''Pro Evolution Soccer 2014'' (officially abbreviated as ''PES 2014'', also known in Asia as ''World Soccer: Winning Eleven 2014'' and ''World Soccer: Winning Eleven 2014 - Aoki Samurai no Chousen'' in Japan only) is an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

video game developed and published by

Konami , commonly known as Konami, , is a Japanese multinational entertainment company and video game developer and video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. The company also produces and distributes trading card ...

for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

Nintendo 3DS The is a foldable dual-screen handheld game console produced by Nintendo. Announced in March 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS, the console was released originally on February 26, 2011 and went through various revisions in its lifetime, ...

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). It is the successor to the PlayStation 2, and both are part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. The PS3 was first released on ...

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PA ...

, and

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...

in 2013. The cover art for the game was the first in the series not to feature a football player since '' Pro Evolution Soccer 3'' was released in 2003, although a later version was released with football players on the cover. ''PES 2014'' was the last game to be released on the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable in Europe. It was succeeded by '' Pro Evolution Soccer 2015''.

Gameplay

''Pro Evolution Soccer 2014'' was developed with six key elements meant to define the physics and the features of the game. ''PES 2014'' centers everything on the ball: how it moves, and how players use it. Physics of the ball, stature of the player, speed and height of the pass are taken into account to recreate the most realistic football experience on a home system. Players are an important part of the game with Motion Animation Stability System (M.A.S.S.), increasing the realism of physical contacts between players, tackles and decisions taken on the pitch by the AI to have more open games. The audience has an influence on the performance of the team. On the pitch, the performance of an individual player, good or bad, will also have an effect on the team, giving them a moral boost if he has a moment of individual brilliance; or forcing his teammates to support him if he is not doing well. Introduced in ''PES 2013'', the Player ID system recreated faithfully the movements and skills of about 50 star players. In ''PES 2014'', that number is increased and will also apply to complete squads to replicate a team's playing style. With the new Combination Plan, users are able set up a variety of different tactics in key areas of the pitch using three or more players. These players can make very different runs to exploit holes in the defense or midfield, using the flanks, curved runs, or overlapping play to make themselves available. Once again, the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

and

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's offic ...

competitions are fully licensed in the game, and the First Playable

without entering Master League, Become a Legend, and/or League. For the first time, the game features an exclusive license for the

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

, the

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; ), known officially as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Betano for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Argentina and the highest level of the Argentine football league system. Organ ...

Chilean Primera División The Chilean Primera División () is a professional association football league in Chile and the highest level of the Chilean football league system. Founded in 1933, it is organized by the Asociación Nacional de Fútbol Profesional (ANFP). The l ...

, and Arabic commentary as well, by Rhaouf Khelif of

beIN Sports beIN Sports ( ) is a Qatari multinational network of sports channels owned and operated by the media group beIN. The network has played a major role in the increased commercialization of Qatari sports. Its chairman is Nasser Al-Khelaifi, and its ...

, also Argentinean commentary, by Mariano Closs and Fernando Niembro, and Chilean commentary by Fernando Solabarrieta and

Patricio Yáñez Patricio Nazario Yáñez Candia (born January 20, 1961) is a Chilean former Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Club career Yáñez began his career in 1977 with San Luis de Quillota, San L ...

of Fox Sports Latinoamérica.

Jon Champion Jonathan Martin Champion (born 23 May 1965) is a British sports commentator currently working as an association football commentator for ESPN and NBC Sports. Champion is a well-established and experienced commentator who has also worked for the ...

and Jim Beglin provide as English commentary. Also Jon Kabira, Tsuyoshi Kitazawa and Hiroshi Nanami provide as Japanese commentary. New for this year, players can now change teams in the Master League and coach a national side. Players are also able to create 3rd and 4th kits. Some third and fourth kits are official. The PS2 version has the same characteristics of the other versions.

also appears as a single-mode. Rain does not feature in ''PES 2014'' due to the engine upgrade, as well as the Stadium Editor and

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

stadiums because of licensing restrictions.

