PES 2017 Review

[Steve_OS]

After the dust settled and the honeymoon phase was over, Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) 2016 quickly lost its appeal. Despite being more responsive all the while adding more animations and Player ID, PES 2016 suffered from end-to-end gameplay due to a lack of fouls and some curious/poor AI defending. As news slowly rolled in regarding the 2017 edition, consumers like myself were cautiously optimistic that Konami would listen to feedback and create a balanced footy experience. Thankfully, this seems to be the case with PES 2017.

Read More - PES 2017 Review (Written by: Kevin Groves)

[PleasedToMeetMe]

Really the best PES in years, good review.

[SCB1990]

I've only played the full game for 2 days and haven't had a chance to look into the other game modes other than Exhibiton but I find it hard to understand your rating of 8.5 when you clearly have found so many faults within the game.

One of the first topics you mentioned was fouls and keepers which you found to be a substantial improvement on last years (dread to think what they were like last year) game, my own view on them so far is that keepers are very poor, slow to react from rebounds, repeatedly palm the ball into the ground and generally unrealistic.

Fouls are too inconsistent, referees consistently miss fouls altogether including last man fouls in the penalty area.

The rest of the gameplay is generally decent if not a little fast and arcadey.

The tactics menus still look Microsoft XP esque aswell. If the reviewer is giving games like this 8.5s then FIFA is a guarantee for a 12/10.

[ty5oke]

ML news is not good.

[ChaseB]

I've only played the full game for 2 days and haven't had a chance to look into the other game modes other than Exhibiton but I find it hard to understand your rating of 8.5 when you clearly have found so many faults within the game.

One of the first topics you mentioned was fouls and keepers which you found to be a substantial improvement on last years (dread to think what they were like last year) game, my own view on them so far is that keepers are very poor, slow to react from rebounds, repeatedly palm the ball into the ground and generally unrealistic.

Fouls are too inconsistent, referees consistently miss fouls altogether including last man fouls in the penalty area.

The rest of the gameplay is generally decent if not a little fast and arcadey.

The tactics menus still look Microsoft XP esque aswell. If the reviewer is giving games like this 8.5s then FIFA is a guarantee for a 12/10.

Guess we don't have to review FIFA now, you already know the score!

[Ronoko]

If this is an 8.5- if the demo is any indication Fifa should be a 6.5.

[PAPERNUT]

Excellent review. Glad to be playing PES again.

[dubcity]

Re: PES 2017 Review

8.5 is dead on for what we tend to look for here on OS. Gameplay is king, and PES does it really well. Online is what it is, and Master League is worth docking points.

[dtlm6]

Glad to finally see a review of the game.

[willyfantastic]

I've only played the full game for 2 days and haven't had a chance to look into the other game modes other than Exhibiton but I find it hard to understand your rating of 8.5 when you clearly have found so many faults within the game.

One of the first topics you mentioned was fouls and keepers which you found to be a substantial improvement on last years (dread to think what they were like last year) game, my own view on them so far is that keepers are very poor, slow to react from rebounds, repeatedly palm the ball into the ground and generally unrealistic.

Fouls are too inconsistent, referees consistently miss fouls altogether including last man fouls in the penalty area.

The rest of the gameplay is generally decent if not a little fast and arcadey.

The tactics menus still look Microsoft XP esque aswell. If the reviewer is giving games like this 8.5s then FIFA is a guarantee for a 12/10.

have you actually played the fifa demo yet? its awful

[Fedor_52]

Game is a lot of fun to pick up and play, but after a couple of games i miss the dynamic, the ball physics seem very dumbed down, on ground passes the ball slows down way too quick, players don't make first touch errors, doesn't matter if it is Messi or a Centre Back

Overall it's definately a step up from last year

[TeleTex82]

Re: PES 2017 Review

If you have only played two games, or only played exhibition games, I dont really know how you can claim to present any credible view on any game.

As for the review, I feel it mostly fair. Although, a bit harsh on ML. Aside from maybe NBA 2K16, I think PES presents as deep and immersive a career mode as anything. Player growth is handled well, the inprovements in budget, loans, transfers, etc are welcome, as are little touches like now being able to look back on your career and see all that you have won. One thing that PES achieves that not many other games do is establish an emotional connection with individual players. Especially those you develop from youth.

Overall, I feel this is the best football game I have played since maybe the Xbox 360/PS2 days, and this coming from someone who hadnt played a PES since PES 7.

[bredfan]

Re: PES 2017 Review

Game is a lot of fun to pick up and play, but after a couple of games i miss the dynamic, the ball physics seem very dumbed down, on ground passes the ball slows down way too quick, players don't make first touch errors, doesn't matter if it is Messi or a Centre Back

Overall it's definately a step up from last year

This review was for PES.

[KG]

Re: PES 2017 Review

Glad to finally see a review of the game.

