Emmo’s Blog

So 6 weeks after owning Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 for 360 what is the verdict of Konami’s latest effort? Not so good to be honest…

After the first few games I had this game down as one the best PES since PES5 was released way back on the original Xbox. A few weeks later I have it down as one of the worst.

This is the reason why it has taken so long to review as I don’t like to give knee-jerk reviews whether it be CDs, Films or Games. It’s easy to say something’s great after a few games but the proof is in the longevity. How many times do we love an album, say it’s the best, then a few months later never play it? A lot.

Anyway, I got PES10 a few days before general release and when I fired it up I was pleased to see how good it looked. The graphics shat all over EAs new baby Fifa10. Konami had gone into so much detail with every player. Fernando Torres even has his birthmark on his neck! Gone were the ugly menus and horrendous music. In came readable menus and songs from bands like Stereophonics & Kaiser Chiefs.

I played a few games with various teams and was (at first) impressed with what I saw. Everyone knows that PES does look strange at first due to the lack of licenses. I only had to wait a few days for a well known PES fan site to create an option file. The file gave me all the correct kits, team & player names plus a few teams that are not even in the game!

The game now looked complete and I was eager to start the Master League which has had a radical makeover this year. Gone are the points system and in comes real money. There is now a youth team for you to look after and this year they have implemented the Champions & Europa League into the Master League which is a touch of genius. Last year they didn’t and the CL license was a waste of time. There is also a transfer window of 4 weeks before the first league game and you or your scout can try to sign new players before the window slams shut until Xmas. The Master League was now pretty much perfect.

So with all that in mind PES2010 was set up to be a cracker of game. Unfortunately where in previous years PES had looked average and played magnificent this year it has switched around. The game looks amazing but playing the game isn’t a nice experience at all.

It seems that every year since the new generation consoles Pro Evo has gone backwards in terms of game play. I could be here for ages typing out what’s wrong with PES10 but so far I have told you what’s right with it as it’s easier on the fingers!!

I will though tell you a few of the problems with the game. The first is the passing. The ball pings around like a pinball and the simplest of passes goes astray. Keepers are worse than ever as shots are parried too often and every shot to the near post doesn’t even get a dive from the keeper. A cross and header on target results in a goal 9 times out of 10 as the keeper just watches it go in.
First touch? Unless you have a top class player all the players have a dreadful first touch which results in them losing the ball. The pitch is bigger than ever but you wouldn’t know it as the players are all bunched in the middle like my sons U/8s team.

But there are two bigger main flaws and the first is that you cannot get or give away a penalty. I’ve hacked down forwards when one on one only for the ref to wave play on and I’ve also been the victim and been hacked down for a blatant pen only for the ref to ignore it. Some people I know have had over 100 games and not seen a penalty given. Secondly the computers AI makes the game too easy. The teams the AI controls are too negative and don’t attack enough. I played Inter, AC & Madrid in 3 consecutive games and only had 3 shots made against me. The AI makes the team too defensive. After 15 league games I had only conceded 3 goals and I don’t exactly have the world’s best defenders. I upped the level and OK I didn’t hardly see the ball due to the AIs possession but again the shots on goal didn’t arrive.

So there you are. This is the third PES made for next gen consoles and this is the third less than impressive effort. The last great PES game was the first game available for 360 which was PES6.
When it came out in 2006 next gen owners were gutted as this was effectively a PS2 game put onto a 360 disc. The game wasn’t in HD and neither did it have next gen graphics. But after playing the game it was obvious that PES6 was the best PES ever made and it still is to this day.

If you really want to get PES10 then I recommend getting a 2nd hand PS2 console and buying PES10 for it. I have heard that PES10 is fantastic for the PS2 which is no surprise as that’s the format the game is made on. It’s probably the reason that Konami are still not able to make great next gen games for 360 & PS3.

Me? I be playing PES6 until I read the reviews of PES2011 because PES08,09 & 10 have all been major letdowns.

PES10 rating 5/10

Well it’s a Rock-tastic week this week at Emmo Towers.

Why?

Well last week I sold some dire albums I’d bought over the years on eBay.

The 10 albums raked in about £60 so I went on a mission to get 11 of the 12 Iron Maiden studio albums I needed.
Amazingly I got them all for roughly £40 on eBay which was amazing as they were all the re-mastered versions.

