Just as every England manager is appointed as a reaction to the previous one, so every PES is a response to the last. Konami tried (and failed) to beat EA's Fifa franchise at its own high-accuracy game in 2010, so this year Konami has gone to the other extreme. PES 2012 is deliriously attack-orientated, sacrificing niceties such as realism in favour of constant end-to-end thrills of the most inauthentic kind.
That's not to say PES 2012 is without innovation. The intelligence of team-mates is improved, with the tendency for players to flock to the ball replaced by dynamic off-the-ball runs, overlapping full-backs and properly organised defensive units. More emphasis is placed on the right-sided control stick, enabling you to instigate runs and offer support to the player with the ball. But PES 2012's major failing is a serious one: its physics engine. The movement of the football just doesn't convince – it's so random you expect every kick to be accompanied by the "pang!" noise that comes from whacking the sort of 99p footballs sold in newsagents.
The ever-popular Master League and Become a Legend modes are retained, now under the banner of Football Life, and a Club Boss mode has been added, offering the stress of fiscal management without the excitement of playing.
