And hey, there are even some nice additions like quick subs in this version: a rare quality-of-life improvement for PES.īut then the games end and you remember what a strange, ramshackle experience PES can be. Those are the moments that make you remember why you fell in love with the sport in the first place. It can be fascinating to watch the interplay as a strong counter develops, ending with a well-struck ball in the back of the net. With the possible exception of the momentum, which I think is a little too overpowering, I would characterize most of these items as Good Things, making PES 2019 an appealing prospect for hardcore soccer fans who care more about realism than aesthetics. and skill moves are robust enough that you can burn such aggressive play pretty heavily if you play your cards right. Human opponents have an annoying tendency to play extreme pressing football, but PES 2019's off-the-ball A.I. It's also rarely easy to abuse the A.I., putting more pressure on the player to understand how a formation ought to work and execute on it. Momentum plays a huge role in PES, and steering a player moving at even a modest speed can feel like steering a mack truck. soccer, in the way that overlapping runs will smoothly develop on the wings, or the ball will rattle around in the box after bouncing off the hands of a keeper.Īs with everything else in PES, the gameplay can be unforgiving. Defenders will stick their foot in and pluck away the ball, or jump in for a quick interception. Players flit about the field even when not possessing the ball, effortlessly beginning runs at just the right moment.

On a moment to moment basis, it has some of the best gameplay of any sim, matching even giants like NBA 2K.

The licensed teams, particularly Barcelona, capture all the grandeur of a high-profile match between the giants of the sport. There are times where PES 2019 feels like it's begging you to turn it off and play literally anything else.īut then the games start and everything changes. It buries its features behind loads of charmless menus, many of which look as if they haven't been updated since the PlayStation 2 era (especially the tactics screen). But no sports game makes you work harder to appreciate its relative merits than PES 2019.Īs always, PES 2019 is rough on every front except the actual matches. You always know what you're going to get with this series: a purist soccer sim that's light on licenses but long on gameplay, a hardcore experience that defines itself in opposition to the more popular FIFA. Few sports games are as consistent as Pro Evolution Soccer (PES).

Pes 2019 pc full