I am now the proud owner of every Iron Maiden studio album except the two with Blaze Bailey on vocals. Maiden are an awesome band and I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to really get into them even though I’ve had Number Of The Beast for nearly 10 years.

With the Pay-Pal pot still a little in credit I purchased the new KISS album Sonic Boom and the new WASP album Babylon. Both have turned up today so I’ll review these as soon as I can but I have some serious music to get through.

I have never been a fan of KISS but I have read some good reviews about Sonic Boom. Most reviewers have said that this is their best album for nearly 30 years. It’s a gamble for me as I have never really got what all the fuss was about with KISS.

I have only been into WASP for about 18 months but they are amazing. The Crimson Idol is one of the best metal albums of all time and if Babylon is half as good then I’ll be happy.

So that’s 13 albums to get through and they should keep me going until at least Nov 2nd when Bon Jovi release The Circle.

Last month also saw the release of Alice In Chains excellent new album Black Gives Way To Blue. A fine return to form for arguably the finest band to come out of Seattle and the grunge scene. Its hard to change vocalist not that they had much choice after the death of the original front man Layne Staley. The new guy fits in well and the fact that he sounds exactly like Staley will help the fans take to the new album quicker.

Pearl Jam have also released a new album recently titled Backspacer. I haven’t yet bought this album and doubt that I will. The reviews for the latest offering haven’t made me want to go buy it so I doubt that I will. Pearl Jam will never top their first two albums Ten and Vs so in my opinion everything since those releases have been average at best.

Finally, The Wildhearts are rumoured to be releasing download only track on Friday 16th October. It will be available from their website www.thewildhearts.com  No news on what the song is but I reckon it’s a song that didn’t make the latest album the excellent “Chutzpah!” I hope that it’s the song “Some Days Just F*cking Suck”  but who knows what these guys have in store!

On December 17th Wildhearts front man Ginger is playing a Birthday Bash gig at Highbury Garage. Tickets are £12.50 and are well worth a purchase. Expect some special guests to help Ginger celebrate his birthday. I will be there so make sure that you are!

Away from music and next week sees the release of Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer 2010. After the disappointment of Evo 2009 Konami have been working hard to please the army of loyal fans. The have been working hard and trying their best to reclaim the crown back from Fifa.

If you read this site last year I was gutted with Pro Evo 09 and bought Fifa09 but after while I went back to Pro after I found Fifa too scripted. I have played Fifa10 this year and again I dislike it. I have also played the Evo10 demo and am liking it….a lot.

 A full review of Evo10 will be on the site sometime in the next 10 days.

Some exciting news for Pro Evolution Fans

Tomorrow 17th September sees Konami release the demo for Pro Evolution Soccer 10.

Users of Xbox 360 and PS3 will be able to download the demos via their marketplaces.

Users will be able to select from Liverpool, or Barcelona, or the Spanish, Italian, French and German national sides. The selected sides can then be played against the CPU or a friend in a five-minute match.

The full version is released on 23/10/09

Avid readers of this site (Hi Dan) will remember my scathing attack on PES2009 back in Oct08.
Without repeating myself I was severely disappointed with what seemed like a half finished game. Half the teams wasn’t correct and transfers that happened nearly 6 weeks before the game was released (Berbatov and Robinho to name two) hadn’t been updated. FIFA09 had and was released two weeks before PES09!

After many years of buying Konami’s games starting with ISS for the SNES back in the early 90s right up until PES2008 for the 360, I ditched them this year for EAs Fifa09.

For 6 months I loved Fifa09. Official kits, correct player names, properly named stadiums and real time player form (via Xbox Live) made PES2009 look like the Luton Town of football games. But last week for the first time ever I went to switch on Fifa09 and I changed my mind. I felt bored of it. Don’t get me wrong (as per Oct review) Fifa09’s game play is the best EA have come up with since the game began back in 93. The game plays well and looks amazing but for all its flaws you still can’t beat PES game play.

