Football has often been described as the 'beautiful game' and when in turn it's implemented as a video game, it doesn't get more picturesque than Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) 2019 on PlayStatiion 4, Xbox One and PC. Konami's latest release is a real gem when it comes to the action on the pitch. After getting used to the slower pace of the game, you begin to notice the new features and subtleties that breath life into this new title. Online features were not yet available while we were playing so instead this review will focus on PES' bread and butter: the gameplay. The beautiful game is epitomised by the magnificent gameplay in Pro Evolution Soccer 2019 As any football game should, PES is undoubtedly at its best when it comes down to the gameplay. After a few games, everything suddenly clicked as I adjusted to the more thoughtful, cautious pace which you won't find in FIFA 19. Concentrating more on build-up play, you'll been enlightened to the wonderful array of passes you have at your disposal as you orchestrate delightful, flowing moves. The passing in PES truly is a treat for any seasoned football fan. From lofted, pin-point balls which land perfectly to the target player to through balls which pick apart defenses expertly. Intelligently finding the space and carving opportunities for your forwards with a variety of passes feels incredibly satisfying and rewarding to the point where you'll watch all of the replays to reflect on the masterpiece you created. Crossing is just as satisfying, especially the early cross variant which most of the time will swerve perfectly away from the defender straight to a forward who you didn't realise had so much space. The undoubted highlight is the wonderful passing which help you create masterpiece goals The intelligence of your AI teammates is tremendous when you're on the attack, players are always making runs and finding space which help create rewarding goals when paired with the smooth passing mechanics. However, the same cannot be said for the AI when defending. In fact, defending in general in the game is disappointingly flat. While attacking players will neatly hold their arms up to block off opposition, it never feels like defenders fight back. While attacking players furiously run and search for space, centrebacks frustratingly stand still and hope that the opposition walk into them. That paired with the efficiency of passing in the game makes winning the ball back a very tall task, especially when referees are far too quick to blow the whistle and dish out cards. Despite the addition of 'magic moments' which unleash players personality and flair, I found dribbling to be frustratingly dull. Movement is quick but rigid and while you certainly can run passed players it's almost too effortless as you simply walk through anyone who stands in your way with little consideration or thought - AI defenders simply make no effort to stop those runs. There are skill moves in the game but the system feels awkward, nobody wants to have to hold, press and move a combination of three different buttons at once when reactively trying to avoid a challenge. While FIFA is all about show, PES is about technique and unfortunately dribbling suffers for that Still, that doesn't make PES any less enjoyable. It's simply a different style and different way of playing. For those who enjoy meticulously crafting precise passing moves, you'll absolutely adore this game. FIFA is all about style while PES focuses on substance. Rather than make a song a dance, Konami offer a neat alternative in the football gaming market which offers a pure footballing experience. In multiple instances in the game, you'll see the gameplay is simply a nod to the sport that we have loved watching since we were young. Any football fan will ooh and ahh at a perfectly weighted lob over the goalkeeper or a vicious shot will sizzles into the top corner. Alongside its impressive passing, PES is rich with exceptional shooting. Cristiano Ronaldo's shots will leave any goalkeeper helpless with wild swerves and dips while Lionel Messi will expertly curve the ball passed the goalkeeper with the outside of his foot. Longshots feel phenomenal when executed right, rocketing through the air with incredible power before rustling in the back of the net. However, many of these shooting animations feel lackluster and don't match the weight of your shot - the ball appears to magically swing of players feet while the player doesn't look like he physically put much effort in. The featured stadiums in the game are jaw-droppingly beautiful, you can see and feel the scale Still, when it comes to the gameplay PES is mostly a fun and gratifying experience but the same cannot be said for everything off the pitch. For starters there's certainly a lack of content when compared to its counterpart. Master League is an excellent time-sink but is largely unchanged from previous years. On top of that the severe lack of licensed teams has to be mentioned, it's something which won't bother hardcore PES fans but is will be a major bummer to anyone less familiar with the series. The new additions such as the Scottish and Russian leagues don't come close to filling the hole left by the UEFA making the jump to FIFA. Playing as the likes of Hertfordshire (Watford) or East Sussex Blues (Brighton) is frustrating and with lower rated players who lack Magic Moment traits, the gameplay feels comparatively bland to the top teams. Many won't release but soon after release you can fix some of these frustrations by downloading fan-made licensing packs but this is sadly blocked if you play on Xbox One. But the absolute worst part of the game are the menus which are annoyingly old fashioned, unsightly and simply aren't practical. Trying to select your team become incredible tedious as you navigate the awkward menu which is needless squished into half of the screen. Players images and names overlap each other which is an unacceptable design flaw in this day and age.