Before we get started we must just make it clear that at the time of this post a launch date for the patch had not been confrimed, however EuroGamer suggest that it will arrive in December. After this the next major update will relate to all of the squad changes which will take place during the January 2012 transfer window.

OK, let’s get started with some improvements to general gameplay. Apparently once the update is installed all goalkeepers should be better than before, especially at saving long efforts, also if you utilize the Speed Star skill card you should expect some tweaks post update to make this more realistic. Something else worth knowing is that you will now be able to search for Quick Match opponents based on pass support settings. Konami has also promised less freezing/hanging whilst partaking in Become a Legend and Online modes or when selecting Game Plan combinations.

In terms of bug fixes there’s nothing too exciting, one bug which allowed a team to remain with 11 players after receiving a red card will be patched, also if you have ever checked the myPES application after winning/losing on penalties you will no longer see a draw, here’s some other changes:

- Occasionally meaningless numbers were appearing when accessing the Community menu from the Community Card list
- Formation data in the Formation settings on the Game Plan screen can only be saved from the P1 controller
- Game data can be saved/loaded for both sides if you exit the Data Management menu while your opponent is saving/loading the game data and then enter the Data Management menu again on the Game Plan screen

We like the sound of all of these changes which are coming to PES 2012, especially the fact that goalkeepers will concede less efforts from long range – what other changes would you like to see made?

In a few days, we may be hearing information that tells us why we should look at buying Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 instead of FIFA 12, both games of which have always been the ‘el classico’ of football games. We think it will be interesting to see what PES have to offer this year seeing as we have already heard from EA Sports that FIFA will be huge this year with some vast improvements.

So what needs to be improved in PES? During the last 2 years maybe, it can be argued that FIFA has been tapping away the goals against PES. We can remember the days of old, when the PES series dominated FIFA in-game realism and gameplay. The only thing FIFA had was graphics.

Nowadays FIFA seem to have been raising the bar, for PES to raise it higher they will need to work over-time on this title to beat FIFA’s already huge reputation as the soccer giant on the market today. What suggestions do you have for PES 2012 and which do you prefer of the two current games?