As previously stated EAs game looks amazing but after a while you notice that the game is too scripted. You can’t seem to have flowing moves from one end of the pitch to the other. Also you never seem in total control of your players. Many times all my defenders just seem to stop and stare as the other team bear down on goal as I frantically push every button to try and get them to tackle. In the end the AI will tackle someone for me. Another annoyance is that no forward can ever seem to find space. The game seems to be built around counter attack football. The ball seems to stay in the middle of the pitch until someone passes it through a gap and the fastest player on the field can race through on goal. Long range goals are rare as the ball is like a balloon and ends up in row Z. The “finesse” shot is a great addition and but most goals are scored this way.

Like PES’s Master League EAs version, Management Mode, has its flaws. For all EAs efforts to try and catch Konami this mode lets the game down. Silly things like Euro games are never played at night, never seeing your team lift a trophy, £750k sponsorship per game for Division 2 teams, lower league teams signing top Premiership players and no pre-season so you only have 1 month to sign players makes things awkward.
It has it pluses like selling players is easy, they use real money not points, players can improve their contracts at anytime, games can be simmed and you can upgrade backroom staff and stadium. If you think you have taken the team as far as you can then you can join another team at the end of the season.

So last week I re-bought PES2009 and thanks to Konami’s updates most of the teams outside the Premiership are correct and the Jan transfer window moves have been adjusted. This weekend the new download included the new England strip.
I have also just bought of eBay an option file so when I plug in my memory card every team, kit, player name and stadium will be correct The menus still look like a 80s game that someone has been sick on but get past that and you have a not a great game but a very good game.

PES’s game play is what it’s all about. Scoring goals is the best part of football and PES capture that moment brilliantly. After scoring you see the ball in the net, the other team disappointed and your players wheeling away in celebration. This is another feature of Fifa09 that I dislike. The moment of scoring is quickly taken away as the camera doesn’t want to see the ball in the net but wants to see you choose a silly celebration for your goal scorer.
Scoring a goal in PES feels like you have really had to earn it. The other day I scored a 25 yard pile driver with Aguero and I jumped off the bed in delight. I have never had the slightest inclination to do this with FIFA as it’s all a bit emotionless.

PES for me although miles behind FIFA09 in its options and presentation has that “something” during game play that EA just can’t quite find. If EA do find the missing magical ingredient then Konami are in trouble. EA have so much depth to their game from the loading menus to the stats on how many goals, fouls and offside’s you have had since you bought it. It’s a statisticians wet dream. But Ill forgive Konami for their ugly menus and late updates if the game play remains either the same or improves. Most PES fan boys claim that PES5 or 6 was the best and they just want to see PES10 to have that engine with new-generation graphics and I would also be more than happy with that. But for now until Oct when PES10 will be unleashed I shall enjoy the beautiful game that is PES09

Agree or disagree with me? please comment………..

Jon Gaunt

So Jon Gaunt has been sacked from his hugely popular Radio show on Talksport.

It doesn’t seem to matter that Gaunty had the highest ratings from 10am-1pm. I’m led to believe that nearly 1 million listeners a day listened between 10am-1pm.

This is because he called a Redbridge counsellor a “Nazi” and an “ignorant pig” after the suit had told listeners that people who smoked shouldn’t be allowed to adopt children. What crap. I’m a non smoker by the way.
We all know that smoking is a filthy disgusting habit. The pubs and other social places are 100 times better since the ban came in, but now people are being told they can’t even smoke at home.

If you have read Jon Gaunts autobiography then you will know that his mum died when he was young, his dad couldn’t cope and put him into care. The stories that Gaunty tells are extremely personal and heartbreaking about his time in care. His heart is well and truly on his sleeve when this topic is mentioned.

What Gaunty was basically saying to the counsellor was that if you asked a child in care whether they would want to stay in care or be taken into a loving home by new parents who smoked what do you think the child’s response would be?
Would they say keep me in care because these 2 people smoke or would they like to be given a chance to live like normal boys and girls, have a Sunday roast and a chance to celebrate Christmas and Birthdays, things I imagine go uncelebrated in care homes. I think the answer is obvious.

The whole issue here is getting kids out of care and into families to give them a better chance in life, smoking shouldn’t even be an issue.

Gaunty let his emotions get the better of him as his past probably came back to haunt him. To him it probably felt like being in care again when a suit said no families for people who smoke. Took him back to hearing the door slam as his dad left the care home and left him all alone. He spoke up for the kids in care and if anyone should know what they would say it would be him as he has been there.

