Every year FIFA and PES battle it out for the mantle of the best football game in the world. FIFA has the licenses but PES wins on the gameplay front almost every time. Both of them have attributes that make them attractive and highly desirable, but the fierce competition between the two will never cease to exist. Here are a few times that PES was unable to perform the way they would have wanted.
1. PES 2008
Often considered to be the worst out of all PES editions, PES 2008 was a hit and a miss by Konami. Imbibing almost all bad aspects of PES 6, the 8th edition was a rather shambolic effort. Referees were just too trigger happy, giving away fouls at the drop of a hat. Pressing too much resulted in fouls and slide tackles had to be inch-perfect. One of the biggest problems that people faced were the goal replays and entrance scenes, a nightmare for framerate purists. Konami was always known to lack the ability to make the transition to next-gen consoles. It was much later that Konami perfected PES for the PS3 era. PES 11 was where they got back on track, followed by a slump with PES 2012 and topped out with PES 2013.
2. PES 2014
The bar was set very high for this edition following PES 2013, but Konami failed to deliver. Gamers encountered several issues like over-exaggerated animations, a lacking sense of speed and feeble shooting. One of the biggest issues faced by gamers with PES 2014 was the bizarre amount of button delay, well known to be the bane of every gamer’s existence. Gamers faced shockingly bad gameplay, extremely outdated UI and repetitive commentary, giving the game a heavy touch of boring. The Defensive AI of the game is a let down, it makes the game a little too physical, creating prolonged moments of unnecessary tussling.
3. PES 2009
Konami’s attempt to improve was quite evident, but the game was quite inferior compared to its predecessors(not as much as PES 2008 though) and FIFA. The graphics were decent, with some players looking like their counterparts but some were way off. The commentary along with the soundtrack was rather dissatisfactory. Shots from distance are still quite a challenge. The new addition of Be A Legend, despite being an ambitious effort seems rather incomplete.
The online play was not very gratifying considering the fact that the PS3 and Xbox 360 were built for online multiplayer gaming. It was obvious that PES was lagging --pun intended.
4. PES 2012
Konami was unable to live up to its mark after PES 2011. Gamers faced several issues like the passing, which felt rather scripted. Even with pass support turned off. The active AI was not impressive at all. One could score off of a sub-par cross after a run down the wings. PES was known for its passing game but PES 2012 relied on your team’s active AI to score. The camera was felt to be too far out, players looked minuscule on the screen. It was quite a step down from PES 2011. The game was made to be a little too difficult, so much so that it started to feel rather unreal. The pace of the game is not at par with the players and the ball movement as the former seems faster than the latter.
5. PES 2006
PES is known to be played more offline compared to FIFA. Hence opponent AI has always been an essential part of the game. With PES 2006 it seemed like Konami decided on the fact that gameplay that was too easy made for a boring game. They went to ridiculous lengths in order to balance the odds. Hitting the post on open goals, players stopping in their tracks, referees not giving fouls were some common problems that gamers faced. A lot of gamers faced stuttering and screen tearing. Control of the game was taken away from the gamer making it a poor investment of time and money. Gamers faced problems with the online play of PES 2006, Konami blamed the “Alterations made to the console’s hardware specifications” for the same. This was a clear sign of Konami’s inability to keep up with the introduction of next-gen consoles.
