Pro Evolution Soccer 2008

From it's extremmelly addictive multiplayer to its' extremelly legnthy and simple single player Pro evo is one of the best pro games ever. The online is shit but if you actually have friends then it will be good duh! Nethertheless  the game is good. Arsenal stats are shit, but will get better next season. I've spent over 200-300 hours on the game with all my friends, that's how addictive it is. It boils down to the fact that you should get it wether you're not into football or are.

Pro Evolution Soccer is a gaming series you felt could do no wrong, with consistent quality titles being released year upon year. This latest installment however brings things to a crashing halt, a game that feels rushed and ultimately incomplete and in my opinion has no right lining up next to its six predecessors.

You can clearly see the lack of progression from the moment you load up the game, you only need scroll through the main menu which offers you the same thing’s it has done for the past few years now. No new modes, no new league or cup options and no major changes to the Master League, an area that is in desperate need of a revamp. In fact the only change to the starting line-up is the absence of Random Select Matches which have simply been tossed to one side.

This year Konami claim that their new feature entitled “Teamvision” will revolutionize the way you play the game; with the AI supposedly learning from your tactics and then implementing tactics to counter that on both the attacking and defensive fronts. While this new system works to a certain extent the differences are minimal, and unless you’re really looking for them the subtleties are hard to spot.

The gameplay is still as solid as ever and in some respects the games saving grace; they’ve even cranked up the speed, something that fans were demanding after last years offering. Sadly though there are some thing’s they’ve changed that aren’t as welcoming. The goalies for example now drop the ball a lot more frequently than before; making it a whole bunch easier to score tap-ins from rebounds. Occasionally when the ball rebounds off of the goalies gloves with ferocity and then drops in or around the net the referee awards a corner. Throw-ins are awarded to the wrong team a lot of the time, I know they’re going for realism but this occurs way too often. Every time you want to take a quick free kick or goal kick the referee prevents you from doing so, instead you have to wait a good 5 or so seconds for him to blow his whistle. The most controversial is the ability to dive, something that can be exploited to win penalties and get an opposing player sent off. While I understand that diving is part of the modern game it’s something that needs to be eradicated and including it in a football game feels wrong. The biggest problem however is the slowdown that occurs when action enters either box, it’s not as noticeable on a standard definition TV but that isn’t much of a consolation to those who have shelled out big bucks. This is simply unacceptable, especially when you consider this is running on next-gen hardware, The slowdown also hinders the replays, in fact it’s so bad it’s as if you’re watching a slideshow; making it near impossible to figure what’s going on.

Not content at providing us with no new features they also had the bright idea of removing certain editing options; including the ability to edit the games unofficial badges. It wouldn’t have been such an issue if they had stepped up their game and obtained a fully-licensed Premier League but once again it has eluded them, it wasn’t such a problem seven years go but as each year passes their excuses become less acceptable. To add insult to injury they’ve replaced the only two English teams they had (Manchester United and Arsenal) with Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle, a bizarre decision when you consider the following of each club. They’ve also removed every English Stadium, leaving just 15 to choose from, half of which are either fictional or you’ll have never heard of.

This time around they’ve done away with the PES shop and instead locked the secret players to the games various cups and leagues, this is a far better way of delegating the unlockables as it pushes you to play through every mode the game offers. The classic teams also make a return, these can be obtained by winning the World Cup with the corresponding modern equivalent, for example: winning it with brazil will bag you classic Brazil; Pele and all.

With the ever-growing popularity of 360 achievements and the lack thereof on Sony’s part; more and more games are implementing their own reward schemes, Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 is no different. Here they’re called awards and while they’re not nearly as diverse as Gamer Points they provide something to strive for, 100 wins, 100 clean sheets etc. It’s worth noting however that one of the awards seems to be bugged, so completing them all isn’t possible, hopefully this is something they can fix in the near future.

The online mode is an absolute joke in every single respect. To start with there’s no internet functionality whatsoever, you can basically create a game or join a game using simple search criteria. When you compare this to Fifa who pack their online with bells and whistles and the fact that they also offer extra content via downloads it’s a wonder why Konami offers its users so little, it’s almost as if they’re trying to cut down their fanbase. Once you’ve chosen your match you will soon come to realize that the slowdown is also noticeable in the online portions too, not to mention the most horrendous lag imaginable. The ball skips around sporadically, player’s teleport from one spot to the next and if you attempt to tackle your opponent then you’re probably going to end up either getting booked or missing them completely.