<doc-sep>Konami's focus on mobile gaming, in addition to its other interests such as pachinko machines and casinos in Japan, seems to have hurt the console ambitions of every franchise it owns in recent years. Back in April, its football sim Pro Evolution Soccer was dealt another blow, after Konami opted not to renew its deal with UEFA, a partnership that had been around since 2008. Naturally, its big-moneyed rival EA Sports took advantage of the opportunity, adding the Champions League to its crown of jewels in the upcoming FIFA 19, out later in September. The UEFA licenses were one of the few things Konami’s PES could boast of in a gaming market that places a high value on playing with official kits in official stadiums under official branding. And in its hour of need, PES 2019 – the latest iteration now out on PC, PS4 and Xbox One; previous-gen consoles PS3 and Xbox 360 have been left behind for the first time in over a decade – doubled down on the charm offensive of lesser-known leagues. Thanks to that, there are seven new licensed leagues in PES 2019 from Belgium, Russia, Scotland, and Turkey, among others. At the same time, the biggest leagues remain nearly devoid of licenses, except for Arsenal and Liverpool in the Premier League English League, and Barcelona in La Liga the Spanish League. The Serie A Italian League is better off as always, with all 20 clubs except Juventus available in PES 2019. Germany's Bundesliga continues to be missing though France's Ligue 1 is fully licensed. Of course, enterprising players can always "fix" matters by making use of the game's convenient import function, what with PES' dedicated and always-helpful community having already released unofficial kits and name changes. The addition of several new leagues is beneficial to every game mode: it increases the player roster available in Master League, the manager mode, and myClub, the PES version of FIFA's Ultimate Team (colloquially known as FUT for short), while boosting the club choices for Become A Legend, the player career mode, and all casual kick-off modes be it offline or online. Konami will hope that the additions can bring in football fans from beyond the big European countries looking to play with their local teams. Of course, over the long run, it's the action on the pitch that matters more. Having chosen to mould itself around jogo bonito – football’s nickname popularised by the legendary Pelé – for the past few years, PES 2019 finds the franchise at a curious stage, seemingly trying to infuse a sense of realism into its penchant for style. It’s the only way to explain the duality of the gameplay this year, where the frequency of first-touch football and ease of give-and-go is in contrast with scoring from long shots and no-look passing, the last of those likely a result of the new player traits. The pace of play, the size of the pitch, and simple defence controls all contribute towards first-touch football being more routine in PES 2019 than it is in real life, and most of it tends to be quite good, even with the teams not high on the pecking order. And it’s much too easy to construct one-two passes in Konami’s latest, with AI defenders not tracking opposition runs very well. For what it’s worth, the difference in player speed with and without the ball is managed well, so you can catch up at times if you’re alert enough. In the interest of making scores more realistic – PES was synonymous with goal-fests in prior years – Konami has introduced a few welcome changes. One of the big ones is an adjustment of the utopian delivery of crosses and a tweaking of the accuracy of headers, making it tougher to score off aerial balls whipped from wide areas. Long shots are a lot more realistic than in EA’s FIFA 18, thanks to built-in inaccuracies in shooting and more equipped goalkeepers, though weirdly enough, keepers aren’t that great when it comes to shots from narrow angles. Fouls is another aspect where PES 2019 is more realistic than FIFA, with Konami’s AI liable to be aggressive and make mistakes, more so in derby matches, just as human players tend to be. PES 2019 also dials up the realism for no-look passes and through balls, with stats playing a big role. If the player in control doesn’t have a high passing value or the new player trait, chances are he will overshoot it and punt the ball off the pitch. Unfortunately, defending continues to be the hill to die on for Konami; in addition to not tracking forward runs, ball retrieval mechanics feel outdated, and it’s high time PES reconsidered its homing-missile approach in favourable