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Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Wii)

N-Europe's Mark Lee and Adam Ducker both weigh in their opinions on the Wii version of Pro Evo 2008! First off, it's Mark:

Amongst the elite football gamers, Pro Evolution Soccer is like painting a delicate picture on an empty, grassy canvas. At times it’s akin to a physical game of chess with players picking apart defences and winning games on the edges of their seats. Yet to the uninitiated Pro Evo appears dull, slow paced and butt-ugly. Instant euphoria has never been Pro Evolution Soccer’s game in both gameplay and graphics. If you want those kicks go play football in the back yard with EA’s FIFA. Pro Evo is the connoisseur’s choice. Rarely does a forty yard screamer hit the back of the net. Rarely does your goalkeeper drop the ball like David James. No, for all of the graphical splendour and PES imitation that FIFA has developed, Pro Evolution Soccer is as finely tuned as a Beckham free kick – being as close to a true simulation of football as humanly possible.

But play the game on Wii and even the hardest Pro Evo purists will choke at the sheer wealth of hardcore footballing on display. This hardened gamer loaded up the title on his Wii, boasting with the confidence of one Christiano Ronaldo, yet minutes later was running scared to the changing rooms by the (much needed) start-up tutorials.

Point and click isn’t traditionally associated with sports titles, and coupled with twenty-two players on screen with clicks, points, swipes and dragging actions going on, this isn’t one for the casual gamer. Yet delve into it with an open mind and spend the time learning the controls and you will come to understand a new way of playing. A way in which, once understood, will potentially lead you to more joyous, appreciative footballing moments. Moments crafted far more personally than in previous football outings.

"Goooooal!"

Want to control multiple player’s dribbles? Use the analogue stick on the possession holder and as you point, click (with ‘a’) and drag others around the turf they will make runs. Point and pass (with ‘b’) to a player or pass into space and the nearest man runs into that space. Simple. On paper it’s confusing, yet in principle it works astonishingly well. This simple control set-up offers immense depth as you develop the play and drag players from markers, push defenders up the field and dabble in strategy far more than previously imagined. Not only does this work well in free play, but during dead ball situations the new control mechanics really shine. Want to bring your tallest player to the near post for a corner? Want to use him as a decoy as two defenders come screaming in? The choice is yours. Effortlessly. And when you score it’s all the sweeter. You did that. You played that decoy. You pin-pointedly placed three players at once. Again effortlessly. It’s like the replays you see at half time on TV with arrows and swirling lines of intricacy drawn over the turf. But here it’s on-the-fly and never less than perfect. And although it’s not as graphically (or aurally) stunning as it could be (running on an enhanced version of the PS2 engine) it gets the job done and is as smooth as butter even when it all gets scrappy around the penalty area.

So breathe easy football fanatics, it’s safe to say that on the field Konami have got everything right with even the much maligned defending situations being mastered over time. Nobody expects pointing at defenders (or attackers for man marking) to draw a challenge to be easy, yet it’s the way in which another player can be dragged into a position to make that attacker loose possession or move into a less-threatening position which makes it work. Yes, that’s right, football gaming just took a huge step towards realism without better graphics. In fact, the notion that defending isn’t about physicality but all about positional awareness and timing results in a refreshing change from “just getting a boot in”. You may miss the old versions defending mechanics but eventually it starts to show its own merits. And once mastered, defending becomes a joy in itself.

"Ref! Red card!"

For every goal the game scores on the field, it’s surprisingly off the field in which it starts to show signs of going off the boil. First of all the user interface is a breath of fresh air with IR functionality used to navigate menus and the white Wii ‘sheen’ is a welcome change from previous iterations. Yet for all of the steps toward an easier user interface sadly the omission which hurts the product the most is the Master League’s disappearance. In its place sits the young, plucky Champions Road which, in contrast is a sub-standard replacement with neither the legs of the Master League or the intense personal reward it offered.

Starting off with a team of nobodies you play in small competitions and work your way into bigger ones – on the way acquiring players from the teams you beat. It’s an original idea granted, yet somewhat crazily, you cannot see the player you want to acquire. Instead players are represented as blank cards with a title of “Pacy Winger” or “Midfield General”. There is depth and a certain charm to it yet it doesn’t quite match up to dabbling in the transfer market and building your own team. Gladly your team will still earn experience points from matches (like they did in the Master League) and thus there is more depth to the package than initially appears. But it does seem like a wasted opportunity. You can take the controls out of Pro Evo, but the Master League? Dodgy move Konami.

Scary.

Other ‘traditional’ modes are all (thankfully) included, including domestic cups/European championships etc and there is even an excellent online mode which is (during extensive testing) pretty much a lag-free effort. Hooray!

But then for all the good work Konami do in one half, they score an own goal by putting in a slimmed down edit mode. No in-depth strip editing or player transfers? That means Defoe will have to play for Tottenham forever more. For shame Konami!

And yet for all of the irritating omissions it will be the astoundingly good football which will draw you back long after the initial confusing elements have past you. And that is what really matters.

- Mark Lee,
N-Europe Staff Writer

Head to Page 2 for Adam Ducker's thoughts and opinion, plus N-Europe's final ratings...