

In pure gameplay terms, it's initially similar to PES 2019, only perhaps slightly slower and heavier. It's zoomed-out when you need to spray a cross field pass, but close enough when you're implementing the new Finesse close dribbling skills. Until it's pointed out, you might not notice it, but the impact is that you always get a great view of the action. Konami has changed the default camera mode, so instead of selecting Wide view to maximise your positional understanding, there's a new preset camera that sits relatively fixed to the middle of the pitch, which tracks the action and ever-so-subtly tracks left and right. The biggest change isn't immediately obvious. Visually, its a step-up from PES 2019, if not a revolution, with incredible player likenesses (still better than FIFA, in our estimation) and suitably impressive pre-match cut-scenes.

The Legends line up also includes slightly less stellar legends such as Park Ji-sung and Hidetoshi Nakata, who are sure to delight the series' large Asian following. We've only played 30 minutes, playing as the PES Legends team (including stars of yesteryear such as Kahn, Totti, Ronaldinho, Beckham and Batistuta) against a fully licensed modern Barcelona side. This is where PES has always excelled and eFootball PES 2020 is reassuringly familiar. Lionel Messi is the pack star and has been reproduced in incredible detail. After being confidently outsold by FIFA last year, is PES's change of direction a Hail Mary from an acclaimed but tortured artiste a visionary reinvention that will shape the future, or… basically the same game with a stupid name? We outline the key updates below, including the effect of the new Finesse dribbling system, which was consulted on by Spain and Barcelona legend Andrés Iniesta. Bottom line: it's both reassuringly confident on the pitch, yet even further removed from EA's FIFA 20 (opens in new tab), which might prove mixed news for die-hard fans. We sat down to play 30 minutes of PES 2020 (we can't bring ourselves to type eFootball yet) at the E3 2019 (opens in new tab) games show, including a brief chat with European Brand Manager Lennart Bobzien to clarify some of the changes, including gameplay, Master League, the new Match Day mode, licensing and more. What's less clear is why PES has focused on eSports and how it affects long-term fans of the series.
EFOOTBALL PES 2020 LEGENDS PRO
The shock news is that Konami's long-running Pro Evolution Soccer series has rebranded as eFootball PES 2020.