of a more realistic model. Konami’s Fox Engine is also showing its age when it comes to visuals, though the over-sharpening troubles we had with the demo weren’t a factor in the full release. PES 2019 introduces snow weather to the available options where it’s geographically appropriate, but outside of some additional slipping, there’s no accumulation of snow on the pitch as with FIFA. And though it’s only a matter of decoration, Konami could do well to put more effort into the overall presentation – hell, the PES community works harder than the developers in that regard. Off the pitch, PES 2019 is touting several improvements to both myClub and Master League. For the former, they include the introduction of “featured players” – the equivalent of FUT’s Team of the Week – in addition to tweaks to player purchase and trade, skill and position trainers, and an overall ranking system among other things. Our big gripe with myClub – and this applies to FUT as well – continues to be how it shifts attention and time from on-pitch action towards off-field matters. Dividing our time between myClub and Master League, it was clear that we could play more matches in the latter.<doc-sep>PES 2019's release date has finally arrived, and fans are getting their hands on this year's Pro Evo worldwide. The new edition contains improvements in players' energy depletion, meaning you now have to spend more attention to how much you keep that right trigger pressed down. Huge advances have also been made in the on-pitch presentation, with new lighting techniques meaning matches look more realistic than ever. Our critic, Richard Wakeling, was impressed by this year's game, and he awarded it a 9/10 in our PES 2019 review-in-progress. Take a look below to check out what other critics thought of this year's Pro Evolution Soccer. Alternatively, check out GameSpot sister site Metacritic for a wider view of critical opinion on the popular sports game. Game: Pro Evolution Soccer 2019 Pro Evolution Soccer 2019 Developer / Publisher: Konami Konami Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC PS4, Xbox One, PC Release date: Out now Out now Price: $60 / £50 / AU $97 GameSpot -- 9/10 (Review-In-Progress) "For as long as EA continues to develop FIFA and hold a monopoly over official licences, PES will be the scrappy underdog just hoping for a surprise upset, even when it's fielding the likes of London Blue and PV White Red. The lack of licences for top-tier leagues remains a disheartening sticking point, but PES continues to make brilliant strides on the pitch, building on what was already an incredibly satisfying game of football to produce one of the greatest playing football games of all time. It might be lacking off the pitch, but put it on the field against the competition and a famous giant killing wouldn't be all that surprising." -- Richard Wakeling [Full review-in-progress] IGN -- 8.2/10 "You shouldn't buy PES 2019 for its new modes--there aren't any of note. Nor should you buy it for major changes to existing modes--the ones made are minor. If you do opt in this year, it should be for the focus on player individuality that sets this iteration apart from all previous years. It's not just a case of introducing bespoke animations, but accurately reflecting each player's ingrained habits, too. Football, after all, is a battle that's both physical and psychological. From PES 2019's crisp and robust action to the mind games unfolding behind the scenes, this is a game successfully capturing both sides." -- Benjamin Griffin [Full review] Game Informer -- 8.5/10 "It's easy for me to sit and revel in what I love about PES, jogging through instant replay just to gawk at a foot flick a ball on to a teammate or charting out the future of my Master League club. But occasionally that reverence is broken by an ill-suited moment that illustrates that more work needs to be done. The franchise is steps away from greatness, which makes some of its foibles frustrating." -- Matthew Sato [Full review] GamesRadar+ -- 4/5 "PES 2019 is still very much a hard sell to all but the most ardent who will religiously buy Konami's newest entry and the quantifiable new features are very much lacking this year. Hardcore FIFA fans, too, will find little here to tempt them outside of the handful of exclusive leagues and features; Master League is very much mired in the mid-'00s with its bland menus and odd quirks, and MyClub but a pale imitation of Ultimate Team. "Regardless, of all that, PES 2019 is a game you'll like, and very much enjoy in extended spells. The nagging feeling, despite the superb football, remains: more could have been done to set it apart from its contemporaries, and even past Pro Evo entries--but you'll be having too much fun to care otherwise." -- Bradley Russell [Full review] Eurogamer -- No Score "The harsh, inescapable truth about PES 2019, though, is that quality on the pitch can't make up for the disappointment of the overall package. Even if you were to fall in love with its more sim-like gameplay, PES 2019 as an overall offering falls flat. Off the pitch, PES remains a shambles. Konami's licensing problems are well documented, but the addition of the Scottish, Russian and Turkish leagues, among half a dozen other officially-licensed leagues that appear in