Review for Pro Evolution Soccer 2018. Game for PlayStation Network, PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 12/09/2017
We had already told you at Gamescom and reiterated as part of a further close test: Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 is that football embrace that fans of the series have come to expect from Konami.
Improved both from a technical point of view and from a purely playful one, yet another episode of the franchise known in the East as Winning Eleven it is undoubtedly a significant step forward compared to the recent past. Will it be enough to reclaim the throne of football simulations and also attract those who, for years, have been drooling after the sprawling online proposals of EA football?
As soon as you cross the threshold of the title splash screen, you realize how the available modes have not received a decisive refresh: the always intriguing My Club combines with a whole series of playful variations with a decidedly more classic flavor, including the Master League, with the brand new online Coop mode, destined to give life to devastating two-on-two or three-on-three battles.
Once on the playing field, however, one cannot fail to stop in front of the visual orgy revealed by the union formed by Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 and Fox Engine. The highly detailed players move smoothly and at sixty squares per second on a vivid and almost palpable green carpet. The stadiums then received further refinement work, resulting even closer to their real counterparts. The animations have also been greatly improved, totally renewed and definitely subservient to the gameplay.
This feature, in particular, appears evident in every fold of the binary code of the title, even when any realistic inaccuracies in the management of the sphere appear on the screen: wrong stops rather than simple touches or “dirty” supports do not block the panta rei of the action, positively affecting the general fluidity.
Where in the past there were significant interruptions in the composition of the various game plots even following a simple partially successful connection, with the dazed footballer, now we continue to play, almost completely eliminating the woodiness in the movements that gripped the series tout court. The controls, immediate and precise, are pleasantly integrated within a playful canvas that is finally more player friendly: it will no longer be necessary to press complex combinations of buttons to substantiate even the most banal of ball covers on the screen.
Advanced dribbling can be implemented simply by using the directional stick in a suitable mannerrather than emulating Dhalsim to reach every key of the pad. Furthermore, in matches against the CPU there is a significant increase in artificial intelligence, especially during defensive maneuvers. Players anticipate, tackle and apply pressure diligently and wisely, especially on higher difficulty levels.
In short, you breathe a new air, in Pro Evolution Soccer 2018, that of a digital creature finally back to reasoned football, easy to control, difficult to master, with staid and more realistic rhythms, in which to attribute the right weight not so much to the ability of individual champions, however splendidly characterized in each particular skill, as to team play, to throws long, rapid game changes and dense plots of reasoned passages.
Konami's efforts in acquiring the various licenses related to teams, players and competitions are also commendable, even if, limiting ourselves to Serie A only, it is impossible not to highlight how Juventus was not included among the teams reproduced with all the trappings of officialdom. Similarly to what was glimpsed in the previous iterations of the Japanese football epic, it should be noted the possibility of importing data and modify the roses to your liking.
Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 roars, shows its claws and frightens FIFA: the substantial changes to the gameplay and the renewed care in the technical sector project the Konami football series into a shoulder-to-shoulder duel with the highly decorated Electronic Arts franchise. Until FIFA 18 arrives, at least.
► Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 is a Sport-type game developed and published by Konami for PlayStation Network, PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 12/09/2017