The counsellor accepted an apology and Gaunty adjusted it to from Nazi to “Health Nazi” and after an apology on air after his show that should have been the last of it.
Talksport received a few complaints but then they probably do every day, in fact they used to make adverts saying listen to Britain’s most controversial DJ on this station. They used the 48 complaints last year to promote Gaunty and have now used the few he got last week to sack him. How hypercritical is that?

I don’t know what’s going on at Talksport towers lately. I do know that have got a new owner who saw fit to sack Mike Mendoza & James Whale, both of which had the most listeners at the time when their shows were on air.
Whale was sacked for saying that we should vote for Boris Johnson instead of Ken Livingston at the London Mayor elections this year. Here is a man who has come through Kidney cancer but still came into work despite doctors orders not to.

Mike Mendoza didn’t have his contract renewed as the new owner thought he could get someone in better and that’s his prerogative but from what I have heard the listeners are voting with their ears.

All the personalities are now gone from Talksport, yes you still have Mike Parry, Danny Kelly, Hawksbee and Jacobs and Ian Collins but how long until they say something not PC and are fired?

Alan Brazil was recently convicted of drink driving when found way over the drinking limit. What’s worse? Telling someone to vote Boris or possibly killing people with drink driving? It’s a no brainer.

The world has gone PC mad lately. Yes Gaunty shouldn’t have called this bloke a Nazi but to him it felt like the counsellor was one. He should have said it to him in the ad break. Thing is if I know Gaunty he probably has something up his sleeve already. He will continue on his various TV programmes and still write his column for the Sun. The real losers are his 1 million fans. But one thing is for certain is that when Gaunty takes the reins on another Radio show expect 1 million listeners to flick over from Talksport to listen to him. As he keeps telling us, he has 3 sony’s you know!!!

update: 20/11/08 – click on the comments at the bottom of the page to see reply from Jon Gaunt himself!!!

John Sergeant

I have just been informed that John Sergeant who is currently wowing the public with his moves on BBC1s Strictly Come Dancing has stepped down. Why? Because the BBC and other dancers don’t want him there. They think he is belittling the competition.

What rubbish. The BBC have to realise that we the public pay for their shows and if we want to see some old bloke bust his moves on the dance floor then we will. We ring up and vote (paying more money to BBC) so we decide who we want to keep. Not them.

I watched it last week for the first time and all the poncy dancers who were in fear of going out were saying “Vote for the dancing not who you like or feel sorry for.” How patronising.

If they have to moan about something then how about moaning at Bruce Forsyth who they wheel out every year to present the show. His dreadful gags and not being able to read the auto-cue is painful to watch.

The public voted and they thought Sergeant was better than anyone else and voted for him in their thousands. The judges slagged him off and said him being in the competition was a joke. The joke was on them as the person they thought would fall at the first hurdle and be laughed of the show has won over the public.

OK, Sergeant isn’t the most light footed dancer to ever grace the dance floor but the public love the fact that he has got up and had a go. Remember the public decides not the BBC so why is everyone on the show moaning? If no one watched it and didn’t vote the show would be taken off air.

What’s even more impressive is that fact that Sergeant doesn’t have a sob story like most of the mob on ITVs The X Factor. This is another show where its decided by the public. Every week Simon Cowell says “Your vote has to be for the best singer.” If both these shows are not happy with the public’s views and the results they get from us then don’t get us to spend our weekends and money having the cheek to vote for who WE want. Pick them yourself and get of our TVs!!!

Darkness falls across the land, the midnight hours close at hand………..and Jacko’s nearly bankrupt.

What has happened to Mickey J? Once a great entertainer and responsible for some of the world’s best pop songs (we have all liked Jacko at some point in our lives, he has touched us all….not like that!!!) Jacko it seems has blown his money on what seems like a ton of tacky objects for his living room.

In the last 10 years (roughly) Jacko has just re-released the same old albums with songs that were too shit to make the original, stuck it a jewel case (wow!), added a few new photos and put it back out for his fans to buy the old stuff that they already have.
Who is buying this stuff? My mate Dean. He is probably responsible for keeping Jacko’s Never Land open on his own. He would buy the sound of Jacko farting 12 times in an empty can of baked beans if he released it as an album. Dean buys re-release after re-release and tries to convince us (more like himself) that he is not being ripped off by the former king of pop.
I mean over 200 million people have Thriller so why would they want to buy it again?