I didn't get the game as early as I would have liked so I needed a couple of extra days to really run through it and give a thorough review (OS editors are great at not rushing us for a review!). I'm not knocking other review sites but sometimes I feel like they don't get deep into the intricacies of Master League and instead just focus on the press release notes. Hell, the the Master League test sim alone took a while and I know OS (and myself tbh) are big offline players so not getting deep into it would have been selling everyone on here short IMO.

I've only played the full game for 2 days and haven't had a chance to look into the other game modes other than Exhibiton but I find it hard to understand your rating of 8.5 when you clearly have found so many faults within the game.

One of the first topics you mentioned was fouls and keepers which you found to be a substantial improvement on last years (dread to think what they were like last year) game, my own view on them so far is that keepers are very poor, slow to react from rebounds, repeatedly palm the ball into the ground and generally unrealistic.

Fouls are too inconsistent, referees consistently miss fouls altogether including last man fouls in the penalty area.

The rest of the gameplay is generally decent if not a little fast and arcadey.

The tactics menus still look Microsoft XP esque aswell. If the reviewer is giving games like this 8.5s then FIFA is a guarantee for a 12/10.

Fair points. I have seen the good and bad with keepers and fouls but IMO it's been more good thus far and you can really tell the improvements in those two areas from last year.

I kind of struggled to give this game a score because I almost feel like there's 2 games within PES:

Gameplay & Everything Else

PES 2017 Gameplay alone probably warrants a 9, maybe even higher if/when the community sorts out the Tactics and other Advanced Instructions to see IF they can tighten up a few areas.

Everything Else is where the game struggles as expected. I knew the Menus would be outdated, that online would have some lag and layered matchmaking, that Master League wouldn't have big changes, that Licenses would be what they are BUT I can't take that for granted and turn a blind eye to it. Konami NEEDS to improve in those area if it wants to take the next leap. Those things (menus, ML, etc...) are an important part of the experience/immersion and the deficiencies make some people lean towards FIFA. I completely understand that. Gameplay, despite what Konami thinks, isn't the only thing these days.

A buddy of mine made a good comment to me the other day, PES isn't only competing with FIFA. It's competing with Madden, 2K, The Show, and anything else that occupies your free time. For those who have other responsibilities (kids, demanding jobs, etc...) the game experience needs to be good enough to think "I'd rather play PES than watch TV/play another game/etc..." . Off-the-pitch need to be on par with the strong gameplay on the pitch.

[dtlm6]

I didn't get the game as early as I would have liked so I needed a couple of extra days to really run through it and give a thorough review (OS editors are great at not rushing us for a review!). I'm not knocking other review sites but sometimes I feel like they don't get deep into the intricacies of Master League and instead just focus on the press release notes. Hell, the the Master League test sim alone took a while and I know OS (and myself tbh) are big offline players so not getting deep into it would have been selling everyone on here short IMO.



Fair points. I have seen the good and bad with keepers and fouls but IMO it's been more good thus far and you can really tell the improvements in those two areas from last year.

I kind of struggled to give this game a score because I almost feel like there's 2 games within PES:

Gameplay & Everything Else

PES 2017 Gameplay alone probably warrants a 9, maybe even higher if/when the community sorts out the Tactics and other Advanced Instructions to see IF they can tighten up a few areas.

Everything Else is where the game struggles as expected. I knew the Menus would be outdated, that online would have some lag and layered matchmaking, that Master League wouldn't have big changes, that Licenses would be what they are BUT I can't take that for granted and turn a blind eye to it. Konami NEEDS to improve in those area if it wants to take the next leap. Those things (menus, ML, etc...) are an important part of the experience/immersion and the deficiencies make some people lean towards FIFA. I completely understand that. Gameplay, despite what Konami thinks, isn't the only thing these days.

A buddy of mine made a good comment to me the other day, PES isn't only competing with FIFA. It's competing with Madden, 2K, The Show, and anything else that occupies your free time. For those who have other responsibilities (kids, demanding jobs, etc...) the game experience needs to be good enough to think "I'd rather play PES than watch TV/play another game/etc..." . Off-the-pitch need to be on par with the strong gameplay on the pitch.

That's a very astute comment. I love playing sports video games but my responsibilities don't allow me as much time as I'd like to play. That's why PES 2016 appealed to me so much. I loved the amount of action that could be packed into 10 minute games. I know most people didn't consider that a true representation of the beautiful game. I'm a little concerned if I'll enjoy this year's game. Haven't started a league or tournament yet but have played a few individual games and I was able to score. What I'm really excited about is that I was finally able to download edited uniforms for Premier League, La Liga and a few other teams. Super excited to have teams like Dortmund, Arsenal, Liverpool and Barcelona so much so that I find myself becoming much more a supporter of those teams. Really tough not to have Bayern Munich. However, I've noticed a PEU league and all the teams can be edited. I'm hoping to create a Bundesliga or MLS from this league. Has anybody else considered this?