"PES 2018 shoots the ball, hit the crossbar and enters (with luck) on landmark."
+ Very good atmosphere | Good gameplay and game physics | Good graphics | Faces of the players very well done
- Repetitive Comments | Lack of licenses of many European clubs | Deep passes too deadly | IA passes consecutive games without making a single foul | The Hats almost all enter when the player is isolated | Repeat main menu songs
Tested version: Playstation 4 Pro
August is the month of the return of European football leagues; September is the month of PES and FIFA, as such, always appear those eternal questions and affirmations. Will this new PES will be better than FIFA this year? Will this PES be superior than the previous PES? I hope they improve the gameplay. I hope this PES is superior to PES 6, etc.
Regarding the licenses, in particular the leagues, we have Ligue 1, Ligue 2, Eredivisie, Campeonato Brasileiro, AFC Champions League (Asian Champions League), UEFA Champions League, and the UEFA Europa League. But also other leagues are included that although they do not have the emblem and the official name, have all the licensed clubs like for example, Liga Argentina, Liga Chilena and Liga Italiana, with the exception of Juventus FC (better known as PM Black White in PES), since the latter has an exclusive contract with EA. FC Barcelona, Club Atlético de Madrid, Valencia CF, Arsenal FC, Liverpool FC, Fulham FC, Borussia Dortmund, FC Schalke 04, RB Leipzig as well as the three major clubs in Portugal and some Belgian, Greek, Turkish, Russian League clubs. In other words, few news here (and even lost the Copa Libertadores) compared to the previous. Licensed clubs are a common problem in the PES series, although it is not entirely Konami's fault, as for example the Barclays Premier League, the Bundesliga and LaLiga Santander have an exclusive contract with EA. Licensed selections: Albania, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Holland, Northern Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, Wales, Brazil, Argentina and Japan.
As for the stadiums, we have 36: Quanto aos estádios, temos 36: Camp Nou, Wanda Metropolitano, Signal Iduna Park, Anfield Road, Giuseppe Meazza, San Siro, Stadio Olimpico, St. Jakob-Park, Estádio do Maracanã, Estádio São Januário, Allianz Parque, Estádio Mineirão, Arena Corithians, Estádio Beira-Rio, Estádio do Morumbi, Estádio Urbano Caldeira, El Monumental, Estádio Alberto J. Armando, Saitama Stadium 2002, KONAMI Stadium, Neu Sonne Arena, Metropole Arena, Hoofdstad Stadion, Estadio Campeones, Estadio de Escorpião, Estádio del Nuevo Triunfo, Stade de Sagittaire, Stadio Orione, Burg Stadion, Estadio del Martingal, Rose Park Stadium, Coliseo de los Deportes, Sports Park, Village Road, Stadio Nazionale and PES LEAGUE Stadium.
As in all other PES's, there is always a training mode (training of skills or free training), Edit (modify and change the names and emblems of clubs and leagues, change the stats of the players, etc.), Master League, Become a Legend and myClub. In Master League it is necessary to make sensible hirings and sales, to develop talents and to take your favorite club to the Nº1. During the Master League we can also see the Team Status (Owner Trust, Team Spirit, Team Satisfaction, etc.), define the training, as well as the training of Youth Layers and train skills, among other things.
The Become a Legend, as you may know, gives you a personal view of football. You can choose whether you want to be a Lionel Messi, an Edison Cavani or a completely original and unknown player. In myClub, your role in this mode is to strengthen your team and for this you need to get good performances in games and competitions, raise revenue and attract quality players and coaches. As much as the Master League, the Direction to the Starship and the myClub have very few news in relation to the previous one.
During the "Play Now" option, we have 4 options: Friendly Game, Random Selection Game, Versus and Co-op). In the case of the Random Selection Game, players are selected at random using parameters defined by the player. Players are forced to swap players from their selected teams randomly, as well as having to prevent their best players from going to the other team and at the same time trying to pull out the best players from their opponents. The Co-op allows a maximum of three players (COM or PLAYER) in a team against COM or PLAYER.
As this is a football game, we can define tactics, replace and change the position of the player. There is a huge number of predefined tactics (offensive, defensive, etc.) that we can choose from tactics with Long Pass, Fast Strike, Dominate possession, All to defense, All to Attack, Defensive) and Middle (Forward and Defensive), as well as Defensive, Defensive and Advanced Instructions, Marking Definitions and Tactical Fluid Training.
It's impossible not to notice that, once again, Konami continues to do very good work when it comes to the environments and faces of the players, and together these two graphics are very good. The environments, always filled with infernal sounds, give me that spirit of the genre "Oh my god!" Exactly like the one I had in Germany vs Italy in the 2006 FIFA World Cup semi-final, which is difficult to feels on FIFA. Faces... in this field Konami has no opponent too.
What about gameplay? The feeling I had when playing it for the 1st time was this, players nothing heavy but also nothing light, perfect pace, it is noticeable that the shots from far are powerful, goalkeepers very good and the result can only be this: very good. But not all are roses, the deep passes are too powerful, the hats enter (almost) all when the forward is isolated and it is rare to see the AI committing faults, even in the higher difficulties.
More weaknesses in this Pro Evolution Soccer 2018, not to have to listen to the horrible comments of Luis Freitas Lobo and Pedro Sousa, I put the comments in English and yet are extremely repetitive and annoying. The songs (Bag Raiders - Beat Me To The Punch, Bruno Legend - 24K Magic, John Legend - Love Me Now for example) from the main menu are good but also suffer from the problem of repeatability.
Overall, Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 is a good game with a gameplay, graphics, environment and very good faces, but Konami insists on making the same chronic mistakes and I fear that FIFA is once again ahead. In the background, this game is hardly worth € 59.99 and it would be wise for the person to wait for a promotion of this game.