Since the allegations Jacko has done nothing of any note that I can remember. Let’s get this straight. I don’t care he hasn’t released anything nor would I care if he never released anything again (although that fart album sounds like it’s worth a listen) but how can this man be skint?

I haven’t heard anything from Jacko in years but last night I flicked on the news to find he has (allegedly) borrowed £5 million from the son of a king with the promise to pay it back with the royalties of a new album. That album has never seen the light of day. If Jacko loses this court case he will be bankrupt and have to sell all his property. This time I don’t think another Greatest Hits album will do the trick.

There is talk of a world tour but why should fans (I’m not one) pay to watch some bloke go through the motions to pay his debts off? No album in the past few years means no recent tours and no tours means no hugely overpriced merchandise stalls selling a £2 t-shirt for £35.
If he had got off his plastic arse and released a new album a few years ago he could be back at the top of the charts but MJ has done nothing but spend his money of awful antiques and now don’t have an antique pot to piss in.

I think Jacko should have released an album the day after he was found not guilty of kiddie fiddling. The album would have shot straight to number 1. Even if Dean hadn’t bought his 10,000 copies the album would have been a success as there’s no such thing as bad publicity is there? Don’t believe me? Look at Andrew Sachs.

Sachs was never on the TV unless there was a re-run of Faulty Towers but now Jonathon Ross and Russell Brand have told the world Brand shagged his granddaughter the bloke hasn’t been off my TV. Coronation Street now want him to be a new character and he is being inundated with offers for work and why is this? It’s all down to his granddaughter being a stripper who shagged some tramp from Tilbury. She was so upset that her poor old granddad had been seen to be having the Michael (no pun) taken out of him she just had to sell her side to the Sun newspaper while promoting her job as the chief rubber of blood on her tits in the Vampire Sluts. Sachs gets all this work all because the world now knows what he knew all along about his granddaughter.

The world has indeed gone mad so Cha’mon MJ get your bony arse in gear and give something to your fans something to shout about. If you dont have any new songs I have an empty can of baked beans waiting for you…..

update – Dean has left two comments about MJ – please read them

Now before you read this review let it be known that until the release of Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 I was a proud PES fan boy.  I would defend the game to the hilt especially to those FIFA Fan boys who said that theirs was the better game.
Let it also be known I have only ever owned two versions of EAs game.
FIFA 94 for the Mega drive II but I preferred Sensible Soccer & the FIFA spin off Road to the World Cup 98 for the PS1. Again not a favourite of mine and hardly played.
I have however, rented most FIFAs to see if they had been slowly catching up with Pro Evolution Soccer and until the last 2 years they hadn’t got close.

After the debacle that is PES2009 (see review on this site) I decided to take the plunge and have a look at FIFA09. I felt dirty for the thought even entering my mind but I had lost total patience with Konami’s latest offering. I had read reviews on various sites and FIFA always came out on top but you need to see and feel the game for yourself don’t you?
I went down to HMV and two blokes were playing the game on the 360 in one of those console stands. The game was Chelsea Vs Liverpool and the two blokes seemed to be having a good time. First thing I noticed was that FIFA looked like a Next Gen game unlike Pro Evo. Although being a PES fan I have never been one for correct kits and names, it was nice to see the teams how they should look and to top it off playing at Anfield which was instantly recognisable. The game seemed to look like it played really well and as one of the guys spun round in amazement that Drogba had rattled the Liverpool crossbar from 6 yards he bumped into me.

After apologies were exchanged I asked him had he played Pro Evo this year and if so what did he think of it? Also how did FIFA play and compare as it looked impressive? They told me that they had given up on Pro Evo and so to had his mates who had all gone for FIFA this year. I explained that FIFA always looked like the old Millennium Dome. Stunning on the outside but not much going on inside.

