Arguably less fluid and immediate than its rival FIFA 12, PES 2012's superior single-player game is nevertheless deep, challenging and often outright magical. [Dec 2011, p.102]
A polished evolution of what we saw last year, as if PES 2011 was midway to the goal PES 2012 has achieved. It changes some of the controls, and greatly enhances AI, although it still has its flaws, especially with the goalkeepers. But, above all, PES 2012 is a really engaging and fun football game, with much more variety and charm than previous entries.
So that's Pro Evo 12 – not massively different to Pro Evo 11, but enough of an improvement to warrant the upgrade. So far as comparisons to FIFA go, our view is that it is neither better nor worse, but simply... different. And that's just fine with us. [Dec 2011, p73]
As a long-term PES acolyte who has favoured FIFA for the last four seasons, I'm heartened to see Konami's series finally approaching something close to its best form – even if it's not the domineering force it was in its glory days of 2004/5.
But as I stated initially, I feel like PES 2012, while still a pretty good soccer game in it's own right, has fallen significantly behind the FIFA series, like a player past his prime who has lost a step... and he knows it.
Whether you can forgive the rushed dialogue text, the constant nagging and the unfinished presentation is a matter of personal patience but those who make apologies for the dodgy physics are giving Konami free reign to present another unfinished game next year. I think PES fans deserve better than this.
It's too obtuse for a newcomer to the sport, but those who understand the gravity of the phrase, "downloading the right Option File" and all that comes with it, PES 2012 is worth a look, once Konami has finally ironed out its issues.