Preview: Football Refined In PES 2016

At Gamescom this year, PES 2016 was named "Best Sports Game" and now Konami has made a demo available for everyone to show the masses exactly why.

Annual releases of certain games have become common in the industry. We see Call Of Duty and Assassin Creed title's every holiday, however the one genre that started it all of is sport, more specifically the FIFA and Pro Evolution (Or PES) franchises.

If you missed it, Konami were the first to get out a demo for their newest addition, Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 and I was lucky enough to get a chance to sit down and give it a run on the PlayStation 4. This time around is special however, as this release marks its 20th anniversary, so Konami are releasing something a little special for you collectors out there which you can view here on the Konami blog - http://uk-blog.konami-europe.com/2015/06/24/pes-2016-20th-anniversary-edition-amazon-exclusive/

If I remember correctly, last year was the first time they used the FOX Engine in the game and while it made everything visually better, I felt that at some points it looked a little weird or quite frankly off putting. Well lets just say that I didn't get that impression this time around as the graphics are smooth, players look almost lifelike in their appearance and movement, and the lighting seems to be practically perfect.

During my time with the demo, I also tried to mess with a combination of weather conditions and pitch states and to be honest, it came across pretty well, not only visually, but in terms of its impact on the gameplay too. The easiest example would be the wet pitch, which made it difficult for my players running at full speed to stop properly without sliding all over the place, along with seeing small puddles of water being flicked from the player's boots.



So lets get right into the main chunk of it, how does it exactly play? Well I myself am not a huge player of the either football series, however the main thing that I instantly noticed was that compared to FIFA, PES 2016 was a lot more refined. Passes had to be given so much attention and you were literally trying to figure out how to make sure this ball reaches your team mate at the right speed and accuracy. Little things like player heights mattered, so if you wanted to make sure that your team mate got the ball, have him take a step back, so the ball goes over the opponent and lands at his feet. Its this attention to detail that I believe opens up a whole new strategic side of the game that surpasses which player has which stats.

At this current stage, PES 2016 has impressed me quite a lot and therefore if I was to go with a football title this year, that would be it. Refined gameplay and giving me what feels like complete control of my team? Yes please I will take it.

PES 2016 will be ready to go on September 18th for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360! For more info on the game, visit the main site here - https://pes.konami.com/au/pes2016/

Had a chance to give PES 2016 a run? What did you think of the gameplay? Let us know in the comments or hit me up on twitter - @TheLibanAli

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