“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.
The realistic ebb-and-flow of Pro Evolution Soccer 2008's football is utterly peerless.
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