Since the mid-2000s, Pro Evolution Soccer (now formally abbreviated to PES) has resembled one of those once-great footballing names now reduced to scraping an existence in the lower divisions – a Leeds United or Sheffield Wednesday, say. In the early 2000s, though, PES’s annual tussle with EA Sports’ Fifa was one of the games industry’s great rivalries. PES was the option for the purists, its stimulating fast-paced and highly tactical gameplay providing a thrilling simulation of the beautiful game. But Fifa had the flashy presentation and its expensive official licence, and from 2008 onwards a much-improved on-pitch experience, allowing it build a seemingly unassailable lead. As a result, Fifa became one of the UK’s best-selling games, PES stagnated.
However, last year’s PES 2016 represented an impressive comeback, thanks mainly to vastly improved graphics and physics brought by a switch to the Fox game engine, which also powered Metal Gear Solid V. Happily, PES 2017 builds considerably on that sudden improvement, addressing many (though not all) of the criticisms that still dogged its predecessor. Compared to the commercial might of Fifa 2017, it’s still an underdog of Leicester City proportions, but in some fundamental areas it outshines its brash, flashy rival.
PES 2017’s standout attribute – which harks right back to the glory days of the series – is the sheer football feel it offers. Passes go exactly where you aim them, at the speed you specify. Loose balls ping around convincingly: you must work hard to get them under control, and your adrenalin levels are just as likely to be spiked by a scrappy period of penalty-box pinball as by an immaculate volley from a perfectly executed cross.
The game’s AI is exemplary. Forward players, for example, are wont to point when they embark on runs, rendering the through-ball pass much more useful than in Fifa, and central defenders steadfastly refuse to charge upfield like headless chickens when opposition attackers encroach on your penalty area. There’s an incredible amount of fine-control over tactics, which can easily be switched according to match situations – you can even instruct your players to ape Barcelona’s tiki-taka style or Jurgen Klopps’ gegenpressing, with potentially hilarious results if their close-control skills fall short of those possessed by Messi et al.
The most notable area which drew criticism in PES 2016 but has been comprehensively fixed in this year’s offering is the game’s menu system. Previously, it was a scrappy mess, with key screens buried in odd places, but in PES 2017, it is sufficiently logical that it doesn’t stick out as a weakness. You still find some rather odd terminology when trawling the menus (as is often the case with titles translated from Japanese), but at least the key elements are easily accessible now.
However, its surface sheen still can’t match that of FIFA 2017. Players, at least, have recognisable faces, running styles and body shapes, but they don’t look as convincing as Fifa’s. And the licensing problem persists: PES 2017 does have a Barcelona licence this time around, but the only officially licensed Premier League teams are Arsenal and Liverpool – which means other sides get weird vaguely indicative new monickers (Tottenham Hotspur, for example, become North East London in the game), and the kits and club crests are mere approximations of their real-life counterparts. You can, however, edit them to your heart’s content, or even download impressively accurate kits created by the PES community if you’re savvy enough. But this remains a barrier to entry for consumers who just want to play as their favourite teams straight out of the box.
The main mode, Master League, offers an impressive approximation of real football, with some additions for 2017 that crank up the realism, such as a transfer window that develops hour by hour on the last day and a decent short-term loan system. But its scouting system is a bit hit-and-miss and fiddly. The management side of Master League naturally, pales in comparison to the likes of Football Manager, but it doesn’t noticeably lag behind Fifa 2017’s equivalent. There’s a feature called Live Updates which brings squads into line with the summer’s transfer activity, but if you leave that untouched before creating a Master League, you can start the transfer window with the squad that ended last year’s season, which is great if you’re not happy with the players your club bought.
Online, PES 2017 impresses, too – it’s fuss-free, and lets you play in leagues and cups against your mates or random opponents without any evidence of matching problems or lag. But the online side of the game is more or less identical to last year’s, as is the Become a Legend mode, which lets you pursue a career as a single player and is handy for novices wanting to learn the full intricacies of the control system. However it feels a bit me-tooish – you suspect it’s there because Fifa has a similar option.
And there are still a few areas in which Fifa has the upper hand. PES 2017’s stadia feel generic and lacking in atmosphere, as does the build-up to any given match – Fifa’s bombast in those regards is absent. And the commentary soon grates: Peter Drury and Jim Beglin are hardly a dream team, but you end up feeling a bit sorry for them since PES 2017 has far too small a database of commentary phrases, so repetition soon sets in.
However, in the areas that really matter – on the pitch – this year’s model is by far the best version of PES yet, and easily matches its rival. Explore PES 2017’s outer limits, and it’s easy to detect some raggedness around the edges. But in a way, that isn’t a bad thing – it’s always been part of the charm of the series. Picking PES 2017 over Fifa 17 feels like backing the plucky underdog, and that narrative is very much in the psyche of the football supporter. This time around, it’s an underdog which, in the areas that count, has the quality to go all the way.
Konami; PS4 (version tested)/PC/Xbox One; £40; Pegi rating: 3+
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