Review: Pro Evolution Soccer 15 (PS3)

For the longest time I didn’t believe anyone who told me that Pro Evolution Soccer was better than Fifa and I would lean towards Fifa players seeing that they had the majority vote. Funny enough the first soccer simulation game I bought was Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 and boy did I love playing it. I played the game with Liverpool or should I say Merseyside Red, I won the league and Champions League in one season and Fernando Torres won the golden boot. Back in my mind I thought to myself what is everyone else smoking? Pro Evolution Soccer is a great game, it’s player movements are realistic and the gameplay is also out of world. The Fifa bug or should I say hype got to me and I’ve been playing the franchise unstop until a couple of weeks ago when I got hands on Pro Evolution Soccer 15.

Have you ever played any soccer simulator/game and missing a goal didn’t upset you? Even when you thought that you had the match in the bag and you screw up a great last minute opportunity?. For the first in years I saved the games progress after losing a match, I had all the possession, 4 shots on target and my opponent scored a 90^th minute goal that made me regret not taking my chances. After the match I wasn’t upset but I reflected on the match and I realised that I used too much power while taking my shots at goal. I tried to bury the goalkeeper and not pick my spot and my opponent did the very opposite of what I did. Pro Evolution Soccer 15 made me fall in love with the beautiful game because for once not every shot at goal is a goal, you need to watch how much power you use while pressing square and check your speed while running towards the ball, running too fast effects your shot at goal.

I play Pro Evolution Soccer 15 using Paris Saint-Germain and I must say playing the game has opened me up to other soccer leagues. The Paris Saint-Germain players really look sad after we’ve lost a match or we don’t make it to the knock out stages of the Champions League. You can also see their frustration during a match when we’ve had the majority of possession but we don’t turn that possession into goals and a great result. Please don’t think that I am trying to glorify losing matches, I’m trying to highlight the fact that winning a match is not as easy as it used to be. The players get frustrated when the opponent counter acts their moves and if one of your players has a yellow card, your opponent will target him so that he gets a second yellow and get sent off. I’ve seen it over and over again while watching a soccer match on TV and a player gets a yellow card, you see that player being pressurized by his opponents and sooner rather later he gets substituted. Pro Evolution Soccer 15 puts you in the same position or should I say under the same pressure as your real life counter parts.

The one reason most people use when you ask them why they don’t play Pro Evolution Soccer is that, who wants to play a soccer game with “London Blue” rather than Chelsea. Then I pose this simple question “Do names really matter?” The only way too judge if a simulator is good or not, is to see if its realistic or not? The player movements on Pro Evolution Soccer 15 are as realistic as they can be, Christiano Ronaldo is the same big baby we hate to love when we watch Real Madrid play week in week out. Just a small nudge and he falls to the ground as if he was hit by a car. He also possesses the same skill that can turn a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 lead as he inspires his team to an emphatic win. He does exactly that in PES 15 when I was 2-1 down against Barcelona, he turned that deficit into a 4-2 victory and inspired everyone around him. Pro Evolution Soccer 15 a great game, it doesn’t have the glits and glamour that its main rival has but it’s got that “magic” that the beautiful game has and that works for me. Unfortunately my PS3 console is not connected to the internet, so I can’t tell you if the PES 15 online mode is great or not. Pro Evolution Soccer 15 gets a 9/10 and its available on the PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and on Windows PC.

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New cover boy for PES 15

Today I’ve got the latest news on Pro Evolution Soccer 15. So we all know that Messi is the king of the FIFA covers, isn’t funny that you can’t mention Pro Evolution Soccer without mentioning FIFA? Oh well? Back to my story, I’m glad to announce that Mario Gotze will feature as the cover boy for this years installment of Pro Evolution Soccer 15.

Pro Evolution Soccer 15 will be released in November two months after FIFA 15. The developers of Pro Evolution Soccer, Konami also plan to release the games demo a week before FIFA 15 is released. The demo will be released on the 17^th of September and FIFA 15 drops on the 23^rd of the same month. The Pro Evolution Soccer franchise also makes it’s next-gen debut this summer as the game makes it first appearance on the Xbox One and Playstation 4. PES 15 will also be released on the PS3, Xbox 360 and on PC. The developers of PES 15 have also boasted that the game is a “true return to core PES values of total control, super responsive controls, and renowned gameplay, where the user has unrestricted control over how they play.” Check out the trailer for Pro Evolutiuon Soccer 15 below.

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Pro Evolution Soccer 15 to make next-gen debut.

With FIFA 14 already turning heads on next-gen consoles the Xbox One and PS4, and FIFA 15 promising to take the game to new heights, Pro Evolution Soccer 15 has raised its hand and promises to “elevate on field realism to all new levels”. Konami the developers of Pro Evolution Soccer 15 said in a statement that “PES 2015 sees a true return to core PES values of total control, super responsive controls, and renowned gameplay, where the user has unrestricted control over how they play and some of the game’s systems, like shooting and goal-keeping, have been “completely re-worked.”

Here are some of the exciting features you can look forward too, I got this information on the Konami website.

Excitement Of Goals-  A new shooting system allows a variety of unrestricted shooting styles with precise control over the direction and power of all strikes. Countering enhanced attacking options, goal keepers intuitively close angles and are capable of an incredible number of ways to react to any situation, including altering center of gravity.

Final Pass- Likewise, passing options available to players when delivering a final pass have been expanded, allowing for little knock-ons or searing low passes that use new physics routines to ensure the ball behaves realistically across every situation, providing unique and differing outcomes decided by user actions.

1 on 1- The final key element that has been totally reworked centers around the degree of close control on offer. Positioning is vital, but the ability to dribble into space and beat your marker is now hugely improved and opens up PES 2015 as the definitive on-field experience.

Pro Evolution Soccer 15 is powered by Konami’s Fox Engine and on next-gen consoles the Xbox One and PS4 Konami says “PES 15 now boasts a huge array of players that both look and play like their real-life counterparts. Konami has faithfully recreated over 1,000 players this year, with custom animations and playing styles across its extensive player roster. They run like they should; play the way they do in real life; and react emotionally as they would to fouls, goals or referee decisions – with their frame of mind actually affecting how they play.”

Pro Evolution Soccer 15 will be released this coming Spring on the Xbox, PS4 and other platforms. Konami promises to give us more details about the game in the months to come and I’m looking forward to an anti-cheating technology that’s coming with this game.

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