PES 2013 3D – Review
Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 recently received it’s ‘little brother’, namely the 3D version for the Nintendo 3DS. Over the years we’ve seen handheld ports/versions that offer us lower quality compared to their console counterparts. Will this be the same for PES 2013 3D?
Story:
It’s pretty standard that a game like Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 3D lacks a real storyline but in the end you can pretty much make up your own fantasy about your ‘dream’ as a soccer superstar. Either you manage clubs (and control them ofcourse) to win cups, leagues and so on. On the other hand an honorable mention goes out to the 2 different modes where you can either follow and control 1 player from one of the clubs the game offers you or even make your own player and see him evolve over the course of time. Still no ‘real story’ but it’s a very amusing way to play soccer games in a different way.
Graphics:
Graphically this 3DS version of the well known soccer game offers us pretty much everything the Nintendo handheld can offer us, except for some fairly ugly details. Overall the players look pretty great, the movements are smooth and so on. We get offered TONS of customisation options when creating our own star player and you will know what I mean when I say tons if you should ever use this mode.
Those ugly details I mentionned earlier are pretty much the stadiums that lack a bit of detail but mainly the crowd looks as if it has been cut out of a cardboard box. Be glad you will hardly ever see the crowd in the background and if you really don’t want to see these paper supporters simply never score!
Sound:
PES 2013 3DS offers us a soundtrack of some recent popular hit songs and some older theme songs from games of the Konami series. The track list might not be so long but you can customise it to keep listening to you favorite songs or to remove those that annoy you after some time.
The commentator has been done decently for this handheld version and also has a few options which you can change that are fairly simple but a welcome touch. Overall the soundtrack and sfx are done in a decent fashion for this portable soccer game.
Gameplay:
The overall gameplay in Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 3D is comparable with the console versions and plays quite smoothly for a game that fits in the palm of your hands. The developers did their effort in creating a game that can match a console version without too many cutbacks when it comes to the amount of different modes you can pick.
Overall the game offers you modes like competitions, leagues, cups, quick play options and what not. All of these modes are pretty straight forward and simply allow you to pick the team you want to play with in the matching leagues or opposing teams of your choice. Again Konami gives us the chance to customise a lot more than we bargained for. (in a good way!) The level of customisation is quite impressive for this 3DS version of the series. We are able to customise entire leagues to our liking, meaning which teams we play against, the groups we end up with, the difficulty level, duration and loads of other options ofcourse. It all seems pretty normal to be inserted in a game like this. But it’s not so common when a lot of developers tend to mention they dropped some options because of the ‘capabilities’ of the Nintendo 3DS. Pretty simply put, all these modes can be edited to your playstyle and experience with this type of simulation game.
The other ‘not-so-typical’ modes are the 2 modes in which you only control 1 player on the entire field. The first is a mode in which you follow a player of a famous team for an entire season aiming to be the best in the position you choose to play and hold with that character. Again pretty much as simple as that, with the typical amount of options to create a gaming experience that you will like. The second mode is pretty much the same but as mentioned in the graphics section, this is a mode in which you can create your own player for you to play with. It’s amazing how long you will spend your time creating the ultimate player. To give you a small example there are already over 100 different types of facial hair for you to choose from! Again you will have to follow and control that player but for a longer period of time. You can play through the entire career and this will cause you to invest some time in completing this mode.
If all these options aren’t really your thing you can still play through the network version or simply play the quick play option and you’re pretty much good to go without all these mountains of customisation options to overcome.
The game also offers you a way to use your touch screen for specific in game moves or ‘team tactics’. That second part I haven’t even completely figured out myself but it pretty much means you can order your team to play differently depending on the situation you’re in.
When playing a lot the game will reward you with PES points for you to unlock content with. The content will vary from unlocking teams, players, stadiums and even tactics or movement options which you can use with your touch screen. I don’t fully agree with the fact you have to unlock players or teams that should already be available from the start but overall this is a nice feature to create a sense of replay value.
Conclusion:
If you’re a fan of simulation/soccer games and you happen to have a Nintendo 3DS lying around this game might tingle your soccer senses for a decent amount of hours. The different modes and options will surely keep you occupied for a decent amount of hours.
PES 2013 3D - Review,
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