Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 Review - One of the Best Iterations in Years

Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 has arrived, and it aims once more to become the king. Whether it’s good enough for this feat is up to the players, but we can certainly say that it’s a big improvement over the last year effort.

It’s been a long time since FIFA and PES were on even ground. Both of these titles want to offer pretty much the same thing, and that is a great experience without the hassle and dead portions of the real game.

Some might argue that the true purpose of a football match (not soccer, you heathens) is to be as close as possible to reality, but that would be a boring simulation. Sure, we look at two good teams playing, and we remember the few big scoring occasions, but everything in between we tend to forget.

On the other hand, games such as PES are meant only to take the good parts of a football game and turn the excitement to the maximum. No more boring interludes and each occasion is a scoring opportunity.

It’s not all about the graphics

It would be foolish to say that FIFA 18 and PES 2018 are anything alike. With the exception of the fact that they are both about the same sport, they are very different titles. Each provides a unique take on the gameplay, and it’s not really surprising that PES has been lagging behind.

Electronic Arts probably have a behemoth of a development team for FIFA, and it’s unlikely PES has any of the same resources put into it. Even so, the games are pretty close in development quality, which says a lot.

Let’s get one thing straight, FIFA does look better than PES, but it’s not always about the graphics. It’s easy to criticize the game for the weird looking supporters, which are just feeling the background. From time to time, the camera pans over the fans, and they look just terrible. On the other hand, we spend very little time looking at the stands.

People want to know about how it plays, and I have to say that not only it’s a significant improvement over the last year edition, but it’s now also competing again with FIFA.

There are PES fans and FIFA fans

The world of gamers can be easily divided into two categories, meaning PES and FIFA fans. There is some overlap, but not much. For the most part, you either love one game or the other. I, for one, was as Pro Evolution Soccer fan for many years, but FIFA caught up and became better.

In fact, I still play in FIFA with the alternate set of controls that switches the shoot and cross between them. I tried to give them up when I move over to FIFA, but it was too difficult. Now, in PES 2018 I felt right at home.

It helps that the gameplay is so much better, and the speed makes the biggest difference. For some strange reason, the speed of the players in PES was really high, but for the latest edition, it has been cut in half. Now, the players seem to move more naturally across the field, making everything more enjoyable.

The tackling system has been reworked as well, and there seem to less unwanted aggression. This means that I have to want to hurt someone, with accidental faults happening with less frequency. On the other hand, what I still don’t enjoy is just how is to get the ball from your opponent.

If you’re playing against that AI, the ability to take their ball is uncanny. It’s more challenging with human opponents since they are much more unpredictable, but it’s still too easy.

Another system that was improved is the passing, and it will feel like revolutions. First of all, players will have to aim the passes better, as the AI will no longer correct for laziness. It’s no longer possible to just hit the pass button and get the ball to another player with maximum precision.

This alone will probably upset quite a few people since it will require quite a little bit of an adjustment period. The fact that perfect passes are almost just as difficult to hit as in real life makes all the difference in the world.

And now we’re back to realism versus excitement. The balance is somewhere in the middle, because playing football should not be a grind, and for the most part that’s not the case. PES 2018 hits pretty much all of the right notes, which should be a good indication that they are back on track.

Mostly good and just a little bad

What players will notice immediately is the fact that the gameplay is much more fluent, and that players have a better understanding of their environment. I can’t state enough just how important this is for the overall experience.

One of the most important aspects of PES 2018 is something that I really treasure, is the cross. Crossing into the box, in FIFA, is not the most pleasant experience. Most of the time, my players don't even get to the ball, despite being in a better position initially. On the other hand, in PES 2018, the rate of success for crosses is much better. It’s not like I’m scoring more often, but I feel that they give me a better chance.

Shooting is also very precise, but the quality depends very much on the player. All in all, Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 should be a much easier to control even by beginners. The learning curve is not as steep, and that is always a good thing.

Even if it might seem that there is only praise for the new PES, but it's not a game is without faults. Probably, the biggest issue that’s bound to be noticed is the quality of the goalkeepers, which varies. Even the best of them can make stupid mistakes.

I get that problems exist in real life as well and that a good keeper will make mistakes, but not with that frequency. It’s probably directly tied to a system that pushes the AI to play better if the people are playing better.

Another issue is related to a multiplayer mode that multiple uses to get together at the same time, in the same match. Finding other people online proved difficult, and the experience was uneven, to say the least. It’s best if you can get together with people you know.

The Good

The Bad

Conclusion