We are just weeks away from E3. While nothing has officially been announced, we can expect to see the latest iteration of Pro Evolution Soccer. Konami, will be showing off their first next gen efforts for PES and expectations could not be higher from media and fans alike.
This is widely considered to be the last chance for a lot of PES fans. If Konami don’t get this one right, it’s a swift move over to the dark side and FIFA 15 for those disappointed (understatement) with the last 8 years of PES. But with the expectations comes hope, there is hope that a next generation PES could be the one to recapture the purity of PES pre PS3/Xbox 360. The FOX engine was clearly never meant for the old hardware, we can see the potential lying dormant, biding it’s time for more powerful machines to present it the way it was meant to be. I for one was shouting PES 2014’s praises when I first got my hands on it in Windsor, I couldn’t stop playing the demo’s and gave it a high score in the review. However, nothing says more than the fact that I have no touched PES since FIFA 14 on PS4 came out. Now, that’s technically a lie. I have touched it, I have tried each update, each DLC pack. But I could never push on with it. I have always felt… withdrawn from 2014. I have played every other PES religiously. This is the first year that it has not been my main game. By main game I don’t just mean between PES and FIFA, I mean all games. Last year I barely played anything but PES 2013. Not to say that PES was amazing, but it had that addictiveness PES always had. 2014 just did not have that.
Now… with all of that blabber out of the way, this is what am I hoping to see from E3… well more a case of me thinking out loud about what I want to see from E3 and a few ideas I have. Graphically I think we are spoilt already. Add to the faces that are already there, and sort out the horror shows that were rushed in to the game after release and I can’t see much more room for improvement. I think we all know that the game play is where the attention needs to be paid. This piece isn’t about anything technical, but what I do want to stress, and implore Konami take notice of… bring back the enjoyment, let us score long range screamers, let us feel addicted again. I lost that, I was a PES addict and this year I kicked the habit, but not by choice. If Konami can bring back that addictive nature, a lot will follow.
Another point I do want to touch on, Master League. I’m beginning to wonder if the whole Master League experience should be separate from a “Career” mode. Master League should be exactly what it was before, start off with a group of misfit players from all of the globe and create a team worthy of being called the best! And I really do feel you should create a team in ML and not just choose a club that is already running. That we can leave for the Career mode. Start there as a club already in existence, and have a more realistic approach. This is just an idea that has been floating in my head, but obviously it is by no means the perfect solution. I just wonder if a dedicated mode specific to creating and building a team could go a long way to regaining some of that PES magic.
So, with all that said and done, we will know in a few weeks time what we can expect from Konami and PES for 2015. Everything I wrote above will be meaningless in three weeks. We may not know everything, but we will know the direction in which our game is going to take. I say our game because PES has always been a game of the people, needing it’s players as much as it’s developers to be a complete product (option files etc).
Lastly, we want to hear from you, what do you want from 2015? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE try and be constructive, we are just asking for what you want to see in 2015, not what you hate about Konami or PES in 2014! Give us a comment below and share what you want to see in 2015!
