The good folks at Konami have been working hard on their latest entry into the sports gaming world: Pro Evolution Soccer 2012. We got a chance to interview Tim Blair, a representative for the company, about this new game. Now we've all played sports games and we know that with new releases every year, not much may change from game to game. We can't really say that that's the case with this one. Konami has been listening to fan feedback on the 2011edition of the series and have made some radical new changes to improve the quality of the gameplay experience.

One of the goals in creating this new game was to make it as realistic as possible. Players should feel like they really are in the middle of a soccer game when controlling their team. As a casual soccer fan, I have to say that they've done a good job so far. The finer details that have gone into the programming are terrific improvements. Subtle enhancements have been made to the engine's AI system in order to make computer controlled players act as their real world counter-parts would. The guys surrounding you aren't just standing around anymore. Instead, they'll actively block opposing forces and move towards openings in order to receive the ball if the player needs to pass it, which can happen frequently. In addition, teammates who know that they can't really help with the ball in play with make dummy runs in order to throw off the enemy computer.

Aside from the individual players, as a whole, the team can be ordered to switch from man on man defense to a zone defense, a feature missing from previous titles. If the game gets too easy this way, the AI's intelligence can be scaled back in order to make it more of a challenge to hardened veterans of the series. This same feature can also be used to make the enemy AI more intimidating.

Off the field itself, the graphical improvements are substantial. The textures used in the game are much more detailed and visually appealing than Pro Evolution Soccer 2011. The crowd even seems to have a few distinct faces, which is definitely new. The sound quality has improved tremendously. The narration feels very realistic, which helps throw the player into the game even more. Fans will shout for their favorite players and give real feedback and comments.

Overall, the game should be a crowd pleaser to fans of the Pro Evo Soccer series. Konami has not currently given a release date for the title but Tim told us to look out for an announcement sometime this summer.