This is apparently the censored version of the game that is also on PC and the 3DO. It plays like a usual FMV adventure, but is more non-linear making it feel like one of those choose your own adventure books with many options to choose from throughout the game. The story doesn't interest me too much but it gets points for originality.
A definite improvement on last year's version. It's addictive and feels like real football often. The presentation has improved, Master League has some new features and it feels less buggy.
That's not to say there aren't still problems though. As it has often been, there is button delay when playing online making it pointless. I don't know what's up with this continual problem from this series... Then there is the near perfect chip shot rate from the AI when the keeper runs out, and to make it worse, they run out when you don't want them to. If you are winning or just want a draw, I've been able to pass it backwards to the keeper, who can just hold it for the 90 minutes. THE AI DON'T COME AT YOU! No one tried this when testing the game? (Edit: This may have been corrected in an update as it doesn't seem to be doing it anymore.-They still take a while to run at the keeper though). There is also the shooting. The amount of tap-ins a 5 year old amputee could put in the onion bag that go wide is incredible... It makes me think the game is rigged/scripted at times. Another bugbear I've had for versions is comparing players. Many moons ago if I remember correctly, both players' stats were easily seen. When looking at your team's gameplan there is plenty of spare space on the screen for this to happen, but it doesn't.
Gameplay 4/5
Graphics 3.5/5
Sound 3/5
Difficulty 4.5/5
Originality 3/5
A step backwards from a game that has been released as an unfinished version. A patch/update in November is supposed to rectify many of the problems... Edit: I can't remember if it did...
This is better to play than PES 2012 and the patches have improved the game. The progression still isn't here though. The goalkeepers fumble what they shouldn't and catch thunderbolts. The player movement still annoys as well with teammates not running into space when they should at times. Otherwise, it's a good recreation of football.
This has to be the hardest, most frustrating PES so far. The defending is very difficult, with half of the opposition dribbling like Messi, which makes it very difficult to keep clean sheets. This isn't helped either by the goalkeepers being terrible!!! How hard is it to program reasonable keepers into a game? They did it years ago, but they can't seem to get it right these days. Scoring is no walk in the park either with more intelligent AI being introduced to this year's version, however I don't mind that improvement. I persisted with this game for a while, but with each patch I'm not sure the game improved. A poor effort from Konami.