Pro Evolution 2012 WENB Playtest

As you may or may not know, I am a huge lover of Pro Evolution Soccer. I would even go as far as to say that playing them games back in the day with my cousin were some of the best days of my life. PES in the PS2 days were head and shoulders above just about every other sports game at the time. Even through the dark times, my PES addiction needed to be satisfied! And believe me there were dark days (PES 2009, OH GOD!) PES 2011 was a huge jump in the right direction, giving the series hope that it could once again reign supreme in hearts of football fans everywhere. Which brings me on to PES 2012. I have to say, I have not been this excited about a game in a very long time. Such hype in my own brain has forced me to follow every single nook and cranny of PES 2012's development process. If like me you are giddy with excitement or if you are just intrigued, this article over at WENB should answer some very important questions. My hype-o-meter just went through the roof! Check the article written by Alan Curdie and tell us what you think.

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If you have been following WENB’s own @Adam_Bhatti and@Suffwan on Twitter you will already be aware that today’s playtest seems to be going down rather well. Below are just some tweets that have surfaced throughout the day, with more sure to follow. Oh, and it is great to see Jon finally get that mug at last!

Suff has been positively purring over the game and these tweets in particular speak volumes:

@Suffwan – ”I have to say that #PES2012 is a fantastic game of football to play. Purity and the most advanced AI seen in a footy game. #joy”
@Suffwan – ”Intelligent runs, constant passing options, fluid gameplay and many new features we don’t even know about. #PES2012”
@Suffwan – ”It makes me smile like the PS2 days #PES2012”

@Suffwan – ”In my opinion #PES2012 is a better game than #PES5, but then again I’m Next-Gen baby!”

@Suffwan – ”Shooting better but I have given them some tips. When u get tackled now the fluidity of game not affected.”

Of course, it wouldn’t be a WENB playtest without the PES messiah and Adam has been sure to keep us briefed as well:

@Adam_Bhatti – ”Played first game. Beat Suff 4-2, Milan derby. Great match. Main thing is it’s super fluid. Wonderful ebb and flow. Now for single player.”

@Adam_Bhatti – ”Big news is, keepers are looking really good. Need animation work, but overall so much more reliable than in PES 2011.”
@Adam_Bhatti – ”Can’t describe how happy I am with keepers. Need to say still need animation work, but so much reliable. Spill less, catch more etc.”
@Adam_Bhatti – ”Also new camera angle called pitch side is awesome. Used it more than wide cam. Lower hung, great detail.”

@Adam_Bhatti – ”Detail in wide cam much better, @Suffwan reckons it’s awesome. So much detail held, but needs another lick of paint IMO”
@Adam_Bhatti – ”Estadio De Escorpiao stadium is in the build.”

@Adam_Bhatti – ”And it’s over! @Suffwan wins on pens! And yes, pens fixed! More like FIFA 10. @JonMurphy_PES, you have been served!”

Sounding very promising indeed.

One particular tweet that has caused the raising of many eyebrows in true Carlo Ancelotti fashion is this:

”Lunch time with the guys now. Btw, sort of an exclusive, saw a new mode in menu called Football Life. @JonMurphy_PES won’t say a thing tho”

We wait and wonder what Football Life will prove to be.

Remember, that this isn’t all that will be coming regards the WENB playtest. We should have written impressions and a podcast with the lads following later, so stay tuned!

Pro Evolution 2012 Press Impressions

Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 was a massive improvement from 2010.. but seeing as PES 2010 was beyond terrible, that praise is meaningless. Konami had dropped the ball and they knew it (Eventually) Which led them to re-thinking there strategy for the future of the PES series. 2011 was a huge step in the right direction. It improved every aspect of the game and brought back a few glimpses of magic that made PES so incredible. The press haven't been to kind to the series in the past few years, Some of it harsh but most deserved. Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 seems to have taken the base of 2011 and once again improved on almost everything. PES has always been close to my heart, Even through the dark days, Which is why reading these impressions from the press gets me all giddy with excitement! Can Konami bring back the King of Football Gaming? The race may be close than you think...

