Pro Evolution Soccer 2013

PES 2013 gives fans what they want. More control over the ball, more autonomy in the pass and shot, and more power and more characterization in well-known defensive players.

Konami's back in the game, and they are fielding all their starters.

Wake up, everyone! With PES 2013, Konami has finally pulled off the excellent game it's been threatening to release for the last couple of years. On the scale of dramatic football comebacks it's not quite up there with That Night in Barcelona (© Clive Tyldesley) or The Miracle of Istanbul, but it surely comes close.

PES 2013 has made huge strides forward in how it plays over last year's game.

PES is back with the best episode of the HD era. It's still one step behind FIFA when we talk about technical aspects, but it brings back that little 'something' we loved on PS2 that made it special. The new additions to the control system and the detail put into every match to make them different are some of the key elements we feel are worth mentioning. PES 2013 is finally able to fight the supremacy FIFA has this generation.

The PES game we've been waiting for since 2007. [Issue#223, p.82]

In the great football war, Pro Evo may come up short to rival FIFA when it comes to an across-the-board feature set, but I think the gameplay is better in Konami's title. With this iteration Konami is inching the franchise forward by both refining its product while not being afraid to try new things.

You will need training. You need skills and lightning fast reactions. But in return you'll get magical moments that only Pro Evolution Soccer can deliver – even though the engine and overall presentation need an overhaul.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 is the best game so far in Konami's soccer franchise. Despite some graphical shortcomings and missing licenses, PES 2013 captures the heart and soul of football and delivers a great gameplay experience.

Pro Evolution Soccer goes deeper than ever. Thanks to some well thought out additions, the gameplay can be altered more to the players wishes. Newcomers might have some trouble climbing the metaphorical ladder in the arena's (which are still devoid of any atmosphere), but PES-purists can go nuts. Is PES 2013 the ultimate soccer game? It's not, as long as its budget doesn't get a decent boost. It, for instance, lacks licenses and other decorations, but impresses with attractive, unpredictable and assertive soccer.

A great soccer game, even though keepers still insist on doing strange things and your fellow players obviously don't know what offside means. On top of that, the graphics are mediocre at best and PES still hasn't gotten all the proper licensing. These complaints don't do much in comparison with the fun you'll have playing this game, though.

It's on the pitch that really matters and PES 2013 delivers an exciting, fluid game of football that finally takes it to the next level.

With good new gameplay features, goalkeeper adjustments and a more tactical gameplay: PES is finally back!

It offers a unique and challenging take on the beautiful game that's distinctly different from its competition. After years of heartache for PES fans, it's great to see Konami's footy game finally beginning to step out from EA's gargantuan shadow.

In FIFA you can just as well give up when you're two goals behind. 0-2 means nothing in PES. In the majority of the games we played, Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 offered more spectacle than FIFA 13. Which could be a big advantage for PES. [October 2012, p.70]

With an improved player AI, you'll be able to pull off some great attacking raids. [Jan 2013, p.77]

A mixed bag: mostly entertaining, yet still a bit frustrating experience. Slowed down tempo, refined attacking AI and new defending controls are welcomed additions. However, Konami should forget the dribbling controls and keep on improving passing, AI and physics engine. [Nov 2012]

PES 2013 is a very respectable soccer game that maintains its excellence on the field but unfortunately fall further behind in the bells and whistles department making it a distant runner-up in this year's battle for soccer supremacy.

The presentation still bites. Players and stadiums look drab, and PES 2013's overall physics can't compete with EA's replication of momentum, but at least Konami's offering is doing some things differently than FIFA, and doing them bloody well. [November 2012, p72]

The problem with PES is in the movement of the players, as it feels quite stiff and somewhat robotic.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 is tactical arcade sports action at its finest, and an easy way to lose far too many hours maneuvering a bouncy black and white ball into a net at the end of a grassy field.

The action's effective and fluid, and the animation is at times as beautiful as the sport demands. [Nov 2012, p.81]

Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 embraces the series' past to create a wonderfully technical and supremely satisfying game of football.

Is this the Pro Evo to convince Fifa fans to switch? No. Is it an improvement on the last couple of years' PES incarnations? Yes. Will I be loving it and hating it and still playing it until PES 2014 comes out? Absolutely.

Let's get straight to the point: PES 2013 is better and, at last in this generation, a good football game.

Better than ever on the pitch with a lot of new controls, better AI and more freedom of movement. But a lot in this year's PES feels forgotten by Konami and some functions are even missing completely.

PES 2013 fixes many problems of the previous game, but Konami's football needs a new engine to compete with FIFA 13. An old animation system and a lazy physics are problems that all the good ideas in this edition of the game couldn't overwhelm. PES 2013 is the best old-school football game to date.

While familiar faults persist, PES 2013 marks the biggest step forward for the series on PS3. FIFA 13's liquid animations and peerless physics system still give it the trophy-hoisting edge, but now PES' unique strengths are refined enough to make it a genuinely worthwhile alternative.

When the whistle blows and the action is go, PES 2013 is easily a match for FIFA, coming closer than ever to wining back its crown.

Although I don't keep up with either of the leading soccer games, PES 2013 seems competent and capable of challenging FIFA 13 for a spot in your collection.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 really wants to be a FIFA game, but lacks the same quality and tempo of gameplay. That is why it really became quite a disappointment. The game is still fine, but if you are looking for something more realistic, you should go for FIFA.

A fall forward as Konami introduces a new indicator for manual passing and shooting. Long distance screamers in the top corner are a bit easy to pull off and slide tackles are too often penalized. Pro Evolution isn't bad, it's just second best.

If Konami still needs to learn some things from FIFA, PES 2013 is clearly heading the right way. However, at this time, PES 2013 doesn't have the necessary keys to offer a gaming experience as complete as Electronic Arts' IP, especially regarding the graphic aspects. The next title, coming to the next-gen consoles, should be able to counter FIFA success, if Konami remains hardworking.

It's a tougher recommendation if you're not into online play, since the other elements of the game are in sore need of a refresher. That aside, it's undoubtedly the most fun PES to play against friends in some time, and that's the reason you'll want to play it.

Once again, it's in small touches by small touches that PES makes progress, enhancing some things (a more fluid gamaeplay, more identifiable signature moves from great players), and losing others in the process (the impractical training mode, faces that are less well-modeled than before). Another episode of transition before the the complete overhaul that may induce the use of a new engine for PES 2014, PES 2013 is a good soccer game and a nice enough PES, but one that, this year again, can't measure up to the competition, namely FIFA 13.