Review for Pro Evolution Soccer 2019. Game for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 30/08/2018
The end of the summer for us fans of sports video games coincides with the beginning of the season that could easily be renamed "the wallet dryer". In fact, in the space of just over a month, five / six titles are released that every good enthusiast cannot miss; one of these is Pro Evolution Soccer 2019 (from now on PES 2019, ed) which again this year tries to break the dominance of FIFA as the most desired football game by millions of "sofa sports". Will the Konami title, available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC, have all the credentials to compete for a slice of the market for EA's flagship sports product? Let's find out together.
PES Productions has focused its work on the historical strength of the PES series: continuing the excellent work done last year with PES 2018, it has in fact improved the gameplay that this year is even more polar opposite to the FIFA series. Forget the challenges with trick shots, intoxicating dribbling and frenzied pace, because PES 2019 is a hymn to the reasoned management of ball possession: never like this year there is the feeling of heaviness of the ball, the unpredictability of rebounds and the general sense of more realism than the Electronic Arts title. Thanks to the many new animations and the new physics management of the ball, this year called First Touch Impact, we notice how the never too mistreated "binaries" are an unpleasant thing of the past of Konami football games.
The artificial intelligence that manages teammates and opponents has been further refined but there are still some small flaws, with the opposing defense that even at medium-high difficulty levels tends to open too much before the area allowing shooters to score more regularly. even from long distances; the header towards the goal seems to have been weakened, thus decreasing the number of cross goals for your Mandzukic or Higuain. The goalkeepers have found effectiveness in almost all the occasions in which they are called into question, they still remain slightly uncertain in the outputs but nothing that a patch cannot solve. The only negative note are the referees: the number of fouls sanctioned by the referees during the matches against the CPU remains too much of a dancer, very low in some cases while in others even the smallest contact is whistled.
Graphically PES 2019 improves what was seen in last year's title, thanks to the abandonment of the old-gen versions; it is evident how the whole development team has had the opportunity to further optimize the Fox Engine. Very clean textures and finely crafted models of the players, with the faces and movements of the most famous champions on the edge of photorealism, on all the teams with which Konami has signed a collaboration agreement for the construction of the players and stadiums (Barcelona, Schalke 04 , Inter and some others). Thanks to the new lighting system called Enlighten, the completely licensed structures such as the Giuseppe Meazza stadium in Milan, the Anfield in Liverpool and the Camp Nou in Barcelona are perfectly recreated externally and internally, giving a very evocative atmosphere.
At the end of the ninety minutes, however, PES 2019 seems to be made with much less attention to detail: the menus are definitely in need of updating, what in the competing title is colorful and captivating here is reduced to an aseptic screen full of text. The Master League, the real jewel in the crown of the first Pro Evolution Soccer, seems to have been left to itself with the same menus and the same interlude videos of the last edition; again present the possibility of facing the Master League in Challenge mode, which will increase the difficulty of managing your players and make transfers (incoming and outgoing) real adventures. The Become A Myth mode, which allows you to create a footballer and follow his career, is well done but is far from being a narratively enjoyable product as the journey mode offered by FIFA.
The changes to the myClub online mode are slowly but surely reducing the gap with the FUT of the Electronic Arts title, although managing the club and obtaining new players to add to one's squad are not such immediate actions compared to what the competition offers.
The big defect of the Konami title unfortunately remains the lack of appeal due to the lack of licenses, especially in this edition, having renounced the license of the official European competitions (UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League) and some top-teams (Juventus, Manchester United and Real Madrid above all).
Pro Evolution Soccer 2019 offers an excellent simulation of the "most beautiful game in the world" thanks to a gameplay that invites the player to jointly manage ball possession compared to the single strokes of genius proposed by the direct competitor FIFA 19. A graphic realization of teams and top-notch licensed stadiums have to contend with the small number of fully licensed teams and competitions. We would like to recommend the purchase to all football fans and not to be intimidated by an imperfect form, because the substance is present and has never been so well made.
► Pro Evolution Soccer 2019 is a Sport-type game developed and published by Konami for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 30/08/2018
