PES 2012
SCORE: 88
Konami has a long history in the video
game industry. Few companies have been around as long as they have. So
it is a real blessing to be able to play a new soccer game from them.
Family Friendly Gaming was provided the Xbox 360 version of Pro
Evolution Soccer 2012. This game is on the Wii, Playstation 3,
Playstation 2, and Personal Computer. There are also hand held versions
on the Nintendo 3DS and Playstation Portable.
And I suppose I should get the twenty ton elephant in the room out of
the way first. Evolution is in the name of Pro Evolution Soccer 2012. We
like to refer to it as PES 2012 here at Family Friendly Gaming. We did
not find anything in PES 2012 to promote the belief in Darwin's highly
flawed theory. So that is out of the way, and we can get into the soccer
game. Or futball for those true believers of the sport.
Soccer games are usually boring. I hate to say it but its true. As I
started to play PES 2012 I expected some boring soccer game play. I was
immediately shocked at how intelligent the AI is in PES 2012. Team mates
will work to get open so you can pass to them. They will put themselves
in positions to score the ball. I immediately recognized this. Once I
learned how to keep the soccer ball out of the stands I started to
score.
The same can be said for the defense. The AI will position players right
in your way when you try to score. They will block your kicks, and you
will have to try and get the ball back. The goalies are extremely
intelligent. It took a lot to trick them. In one game I bounced the ball
off the side of the goal, and kicked it in on the rebound. The goalie
had gone for it when I hit the metal frame, and missed.
There are various camera angles in PES 2012. Some of them are a little
on the small side. The close ups show how great the graphics are. You
have probably seen the images in the coverage that Family Friendly
Gaming has had. The players look fantastic, and so do the stadiums. I am
very impressed with how good this game looks. Characters will hug after
scoring, and that did not look realistic to me. Maybe that will be
improved next year.
The music in PES 2012 is very diverse. There are songs in this game that
I enjoyed and others that I could have done without. I looked around the
options and could only find an all or nothing for the music. Meaning
turn the song volume off, or have it on. Other sports games allow
players to pick and choose sounds from the track list. So that was a
little disappointment for me. The announcers have wonderful voices and
they make intelligent comments at the right time. But it comes across as
timely sound bytes as opposed to a running conversation to me.
There are numerous leagues in PES 2012 that the players can use. There
is also a player creation for those who want to be there own man. Up to
four family members can enjoy PES 2012 locally, and up to eight can
enjoy this game online. There are leaderboards to see how you stack up
against other players. PES 2012 is a fun soccer game that I can see
lasting easily for months.
We are now getting into the section where PES 2012 shines the brightest
- the game play. It is absolutely insane how intelligent this game is.
It could tell where I wanted to go. The defense would try and stop me,
while my own team worked to assist. This alone makes PES 2012 feel
extremely real. My one complaint about the controls is on defense. The
swapping confused me too often. I would be chasing someone down, and it
would swap to someone in front. I then moved them out of position
because I was not expecting that. I did adapt to this after a couple of
games.
The main lesson in PES 2012 is team work. No one person goes out there
and scores all the goals. It takes team work to get that ball in the
net. This home console game also teaches us about soccer. I know this is
a well respected, and revered sport in the world. It has improved in
America in the last few decades, but still not dominate. I look forward
to sequels of PES 2012 in the near future. This franchise is shaping up
to be a contender.
- Frank
Graphics: 87%
Sound: 83%
Replay/Extras: 90%
Gameplay: 95%
Family Friendly Factor: 84%
System: Xbox 360/Playstation 3/Wii/PC/PS2
Publisher: Konami
Rating: 'E' - Everyone
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