Fifa's main rival has fallen off the pace in recent years, but every annual iteration is a chance for the PES team to launch another co-ordinated attack on EA Sport's solid back four. The trailer above introduces PES 2013 with some shots of Christiano Ronaldo doing his best Terminator T-1000 run. That doesn't tell us much, beyond the fact that Ronaldo is a time travelling robot, which is already a matter of public record.
Fortunately an article has gone up on the PES 2012 site with more solid information. PES FullControl, Player ID, and ProActive AI are the three points of PES 2013's footballing triforce.
A "dynamic first touch" system will give us the chance to shape incoming balls with a variety of traps and touches. Dribbling has been slowed down to a more realistic pace and there's more scope for tricky manoeuvres like nutmegs. As well as manual passing that lets players pass into any open space without restriction there will also be manual shooting this year.
The players themselves have also received a bit of attention. The PlayerID system tweaks the animations and handling styles of players to better match their distinctive style on the pitch. "The way they run, turn, trap and move the ball, shape to shoot and even celebrate will be noticeably different during play," the post says. Hopefully they'll add a few bonus tantrum animations in for Mario Balotelli.
Goalkeepers have been tuned a lot. Their decision making in PES 2013 should be much improved. "Keepers now espond with better reactions, clear their lines more effectively and push the ball savely out of play rather than into dangerous areas." The ProActive AI system will hopefully eradicate unusual pitch behaviour and smooth over the transition between defensive and attacking play, allowing for more fluid counter-attacks. That all sounds pretty good. We'll have to wait and see what improvements the Fifa team is making this year to get a better sense of the final result. For more details, check out the PES site .
