Video Gamer is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Prices subject to change. Learn more
OK, let’s get right down to it: PES 2015 is a much better game than its immediate predecessor. Another year of dicking about with the Fox engine has resulted in a football title that’s far less clunky than PES2014, where the overuse of elaborate animations bogged the game down into a near-farcical game of button input-delay Simon says.
This problem also meant that 2014 failed the ‘two players, same team test’, which is my unofficial guide as to whether PES is any good in a particular year. The presence of another human player enables you to see all the nuances the game has to offer: you’re not beholden to AI player runs or absolutely batshit defending. In PES 2014, the aforementioned animation issues made free-flowing play difficult, and as such nowhere near as satisfying.
PES 2015 passes this test. Player movements aren’t as ‘clipped’ as in previous games, and are sometimes prone to over-exerting themselves, but on the whole it’s a faster, more responsive game than the one it’s building upon. I scored (and created) some goals in two-player that recalled the glory days of the franchise – leading to that fist-pumping, near-uncontrollable celebration. You know the one.
So that’s good. In fact, most of what’s there is good. Some of it is even great. But I’m still not sure that PES 2015 has the edge on my recent personal favourite, 2013. That game had its problems: shooting sometimes felt a bit floaty, for one. Goalkeeping animations were also on the limited side, a pet hate that makes certain goals all seem very (read: too) similar. Heading was tough to learn, requiring the use of manual inputs to get a really good nod on target.
It wasn’t perfect, by any means. But it also played a phenomenal passing game, especially with two players who knew each other, and some of the moves you could craft and goals you could score were up there with the best PES has ever offered. PES 2015 isn’t quite there yet.
It’s an improvement in other ways: the shooting is superb, and actually feels like you’re hitting a ball rather than a balloon, meaning players will get a good ‘feel’ for how long they need to hold down the shoot button to get it on the top corner, or gently lift it over the keeper. Heading is also much-improved, with efforts less likely to enter orbit. Some lovely goalkeeping animations have also been added, including one where the keeper moves too early in a one-on-one and watches in despair as the ball rolls the other way. (On this point: players have a weight and momentum that FIFA lacks.)
Master League is as addictive as ever, and the ability to see in real-time which amounts players and clubs are happy to settle for when negotiating transfers takes some of the pain out of getting the stars you need. The front end has finally been improved, now resembling FIFA’s tiles rather than some sort of bizarre pattern-recognition exercise. And, as ever, player likenesses are superb, putting FIFA’s caricatures to shame.
Finally, Fluid Formations are very cool, enabling players to set three different line-ups (kick off, in possession, and in defence) which change on the fly. So if you want your full backs bombing forward when on the attack you can, but lose the ball and they’ll do their best to get back just as quickly.
But there’s one thing bothering me about PES: namely, the time it takes from the ball to leave your foot after you hit pass. Again, in PES 2013, this was near-instant, facilitating those aforementioned Barca-style moves. PES 2014, on the other hand, felt like you had to ask permission of the ball before you struck it. PES 2015 is better than that, but it can be better still.
One-touch passing seems fine, as generally you’ll have already pressed pass long before the ball reaches your player, mitigating the feeling you’re waiting for something, and it is possible to put together passing moves (especially in manual mode) that you’ll want to stand up and applaud (or just spend ages watching on the replay). But there’s just the slightest delay when in possession that can see the opposition nick the ball away, coupled with the feeling that some of your players aren’t reacting fast enough.
I’m not saying I want ping-pong football. Nor, too, is it as bad as before. But it’s an annoyance in an otherwise superb game of football. There’s not long left for Konami to tweak it, but I hope it does. And the same for over the top through balls please, which right now are about as powerful as the former Soviet Union.