Official Playstation Magazine

”Elsewhere, PES 2012 was Borderline astounding for me – not in terms of overall quality, but in the sense that last year’s game was so far behind FIFA 11 in terms of on-field gameplay, and that most definitely isn’t the case any more. This is a much slicker, more immediate experience, which harks back to the halcyon days of PES’s last PS2 years: zipping balls around in tight spaces, admiring the almost human AI of players off the ball (diagonal runs across and around defenders, something FIFA still hasn’t quite nailed, are a particular joy), and introducing an intriguing set piece concept where you can control a specific player on a corner, free kick or throw in, rather than the actual kicker himself. It doesn’t play perfectly – keepers still need a bit of work (and we’ve been saying that about PES for many years) – but no game at the show surprised me more in terms of how far it has turned around since a previous iteration.”

IGN

"FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer continue to provide the world with realistic soccer action, year after year. With each set of 365 days, tweaks and changes come to the game, and players continue to step onto the field. Some years the changes are greater than others, but sometimes it's the little tweaks that are surprisingly groundbreaking. We've talked about the great additions to FIFA 12 this year, but I was pleasantly surprised to see what Konami did to their franchise"

Your teammates will use the space.

"In Pro Evolution Soccer 2012, the differences all fall on the shoulders of AI - but it truly opens up the playing field. It's based on the idea that you're not in charge of your team - they live their own lives. So they need to react to the field like a unique specimen. If you're jogging around a real field, as much as you yell, you're still not in charge of what your teammates are doing. PES2012 implements this idea beautifully into the game.

So when the whistle blows in any match of PES2012, the computer gets to work. When you're dribbling down the field, your teammates are going to break into space (even diagonally), draw defenders off of you, and help finish the play as any trained footballer should. This leaves you the ability to concentrate on your footwork and not worry about the execution around you. In action, the difference is immediately noticeable and you can always find the open man"

The AI is open for a pass.

"On the defensive side, you're going to notice the computer taking over as well. If a striker blows past his cover, the computer will automatically jump to cover him while the rest of the team catches up. This makes scoring a more difficult undertaking – but that's exactly how it needs to be.

Konami's a few months away from announcing its licenses for teams this year, and the modes and additions are still a secret. But with some simple finesse of artificial intelligence, Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 has leapt ahead of its predecessors and feels like a fun day on the pitch"

Gamespot

"FIFA 12 wasn't the only football game on show at this year's E3 expo, with Konami unveiling a bunch of new features for Pro Evolution soccer 2012. As yearly updates go, PES 12 is looking like a big one, with improved animation, visuals, and AI updates that attempt to make it a more realistic experience. With FIFA currently taking the football crown, Konami's certainly got its work cut out to return the series to its glory days and back to the top of table"

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"Of all the new features, PES 12's AI improvements are the biggest, with changes being made to almost all aspects of the game. Our first look started with active AI overlap, a new feature that's designed to improve the performance of players off the ball. In PES 11, if you passed the ball forward to an open area on the pitch, more often than not supporting players wouldn't chase the ball down. Players will now run forward to receive passes, letting you make better use of open space.

This is enhanced by improvements made to dummy runs and diagonal runs, which see players drawing out defenders to give you space to play the ball and make runs across the whole length of the pitch, rather than just along one side of it. The next new feature we were shown was zonal defense. It attempts to improve defensive lines, so players now stay in formation. We were shown a clip from PES 11, which showed defensive players in a zigzag formation outside of the box. In PES 12, that line has been straightened up to more accurately mimic real-world players.

The final AI improvement we were shown was called zonal marking, which attempts to improve the defensive play of your teammates. Players will automatically pick up on runs of attacking players, chasing them down and launching tackles. As well as AI improvements, we were shown one tweak to the controls, which allows you to control players off the ball. For example, if you've got a throw in or a free kick, you can move other players around the pitch, as well as line up your throw or shot"

"improvements are substantial, and if they work as promised, they'll go some way toward making PES 12 a more realistic experience and a better alternative to FIFA. With the game currently only 60 percent complete, there's still a lot of new features Konami has yet to implement, including new personal update data, animation improvements, and more responsive button presses. Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 is due for release in the third quarter of this year. Look out for more on GameSpot soon"