Xbox 360
Another year, another debate over which is better: Pro Evolution Soccer or Fifa. If you're looking for guidance as to which is better, you're in the wrong place. However, you might be pleased to learn that PES 2009 is, in some ways, a much different game of football than its predecessors. It's bigger, better and more accessible to newbies, while ramping up the difficulty curve for veterans—everyone wins! (Except Scotland, of course.)
So what's new? Well, for the first time you have a full, seperate mode for the UEFA Champions League, complete with that mad choir music they play during the breaks. You know the stuff we mean. You take one of a range of teams through the 32 man tourney in a bid for glory. As with every new PES, there are more licensed teams and players, doing away with some of the really rubbish made-up names of old.
Likenesses are better than ever too, and there are more of them. In fact, the overall appearance has been kicked up a notch, though it still trails behind the brillant graphics of Fifa. This doesn't really matter, as it means the game can run smoothly both on and offline with no hiccups.
Speaking of online, a 'Become a Legend' mode allows you to play as one member of the team on the field, meaning you need to work with the CPU players if you are gong to win the league. It sounds boring, and at points it is. However, once you get into it you might find it more tactical than controlling the whole team at once. Online plays well with no real difficulty, an no graphical letdown or connection problems, which is absolutely crucial for a sports game.
It's chock full of goodies, but how does it play? This is definitely a much more streamlined affair than what has gone before, doing away with multi-button tricks and favouring a slew of analogue swivels and good positioning.
For example, step-overs are performed by tapping a button twice, and you can pull off the Matthews Trick by rotating the direction pad 90 degrees then pulling it back sharply. These sound tricky, but they are pretty easy to pull off with a bit of practice. Also, some tricks can only be executed when your player reaches a certain level.
It's always intersting to see how well the commentary ends up in footy games and it flows well here, although occasionally you might be lazily sauntering up the wing, outside the penalty box, and they start shouting as if you're just about to score the greatest goal in history. Calm down lads.
This year's Pro Evo is more of the same excellence you have come to expect from the series, simplified in some places, ramped up in others. Veteran players will relish the overall increase in difficulty, making the game challenging and fresh once more.