However, the game changes somewhat when you’re online and you have to adapt your play accordingly. Lag has been drastically reduced from last season and now games play with more fluidity and less in a stop-motion fashion. When you finally do get out onto the pitch, PES 2017 does feel better than ever online. It’s a jarring experience for newcomers as it’s overly complicated just to get a match going. For starters, there’s still a distinct lack of finesse in the menus. Like a Sunday league challenge, heading online is not for the faint-hearted… ( writes Nathan Irvine)Īlthough Konami has made positive progress with PES 2017’s online modes, it still has a long way to go. You know something’s up when you pine for the era of Jon Champion and Mark Lawrenson. Despite Peter Drury being added to the booth ahead of PES 2016, he still shows little sign of chemistry with colour man Jim Beglin.

You say it best when you say nothing at all. Keepers make mistakes, particularly as you drop down the leagues, but generally are far more adept at pushing balls out of danger, and taking sensible decisions in one-on-one or set-piece situations. But there are no more Teflon-gloved calamities between the sticks. There’s a real zest – if you can forgive FFT for using such a word, but when you play it you’ll feel what we mean – to every shot on goal. New ball physics mean it’s as fun to tip-toe through a packed midfield, shifting bodyweight to hold off challenges, as pegging it down the wing with your finger glued to the sprint button.

It all feels simple to get to grips with, but impossible to put down. The best football game the Japanese developer has ever made And patiently constructed team goals are a ton more enjoyable than slotting home after dribbling 40 yards with Messi or Ronaldo (though improved defensive AI makes that approach difficult, anyway). Incidents where the game attempts to manufacture mistakes – for instance, directing a pass off the pitch when you definitely got your directional input right – are eliminated. Team-mates make genuinely intelligent runs into space, and behind full backs, and across central defenders. PES 2017’s greatest achievement is the manner in which it reads what you’re trying to do, and reacts accordingly.

Pes 2017 online proble