result of dodgy AI, again in most cases in the favour of the CPU in the dying moments. Now while keepers will make an error from time to time, it’s more realistic errors such as not quite parrying the ball away from a powerful shot or a misplaced pass from the back. Also, when the keepers are at their performing best, you will see them change their body positioning at the last split second from a deflected shot or an out-stretched leg as the keeper desperately attempts to reach the ball after diving the wrong way. After years of PR claiming to finally have a fix to dodgy goalkeeping, PES 2017 really does deliver the best goalkeeping AI that we’ve ever seen in the long-running series.
The only gripe that I still have with the series is the inconsistency with referring decisions. Now every football fan will know that referees in the modern game are about as inconsistent as they’ve ever been. However, in PES 17, the CPU will win free-kicks on the softest of touches, sometimes I’ve not actually been able to see where the apparent contact has been made. Many a times I’ve delivered a perfectly timed sliding tackle, making contact with the ball before the player and often the ref will rule that as a foul in favour of the CPU.
I would be fine with this inconsistency, if those decisions were made equally in the players favour, but they’re not. Not only do a rarely get a free-kick from a minor collision, but sometimes my players can be clipped several times in succession, with no decision made in my favour or at times, I’ve even blatantly been brought down in the penalty box several times with no reaction from the ref. This can sometimes result in absolute rage as the ref constantly seems to be bias in favour of the CPU. I’m all for the ref making wrong calls, but there needs to be a more constant balance with decisions and not having the feeling that you’re playing against 12 men on the pitch.
I must also mention once again the lack of licensed teams. This year Konami has struck deals with Barcelona, Liverpool and Dortmund to provide genuine authenticity with almost everything associated with the clubs. Over the years, we PES fans have gotten use to not having licensed leagues such as the English Premier league, thankfully websites like PES World have offered fantastic workarounds, providing updates team kits, player likenesses, leagues and more, pretty much to professional standard (so thank you for all you’re hard work). So if you want your game to look truly authentic, I couldn’t not recommend PES World enough, please check them out. However, regardless of official licensing problems, the exclusion of German giants Bayern Munich in this year’s instalment, is truly baffling.
To excuse the forthcoming pun, despite its noticeable lack of team and league authenticity (though PES 17 does have the license to the UEFA Champions and Europa Leagues, and their equivalent counterparts from around the globe), this year’s PES has evolved to arguably the best version of the game of this generation. I know it’s a game that I often refer to as a comparison (but for me it’s the best), in my humble opinion, this is the best PES, since the Adriano days of Pro Evolution Soccer 5 two generations ago.
Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 has got the gameplay just right, passing and shooting feels fantastic and it has that “one more go” vibe than ever before. Dodgy commentary aside, if you’ve been away from the series for a number of years, and its felt like you’ve been waiting for your teams star player to recapture their form, the PES 2017 is the perfect time to be welcomed back into the series. Even if you’re growing tiresome of the FIFA series and want to try something new, perhaps now is the time to jump ship. In a nut (meg) shell, this is the definitive PES of the modern era.