Round Three: Presentation
FIFA 13 Typically slick, and the new Match Day set-up looks to add a lot more pomp and circumstance to the match experience, and those presentation choices really add some ceremony to the games, in a move that feels like EA Sports are trying to bring some elements of the Madden experience into their soccer game. The commentary sounds a lot better, though the demo was rather comically out of date, talking about Robin Van Persie's unresolved transfer situation, which of course can't be helped - I can't help but think they had enough time to take that one element out though before the demo hit the download stores, but again, it's hardly a fatal error. As usual the soundtrack choices are excellent, mixing pop and world songs with a tub-thumping overall ethos to gee up the player as they prepare for matches or celebrate between online matches. Unfortunately, like all sports game titles, the menus are still way too complex, and though the demos menu trails ultimately lead to text screens promising exactly what the player can expect from the full version of the game, when it's all their live, it might be a little daunting to begin with to navigate. But then simplicity has never been at the forefront of EA Sports' minds when building their games, and they more than make up for it in slickness.
PES 2013 Menus are fine, and the art design away from the pitch is solid and good-looking, but the major issue here for some people will always be the lack of licence - and while that doesn't feel like too much of a problem at this stage with the demo, the promise of a reduced licence will be a deal-breaker for a lot of players. That distracts from what is a solid if slightly unspectacular package, whose limitations are completely forgiven when you consider the changes that have happened on the pitch for this year's Pro Evo. That makes up for the lack of depth in modes, and the uninspiring soundtrack, but once you start lining these elements up against FIFA, Pro Evo begins to show its threads a bit more. The solo and versus modes are all well and good, and the gameplay experience is rewarding enough, but there just isn't the kind of depth that keeps players around for the entire year, and Konami would do well to look at their biggest rival for some tips in that respect, even if they're not so big on "copying" round those parts.