Konami has lifted the lid on Pro Evolution Soccer 2013. Due this fall, it will see the series return to its roots, emphasizing on individual skills and player freedom, giving them full control over shots for the first time.
Cristiano Ronaldo, of the Portugal national team, is endorsing the project. Konami ensures it will be the “most faithful recration of modern day soccer,” with players modeled to match running motions, abilities and play styles, and the “flicks and turns” of their real-life counter part.
“We’re excited to take Pro Evolution Soccer back to its roots, which is all about freedom and control.” said Tomoyuki Tsuboi, President of Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. “Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 is created, in part, by the vocal PES community, and with them, along with some new faces within the development team, we’re bringing in new features and gameplay mechanics that will invigorate the soccer community as a whole.”
Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 offers three key elements: FullControl, Player ID, and ProActive AI. FullControl, which offers “a level of control that has never before been used in a soccer game,” includes the following features:
- Total Freedom of Control: Pro Evolution Soccer introduced the concept of freedom of movement. The new ‘PES FC’ in Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 goes further with total freedom over ball control.
- Dynamic First Touch: Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 introduces subtle ways to receive the ball, from traps to gently lifting it past an attacker to run on to or a variety of other moves. 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 Shooting and Full Manual Passing: Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 offers fully manual passing and, for the first time ever, manual shooting, allowing users to determine the height and power of each. Long, low passes can be sent skimming across the pitch. While shooting, the user has total control over where the 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 teammates 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 defense 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. 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, which focuses on the individual characteristics and movements of each player, features:
- Player Individuality: The very best players in Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 will be instantly recognizable via signature attributes, skills and tricks that bring them to life. The way they run, turn, trap and move the ball, shape to shoot, and even celebrate will be noticeably different during play.
- Individuality to Goalkeepers: Goalkeeping 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 goalkeepers, 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.
And ProActive AI, which “unites the control and realism, with players that will respond and find space as befits those at the top of their games,” features:
- Balance of Play: The development team has worked closely with the Pro Evolution Soccer fan base to eradicate any illogical elements to the way players move and run in Pro Evolution Soccer 2013, with the ‘ProActive AI’ system enhancing the speed and balance, resulting in a more realistic game experience.
- Enhanced Goalkeepers: Improvements to the goalkeepers was voted the key advancement football fans wanted to see in Pro Evolution Soccer 2013, and the team has worked hard with real life goalkeepers to ensure the AI decision process has been vastly improved. Keepers now respond with better reactions, clear their lines more effectively, and push the ball safely out of play rather than into dangerous areas.
A 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.”
Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 is due for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, PS2, PSP, 3DS, and Wii this fall. View the first screenshots at the gallery. Watch the debut trailer below.
