PES 2013: A Whole New Ball GameIndividuality and Full Control the key as PES 2013 moves the goalposts
Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH will offer football fans an unprecedented level of control, when its PES 2013 title returns to the field this Autumn.
As befits a game endorsed by Cristiano Ronaldo – a player who embodies the skill and grace of top level football – PES 2013 sees the series returning to its roots, with the emphasis on the individual skills of the world’s best players, and giving the player the total freedom to play any style of ball, to any team mate, anywhere on the pitch. This follows further consultation with both football and PES fans alike, and the result is the most faithful recreation of modern day football to date, with players modeled to match the running motions, abilities and playing styles, and the flicks and turns of their real-life counterparts.
Three key elements form the basis of PES 2013’s innovations, with all new additions falling within the fields of PES FullControl, Player ID, and
ProActive AI.
PES FullControl (PES FC): Never before has a football game offered such a level of control over the way it is played:
• Total Freedom of Control: PES 2012 introduced the concept of freedom of movement, with players making better runs through improved AI. The new ‘PES FC’ in PES 2013goes further with total freedom over ball control.
• Dynamic First Touch: PES 2013 introduces subtle ways to receive the ball, from traps, gently lifting it past an attacker to run on to. First touch is everything and players can trap the ball using the R2 button, killing the speed of a well-hit pass and bringing it instantly under control, or using the momentum of the pass to turn a defender.
• Full Manual Passing and Full Manual Shooting: PES 2013 offers fully manual passing and shooting, allowing users to determine the height and power of each. Long low passes can be sent skimming across the pitch, while using L2 while shooting will give the user total control over where the pass or shot is placed. Skill and precision are needed to master these, but passes can be made into open areas, allowing lone strikers to thrive, while offering an unrivalled variety in ways to score.
• Dribbling: The speed with which a player moves with the ball has been slowed in line with real matches, but using R2 allows players to add various styles to their close control. Players can vary the speed of their dribbling, and cushion the ball as they move freely within a 360-degree circle. The new system allows players to knock a ball past a player and collect it, nutmeg them, or hold up play by shielding the ball as team mates find space and make runs.
• Full Manual One-Two: Active one-two passes can be made, with the second player being moved in any direction, facilitating various tactical movements.
• Response Defending: Countering the attacking options the new dribbling system offers, is a beautifully-balanced defence system. Players can use R2 and X to slow an attack, with a double-tap of the X button prompting a perfectly-timed challenge. Full 360-degree control means that players can check runs and steal the ball from a parallel position, while the individuality element will see world renowned defenders using aerial dominance of physicality to win the ball.
• Goalkeepers: Even the game’s ‘keepers benefit from more control, while their distribution is more precise thanks to the addition of a power gauge when they throw the ball, creating opportunities for new, quicker counter attacks.
Player ID: Player ID focuses on the individual elements and movements that each player boasts:
• Player Individuality: The very best players in PES 2013will be instantly recognisable via incredible likeness and signature attributes that bring them to life. The way they run, turn, trap and move the ball, shoot and even celebrate will be noticeably different during play. Midfielders and defenders will move and track back mimicking the exact styles of the real thing, while strikers will shape to shoot just like the real thing.
• The individuality of movement has also been extended to between the posts. Goal keeping has been totally invigorated via new animations and play styles. New varieties of saves and reactions have been added to ensure the game’s ‘keepers are in line with the efforts of real shot stoppers. This level of realism also extends to the game’s top-rated goal keepers, with their moves to close attacks down, fling themselves to tip a shot past the post, and in-goal acrobatics benefiting from all new animations and AI.
ProActive AI: ProActive AI unites the control and realism, with players that will respond and find space as befits those at the top of their game:
• Balance of Play: The development team has worked closely with the PES fan base to eradicate any illogical elements to the way players move and run in PES 2013, with the ‘ProActive AI’ system enhancing the attack/defence balance elements, proper zonal movements to the defending unit to remove bunching in all areas, setting a harder to beat defensive line, and allowing for quicker counters from the wing-backs.
• Tactical Precision: The balance of play has also been enhanced in the play between defences and the front line, with greater organisation as the teams track back or pelt forward. This means players are set up to exploit space with quick counter attacks,
• Goalkeepers: Improvements to the goal keepers was voted the key advancement football fans wanted to see in PES 2013, and the team has worked hard with real keepers to ensure they respond with better reactions, pull off reflex saves, clear their lines effectively,.
PES 2013 will also boast better connectivity and atmosphere. The popular myPES application will extend the connectivity and communication between Facebook-using PES fans, while the game’s audio effects are being tied closer to the on-field action to provide the kind of buzz seen at top-tier matches, with crowds growing in excitement as their team starts to exert pressure.
“This is an exciting time to be part of the PES community, andPES 2013 marks a new level of control and a return to our key ethos of utter control and freedom,” commented Jon Murphy, European PES Team Leader. “PES 2013 will offer a new level of realism, with players on field no longer all running in the same manner, or making the same kinds of passes. Football is all about making magic happen with skill and precision, andPES 2013 truly encapsulates this. Fresh faces within the development team and some very exciting ideas will breathe new life into the PES series, and we look forward to showing what we can do in the coming months.”
