Visually stunning and superbly realistic, Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 is a welcome upgrade and like last year, PES is finally moving in the right direction again to be the best football playing experience around.

No discussion of PES 12 can even start before it’s compared to FIFA 12 as a benchmark, similar to how Championship Manager keeps being held up to the light to be compared against Football Manager. It’s the curse of the underdog, but given that FIFA has been comfortably ahead for a few years after putting in considerably more effort in enhancing game play and graphics, it’s probably best to look at PES on it’s own.

PES 12 has seen a number of welcome improvements to the AI and defensive play, but the stand out feature for most reviewers has been the off the ball player movement and the visuals, from things as simple as lighting, shadows and camera angles to the full-on video introductions to the Champions League.

But where Konami still have more work to do is on the gameplay – and although the new edition is considerably improved from last year the player movement and AI decisions are not as refined and realistic as they could be, and this is one area that you can expect Konami to improve upon in PES 13. Whether it’s the player moment across the turf or the player controls, you will notice an improvement from PES 11 but still be left wanting for more.

But that is the FIFA 12 fan talking. In truth, PES 12 is the pest Pro Evo edition yet, and it’s closing the gap between PES and FIFA when it comes to creating the perfect football gaming experience.

This is a sponsored post.