Game Review: PES 2012

Don’t buy PES 2012 unless you appreciate Konami scamming users out of their money by deleting the 2011 version and then forcing users to buy 2012!

Overall Score: 2/5

This game is nearly identical to PES 2011. Plus, the gameplay isn’t very advanced and the presentation has some issues.

Gameplay: 2/5

Despite being a soccer game, you can’t do any soccer moves or jukes. All you can do is pass and shoot. Plus, when players receive the ball, they often stop in place and lose all their momentum, allowing the defense to catch up and stop your offense. With the limited touchscreen controls, you don’t have the ability to fully control the game and create great offensive runs. The lack of decent controls in the game make me want to play soccer again like I used to, since I can actually juke players, lead my teammates on with a pass, etc. Soccer on a mobile phone will never be great :/

Presentation: 2/5

When looking at the user reviews of the game, the original Samsung Focus apparently can’t even load the game. Also, some users pointed out a big issue that I also noticed: After playing say 4 matches in a row, the frame rate simply dies and you can’t play the game anymore due to the ridiculously slow 5 fps it then runs at. You have to close the game and re-open it, losing all your progress in your current match. Visuals seem to be identical to PES 2011, so nothing new there. The only big change is a replay mode where you can save your goal replays.

Lasting Value: 1/5

When a company pulls their old version of something and releases a nearly identical version in order to simply make money, all my motivation to buy or play anything from that company is lost. This would be like if you bought Office 2010 online, and then Microsoft pulls 2010 and releases 2014 with only two features in total changed. Since you bought it online, if you get a new computer there’s no way you can obtain your previous purchase and are FORCED into paying for something you already paid for. Konami was simply greedy and they don’t deserve a penny of anyone’s money.

Title: PES 2012
Price: $4.99
Publisher: Konami