Pro Evolution Soccer 2020 Review: A fun and realistic football game
PES 2020 can be pretty immersive - but it has some problems.
eFootball PES 2020 is a sports game with a dumb name published by Konami.
2019, like every other year, saw the release of two major football sim games - FIFA 20 and eFootball Pro Evolution Soccer 2020 (or PES 2020, for sanity’s sake). FIFA 20 is obviously the most popular of the two - it’s an absolute juggernaut of a franchise, raking in the big bucks for Electronic Arts and generally showing up competitors in the graphics department. I mean, who hasn’t heard of or played a FIFA game?
PES 2020 is the clear underdog year after year, but generally considered the serious choice. This is the football game for those who want proper, accurate gameplay on the field, rather than having attractive microtransactions jammed down their throats. I’m not taking sides here, of course - but there’s a clear split in both of these games’ fanbases and that’s important to consider. FIFA is bigger and better for casual players, while PES is for the hardcore purists chasing the real thing.
This year however, that changes. PES 2020 has upgraded animations, upgraded ball physics and they even stole Juventus away from FIFA 20. PES 2020 is clearly trying to tap into mainstream audiences here, without sacrificing their competitive edge. Did they succeed? Kinda.
Kicking things off
Playing matches often feels like the real thing - just with some terrible commentary.
PES 2020’s minute-to-minute gameplay is pretty fun! The first and most important thing to note is that matches can be a lot slower, and a lot more deliberate than its FIFA counterpart. Passing, shooting, and scoring goals feel quite realistic - you’re not a superhuman whipping through the field after all, you’re just another player on the team.
Ball physics are arguably the most important thing to nail in a football game, and it’s definitely executed well here. The ball can still prove unpredictable in kicks and passes, which gives players a high skill ceiling to shoot for. Controlling the ball takes practice, but the results are satisfying. It won’t just go flying in random directions for no reason either - and you can check the replay videos provided for proof.
On the graphical side of things, PES 2020 is fantastic. Character animations and players’ faces look great - or at least, for a game of this caliber. You’ll rarely ever see any of those awkward character animations (like players rotating on the spot, or jerking forward to meet the ball) that usually come with these games. It feels and plays like a real-life match - and that sense of realism is exactly what keeps the PES series great.
That’s a yellow card
This game doesn't come without its flaws.
So - PES 2020 is great, but it’s not perfect. Player swapping can be a little frustrating, with the game often handing you the reins to the wrong player. It’s a small defect that grates on you pretty fast - especially when you want to swap closer to the ball, not further from it. Unfortunately, that happens all the time.
Generally, the AI can be a little finicky. Setting up gameplay strategies won’t quite work the way you want it to, because your players can be notoriously unpredictable. I noticed players on both teams straight up ignore the ball as it whizzed past them - which doesn't happen too much, but often enough to get frustrating.
Outside of matches, the game’s menus are glaringly ugly and unintuitive. It can be difficult to even find what you’re looking for, and you'll suffer for it while trying to position players on the field. The faux sports commentary during matches also borders on annoying and repetitive - so why even have it at all?
Master League
The cutscenes here are super weird - especially when there's no voice acting and characters just mime out whatever they have to say.
Aside from the minute-to-minute gameplay, PES 2020 also offers up a couple of game modes for variety’s sake. Master League mode stands out the most - a ‘story mode’ of sorts. You play as a manager of a football club - with your name and appearance being entirely customisable. You can choose to either bring up an all-new team from humble beginnings, or be placed in charge of an existing team.
In some ways, it’s a light football manager sim - and honestly, it’s pretty fun. You get a couple cutscenes for context every once in a while - which aren’t the best and weirdly devoid of voice acting - with dialogue options. Your choices can come back to haunt you - like when my manager determinedly stated that players have to be passionate on the field, before having journalists throw that statement back at my face after a loss.
As the manager, you can be as hands-on or hands-off as you like. You can negotiate new contracts for your players, train their skills, observe other teams’ transfers and reposition your players before matches. You can even choose to actually play matches. If you simply want to see your team rise to the top by strategy alone, you could leave the rest to the AI. If you want to see it through, why not play those matches yourself?
There's a lot to do as a football manager - even if you're not actually playing through the matches.
Unfortunately, the game’s UI rears its ugly head again here. You’re presented with one big menu in between matches, which has been arranged in the most irritating way possible. It’s hard to figure out how to get anything done immediately - but you get used to its awfulness over time.
There is also a ‘Become a Legend’ mode - which is pretty much the same thing as Master League, except that you play as one of the football players, not the manager, and rise the ranks. I didn’t find this mode nearly as interesting - simply because it seemed like a somewhat watered down and simplified version of Master League.
Multiplayer
Playing against other players is a pretty fun and intense experience.
PES 2020 offers up a couple of different multiplayer modes to whet players’ appetites for competitive play. It’s a pretty basic spread of casual and competitive game modes - some timed, and some not. On the more competitive side, you have ‘Online Divisions’, which are essentially ranked play. It’s all about skill-based matchmaking here, setting you up against players of a similar skill ceiling.
Other, more casual multiplayer games can include anything from 3v3 online matches to regular couch co-op play - making it a pretty great game to play with friends. I didn’t personally experience any issues with multiplayer lag and bugs - but I did notice a sadly limited playerbase. It took a long time to find matches, and when I did, the game wasn’t able to find players with acceptable ping or of a similar skill range. It doesn’t seem like many people are playing PES 2020 online, and sadly that number is likely to just degrade over time.
Verdict
At least we have Juventus this time around?
If you’re looking for realistic and grounded gameplay over the more casual fare, PES 2020 is for you. Unfortunately, it clearly works with a smaller budget than its bigger, more successful counterpart that is FIFA by Electronic Arts. Issues like ugly UI and inconsistent player AI become glaringly obvious. Fortunately, it still manages to separate itself from the yearly flock of sports games with some tight and fluid matches, impressive visuals and interesting game modes. If you’re looking to pick up a football game this year - this might be the one for you.
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