the game, does not make up for the loss of the Champions League license, which had been a PES mainstay for a decade. There are no new game modes. No new game modes! Beyond that, there are some basic, fundamental features PES lacks that do not sit well in 2018. Where are the women teams, for example? "Despite it all, I keep thinking about the football. You know, the actual football. It really is a marvel and it matters so, so much. So much good comes from it--gorgeous passes, stunning shots, realistic tackles--but it finds itself stifled by a football video game that's stuck in the dark ages." -- Wesley Yin-Poole [Full review]<doc-sep>My cab driver is a fiery, sunburst-haired Celtic fan who has plenty to say about the current state of Scottish football. As we drive from Glasgow airport to Celtic Park to play PES 2019, the latest version of Konami's long-running football video game series, he mentions a player who arrived to play in the Scottish league thinking the standard would be awful, but told press he was impressed by the level of play and enjoyed the challenge. All the Scottish transfers last season amounted to as much as Chelsea paid for one player, he adds. Celtic don't have enough money to compete for signings with Premier League teams, he laments, so the club has to bleed young players through. Thankfully, manager Brendan Rodgers is good at that. As we wrap around Celtic Park on the hunt for the entrance to the stadium, our cab driver whispers a song from the terraces. Welcome to Paradise. Pro Evolution Soccer's ongoing struggle in the face of EA Sports' cash-rich FIFA series is well-documented, but it's been a particularly tough year for Konami's licensing team. First, PES lost the Champions League and the Europa League to FIFA after a decade of exclusivity. Then it saw German club Borussia Dortmund unceremoniously tear up its contract with Konami to appear in PES 2019 - even after official screenshots showing Dortmund players in virtual action were released to the media. Official licences mean so much in the world of virtual football. EA Sports' long-running and exclusive deal for the Premier League licence and its ability to simulate the Sky Sports Super Sunday feel in-game is one of the main reasons FIFA has found such success in the UK for so long. In PES, on the other hand, Chelsea FC is called London FC. If you want to play as Manchester United, you have to buy FIFA. Data-changing option files are available for the loyal PES fan to download and install, but, let's be honest, the casual football fan doesn't bother with such fuss. Konami hit back in its thankless licensing fight with EA Sports by announcing the addition of new official leagues for PES 2019, such as the Turkish league (Konami expects big things of PES in Turkey this year), the Russian league and the Scottish league, the latter of which is why I'm at Celtic Park to play the game. Amid cups of coffee on white tablecloths and cans of Irn-Bru chilling in ice-filled bowls, banks of consoles house the PES 2019 demo build. A handful of press are in one of the larger rooms upstairs in Celtic Park, the kind of room football clubs reserve for corporate functions and club shindigs. One wall is all glass, and it gives us a great view of the pitch from upon high. I can feel the history. I remember the glory days of Henrik Larsson and Stilian Petrov and John Hartson, but pictures and statues shout proudly of the even better glory days, when Celtic was the best team in Europe, when the Lisbon Lions roared in Portugal in 1967. Celtic have a history - a really, really good history. So has PES. Its glory days, for me, were on PS2. My university friends and I would often play four-player PES before a night out (every time the ball went out for a throw-in or a goal kick we'd have a drink). The transition from ISS Pro Evolution on the PSone to Pro Evolution Soccer on the PS2 was hugely successful. Pro Evolution Soccer's early years blew me away. I don't think I even knew a rival football video game existed. But then, with the transition to the next-generation of consoles, Konami, well, there's no nice way to put this: Konami completely ballsed it up. Since then, EA Sports and its marketing might has crushed PES to become the undisputed king of video game football. FIFA sells tens of millions of copies each year and brings in billions of dollars through Ultimate Team. In the UK, a PES heartland little over a decade ago, Konami's game is an afterthought. I myself turned to the dark side, as I know so many did, in the move from PS2 to Xbox 360. But old habits die hard. I play FIFA with the "alternate" control scheme (swapping the shoot and cross buttons around) because that's how PES played back in the day. FIFA is my game, but PES is in my blood. And so we come to Celtic Park and the prospect of an officially-licensed Old Firm derby. What a thought! But first, a presentation from Lennart Bobzien, European PES brand manager. Bobzien, who is intimately involved with the club and league negotiations that result in deals for the likes of the Scottish league in PES, points out that David Beckham as he is now, that is, David Beckham 2018, aka 43-year-old David Beckham, is in the game and playable. I wonder what Olden Balls' pace stat is? PES 2019 has ex-Brazil striker