[Gamescom 2017] PES 2018 Hands On

Every year it's always the same story: the championships start again and the most important match is the one starring David against Goliath, or PES against FIFA. Too bad that for Konami it does not end as in the story, in fact, year after year, the distance between EA's rivals becomes more and more clear. Abyssal difference in content, a clear superiority of licenses, the Japanese videogame is very clear that in this respect it will not be able to compete. So how to overturn the fate of a story already written? This year PES 2018 has an ace up its sleeve, that is a fluid gameplay that is a lot of fun. Totally different from the physical game of its rival, it focuses on a more beautiful, faster and faster ball turn, with the result that, at least in the demo we tested, it is a lot of fun and you have the distinct feeling of being able to play football with the " Capital C ".

Back to the field

The biggest improvements have occurred on dribbling: the physical veracity is truly impressive, so much so that a simple shoulder to shoulder will not be enough to stop the real specialists. Konami has worked a lot analyzing both the most agile players and those with the most imposing tonnage, with the result that the clashes are faithfully represent what happens in reality, all managed simply with the analog stick, without having to invent too complex things to win a simple 1 vs 1. In fact, the new introductions such as Real Touch + and Full Body Touch are not even to be underestimated: the first increases precisely the aforementioned characteristic, with greater attention to animations and control, while the second takes care of the part of the animations that see head and torso, thus also going to exploit these two parts of the body that, during the games, are often called into question. All this is then placed in the context of a new physical management of the ball, with an even more credible and realistic result. In doing so, the software house was able to further modify and improve set pieces such as corners, free kicks, kick-offs and penalties.

Mister, I feel ready to play

Although FIFA uses a graphics engine from another planet, PES discipline it has always been a rather complete product from an aesthetic point of view. The faces of the players are well-kept, so much so that we recognized them without looking at the name at the bottom of the screen. Now even the goalkeepers have been more cared for, adding new animations and achieving such credibility that you will no longer be afraid of having a figurine to defend your goalposts. In addition to them, other background elements such as changing rooms and the public have been improved, with an even more immersive and complete result than ever seen before in the saga. All the work done in this respect gives the clear feeling that we are no longer in front of a product that, in some respects, remains coarse and not very meticulous, but the developers have been able to make the product take that step forward that it needed for some time. . Unfortunately, as mentioned in the introduction, the problems of the game are other, but the historical fans of the series by now will have put a stone on it because it is impossible to compete with the economic availability of FIFA that punctually, year after year, manages to grab exclusive rights which weigh a lot.

In conclusion we can say that the sensations were more than positive, but the usual lack of content weighs like a boulder. Despite the presence of the German "Big", the Bundesliga is still not present in the game, the loss of Juventus' rights is yet another bad blow and, at least from this point of view, these things are also needed to win over the big crowd. However, the game is further improved giving the clear impression that if Konami continues in this direction in a few years we will find ourselves in front of the definitive football game. Only time will give the answers and, for this reason, we just have to resist less than a month to get our hands on PES 2018.