New Pro Evo Will be Best Ever… Just Like Last Year

The yearly Pro Evo vs Fifa battle for your hearts, minds and wallets always manages to muster up some false hopes and promises. Every year, each company talks up its newest release suggesting that this year, this release really is the closest thing to real football.

Alas, they’re always wrong and while the games may have an initial rush of ‘œoh my God this is the greatest game ever’, the sentiment inevitably transforms into “Oh my God, what the hell was that you stupid fucking keeper!”

Of course, this isn’t going to stop them from doing exactly the same this year and, predictably, PES team leader Jon Murphy has recently said that ‘œit’s time for PES to transform, and PES 2011 represents the most ambitious redesign in the series’ history.’

He said:

We’ve continued to work closely with the fans to pinpoint what it is about football that PES didn’t do. Total freedom was the priority and all-new animation a must. PES 2011 does both ‘“ indeed, they are directly linked to each other ‘“ and while the new game is recognisably PES at its heart, it is also the most radically improved version ever.

Football games are, in a certain sense, mostly just update titles, usually because a large portion of the newness is the updated team rosters and new game types. However, developers often focus too much on these aspects and forget that the game is only as good as the engine and game dynamics that run through it. The introduction of ‘œBe a Pro’ mode to Fifa 08, to me, added nothing other than a totally infuriating and boring game type that I really didn’t enjoy, whereas Fifa 09‘s improved core gameplay made it one of my favourite football titles to date.

As for Pro Evo? The last decent PES game I played was probably PES 6, with the latest one not offering anything great in terms of gameplay and lacking the full clubs and official league that the Fifa series always had. You could overlook those omissions in the past because PES had decent speed and shooting, but without those things it couldn’t hold its own.

I have an almost perpetual hope for both Fifa and Pro Evo, hoping that one day they’ll fulfil my need for a perfect, utterly balanced football game. Maybe it really will be this year, then?