Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 Review

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A more cerebral game of soccer.

Once in the game, you’ll need to set your training regiment to ensure that you continue to improve your skills between games. Before games, you’ll often be given “missions.” Yes, the game calls them “missions.” Succeed, and you’ll earn a spot in the starting lineup and more. Throughout the game, the manager will call out new formations and strategies. Your role in the game plan will be clearly detailed, which is helpful as you work to stay in position and help the team. After the game, the coach will break down your performance. I found this to be very rigid and terribly unforgiving. For example, my job was to get down the middle and score. I found myself boxed out with a teammate free, so I crossed the ball to him and he scored. After the game, I was told that I was a disappointment. So much emphasis on the individual takes the team out of the game and actually could lead to losses in favor of unwaveringly pursuing the task. These narrative comments are translated into ratings post-game. For some reason, the game uses red to highlight positive movement and blue to show downgrades, eschewing everything we’ve ever been taught about colors in games.

Overall, Become a Legend is similar to MLB’s Road to the Show and other such modes found throughout contemporary sports games. You can even fast forward the parts for which you aren’t on the field. Once you’ve had your successful career and are ready to retire, you don’t have to hang up your cleats quite yet. The other mode available in Football Life, Master League Online, awaits you.


Master League Online tasks you with choosing your favorite team, and building it up to greatness. You won’t start with the current players, so choosing a powerhouse isn’t a “win button.” Through smart transfers, training and negotiating, you’ll be able to grow the team. You can sign your Become a Legend player at peak stats, too, creating a strong connection among these modes.

When you are comfortable enough to take your play online, you’ll be able to participate in the aforementioned communities, create your own leagues and cups or participate in sanctioned cup play. Konami has set up multiple cups that run at specific times each day and cater to those at all skill levels. Playing online is a great way to up your play and, if you manage to pass the qualifier, you and 15 other players will vie for the championship in an elimination tournament.

Speaking of online play, I took to exhibition play to test the game’s net code. For those without a headset, the game does have both a full chat option along with quick responses available during instant replays (if your opponent doesn’t immediately skip them). One thing I noticed is that most players are not English speakers. This makes conversing hard regardless of whether you are on headset or using text. When I jumped online, I spent over five minutes waiting to get matched with someone. The game was extremely laggy, which led to a frustrating experience that stuttered and froze frequently.

Should you manage to make a successful connection, though, there is also a co-operative online mode that pits 2-4 players against the CPU or another team. The purpose is to create the most strategic plays with smart passing and skillful dribbling. Each play is graded upon completion, and you can choose to upload your best efforts for others to view and grade. You can also watch full matches, to see how others perform.

Visually, PES 2012 is a mixed bag. Some of the player likenesses are rendered very well, while others look so rushed that they might have been ripped from a much older entry in the series. The animations are also spotty. Some look very fluid, while others are stiff and robotic. Some running animations look ridiculous, especially amidst natural looking shooting and passing. The celebrations all appear horribly scripted and the officiating appears to be handled “under the hood” as opposed to in response to the graphical interpretation of hit detection (either that, or the refs fall for the CPU flopping).


The stadiums look good, but many have a cold, distant feel to them. The people in the crowd often feel more like mannequins than fans. All the rendering and detail in the world can’t make a stadium feel alive if the fans aren’t.

The audio in the game is largely forgettable. The commentary is dry and, during play, can consist of Jim Beglin and Jon Champion simply saying players’ names for minutes on end. I started hearing repeating lines in the same game, which doesn’t speak highly of the variability in the spoken repertoire. The licensed music covers a variety of styles and, in many occasions, made me want to turn the volume off entirely. The worst offender is the auto-tuned/punk/death metal screaming track. The generic music during training mode began to get repetitive very quickly, but at least it wasn’t “music for teeny boppers to mosh by.”

PES 2012 is a refinement of the formula for which Konami is known. It is a highly technical and cerebral take on the beautiful sport, and it isn’t for everyone. Beginners will find the learning curve steep and unforgiving, even at the lowest difficulty level. The game has the tendency to aggressively rubber band after every goal, which is a turn-off for the nascent who want a chance to learn the ropes.

For those that are in love with PES and choose it year after year, the improvements in 2012 might not be as significant as you are hoping. Konami’s interpretation of the game this year refines the model. For those that aren’t wed to PES or are new to soccer video games, you will likely find greater enjoyment out of FIFA, due to accessibility and the broader community options. Konami used to be top dog in the competition with EA. However, a more conservative approach to innovation for PES, along with huge strides taken in FIFA, have put Konami in a position that demands innovation and retooling in order for there to actually be a competition in future years.

Review copy provided by publisher. Primary play on PlayStation 3.
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Written by
Mike is the Reviews Editor and former Community Manager for this fine, digital establishment. You can find him crawling through dungeons, cruising the galaxy in the Normandy, and geeking it out around a gaming table.