Romario, exclusively. Ronaldinho is also in PES 2019 (there were rumours he was exclusive to FIFA). Scott Brown complained about the size of his nose in PES on social media, apparently. Then, a slide on the officially-licensed Rangers, which, I imagine, is the first time a slide on Rangers has ever been shown in Celtic Park. Liverpool are officially licensed. Quick subs give you a choice of players to pick from - FIFA doesn't do that. Liverpool striker Firmino can do his famous no-look pass in the game. PES 2019 is due out on 30th August - over four weeks before FIFA launches. Will that help? I'm not sure. It's time for hands-on, and PES 2019 makes an immediate concession to FIFA. Do you want standard or alternate controls, the game asks? Alternate sets R2 on dash and circle for shoot, while standard has square for shoot and R1 for dash. Konami knows it needs to let people play PES as they play FIFA. This is the world it lives in.<doc-sep>
Konami Pro Evolution Soccer keeps handing its haters fuel. If the series doesn't have big-name licenses, the FIFA crowd says, it's not worth playing. PES has destroyed this notion with an excellent return to form over the last few years, but for the first time in a while, this year's game throws up more questions than answers. First things first: PES 2019 plays a brilliant game of football. It's more challenging than ever, is beautifully detailed in 4K HDR and will be celebrated by those already invested in the series. Konami have sought to give players more control and opportunities to play their personal brand of football. As such, PES 2019 takes no prisoners in its search for realism on the pitch. Last year's game tasked players with learning a more intricate style, one that favoured intelligent shifts of momentum over holding sprint and relying on breakneck speed. PES 2018 capitalised on the solid base built across years of reworking the series after a dire run on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. To the naked eye, you'd think PES 2019 was the same game sporting graphical enhancements and new skill moves, but subtle tweaks have a major impact. The most immediately noticeable upgrade is the physical feel of the ball. There's a weighty response to each pass that just makes sense if you've ever played football. You'll know straight away when you've made a dud lay-off or overhit a simple pass because the ball reacts properly. Possession doesn't easily snap together, and you're forced to work harder to maintain control. Video Play Button Videos you might like Mistakes are far more common because of this. The AI squeezes space out of the pitch more aggressively, actively trying to win the ball back just as you build rhythm. Even on mid-range difficulties, the opposition is drilled to remain disciplined if a result is within reach, only breaking free of their shackles once chasing a late goal. PES 2019 calls on players to demonstrate their full range of passing to consistently win matches. There are genuine lulls in play as teams cancel each other out, with cross-field balls and neat flicks becoming vital to manoeuvring through a tight midfield. Subtle feints and shifts of body weight remain key to escaping trouble and need to be considered before receiving the ball. One-touch play is make or break, as it either tears the opposition apart or leaves you massively exposed on the break. Konami A lack of responsiveness can interrupt the flow of matches. It's not uncommon to run into teammates who step into the way while you're dribbling, and there are moments where you'll wonder if your button press has registered at all. Defenders are slow to turn and compete when a pass is played behind them, even if you read the situation by switching players ahead of time. If you can nip ahead of the centre-back when a cross comes in, you're going to often score. Aerial challenges from goal kicks also feel weighted in favour of the forward by virtue of their being closest to the ball, particularly on tougher difficulties or against a friend. These aren't game-breaking issues, but when the physical battle is so fierce and unpredictable in midfield, it's disappointing that patterns emerge in other situations. This is also true of the controlled shot, which continues to be an overpowered route to goal from anywhere inside the final third. Goalkeepers are slightly more reactive to deflections and face up well to rising strikes, but they still can't cover the goal to consistently stop curlers. PES 2019 eases this burden somewhat by having the best net physics ever seen in a football game. Just like the feel of the ball is correct, Konami have nailed a key component of the sport that is easily overlooked. The lifelike ripples and bulges add to the thrill of scoring and are evidence that the little details are taken seriously. Adding to that, referees are far stricter and now give a decent number of fouls in each match. This has long been a complaint of the community, so it's good to see bookings dished out realistically for both teams, as the computer now uses plenty of sliding tackles. Flying into a challenge or using too much force is a risky tactic of breaking up play. This kind of attention to detail is the series' greatest shield against the volley of abuse that will inevitably be hurled from FIFA lovers.