I have played a bit more of both offerings (PES13 and FIFA13), and just wanted to write what I think about both games.
PES13
Like it's been the case since PES11, you can see material to make a decent game, but unfortunately, as with PES11 and PES12, that decent material is overshadowed by too many massive flaws.
Off the ball movement is particularly inexcusable: static/nonexistent movement by the forwards in the situations that require more lively off the ball movement, yet at the same time the forwards go one step further in fucking the game up, by moving very quickly and positioning themselves in an off-side position, in the situations in which you expect them to move just as slowly as they move 90% of the time.
Due to the off the ball movement being (by all means) incomprehensible, I feel forced into constantly having to use the right analog stick off the ball gimmick: this effectively injects a bit of life into an otherwise life-less system, yet at the end of the day, fails at what really matters, which is actually adding to the enjoyment value of the game.
Player ID? Same old shit with a different cool-sounding name.
If the game actually offered something worthy of the "Player ID" tag, then the "link feints" system, which is very simplistic, would have preset untouchable settings for each star player, with each star player having unique dribbling animations which are triggered by holding the L1 (cursor change) button + directing the right analog stick.
Unfortunately, that is not the case with PES13. For all the "Player ID" bullshit that Konami has talked about, the "link feints" system is the same identical copy-paste for all the players on the pitch, meaning that the "link feints" of Antonio Cassano, will also be the "link feints" of Andrea Pirlo, because the 11 players on the pitch (GK included) all have the same identical "link feints" animations. So much for "Player ID" when Buffon and Pirlo end up doing the same exact things with the ball....
Graphics?
The one area where many people will agree, PES is better than FIFA. That being said, though, is it really all that difficult to beat the bizarre-looking cartoon-like creatures that we must pretend look similar to human beings when we play FIFA13?
Balanced play?
Actually, that is something that PES13 appears to achieve quite successfully, though in my opinion, it fails at the most important thing: the enjoyability factor.
Manual shooting? Manual passing? Dribbling? First touch?
Same old shit, slightly tweaked, but not worthy of any mention, because it fails not only at what it should do, but also at what matters the most: the enjoyability factor.
At the end of the day?
.....PES13 feels dead and linear, it's almost as if the off the ball movement is eight directional, due to how repetitive and linear the off the ball movement patterns are (again, practically forcing you into constantly using the right analog stick off the ball gimmick).
PES13 is the second football simulation (after the mighty PES08), that I cannot take seriously neither as a simulation game nor as an arcade game. Of course, it goes without saying that how much you enjoy the game (or not), is entirely subjective. Though what I think is as good as a fact, is that a football simulation with such a limited off the ball system should not be considered, by any serious gamer, an actual sim game.
As far as I'm concerned, Konami has failed at their own game, the direction of the series is a complete mystery even to them, and this is reflected by the poor quality of their product. I fail to see why PES13 is two years worth of improvements over PES11, in fact, I think that PES11 before the post-release patches (yes with "catch up" bug included) was better than PES13.
My rating: 4 out of 10.
FIFA13
Should I write a long and detailed essay explaining each aspect of the game? Or should I simply say that if you have played FIFA11 and FIFA12, that FIFA13 is simply FIFA12.5?
Same old FIFA really: repetitive passing, shooting, dribbling, etc, etc. But when compared to the complete shambles that PES13 is, FIFA13 actually manages to look like a half decent game.
Though, it needs to be said: the FIFA franchise, at the core, is almost identical to PES; yes, the execution might be very different, but at the core, the D-PAD roots are the same identical game, without anything that resembles a midfield battle, ball moving from end to end as you would expect from a pinball game.
At one end, you might be using your defensive midfielder, and at that precise moment, the computer is fucking up with your defenders, moving them towards absurd positions, so that the striker/opponent can have an easy (and equally obvious) chance at goal. This should not be called "AI cheating" due to the simple fact that it works at both ends of the pitch; however, this is also the reason why FIFA13 is an arcade game, as opposed to the sim game that it's supposed to be.
The cartoon-like faces and colors, remain virtually identical: a disappointment to some (when you consider the vast resources that EA Sports have), but something that the vast majority of fans have come to accept by now, as something that EA Sports will never fix, at least not as far as this gen of consoles is concerned.
Bottom line?
EA Sports knows why people buy their game year after year, they know what they have to do, the direction of their franchise is well defined, as has been reflected by the quality of their product in the past 3 to 5 years.
FIFA13 is not a simulation game, not by a long shot, but it is a good arcade game, it can be taken seriously as the arcade game that it is. At the end of the day, it is a fun arcade game that can entertain for about two to three hours, though unlike great arcade games, FIFA13 lacks the depth to keep you entertained and interested in the long term.
My rating: 6 out of 10.