Development and release

''Pro Evolution Soccer 2014'' was officially announced by

on March 10, 2013. The game was released on September 19 in Europe, September 20 in United Kingdom, and on November 14 in Japan. The playable demo became available on September 11 for download. The

version of the game was released only in Europe, and aside from being the last game released on the system in this region, it is also the final game to be released on the system overall. It is also the last retailed

game released in Europe and Mainland Asia.

Downloadable content

In March 2014, a downloadable content pack added the ''World Challenge'' mode to ''PES 2014''. The World Challenge is a tournament similar to the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

, with national football teams taking part to compete for the trophy. The World Challenge DLC provided official World Cup kits to licensed teams that would take part in the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

. The mode also allowed some national teams which were unplayable in normal modes to compete, although these teams are also unlicensed, with made-up player names and incorrect strips.

Engine

''PES 2014'' uses the Fox Engine, a cross-platform game engine built by

Kojima Productions is a Japanese video game development studio founded in 2015 by Hideo Kojima, creator of the ''Metal Gear'' series. It is the spiritual successor to a production team inside Konami also known as Kojima Productions originally founded in 2005. The ...

, believed to be designed for the next generation of video games. The engine's development began after the completion of '' Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots'' and it was revealed by Konami on June 3, 2011. The engine was to make it possible for Kojima Productions to develop multiplatform games with a significantly shortened development time and has been described as the first step for the developer to move away from development for a single platform. The new engine makes use of Havok "for a comprehensive simulation of each on-field player. Each player’s intricate movements are naturally represented according to the individual player’s mass and physique, and each uniform reacts realistically according to the players’ moves and speed." Unlike versions released on Windows and seventh generation home consoles, the PlayStation 2 version is not developed with the Fox Engine.

''World Soccer: Winning Eleven 2014 - Aoki Samurai no Chousen''

Just like ''World Soccer: Winning Eleven 2010'' after 4 years. This version includes two new modes: Japan Challenge, where the

Japan national football team The , also known by the nickname , represents Japan in men's international Association football, football. It is controlled by the Japan Football Association (JFA), the governing body for football in Japan. Prior to the late 1980s, Japan's nat ...

competes to win the FIFA World Cup in Brazil, and the licensed J.League (only in the PS3 and 3DS versions). The game was released on 22 May 2014 in Japan only.

Server shutdown

On August 11, 2015, Konami announced that the game servers for the game would be shut down on the following November 17 due to the company focusing on newer games.

Reception

The game received generally positive reviews from most major sources.

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

gave the game a score of 8.4 out of 10 praising its high quality graphics, its passing being "crisp and zippy when it’s played on the floor, while lofted balls can be driven or floated to great effect" and its improved ball control for allowing "dribbling to be much tighter than before" while pointing out some frame rate problems and saying that the game is overly physical given that the new Motion Animation Stability System "actually produces an unnecessary amount of tussling" but it also points out that the new system improves some other things.

Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 alongside parent company Gamer Network. In 2008, it started in the formerly eponymous trade fair EGX (Eurogamer Expo until 2013) organised by its parent company. Fr ...

gave the game a 9 out of 10 again praising the high quality graphics given by the new engine stating that "movement and little touches are delivered with a craftsman's eye for detail", giving also some praise to the introduction of the free kick directional indicator that "allows you to target areas of the goal quite precisely" while criticizing the AI "which still sometimes ignores balls that are clearly easy to intercept". On the other hand,

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady, and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

gave the game mixed review, giving it a 6 out of 10 and criticizing the frame issues, the game's single and multiplayer modes, its AI, the commentary and a loss in the direct control and feel of its predecessors, while noting the improved graphics and the ability to "provide a fun game of football".

References

External links

Official website
{{Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 video games Multiplayer and single-player video games Nintendo 3DS games PlayStation 2 games PlayStation 3 games PlayStation Portable games

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Video games developed in Japan Video games set in Argentina Video games set in Brazil Sports video games set in France Sports video games set in Germany Sports video games set in Italy Sports video games set in Japan Video games set in Portugal Sports video games set in Saudi Arabia Video games set in the United Kingdom Windows games Xbox 360 games La Liga licensed video games Sports video games with career mode Video games using Havok Fox Engine games