Pro Evolution Soccer 2019 | Game Review

Xagon Speaks
Sep 5, 2018 · 6 min read

Good morning ladies and gents of the X-Army, I hope you all are doing well. Being self-sufficient is key to growth, but once in a blue moon you want to splurge and try something new. As a FIFA user and a non-extreme gamer, I play game 30 minutes a day, I tried to branch out and try the competitor to the FIFA franchise in PES (Pro Evolution Soccer). Before I bring you my review let me suggest one thing to you as a person who rarely buys game, read your receipt and ask return questions at GameStop or wherever before you purchase games. Okay, with that out the way let’s dive into this review.

Game Presentation & Play |

So when you start this game up you are welcomed to a screen that resembles the Google Play Store with its categories. It has a clean and user-friendly interface so it’s not confusing where to go. Coming from a FIFA mindset it looked plain, but like I said it’s trying something new. But overall it’s a clean and smooth transition to go to whatever game mode you desire. Next up is team selection to begin your experience in this game, and to me this is where I wouldn’t personally keep nor invest in this game. You will be greeted with a vast selection of unlicensed teams for the league of your choice. Being a massive Arsenal fan, the EPL is the first place I go to begin my gaming experience. A majority of the teams are unlicensed and only Arsenal and Liverpool are real in this league. From my research the only way you can have all the licensed content is through an Open File which you have to either purchase or download from your site of choice, wink wink. As an Xbox user this is not available to the system, which marks this game down seriously for me. The fact that I spent $63.99 on a game that doesn’t have all the bells and whistles is one this, but the fact I would have had to get an additional file to get licensed teams seems like the price doesn’t reflect the amount of work you have to do just to have a decent experience.

Okay so you selected your team and jump into actually playing the game, you have arrived to what makes this game stand out from FIFA. The play and movement were surreal to say the least. The feel of the ball felt so heavy like it had real weight to it. In FIFA the ball feel like it has life in it, but in PES you have to measure your passes correctly and carefully direct it to the person you desire that pass to go to. Also the commentators make the gameplay that much more compelling. When you score a goal you feel like you won an Oscar, when you make a slide-tackle you feel like you just saved the world from a nuclear attack, and when you make a key pass the commentators lose their minds. I never heard this level of enthusiasm in a game before, but for the small period I first launched the game I felt like I was in an actual clutch game. Finally in this section I want to talk about scale. When the players walk out onto the pitch and you see the stadium from their perspective, you see the impressive scale and depth of the field. You feel like you are in the actual arena about to play the most dire game of your life and it just immerses you into an unreal experience. When I witnessed this for the first time, I felt it was worth the price.

Modes & Other Features |

Besides jumping into Exhibition mode to begin your road into PES, you have a MyClub and Master League feature to bring you more joy in the game. MyClub is essentially Ultimate Team but lacking a few features. You customize a team of your choosing and then dive into online/offline play. It was a bit of a hassle to get to grips with what was going on, but once you get it you are hooked. Master League give you the option to run your favorite club and challenge the world of club football. This was where I spent the majority of time understanding and I realized that it’s more in-depth than FIFA’s Career Mode with the full control of the club, the financial side of running a club and seeing player growth. Whether that be placing players in a new position to get familiar with or selecting a player you deem as a gem within the team to give them enhanced attributes. It’s different, but the growth rate of the players are just ridiculous.

Another feature that I was impressed by in this game was the ability to FULLY edit players. Not just the attributes of a certain player, but the ability to edit their nationality, age, and so on. FIFA had this in its 2007–2011 versions, but sadly you don’t fully have control within the game. It’s fine for a more realistic approach, but if you have that favorite young player or legend in the game you sadly can’t make them prolong their career depending on your game mode. But PES gives you that freedom to do that and I was surprised. I had a 26-year-old Ronaldo doing bits in my Master League, so it’s a bit of an upper hand over FIFA with the editing feature alone.

Final Verdict |

To sum this whole review up, all I can say is it’s worth checking out. It not my personal cup of tea because of the lack of licensed teams for the price I am paying and the fact that it felt like I paid for an incomplete game, it was an experience. The game feel extremely realistic when passing the ball and scoring. It gives you more freedom to do what you want from editing to customizing the unlicensed teams uniforms and name, but it’s not for me. If you have the PC or the PlayStation versions you can download the Open File and go to town. Like I said for that amount of money key thing should be in the game and not because I am an Xbox user I have to be stuck with Man Red FC or whatever fake name they pass off for missing teams. But for the good points I mentioned I personally give it a 3.5 out of 5. Yeah I am a FIFA fan, but getting out of that bubble was good for the experience of trying out something new. I definitely see the appeal to the game, but it’s just not for me and that’s okay. Try it yourself and form your own opinion on it, but make sure you understand how your receipt works.

Ladies and gents thank you so much for checking out our Pro Evolution Soccer review. Please stay tuned for more content, please like/follow us, and have a great day. Take it easy!


Originally published at xagonspeaks.wordpress.com on September 5, 2018.

Xagon Speaks

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