Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 (PS4)

Konami’s soccer franchise enters the next round with Pro Evolution Soccer 2016. Keep reading to find out how well it stands up against the competition, and what kind of game modes there are for you to explore.

PES 2016 features a wide variety of ways to start playing, offering the right kind of game for just about anyone. There’s Master League, the series' classic career mode with management options, and then there’s also “Become a Legend”, which takes one single player and allows you to live out his career. In Become a Legend, you concentrate on that one player alone, without any of the usual team management functions.

But even if you don’t want to play through a whole career, PES 2016 has tons of options available. Perhaps the most interesting thing here is the UEFA-licensed content, since the UEFA Champions League as well as the Europa League are not officially available in that other game from EA. PES 2016 lets you play these teams using their actual names and authentic team kits. These include the squads from Bayern Munich, and VfL Wolfsburg, which kind of makes up for the lack of an official Bundesliga license, which has been FIFA-exclusive for years now.

You can also play with teams from exclusively licensed super-leagues from South America, Central America, and Asia, as well as (mostly) licensed leagues from countries like Austria, Spain, and the UK. This game mode is rounded out by the championship cups for various nations, as well as a championship between national teams, including the current World Champions, from you-know-where.

The whole thing is complemented by various online features like the “myClub”, Konami’s answer to the FIFA Ultimate Team Pendant, an online league, and the chance to play quick online matches against friends. But you have to have an active PS Plus membership (on the PS4, at least) to be able to play any multiplayer matches over the Internet.

Gameplay

The main screen of this career mode gives you a nice overview of anything that might be of interest to you. News updates, the current league standings/rankings, and a mini-calendar with upcoming matches on it are all there, and it also allows you to see how things stand in terms of team spirit. To play the next match, select “Forward Time” from the options in the top row. You can also simulate the match if you want, if you think it’s going to be especially easy, especially hard, especially boring, or otherwise uninteresting.

The “Team Management” menu allows you to adjust your team’s lineup positions on the field. You can change your overall strategy here, or customize each player using various training options, and you can also give players specific roles, like penalty kicks, corner kicks, etc. There are lots of interesting options that allow you to influence the game and try out new tactical options. This should be a real plus for the kinds of players who are more interested in the tactical aspects of the game than the action out on the field itself. Theoretically, it’s even possible to use the simulate game feature and skip the games altogether, focusing entirely on the managerial side of things. On the other hand, if all that planning and fine-tuning is too much for you to handle, you can leave it all in the hands of your assistant manager and trust his judgment.

Team Management also allows you to get involved in the management of your club’s youth team. The youth teams are full of young talent, just waiting to be discovered and sign a contract with the pro team. Actually you can check out all your players’ contracts here, and extend them – or break them, if need be. Moreover, you can make some room in your own lines by putting players on the loan list or the transfer list, allowing you to fill your ranks with new ones. The easy-to-use menu gives a great overview of the various details and issues that might be associated with the contracts, allowing you to get all your office work done, step by step.

The “Negotiations” menu allows you to recruit new players by sending scouts out to scope out different regions, or targeting particular players and making an offer. There’s a “favorites” list that lets you keep track of players you’d really like to have on your team, but can’t afford at the moment. The Negotiations menu is also where you’ll find job offers from other teams, and if you need to, you can take them. Transfer offers from other teams work exactly the same way – you can look them over in detail, then choose to accept them or turn them down, depending on whether or not the transfer fee is reasonable or not. Once again, the menu here is really well designed, making it very easy to get to the functions you wish to perform, and find the players as soon as possible.

The “My Team Info” menu has all the statistics you could possibly need, such as the results of past matches, including number of goals scored, the amount of time each team possessed the ball, the number of fouls, etc.; it also allows you to follow the progress of each player on the team. And speaking of numbers and figures, this is also where you can find a detailed overview of all your income and expenses, as well as the current funds available to you. This will help you keep track of exactly how much money you have when you’re dealing with transfers and contract negotiations. Not only that, but you can also keep an eye on what the competition is up to, including transfers, scores, and other updates. You’ll find all this in the “Database” tab, which includes stats and information of international interest, such as the national team rankings and club rankings outside your league.

The “System” menu allows you to manage the basic game settings, such as difficulty level and match length (5-30 minutes per match). It’s also a good idea to turn on the autosave feature to avoid having to replay a tough match or re-negotiate a successful transfer.

Before each match begins, you can decide whether your team is going to wear their home kit or away kit. You can also influence the quality of the venue, and change your strategy and starting line-up at the last moment. Both teams take the field, and then the game begins. And like other PES games, the most impressive thing about the gameplay is the high level of realism. The movement of the players is extremely authentic, and this is one place where PES is just a bit better than its main rival. This is especially true of the tackling mechanics, which have been refined a bit since last year’s version. The controls are pretty easy to get used to, and with so many pre-set control schemes available, as well as the ability to create your own, even FIFA players should be able to get the hang of it in no time. There are also several new options available when it comes to celebrating goals – pressing the right buttons at the right time will allow you to celebrate in tons of different ways. Each pose has its own short animation, allowing you to sit back and breathe for a second.

Graphics

The well-known faces of pro soccer players are pretty much spot-on, and you’ll recognize them at first glance, especially the goal celebration scenes. This is another place where PES can stand side by side with its rival, giving players a great soccer sim with excellent graphics.

Sound

Apart from the commentary, PES 2016 does a great job of capturing the atmosphere of a professional soccer stadium, with chants, whistles, stamping feet, and shouted words of encouragement.