First PES 2012 details – ‘will turn heads’

PES 2012 will be released this autumn for Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Wii, PSP and PS2, Konami has announced.

“For me, the ultimate aim in the ongoing PES series is to match what people see when they go to a match or watch a big game on TV with what they experience on their console,” explained Shingo ‘Seabass’ Takatsuka, the creative producer of the Pro Evolution Soccer series. “As such, in consultation with football fans across the globe, we have been working non-stop to isolate and determine how to make our game marry in with how real football is played. This is key to PES 2012, and key to providing the ultimate football experience within a console title.”

Konami says the focus in PES 2012 is the instinctive way the game can be played and on teamwork in particular. Seabass and his Tokyo team have worked to recreate the “very essence of top-level football,” ensuring the new game’s AI engine has undergone a major overhaul to create an experience close to being part of a real team.

Attacking play is a major element of PES 2012, benefiting from a more open approach that allows users to dictate the pace of movement, with all-new AI elements incorporated so team mates make runs and offer support in one-on-one situations. Players will also make useful dummy runs to draw defenders.

Zonal marking and positional defending are also said to be massively enhanced; ensuring players are forced to work harder to split the opposition defence. A new cursor switching system has been implemented using the right analogue stick to switch to any player on the field – this allows users to pick a team mate anywhere on the pitch, thereby allowing players to react to threats faster, and to shut down attacks more quickly.

Hold up play is being tweaked, giving AI defenders the ability to hold a much tighter defensive line, position themselves better and track opponents more efficiently. The off-the-ball switching also extends to key set pieces, such as goal kicks, corners, free kicks and throw-ins, and allows users to target a specific player and send them on runs or to drag defenders out of position.

We’re also promised a greater emphasis on the physicality of top-level football thanks to an extension to the jostling system of PES 2011. Defenders rely on their strength and stature to force a player from the ball as strikers and play makers make use of unique attributes to beat their markers. Tighter, more accurate collisions see players tumbling dependent on how they are knocked off the ball. Konami notes that stumbling players can, however, be brought directly back under control.

“Team work is what separates the world’s greatest teams from their peers, and is the hub of everything within PES 2012,” added Seabass. “PES 2012 focuses on the core elements of top-level football: attacking play, freedom of movement, the creation of space, and working together as a unit both up field and in defence. These elements combine to create a game that flows and ebbs like a real match, with individual shows of brilliance changing a game, and more control over every aspect of play within a wide-ranging yet instinctive control system. PES 2012 will turn the heads of fans everywhere.”

The game also boasts exclusive use of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League licences.

Konami will detail further key enhancements to PES 2012 in the coming month.