Buy PES 2014
I started Pro Evolution Soccer 2014 feeling immensely excited, yet a little weary about how it would eventually turn out to be. I played an early build demo at E3, and sure, the game looked different, played different and felt ENTIRELY different. Myself, being a long-time PES player (since 2003), felt PES 2014 was a new franchise altogether.
With the final release out, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. The build up to the wait has been ever so speculative. This is the biggest stride (whether forward or backward, we’ll find out soon) Konami has ever taken in the history of PES. The biggest makeover. How would the game turn out to be? Would the new FOX engine along with the Havok physics engine redefine how we’re meant to play football simulation? It sure is a new idea, but does Konami follow through with it?
So I received my press copy a day before the launch, and I said to myself, I’ll take my own good time with the game and review this ONLY when I deeply understand the core mechanics. I have read so many PES 2014 reviews since it’s launch date and I can say with confidence that the reviewer hasn’t given the game the time it deserves. PES 2014 is so different from its predecessors. There is a bit of a learning curve, even for veterans of the series. Before receiving my press copy I did spend a handful of hours on the PES 2014 demo, and I remember how lost I was playing it. Everything was new.
My first session with the PES 2014 final version was a frustrating one. I could barely keep possession and execute even the most basic of passes. Being in the opposition’s half was as far as I could threat the opposition. Most matches ended up with me having only one or two attempts on goal, and only about 50-60% completed passes.
I carried on playing, and then it hit me. I was playing PES 2014 like how I play PES 2013 and FIFA 2013, and that was the mistake I was making throughout. You see, PES 2014 doesn’t want you to treat it as ‘just another football simulation.’ It wants you to approach the beautiful game as a real footballer would approach it. The ball and the player are two separate entities altogether. And the FOX engine brings out this characteristic in the most realistic way possible. If you want to score a goal, you must learn to control, and keep the ball first.
So that is the main gist of it. Control. Controlling the ball in PES 2014 is as organic as organic can be. The weight of the player, when he’s stationery or running, is felt in the rawest forms possible. The previous PES games did give you a ‘satisfactory’ illusion of the player weight and his center of gravity, but PES 2014 virtualises it, making it feel almost lifelike.
And this is where the game builds on further for its more complicated and deeper mechanics. This is the foundation. The Holy Grail.
PES has always held the upper hand in ball physics, and PES 2014 further improves on that. Placing a perfectly executed through ball to cut through the last defensive line feels exhilarating. The pace of the ball is too lifelike to put in words. You can almost feel the acceleration of the ball, and if you as an attacker are chasing it, you can feel the weight and stress of that sprinting player. The Havok physics engine performs great on games like Dark Souls and Top Spin 4, there is a tightness in controls on these games, and PES 2014 feels no different in this department. The game controls beautifully.
With the FOX engine, player animations are an absolute delight. A well-built stout player, like Carles Puyol, will perform a sliding tackle different from the one Thiago Silva will perform. Andres Iniesta has a different shoulder parry set of animations than Luis Suarez. Speaking of shoulder parrying, you can perform them while both attacking and defending with the right analog stick. A good addition indeed. Timing, as always, is the key.
Through pass mechanics have also changed. PES 2014 now offers ‘Advanced Through Passing’, allowing you to set the direction of the pass with the left stick while building up the power bar for your pass. You can always switch back to automatic through passes, if you’re want it to work like it does in FIFA or PES 2013. But I’ll recommend against it. Sure, it is difficult, but you’ll see yourself doing wonders once you’ve mastered manual through passing.
Keep in mind though, gone are the days when you wouldn’t care about the in-game strategy sliders. PES 2014 is played best when you fiddle with the sliders according to your needs, else the results can be undesirable i.e. passes not reaching the intended player.
You see that is the main problem with PES 2014. Having implemented such revolutionary mechanics, PES 2014 comes off more as a purist football simulation than a football game. The fun element, especially for casual players has been reduced, although not entirely removed. Too much freedom is not always a good thing. Take fast cars as an example. Driving a Ferrari F430 Spyder will be easier than driving an F1 car, but the F1 car offers you total control on the engine, clutch, revs, gear-shifts etc. You’ll be able to drive the consumer Ferrari better than the F1 Ferrari, but a professional would feel more at home with the F1 super car. Similarly, learning the curve for the game is steep, but once mastered, PES 2014 is a deeply satisfying and rewarding experience.
The game modes present are almost the same like in PES 2013, only now you can play as a goalkeeper in Become a Legend Mode. The interface looks dated, but it does its job. In fact, I’ll go as far as saying that the PES interface is better than FIFA’s. There is always a slight delay while navigating through the FIFA 13 menus. In PES 2014 (and previous versions), there are no delays. Navigation is instant. Having a modern interface can be a double-edged sword.
Playing online is simple and easy, you are required to create a Konami ID though. In the previous PES versions I always found a lag in any game I played. Playing PES online in India was not possible, as the experience is ruined by lag. I can now say that Konami have rectified their server issues in India. Nine out of ten games I played were lag free.
Pro Evolution Soccer 2014 brings in a new form of football simulation, never seen before. This is a deep game, which has a steep learning curve but mastering it is thoroughly satisfying experience. A true football simulation offering a never-imagined degree of freedom. The only problem is that PES 2014 has an identity crisis with itself. It doesn’t know whether it belongs to the casual or the serious gamer, it is stuck in between, and that is where it suffers the most.
This game was reviewed on a Windows PC, with Nvidia GeForce GTX 770.
