Konami have somehow managed to out-do themselves with this year’s PES. They still don’t have licences to use the majority of team’s names, and they still fucking nail it with their knock-off sporting heroes.
Playing PES back in the day was actually pretty ace. I remember being able to start in the schoolboy leagues with a custom team made up of all your mates, and progress into the lofty heights of the English League to challenge clubs like Merseyside Red and Man Blue for a crack at the title. Good times.
Well, it’s 2016 and thankfully, Konami’s licence acquisition team still can’t be arsed, and have instead made up their own teams because fuck it why not.
Who can forget such household favourites as the merciless London FC, fearsome West Midlands Stripes and of course the popular St. Red. For those who aren’t fluent in PES, that’s Chelsea, West Brom and Southampton respectively.
While the average football enthusiast can probably take a good stab at the Premiership teams, things get a bit more tasty in the Championship. We’ve got East Anglia Town, Hounslow, West Midlands Village and Ln Azure Blue White to name but a few. Yeah. Good luck.
As you probably noticed, Konami have managed to pull two names out of a hat and got Arsenal and Liverpool both into this year’s iteration, though Manchester United are back to being Man Red after a brief licensing slip-up meant they were officially in the game last year.
It’s worth noting that, as with previous games, the teams are all fully rename-able so you can get to work spending hours making your favourite club. I guess there’s some charm in that? Anyway, PES 17 is out on September 15 for PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC.
Mark is the Gaming Editor for UNILAD. Having grown up a gaming addict, he’s been deeply entrenched in culture and spends time away from work playing as much as possible. Mark studied music at University and found a love for journalism through going to local gigs and writing about them for local and national publications.