To my amazement and in an act of total generosity he said for me to jump on the controls and take over from him giving his mate a game. I was explained that I had never played FIFA before and never used the Analog stick opting for the D Pad every time so his mate would kick my arse. But as soon as I took control I was amazed how easy it was to adjust to FIFA from Evo. The game is smooth and now has the game play that the graphics deserve. After a few minutes they said they had to go and I was left with both controls. I left it on 2 player mode and just got a feel of the game.
I was Liverpool and there were some nice exchanges between Keane and Torres. I then thought there was an earthquake but realised it was only the controller vibrating after I had hit the crossbar. Nice touch.
I was hooked so I ran back to work and ordered the game (£10 cheaper online with free delivery!) from where I had ordered the soon to be on eBay Pro Evo 2009.

The next day the game arrived and I cracked it open as soon as I got in from work and loaded it up.
The first thing you notice is how much effort EA put into their sports games. When the game loads it asks you to set up your profile so that it remembers how you like your controller configuration, game speed, camera, favourite team and the level of difficulty. If someone wanted to play on my 360 they would have to set up their own user tag so they didn’t muck up my settings. Great Idea.

The menus are friendly on the eye and the options are limitless and easy to use. After adjusting the game speed to slow (as normal speed is a bit too fast for my liking) and adjusting the camera angles I decided to set up a friendly match. As the game already knows that Liverpool are my favourite team it automatically selects them for me in the team selection. Not only that it also automatically selects a game against your local rivals so I get to play Everton. You don’t have to use these teams but I like the train of thought by EA.

While the game loads you can have a kick about with Torres and fire shots at a keeper to get used to how the game feels. Another nice touch.

But this is what has let down FIFA’s in years gone by all the above is great but means nothing without game play. Komani has had none of the above before but had the game play that EA could only dream about. But in FIFA09 EA finally have a game that is not only as good as Pro Evo (and it pains me to say) but is better.

While Konami have stood still in the New Generation era EA haven’t and have used these consoles to full advantage. For example the game is actually made in HD so it looks even better on a HDtv than a normal game. Konami take note. The players look real and look like who they are meant to be. No blocky legs and shorts made of cardboard here.

Passing is good the harder you press your button the harder and faster the pass. The same goes with shooting.
Players will make space and point to where they want the ball but defenders are good at reading those passes. But whereas previous versions have made a meal out of the simple things like passing, shooting, running and heading EA seem to have nailed it this time around after 14 years of trying. Another negative aimed at previous versions is that there is no passionate feel to it especially when scoring. Again EA have worked on this and listened to their public and sorted this out.

This is not to say the game is 100% perfect. It isn’t . It still has a few things that bug like when a goal is scored they could leave the focus on the ball in the net rather than trying to get you to do a celebration using your controller. I’d like to see the ball in the net longer and the keeper moaning at his defenders rather than try to get my player to slide in celebration of his goal. Sometimes the players do feel like they are on ice but not as much as before. Also when shooting the ball feels as if its one of those Woolworths 99p balls. You can finese to your shots but that move it tricky as you have to hold R1 when pressing the shoot button as well as trying to keep another finger on the R2 for pace. All a bit much for my pork sausage like fingers.

The commentary is from Sky Sports and Man Utd loving Andy Gray plus his sidekick Martin Tyler. They are not my favourite pairing in the commentary box but even I’ll admit they sound like they do at on TV. But then compared to John Champion and Mark Lawrenson on Pro Evo who doesn’t. 

I haven’t tried the other game types yet but what does intrigue me is the Adidas Live League. I’m under the impression that the game is synced via Xbox Live with what’s going on in the football world today. For example if you were to choose Liverpool you couldn’t at this moment play with Torres or Skrtl as they are both injured. Only when they are declared fit by LFC can you use them. I would imagine that Red and Yellow cards obtained in real life would also stand in the game.

EA have really pulled out all the stops this year and have the game that the graphics deserve. After many years EA have finally caught and now overtaken Konami. That is something I never thought was possible. It will be interesting to see how Konami act as I know many who have left them for EA this year. One thing is for sure is that Konami need to work very hard in getting those fans back next year.

EA has proved that the best things really do come to those who wait…….

My Rating: 9/10 – Total football.

Since the days of its first release, International Superstar Soccer for the SNES, The great debate has always been about who was best? Konami’s ISS or EA’s Fifa? For the last 12 years Konami have (just about) held that title.

