You were therefore warned if you followed the file a little bit, PES 2015 is finally playable, enjoying, taking, before being frustrating. For the record, it was exactly the opposite for the last five or six opuses of Konami's simulation, which allowed Electronic Arts to regain control through hard work. Only here, this year, FIFA revealed a flaw, a lack of renewal, a lack of ideas, in short, we bravely rested on our laurels on the Canadian side. At the same time with the Japanese, we recovered the FOX Engine from Kojima Productions and we continued to work on the good bases of the latest opuses; bases well inspired by the enemy FIFA. Yes, in this eternal duel, the two licenses drink from each other to progress. And this may be the moment when Konami finally comes back to level. Let's get into the thick of it.
WRONG PACKAGING
So we were saying, progress in realization. Undoubtedly, PES 2015 has taken a big step forward visually, thanks in particular to the FOX Engine. However, on PS4 (since it's the version we tested), it's still very uneven and still a notch below the competition. The main menu has undergone a necessary facelift, well pumped up from FIFA, but still pleasant with its customizable side. The rest of the interface is also in progress but remains too old-school, even a little cheap. On the ground, many well-known faces are really photorealistic (Totti, Sagna, Giroud among others), while others give the dirty impression that the engine has badly digested the photo submitted to it as a model... L he impact of light on certain textures, in particular jerseys or the pitch, is completely unreal and we would have liked to have the right to a neater lawn (there, honestly, it's a little carpeted). But it should be noted that the impression of mass, crowd of spectators in the stands is much better rendered than in FIFA 15, where you can almost count the supporters. Too bad there are only 12 official stadiums, we would have liked to enjoy them more and discover other places with a boiling atmosphere, even without having their official names. The work done on the South American stadiums is a good track, which will have to be explored in the future if PES wants to further improve its staging. Konami's title does no better than a mediocre FIFA on this point, including in terms of comments, the Margotton-Tulett duo almost managing to do worse than Hervé Matoux and Franck Sauzée. As usual, launch the audio in English, you will win.
BUT WHERE HAS KLOPP HAPPENED?!
Which naturally brings us to the question of content, which is inevitable with each new PES. Faced with the ogre EA which monopolizes the Premier League in particular, Konami is doing its best, even if you will have to go through the Modify menu. The latter is still as complete, but it would still be necessary to think of adding more realistic haircuts than the endless straw bag offered each year. The Champions League and the Europa League are therefore still there, as are the Libertadores and the Sudamericana and the Asian Champions League. The publisher also retains the rights to La Liga and La Liga Adelante, Ligue 1 and Ligue 2, the Eredivisie, the Brazilian and Argentine leagues, Serie A and a few selections (including France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain). And the game still offers without licenses the first two English divisions or the Portuguese league, as well as many national teams. Largely absent from this menu, the Bundesliga, which is not represented at all except by Leverkusen and Bayern Munich of course; even the BVB, yet in the Champions League, is excluded. Well, let's not nitpick, there is still plenty to do, especially since the players from the absent teams are often playable in the Masters League. So you can perfectly recruit Marco Reus for your squad.
A PAST LOVE
But you must suspect it, if there is a return for this PES 2015, it must go through the gameplay and the sensations of play, which caused its downfall more than the lack of licenses. And on that side, the title of Konami is a huge surprise. Still perfectible, but a surprise nonetheless! Based on the much calmer and more realistic tempo that the series has been developing for a few episodes already, this new opus is a real pleasure for those who see football as something other than a succession of unbridled counter-attacks and exploitation of loopholes. gameplay. The judicious calls and the placement in support of the partners make the construction and the circulation of the ball really exhilarating, coherent, and even necessary since it is difficult to make the difference with a great player. The ground game, ball handling and transmissions are now particularly tasty, thanks to finally effective ball physics. And if you have enough control of the situation to switch to manual controls, you will realize the enormous leeway you have. But don't think that tiki-taka is your only option: the game's tactics menus offer you to set your instructions in detail, both in the offensive and defensive phase, from the height of the block to the length of the transmissions , including the number of players attacking and defending.
ALICE, IT'S SLIDING...
If the very marked inertia of the players makes their movements more realistic and generally prevents excesses, duels and collisions remain fairly approximate. If FIFA regularly exaggerates contacts, even if it means causing free kicks and WTF penalties, PES 2015 is the exact opposite. Here again, it is important to specify that the series is in clear progress; just two years ago, it didn't even have a semblance of a physics engine... For this new version, the result is quite random. The duels are sometimes very well rendered, the ball carrier placing his body in opposition to protect the leather. But in many other cases, there is the strange feeling of seeing the bodies “sliding” past each other, with no real athletic struggle between the two, the game quickly deciding who wins the ball. This state of affairs is the source of many inaccuracies and poorly controlled contacts, all reinforced by the manual defense system which always asks the player to press X to stretch his leg and try to nab the leather. More responsibilities and realism certainly, but the intervention animation is unfortunately a bit repetitive and old-school.
Judicious calls and supportive placement of partners make building and moving the ball truly exhilarating, consistent, and even necessary since it's hard to make the difference with a great player
Another point on which Konami must still work: the trajectory and the behavior of the aerial bullets, which sometimes lack readability (in particular because of certain crappy light effects, as we told you above). In the same way, we remain skeptical about the trajectories of the strikes which lack a little variety, variety which we find however on set pieces. By retaining a typing indicator, PES 2015 may seem archaic but allows the player to really work on his typing and achieve something very realistic. Too bad that the curled shot is currently the main alternative to a kick in the course of the game... That said, it is also one of the rare flaws of goalkeepers, who are strangely bad when it comes to to face an inside of the foot, in addition to their tendency to go out like dingoes as soon as a ball drags on the edge of the surface.
