Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 Review

PES 2016 Review Screenshot 1

One of the most iconic football franchises ever created in console history, the Pro Evolution Soccer series has amazed football fanatics across the world with countless football games and amazing classics such as Pro Evolution Soccer 5 & 6. Konami basically created such a series that had been nicknamed “The King of Football games”, a title that the PES series has had from 1996 till 2008. This all unfortunately changed due to the poor efforts that the PES team made with the games that they had created during the PS3/360 generation. PES 2008 failed poorly in sales and so did the rest (future PES games) afterwards. Fast-forward to the present, we have PES 2016. This game is supposed to be the game that puts them back “on top of the mountain” in sales and popularity. To be honest, they’re kind of right…

The PES team has overhauled & changed everything from top to bottom when it comes to PES 2016. The engine might be the same but the graphics, gaming mechanics, online system & many more attributes have clearly been changed. The graphics look much more realistic, myClub (Konami’s version of FIFA Ultimate Team) has had an upgrade to the system with the levelling system on players and easier ways to get better players with more deals and special offers & the online net code has changed for a better experience (or so they think?).

So as I mentioned before, PES 2016’s gameplay has completely changed from it’s predecessor. The greatest way to explain this is that fact that 2016’s gameplay feels just like it’s PS2 ancestors. The passing is smooth and spot on, it’s very hard to make errors while passing, the shooting is easy and very accurate with options such as smashing the ball in the net or wanting to curve the ball in the top corner so that the keeper has a hard time-saving it. The formation editorial system has improved in-which the user can edit their formation with their suited style of play, from pressing hard to playing long balls, having a lot of players in defence whilst suffering from a counter attack or balancing the amount of attacking and defensive play you want in your formation. Also, the free-kicks have been improve drastically. Gone are the days of winning a free-kick in PES and thinking “Meh.. It’ll go out or the keeper will save it anyways” It’s not as easy as you think but if you’re in the right spot with a great free-kick taker, your chances of scoring are very high thanks to the guidelines option that you can access whenever you want.

PES 2016 Review Screenshot 2

Graphical attributes have always been a major talking points when it comes to football games and 2016’s version of PES has clearly wiped away any negative critics when it comes to this topic. PES 2016’s graphics are simply gorgeous!. Neymar looks exactly like himself along with a massive host of players that look exactly like their real-life counterparts such as Fernando Torres, Kevin De Bruyne, Eden Hazard, Christian Benteke, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo & many more. The kit details are superb, you can clearly see the “Dri-Fit” holes in the Nike kits, the professional material of Adidas kits and also the quality of the football boot graphics are stunning, you can barely tell the difference if they’re graphical or real life images! PES 2016 has clearly stepped up their game when it comes to the graphics department.

PES 2016 hasn’t really got any difficult controls nor is the game hard to play. The button layout hasn’t changed ever since the very first PES in 1996. The smooth animation makes the game quite relaxing and very fun to play for experienced and new users. The game includes tutorial and training mode for those who find it hard to play the game which is a kind way for Konami to help gamers out who want to learn how to play a football game. Replay value hits an all time high with PES 2016. The legendary Master League has been updated with newer ways to buy players with a detailed scout system, this will clearly help you find young gems (players) to help your clubs future. Be a Legend is also included in this years PES, this is a mode where you create your own player and guide him towards greatness (controlling only him in matches) by winning the national league as well as the UEFA Champions League & the UEFA Europa league as well as many more team & individual trophies. myClub has been updated with a new levelling system that improves your players attributes with each time you play with them in matches. myClub is PES’s own version of FIFA Ultimate Team, they’re both similar but the only difference is that their’s no transfer market in myClub. The only way you can get players is by paying special agents that gives you a chance to open footballs, yes.. footballs that contains a player. The rarity goes from White,Bronze,Sliver,Gold & Black. For example, if you get a black ball from the special agent, you get a 80+ rated player which is pretty good in myClub. Furthermore, PES 2016 also includes the officially licensed UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana & AFC Champions League modes. There are lots and lots of difference modes on PES 2016 which clearly means that you’d get a lot of replay value from the game.

PES 2016 Review Screenshot 3

One of the major points of the current generation (PS4/XB1) ; Online mode. This is clearly a point where PES 2016 fails badly. I myself have been playing this game ever since it launched in September and I’ve been having issues with the servers from day 1. I cannot simply make negative remarks just because I’m having issues with the game’s online service but the fact is, it’s not only me. Thousands of people have been complaining about PES’s online service. This is very odd, take Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. This game is made by the same company (Konami) yet it has no online problems whatsoever (My Opinion). The online play is smooth and it hardly gives any errors, whereas PES 2016 constantly gives log-in errors and someone’s suffers from terrible lag during an online match. The net-code of PES 2016 does have faults, they are close to major and they need to sort this issue out badly. It takes a long time just to log into the servers. Furthermore, an online mode they clearly should have implemented is 2VS2. Fans have been pleading for such a mode to be included in this years PES, maybe in the future?

Overall, PES 2016 is a fantastic game that has clearly sent a message to it’s rival and all around the world that the series has made a comeback. Everything about the game has been tweaked and perfected when you compared this year’s game to it’s predecessor (PES 2015). The only aspect that Konami needs to sort out is the game’s online issues. I would have given this game full marks but the online mode seriously needs to be fixed as soon as possible otherwise more and more fans will turns their heads to the franchise and walk away.

REVIEW CODE: A complimentary Sony Playstation 4 code was provided to Brash Games for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to editor@brashgames.co.uk.

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