Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 Reviews
I wanted to like Pro Evolution Soccer 2016, I really did. Sports games are a specialty of mine, and I'm always excited to try the latest versions of the big time franchises. My disappointment with the game rests solely on how recycled everything feels. I want some innovation in my sports games, some new ideas that will challenge me and test my limits, but here I get the video game equivalent of a uninspired shrug. Konami, if you read this, please try something new with PES 2017, as I really don't want to be disappointed as soon as I press start next year too.
An open, responsive football title with a lot of individual player freedom, but one that also has dodgy keepers, absent fouls, and the usual iffy online environment. The PC community may bring it up to scratch, but at release it's an ugly port that does a disservice to the game within.
Far from the distilled purity of the sport it seeks to celebrate, PES 2016 comes across as an over-engineered appliance—an unfortunate reality, given the craftsmanship being smothered underneath as a result. For all of PES 2016's inching improvements in the way players interact on the field, the game seems more intent on bombarding you with the number of licensed leagues, kitschy diversions, and other doohickeys vaguely associated with soccer at its disposal.
PES finally finds the balance between stout sim and accessible arcade, but a poor port cast shadow on an otherwise great game.
Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 is a strange entry in the series. The improvements are obvious and clear to see from the outset but the areas in which it has taken a step backward take a lot longer to actually uncover. You don't realise that you haven't conceded a free kick for ages until you've played more than a handful of games. You don't realise that the keepers pretty much can't save low shots until you've conceded a dozen goals in the bottom corner. This means that your time with PES this year will be spent playing for an hour or two and then putting the controller down in frustration. It's to Konami's great credit that it somehow always calls you back to it.
PES 2016 offers some notable improvements, especially for series veterans, but a lack of polish in certain areas keep the game from reaching higher ground.
PES has won this round over FIFA, but it may not be quite the victory they were hoping for. It's a massive leap in the right direction with its innovative gameplay and features, but simple mistakes have stopped it from being the new Pro Evolution Soccer everyone was hoping for.
PES is the ultimate football game for players. Fans may be scorned by license woes, but if you want to play a high quality football game that looks and plays just like the real thing than look no further.
It's hard to go through the bargain bin of any hole in the wall game store without seeing a plethora of sports games priced at a solid £1.99. PES 2016 sets itself apart from these throwaway titles. Although it doesn't innovate, it does everything very well. Where many games want to just make the yearly mark, PES 2016 seems to have demanded, of itself, a level of quality that many yearly instalments could really learn a lesson from. Hopefully they will, because if this indicates anything, yearly instalments can look and feel beautiful.
Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 is a big step forward for the series and manages to show the complexity and the beauty of football while also emphasizing the hard work that's required from a team looking to put together a string of victories.
So has PES finally staged a winning comeback? The answer is almost. The gameplay is faster and undoubtedly easier to get into. It's let down by inconsistent defensive AI and poor menus, which keep it from achieving perfection. Nonetheless, it's a step in the right direction. We can't wait to see what Konami do with PES 2017.
Football for the connoisseurs
Despite problems with fouls, this year's PES is very close to being the best in series history.
This is a very solid entry into the series and one that fills you with hope for the series future, even with all the continual negativity surrounding Konami's video games focus going forwards. It's one I can recommend wholeheartedly. What's even better is that as this review goes to press, you can easily find a copy of the game for £25 in many retailers, should you wish to give this a punt. Which you should.
PES 2016 is a fantastic sports game that every avid football enthusiast should own.
Pro Evo is still struggling to match FIFA on match atmosphere, presentation, accessibility and commentary – all areas where Konami could and should be doing better. Yet it's a fantastic football game once you hit the pitch, with brilliant close-up graphics, superb animation, convincing ball physics and player interactions and a fantastic feel for the ebb and flow of the match.
The Pro Evolution Soccer series has been steadily improving over the past few years, and with PES 2016 it seems the dev team has finally cracked that winning football formula, despite some rough edges.
While not for everyone, PES 2016 is actually a very well done game. I learned a good amount, but am by no means an expert. I was able to get a good feel for the game and was able handle some matches on the easier difficulty. This is still very much a soccer fan's game, and while it has the tutorials, the game is not very beginner-friendly. At the same time, what it does, it does very well and looks great while doing it. Any fan of the sport should definitely check it out.
For Pro Evolution Soccer, its 20th anniversary brings in 2016 with a bang. The improvements and expanded gameplay comes as a bit of a surprise. Konami is showing that their push to the top of football greatness is fully in effect. It is safe to say PES 2016 is one of the best sports releases to the genre in recent years.
While there's a robust simplicity to the gameplay that is engaging, right or wrong, we've all got used to a level of completeness and polish that PES, even twenty years on, is still sometimes missing.