Review | Game review: Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 – Fifa rival is more realistic than ever, but makes no major leaps
Improved ball movement, better tactical balances, and multiplayer matches that feel much like the real thing make this year’s PES another winning entry, but it doesn’t make the sort of progress that the 2016 and 2017 versions did
Konami
4 stars
Strong rivalries are necessary to drive progress; without one side spurring the other, innovation dies. Nowhere is that more true than in video games, specifically of the sporting kind.
With new releases traditionally rolled out annually, lazy publishers and their limited development teams are often content to churn out “sequels” that merely put a spit-shine on last year’s edition. What keeps them going are the guys on the other side. In the obsessive realm of football simulators, two names rule the roost.
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There is Fifa, from American mega-developer EA Sports, which usually takes a more arcade-like approach to its gameplay so that any player can easily pick it up. Then there is Pro Evolution Soccer (or Winning Eleven in Japan) by Japanese developer Konami, which focuses more on simulation and requires technical skills built up over plenty of practice. (Incidentally, the PES production team is said to be about a quarter of the size of Fifa’s.)