Welcome : PES 17 review

Pro Evolution Soccer is a series well known to many. While FIFA was dominating sales charts during the PS2-era with fancy graphics and Martin Tyler's dulcet tones, Pro Evolution Soccer (or PES or Pro Evo to its friends) was quietly bubbling away, garnering a fan base all of its own for its incredible recreation of the beautiful game.

That was then the divide; did you want the licensed names and the production values, or the beautiful game with a few ugly menus and strange player names? We always wanted the latter.

Then things changed. EA realised that FIFA had stopped resembling the sport it was trying to emulate and went back to the drawing board for the start of the Xbox 360 and PS3 generation. FIFA was good again, and Pro Evo couldn't keep up.

But now, PES and FIFA are on a more even peg. However, PES 2017 still has a lot of ground to cover to make sure it maintains its reputation.

We'll be collating everything we know about PES 2017 here, so make sure to keep it bookmark

Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 is to launch on September 15 will release on PS4, Xbox One and PC, just two weeks before FIFA 17. Perhaps surprisingly given that many games are moving away from the last console generation, PES 2017 is also coming to Xbox 360 and PS3. 

There will be a Day One patch to get all those late signings into the right line-ups, plus weekly roll-outs for both online and offline players. 

PES 2017 COVER: WHO'S GOING TO BE ON THE FRONT?

A bone of contention for many; with EA's FIFA series landing Messi, the Pro Evolution series has always had to settle for a step down from the Argentinian wizard. Last year we had Neymar (admittedly excellent), but with Messi's contract with EA expiring this year there's every chance the Barcelona star could feature on this year's cover.

PES 2017 GAMEPLAY: WHAT'S NEW?

There are four big gameplay innovations coming to PES 2017. 

Firstly you've got the goalies. In previous PES games they've been quite the source of negativity, but in PES 2017 it's a very different story. Suddenly they feel like the players they're meant to represent. Tottenham's Lloris is capable of acrobatic feats, while Bayern Munich's Neuer is all hands and feet as you'd expect. 

Then you've got the changes coming to each team overall. Konami has successfully managed to move the game away from the arcadey style it's known for, making ball physics and player touch to slow the game down and make it feel like you're playing as the team whose badge is on the shirt (or the PES variation of anyway). Statistical attributes and position now really play their part.

PES 2017 will also offer kit editing too, so you can put the right badge on the right kit.

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Thirdly, Konami has worked hard to bring all the tactical maneuvers into the game for PES 2017. Under the setting "Advanced Instructions", you can assign the four D-pad buttons to two attacking and two defending strategies from a lengthy checklist.
Those include Barcelona's Tika-Taka possession techniques and Jürgen Klopp's Gegenpressing in defence.
Finally, there's the AI. The official term is "Adaptive AI" and it makes a subtle but impressive difference to the gameplay. If you overuse a player or goal route too much, the AI team will shift to compensate, forcing you to change your tactics.
Of course, as you'd expect from a new year of PES, there's been advancements in graphics too both in-game and in terms of the UI. There's much better facial likenesses and animations, night-time effects are significantly boosted and the crowd finally looks alive and reactive.

As you might expect the graphics are set to be improved; stadia, fans, players and the hallowed turf are all being upgraded thanks to further incorporation of the Fox Engine.

According to Konami: "Nothing has been left untouched, from player models, lighting, crowds, pitch and stadiums totally revamped. Never has a game looked so real."

This will also benefit the Natural Player Movement, as the devs add hundreds of animations to bring the players to life and give each one its own personality.

©  Konami

Oh yeah, and Jim Beglin is returning too. We love him, but we know, he's not everyone's cup of tea. Still, the commentary in Pro Evolution Soccer has steadily been improving over the years, so hopefully we see an improvement again.

PES 2017 WISHLIST: WHAT WE STILL WANT TO SEE

1. DON'T CHANGE ITS APPROACH TO FOOTBALL

What we want is fairly simple. PES 2017 has to maintain its confidence in the actual football bit of the game because it is without peer. The folk at Konami understand the ebbs and flows, the ramp ups, the pinball drama of thumping deep crosses into the box with time against you. They understand that incredibly well, and what we want is for that to remain the case.

Where Pro Evo has always struggled is with everything around the football. The menus are obtrusive, options are buried deep within layer after layer of oddly titled drop down menus, the Master League system is obtuse and tries to be too different from FIFA for the sake of it.

Keep it simple. Please. Respect the sport and respect your players.

2. A FRESH NEW UI

The menus need a complete overhaul both in terms of content and design. It feels as though every iteration gives them a lick of paint and buries a few new options in there without any consideration of how they're being navigated. If that's not the studio's strength then fine, outsource it to a UI company – we don't care how you do it.

3. BETTER ONLINE FUNCTIONALITY

The online, too, has a few issues. FIFA 2016's crowning feature, and a completely inspired addition to the series, is Be A Pro. This is a mode in which you control just one player; you can go online, use your player and join your friends as you play against others doing the same. You can be a tricky winger, a midfield general or even an unambitious right back – it's completely up to you.

FIFA's realisation of this mode works, but given how little we care for FIFA's version of "football" we can only dream of what this might look like in the slower, more realistic pace of PES. In fact, it's a shame that the only thing Pro Evolution Soccer has copied is 'Ultimate Team' – but that's a completely different discussion for another time.

4. TRULY FOCUS ON PES

The bottom line is; we hope Konami realise just how special this game could be and now, given the future of Metal Gear Solid is in limbo, it's more important than ever that they make it the best it can be.