“Football (soccer!), football (soccer!) ... the greatest game of all!”

Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 is a strange one to review, as Pro Evolution fans already know what they’ll be getting; a fine-tuning of gaming’s favourite footy engine covered by some seriously strange presentation, which EA’s FIFA followers will see as a slight injoke.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2008, however, takes this a stage further; its football embodiment is more bang-on than a Dirk Kuyt spot kick, but the look and feel of the finished package will raise eyebrows even more. In short, Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 is a mixture of the good, the odd, and the occasionally ugly.

First, the good. And we mean very good indeed. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 feels like PES, but refined and more approachable. As mentioned in our preview, Pro Evolution Soccer 2008’s improved close control really does give that arcade-like ISS Pro 98 feel, and the realistic ebb-and-flow of its football is utterly peerless.

Tweaked

Shooting and tackling have both been tweaked for Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 – the former now less touchy, the latter requiring pinpoint timing – and diving added – though after your first few yellow cards you’ll limit this to desperate last-minute penalty claims – while goalies are more liable to flap at crosses than parry shots into oncoming attackers (except Paul Robinson, perhaps).

Scoring now feels at once more open to interpretation, and yet more difficult, thanks to Pro Evolution Soccer 2008's new AI feature, dubbed ‘Teamvision’. The computer adapts ruthlessly to your style of play, so be prepared to fight off plenty of Istanbul-esque second half comebacks.

Improving elsewhere, Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 also features a full Edit mode and classic players that 360 PES6 lacked, plus you can choose which defenders to send up for corners, while actually enjoying the commentary (!) with John Champion and Mark Lawrenson offering the insight and enthusiasm that Brackley and Brooking sorely lacked.

That’s the good. Here comes the odd. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 views penalties from the keeper’s feet, making saving them more difficult, while the PES Shop is absent. Also confusingly, licenses have shifted, not grown; Man United and Arsenal are back to Man Red and North London, with Newcastle and Tottenham replacing them; though player names thankfully stay authentic. Lastly, the revamped Master League we’d hoped for is really just a menu overhaul with the occasional cutscene. Shame.

Presentation is also disappointingly plain. Animation is spot-on, though facial detail varies vastly between players – but in general, Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 isn’t in next-gen FIFA's visual league. It’s odd that Konami didn’t go to town on this, given that Pro Evolution Soccer 2008’s is the first PES on both next-gen systems.

And now for the ugly. Unfortunately, PS3 Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 features some pretty noticeable slowdown, with corners, set pieces and replays jerking around like we’re used to seeing on PSP Pro Evos. It’s still immensely playable on PS3, but runs far smoother on PC, PS2 and especially the near-faultless 360 version.

Substance over style

Cross formats, however, the music is terrible. Ironically, it’s a nice idea, with track and genre appearing in the top corner, and an editable playlist in the options menu … but the lyrics come across as a bad J-Pop English translation (see the review title for an example), and its all quite frankly a tad comical.

Having said all of that, Pro Evolution has always been a masterclass of substance over style. Despite the odd choices, wayward presentation, frustrating technical issues on PS3 and a generally godawful soundtrack, Pro Evolution Soccer 2008’s fantastic footy gameplay still speaks for itself. Add in online play too (again more accomplished on 360 than PS3), and, there’s literally a whole year of footy fun to be had here.

Superficial slip-ups aside, then, Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 is still the king of footy games, offering a serious, back-to-basics soccer alternative to FIFA's fast-paced kickabout and flashy footy presentation. ‘If football is your life, PES 2008 is your game’, boasts the back-of-box blurb. ‘Nuff said.

GAME's Verdict

• Still the best footy gameplay around
• Great facial likenesses on the big names
• Finally a full Edit Mode and improved online play on next-gen versions

• Serious slowdown and online issues on PS3
• Not quite the next-gen presentation fans had hoped for
• Godawful Music. Turn it off, please!

Review by: Mark Scott
Version Tested: PS3, Xbox 360
Review Published: 26.10.07

Konami go back to the footballing future...

Despite changing very few of the fundamentals year-on-year, Pro Evolution Soccer nonetheless seems to get incrementally better. Unlike rival FIFA, Pro Evolution Soccer has never boasted dramatic new features or gameplay gimmicks; Konami instead preferring its soccer sim to take a steady course of… well, evolution… and let its gameplay do the talking.

This, year, however, Konami seem immediately aware of the competition. FIFA 08’s naming convention, ‘building block’ skill system, Be a Pro mode and online licensed leagues have been answered; Pro Evolution Soccer’s latest release now boasts a 2008 subtitle, improved close control, deeper Master League and continuing online play.

It’s a list of changes which should encourage, rather than worry, avid Pro Evolution Soccer fans. Indeed, far from overlooking Pro Evo’s ever-stellar soccer purity, Konami have made sure Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 renders an even silkier version of the beautiful game.

Continuing credentials

The Xbox Live demo suggests Pro Evolution Soccer 2008’s continuing credentials as the footy fans footy game. The abovementioned close control is instantly pleasing; harking back to Pro Evo’s PSone progenitor ISS Pro 98 with fast-paced arcade gameplay and lots of mazy dribbling.

Where PES 5 infamously favoured straight-line sprinting with the ball, and PES 6 balanced between that and eight-way dribble control, Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 goes that extra distance by practically gluing the ball to your player’s feet. In Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 you’ll be carving curved lines past bamboozled defenders – while PES 2008’s sprint dribbling will see the best players bursting into the box using less pronounced direction changes.

And that’s another way in which Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 seems to be looking back to ISS Pro 98 to move forwards. While Pro Evo’s world class players often have far more pronounced abilities than the rest, with Pro Evolution Soccer 2008’s close control the contrast is even more stark. Receiving the ball into feet, turning and taking on the last defender, the gap in quality between a Marcus Bent and a Fernando Torres is quite frightening.

Alongside that, Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 refines some of the rawer aspects from last year’s Pro Evo. Shooting feels less touchy and less prone to seeing the ball fly over the bar from two yards, while through-ball effectiveness has been downplayed and passing gives a greater range of speeds depending on how long the button is held. That’s going to be essential, because, to offset the new dribble focus, player fatigue is now far more focal; a trait which will no doubt annoy Arjen Robben fans.

Shot and header animations also continue their improvement. Players in Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 shoot directly from chest control, and achieve defter headed flicks than PES5’s bludgeoning ball heading. In the tackle, slides must be well-timed while pressing is liable to cause fouls only rarely – though the new option to dive provides a further air of caution against going crazy with the Press button around the box, and will be an especially hilarious multiplayer temptation for all would-be Sahas.

Gameplay in spades

If Pro Evolution Soccer 2008’s continuing gameplay evolution doesn’t surprise fans, nor, unfortunately, will its visuals. It’s about as far from FIFA’s flashy HD presentation as it gets, with a more minimal menu feel and player models which range from great likenesses to zombiefied replicas of real-life stars. We’re a tad disappointed by the demo’s looks in truth, but we’d take great gameplay over photorealism any day, and thankfully PES 2008 has that in spades.

There’s limited info at the mo on how Master League has been revamped, although Konami are promising better player interaction to bring Pro Evolution Soccer 2008’s main mode closer to an all-in-one management experience, while we’d expect to see the online code optimised far more so than PES6’s wayward Xbox Live launch last year. We should have our mits on a final retail copy very soon, so it won’t be long till we find out – and when we do, you will too.

Preview by: Mark Scott
Version Tested: Xbox 360
Preview Published: 17.10.07