PES 2015 Review

Jim Beglin: "Well John, it's the rematch we have all been waiting for"

Jon Champion: "Indeed Jim it is! The Games Xtreme reviewer has tackled Pro Evolution Soccer 2015 for the Xbox 360, but now it's time for him to take on the same game but on the Playstation 4!"

Jon: "And I can see from here Jim, that everything seems bolder, brighter and heck, even smoother than it was before"

Jim: "I can't argue with that Jon! Look how smoothly the players move across the pitch!

It was smoother than a very smooth thing indeed on the 360, but Jon, the players almost seem to flow across the grass!"

Jon: "Indeed, see how it seems that dribbling the ball seems to be, well not easier, but looks more natural, more fluid and then the pass to his team mate just takes the gentlest of flicks of the left stick as he presses the X button"

Jim: "And unless I miss my mark, the A.I. player seems to have put himself in the right place for the pass! Oh I know he would have done that on the 360, but here he looks as if he was headed for that exact spot ahead of schedule"

Jon: "Well said Jim, well said! And even though we watch him playing on a fairly easy setting, it still can be challenging to beat a decent goalie, so bear that in mind. Oh a lovely pass again. He shoots, but it hits the cross bar! Oh what a shame! Anyway there's the half time whistle and we'll see how it goes in the second half!"

You can see from the above that I have already spotted that we have smoother animations, the attention to detail and player A.I. has been sharpened by some degree.

The controls are as intuitive as they were on the 360, but heck, maybe it's the power of the PS4 behind it, but they seem even more responsive and slightly more sensitive than it's Microsoft engined cousin; but be warned, hit that button a little too hard when tackling and CRUNCH, you'll get a hard tackle and maybe a yellow or even red card before it's sunk in that you have been booked!

Look I could just repeat all that I said for the 360 version and just comment that it's better, but heck yes that's the truth. 

Ball physics are more realistic, lighting and sound effects are more dynamic. If you are playing in the rain, you even get rain drops on the camera lens! 

Players respond to controls just a touch quicker and that's no bad thing. 

However it's not all perfect, you still get the A.I. teammate that wants to hog the glory and despite you being in the right darned spot to shoot and possibly score, the lone gun goes it alone and sinks the ball into the back of the net.

There are times he will pass but it can be few and far between. On the flip side you can pass the ball to a team mate and he will score...and the game can still refuse to acknowledge the assist. Annoying to say the least but heck, you can get your own back, refuse to play ball (excuse the pun) and hammer home a shot into the back of the net taking the accolades and glory for yourself.

All the modes of the 360 version are here of course, from team manager mode to the Become a Legend option, or the league tournaments and world cup, or UEFA Cup competitions. So if you want to, skip or ignore the career/management mode and pick a team and dive right on in the choice is yours, and the choices do not end there. Customization of your created player is a detailed as before, and could rival the create a wrestler options in the WWE titles.

You can design and customize an arena, right down to the length of the grass your team play on! You can be a football sim God if you are so inclined or go through that story mode, or if you dare, go online and take on the ranked masses.

Online play can be a single game or you can become part of a ten game tournament. Your performance will be logged and placed on the online leader boards; a football division in it's own right you could say.

Online play is smooth and the for the most part, the niggling delay between entering the lobby and getting onto the virtual pitch is a lot less than the 360. Frame rate online is again smooth, and I very rarely saw lag in the game's frame rate, and very little stutter in the motion of the teams on the pitch.

Look I am not fueling the flames of any kind of stupid console war, so I should imagine that it's the same for the Xbox One version as well, but the PS4 version looks down on the 360 version and like that great comedy sketch says: "It knows it's place"

I am NOT a fan of football in real life but I can and do appreciate this game for what it is, an authentic sports sim, even if it doesn't have the official teams of the FIFA based rival from EA. It's intuitive, and yes, I admit it, it can and is a fun diversion from the usual mish mash of fighting, shoot em up's or sand box adventure games that normally grab my attention.

And how's this for a non football fan? Look at my rating.... yes it does say must buy and that's not just for the die-hard football fan who would probably buy this anyway.

Now if you'll excuse me, there's a team that I need to help stay on top of the table.