I simply cannot explain how unacceptable this is, especially when you consider that it’s running on next gen hardware. That’s not the end of the misery either, when you finally do come across a lag-free match you’re more than likely going to stumble across ‘wide cheats’ as I like to call them. They don’t want a proper game of football, all they want to do is play as Barcelona or another equally stat-heavy club, stick two players extremely far forward and extremely far wide and then pass to them over and over and over again. No inter-passing play, no one-twos, just continuous through balls for the full duration of the match. I know what you’re thinking; surely you can stop these balls if you know that they’re coming? Well of course you can, but eventually one is going to hit and when it does they will most likely breakthrough and score. It’s not like you can even retaliate because if your full concentration is not on stopping that one through ball they will break through and score again with ease, it really does spoil the online play. The only way I’ve discovered of preventing such an occurrence is by checking what team they have played as the last five matches, if that team happens to be Barcelona five times over then that’s the tactic they’re most likely to use.

The graphics feel like they’ve been taken straight from the PlayStation 2 and given a slight makeover, things such as the crowd still look as pixilated as ever. At least they have finally added linesman on the pitch though and it’s hard not to admire some of the highly realistic player models on offer, it’s just a shame that for every one they seem to get right they inevitably get one completely wrong.

The soundtrack is atrocious, every menu is filled with the most cringe-worthy songs you will ever hear, you only have to listen to a track by the name of ‘Football Soccer’ to understand where I’m coming from, it had me scrambling for the mute button after just a few plays of the chorus. One positive is they’ve sorted the commentary out this year, gone are the ‘gruesome twosome’ and in comes the pedigree of Jon Champion; who brings the play alive, making what used to seem like a 0-0 division 3 match into a Champions League final. He is however paired with the ever-dull Mark Lawrenson; who is on hand to turn everything sour, if the slowdown doesn’t put you in a depressive state his voice might just push you over the brink. The commentary also suffers from inconsistence, just like games of the past it is prone to the odd mistake, for example: I’ll bring on two defenders near the end of the game and it wills ay something like “it looks like he is really going for this game now, bringing on players to try and secure the win”.

All-in-all Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 is a huge step back from where Konami should be heading. It lacks features, it lacks progression and it lacks the graphical power to push the series forward. In fact it almost makes you wonder whether they gave up on this game a long time ago; in order to focus their efforts on Pro Evolution Soccer 2009, a game they claim to be ‘the real next gen Pro Evo’. Hopefully they deliver that promise because if they’re not careful they may just find that all of the Pro Evo loyalists that have stuck with them for so long may well have jumped ship.

UPDATE: Konami released a statement stating that the servers have been stabilized and that lag should now be less of an issue, after testing this it’s clear that some of the problems have been eradicated but there are still a few more kinks that need ironing out.

The last Pro Evo was a bit of a disappointment for most of the die hard Pro Evolution Soccer fans. It had none of the modes that have been added back into this one and last generation graphics. But Konami have given us a great game (in my opinion) and the tweaked gameplay and AI tells us that Konami are trying to make the Pro Evo series even better by each game. This is proven and this is a better and more technical game than FIFA 08. Of course there are only two fully licensed English Premier League teams (This time Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur). Also the online can be extremely laggy at times making it unbearable in some parts. But who cares when you think about what Konami are trying to achieve with Pro Evo Soccer 2008 you can sense that  with the free flowing gameplay and the Master League, Legue, Cup and Edit Modes that have tried to make sure you get your money's worth out of this game. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 is the best football game out there and you should buy it now or for Christmas or at least rent it.

