FIFA 13 Vs PES 2013: And The Winner Is?

Football’s heavyweights clash head-to-head once more

This year far, more than any other, FIFA and PES are at each others throats. But which game is going to present the best representation of the beautiful game? Can PES really come back and offer FIFA a challenge?

Pro Evolution 13

The Pro Evo reputation may now precede any new announcement, but last year’s entry was actually a step in the right direction. Re-discovering that Pro Evolution magic that the best in the series always had, it found a way to make any match exciting, regardless of which teams were playing and who was in control.

This leaves us with some hope that it may be back on track. Currently Konami is promising big, assuring us that players will have complete freedom on the ball, to craft their own style and have full control over their shots. Outside of this it’s Konami’s usual thing of pushing its visuals and audio. The fact we can still play Pro Evo 2006 and enjoy it means it’s not exactly an area that should be top of its priority list. If it adds to the total package, though, we’re happy.

How’s it looking

Promising, but then PES traditionally is. While FIFA’s changes tend to leave small chinks in its armour each year though, Konami’s tend to expose a string of flaws.

FIFA 13

Throughout its rise from horrendous mess to king of football games, FIFA has always had somewhere to progress or focus on. For us, this ended with FIFA 12, EA Canada almost upending a template that had been working damned well. As ridiculous as it makes us, we don’t even blame the brains behind it.

The ambition at the studio is unquestionable and it was forced into a situation where it had to try and evolve in some fashion otherwise the team would’ve literally released the same game but thrown a 12 on the end of it. The same problem is sure to plague the developer again but at least, with its official announcement, we now know the three key areas: ‘increased control’, ‘attacking intelligence’ and an ‘enhanced battle for possession’. Typical buzz words from David Rutter, FIFA producer, broken down by X360 in those lovely annotations around this text…

How’s it looking

Like it’s about to benefit from EA Canada’s trademark thoroughness. Three weeks of bliss will follow, then matters will descend into an addictive slog.