  This year's installment of the Pro Evo franchise takes the much-loved gameplay of  previous years and, um, puts it in a new box (with added Michael Owen).  The addictive nature of the game is still apparent and fans of the series will be playing right up until the next release, although at that time they may not rush out with as much vigour to grab the 2009 edition.
  One of the main issues I have with the game is that it has not fixed what is broken. In contrast they have tried to fix what isn't broken, the computer AI. Don't get me wrong, it's probably better than ever but Joe Bloggs isn't going to notice. What he will notice, however, is the PS2 graphics, the lacklustre online play and the loss of rights for major teams (Newcastle and Tottenham are fine teams, but no match for Man Utd and Arsenal from last year).
  Let's begin with the online. The lobby system is still a pain, listing all matches, joinable or not.In my experience it as taken up to 5 minutes to find a 10 minute match because of the constant refusals to let me into a match which is apparently open. Once a match is found the gameplay is noticeably less slick than offline, but that is to be expected and it is serviceable. What is not to be expected though is how the ball will sometimes appear at a goalkeeper's feet when the play is up the other end of the pitch, causing a change of possession. These are minor gripes, and the online play has a habit of throwing up incredible goals which feel organic and not at all scripted, unlike in other games. The hapless goalkeepers help I suppose.
  The largest criticism I have of the game is the lack of  "next gen" (do we still say that?) graphics. I am of the advocates of "gameplay over graphics" , but in the annual sports game genre I feel it is unacceptable that this game falls so short of competitors in this category. Some of the player likenesses such as Adriano are spot on, but other players have the wrong hair colour or are completely unrecognisible. The fluid animation somewhat makes up for this and Pro Evo has never been pretty, but there is room for improvement.
  If you have read this far, congratulations and thank you but I may be about to annoy you. Everything you have just read is academical (ie. useless). This is the best football game on the market. The Master League is still intact and just as addictive as always as you strive to take your team of nobodys and turn it into a star-studded superpower. The gameplay is frenetic and the opposition are diificult to break down and offer a significant threat on higher difficulties. When played with a friend it is the ultimate competitive game, moving players from joy to despair in the space of 10 minutes. It truly is the football game for lovers of the beautiful game that is football..

As is the case every year, I was highly looking forward to the release of PES 08. I have supported the pro evolution franchise for nearly 5 years now, however I can't help but feel that game is taking cashing in on their reputation more than their innovations.

Well lets get down to what's new?  Unfortunately, not much the games big innovation TeamVision turns out to be rather disappointing.  The inclusion of New Castle as well as Tottanham come at the price of Manchester united and Chelsey . However they did include an edit mode in this years version witch was highly needed!! You can even use the live cam to take a picture and insert yourself into the game.  Thats about it for anything new to the game.

Now lets get to the gameplay,  this has been the series strongest aspect for years, the play on the field is amazing.  This is as close as any non athletic individual will ever come to playing on sat or sundays.  The game really gives the player the feeling that they are in control of world class athletes.  The player can easily tell the  difference between controlling someone as skilled as Messi, to someone as slow as Terry.  The feeling of setting up a play with close to 20 passes that lead to a lofted thou ball to a goal is unmatched in any other sport game.  The control over the players on the pitch is something that cant be overlooked when it comes to sports games.  My only gripe with the game is the goalkeepers leave something to be desired.  I don't know how many times I have conceded a goal because my keeper did not come out and get the ball or the ball bounced off his chest and then went in. 

As far as the game modes are concerned, they are what one would expect in a typical sport game.  You have your season , a dynasty type mode and some cups.  nothing out of the ordinary.  the game does feature an online mode however every time that I have attempted to play a match, the match would be hampered by a great deal of lag. 

It was really hard to decide on a score for this game, seeing as it's one of my favorite games I was tempted to give it a 5 out of 5 however, I do realize that the game i played this year is largely that same as the one I played the previous year.  Therefore I was unable to give it a 5.  However if any of you enjoy playing soccer then this is a must have!  In my opinion the battle between fifa and Pes is a matter of Quality vs Quantity.  On the one hand Pes provides people with great gratifying game play while fifa provides players with a great deal more teams and players.

Proper Wii usage (minimal waggle here, with a huge emphasis on the pinpoint precision of IR), and a full-fledged online mode with friends or random players
The new control style of Pro Evo is the most impressive aspect of the Wii version, i am very surprised to see as much depth in this package as there is, seeing as it's a first year Wii title and truly innovate on it.
This game is a must-have sports title on Wii. Yes, it has some issues to iron out, such as the somewhat clumsy defense system and the fact that the game's new design makes it a hybrid of play calling and multi-task control (no traditional mode here).

The Good: New innovative control scheme that works well – Decent online mode – Great animations – Pro Evo is back on a Nintendo home console

The Bad: Music is a bit repetitive – Lack of many licensed teams
_______________

Football/Soccer on the wii has been nothing but a disappointment so far, first with Mario Strikers Charged which was decent but not really great and then with Fifa 08, which turned out to be the worst game in the series in years, and let's not even talk about Kidz Sports: Soccer. But now Konami decided to release their venerable Pro Evolution Soccer franchise in a Nintendo home console for the first time in years, and it's not only the best soccer game for the Wii, but also the best of this generation so far.

The first thing you'll do in this game is a long but necessary tutorial, and this is a must do, why? Well because Pro Evo 08 is completely different from every other soccer game out there. There's a pointer on the screen that helps you select the players and move them, you can also move with the nunchuck and that works better, but the pointer is necessary when it comes to pass, you'll do this by aiming at the player and pressing the B buton. Shacking the nunchuk makes the player shot the ball, swinging the wiimote makes him throw a chip shot. That's about it for basics, they seem a bit complicated at first but they are pretty easy to do and you'll master the controls easily.

This is the best controlling so far in any football game, because you can control every single player on screen with the pointer, still there's a flaw in defense, because you don't really do much, and this is probably the worst part of the awesome gameplay. You just press A on the opposing player and the closest defender will attack him, you can tackle by shacking the nunchuck and holding the Z button and that's about it. It's not really effective when you're being overwhelmed by opposing players, so that's a bit disappointing sometimes, still, it works well.

The game can get confusing at times, especially with so many lines being drawn on the field, but it flows well and it's a bit more tactical than other PES games, but don't be fooled, it doesn't loose the arcade, simple styIe that makes PES so fun.

When it comes to game modes, PES is a not short of them. There's single match where you can play against the computer or another player. League, where you can play some of the big leagues in the world like the spanish primera and the calcio. In Cup mode you can create custom cups and play in especial ones like the Konami cup. Champions road is the main mode of the game and the one that will take more of your time, you start a custom team and you play in leagues so you can earn trophies, get new and better players and upgrade their skills, is not as good as Fifa's manager mode but is a great main mode. In training you'll train...duh. And the last one is the online mode, which is lag free and pretty good, even if it's a bit basic.

The game only supports two players, which is good because otherwise the matches can get extremely confusing. You can also save replays and save your custom teams on the wiimote. The game doesn't really have many licensed teams to play with, there are a couple of leagues that have the complete teams, but the rest are made up, some of the examples are found in the english league where you'll see teams like London F.C. and Man Red. The funniest part of this game is playing with your Miis, you can bring them to the field with their gigantic heads, they're not the best players, but damn they're funny.

The presentation is great, the menus look good and are easy to navigate, and the game intros are good. You can set the menus in one of three languages (spanish, english and french) and the commentators will change depending on which you chose. All the commentators are great, so no matter what language you chose you'll hear great comments.

On the visuals side of things this game looks great, especially the character animations and physics, they're very realistic, there are some jaggies and graphical glitches here and there but they're forgivable. The music fits the game, but is a bit repetitive, especially the main menu music, which is just na, na ,na, na over and over again.

Pro Evo 08 is a successful game, and it's so great that it's back on a Nintendo console after all this time. Konami did a really great thing bringing it to the wii and making it one of the best and most complete football games of all time, in fact if it wasn't for Fifa 07 this would definitely be my favorite. So if you enjoy football you'll love Pro Evo 08 on the wii.

Pro Evolution Soccer I think has to be one of the games of the year in my opinion. Each Game in its Series is always one step better than the first! With it allowed you to edit teams/players or create your own teams and players. Konami always seem to come up with new ideas and modes for each Pro Evo that is realeased.

Ok so not all the team badges and player names arent exact to the ones you see today in some of the Pro Evo Series but still that is not as important as to playing the real match itself! Konami have done well here in producing a game such as this. The Different Modes you can play in the game are such as Master League, League, Cup and many other new modes that you didnt used to get in the other games in the series. And as always there is your training mode and in the options section, you still have got the same features like viewing the different stadiums in the game, watching back saved replays, and also the Pro Evo Shop in which you can buy classic players and teams and other fun things included.

The detail into the design of the stadiums is just unbelieveable even if your playing on ps2 or xbox 360. Again the names of the Stadiums may not be licenced but still that is not an important issue.

So in the end I would say this is a must game to buy but with Pro Evo 2009 coming out soon, Look forward to what we can Expect!

Despite it's addicting and very good gameplay, this game was overall slightly dissapointing compared to PES 6.
Had this game not been individual it would have been terrific, however compared to the fantastic PES 6 this game was a step back for Pro Evo.

Being a PES fan I still think this is a very good game but just a few bits need tweaking to make it great. Such as the poor commentary, the movement of the players and the awful music.

Good points :)

• A very quick game, making the matches more realistic
• World tour mode
• Accurate player likenesses (ex. Beckham leans back when taking free kicks, Rooney dribbles with his head down.)
• Good graphics.
• Master league good as usual
• Addicting gameplay

Bad points :(

• Poor commentary
• Some players run strangely
• Terrible crowd graphics
• Few changes from last years edition.
• Referee offen gives ridiculous decisions

Overall this is a good game with some small bad points but hopefully Konami will be able to change these bad points and make PES 2009 ahuge success.