The History Of The Battle: EA Vs Konami:
EA’s Fifa started in 1994 on the Mega Drive II and it was simply titled Fifa 94
Playstation arrived and saw Fifa go to a new level but most still preferred Konami’s offering.
I have several mates who all preferred ISS to Fifa. Yes Fifa has all the real kits and player names but ISS had the game play whereas Fifa’s felt emotionless. You could score easy in Fifa – just pick Real Madrid, get the ball to Laudrup and watch him run unchallenged to score another goal in a 13-0 victory. Fifa was all about spectacular goals and not about game play. In ISS you had to think about your passes and time them right as you edged the game by the odd goal. When you scored in ISS you really felt like you had achieved something after all goals win games but not all are scored by flipping the ball over the defenders head and belting it in the top corner like Fifa would have you believe happened for every goal in every game.

As the years passed and countless games were released Konami had the edge – the now titled Pro Evolution Soccer was the victor in the battle with EA’s dour titled and poor game play in FIFA.

Then something happened in late 2005. That something was called Next Generation consoles (360 & PS3). EA had made a game for these consoles using the powerful machines whereas Konami hadn’t. In fact their first release on the NG console was Pro Evolution Soccer 6 which was awful (no edit modes) and EA still not quite as good as Evo was slowly gaining in play ability. Konami had said the game wasn’t Next Generation and had been made based on the PS2 model. They also admitted it had been rushed to compete with Fifa (both games are always released within 2 weeks of each other) If that was the case they should have waited.
 
In 2007 Konami released Pro Evo 2008 which again was rushed but played OK (if a little too fast) but still wasn’t making full use of the next gen consoles. Fifa 08 was and got the play ability pretty much spot on. Now EA had added game play to the full licences Konami was left red faced as most diehard fans defected to Fifa.

Which brings us nicely onto Pro Evolution Soccer 2009.

Pro Evo 2009:
As soon as the game comes on the intro is impressive but the menus are ugly and dated. Big and blocky and just a mess in general. Konami don’t seem to care or are totally oblivious to the fact that EA have over taken them this year (FIFA09 has the game play that Konami once had if not better). Fans of Pro Evo used to accept that most of the real team names wouldn’t be correct especially from the Premier League (only Liverpool and Man U are official this year) but at least they had the real Italian, German and Spanish names. Not anymore. Konami now only have 4 official teams from each league and have ditched the German teams altogether.
Not only do the teams not have the real names they no longer have the real kits either. For example Atletico Madrid don’t play in the Red and White stripes with blue shorts but play in total Green? Yes the full edit mode is back but I don’t have time to change over 200 team names and kits. Nor do I want to play with Teeside for example.
The normal leagues and cups are there all without the proper names. The Premier League is called the English League and the league cups are called Konami cups.

New Features:
Getting past the menus Konami have secured the full licence to the Champions League which does look good. Choose a team in this year’s CL and take them to glory. But in typical Konami fashion its half baked as although the CL License is in full not all the teams are. Taking London FC to the final isnt quite the same as taking Chelsea is it? Also during Pro Evo’s world famous Master League mode (create a team with rubbish players and earn points to buy better players) you can qualify for the CL, only it’s not called the CL in Master League mode it’s called European Championship and won’t have the trimmings of the CL mode. Why bother to get the CL licence if you won’t put it in the Master League? It’s another sign that Konami are resting on past glories.

They have also added a new feature called Become A Legend where you take charge of only 1 player (midfielder or forward) during the game and see the game through your eyes. The idea is to err… become a legend. You start of at your hometown club and play 1 game. After that game 3 teams (not big teams) will come in for you and you choose one and start playing in practice matches you aim to get on the bench, in the starting 11, then leave for a bigger club et etc until you’re the best player in the world. It’s a bit of fun but Konami should have spent more effort in other areas. Footie fans will also remember a game in the 90s called Lebo Grande which was the same thing so it’s nothing new.

Master League:
The Master League is untouched for the roughly the 6th year running. Some would say that’s a good thing but there are still a few glitches. Like using points instead of money to buy players, no one is ever cup tied when you buy them and you always get teams from your division in your CL group, Sorry… European Championship group! Still, creating your own team from scratch and taking them from the bottom to the top makes a great game it just needs a little modernising.

Players & Stats:
Now I appreciate that it must take time to create over 3000 players putting in each statistic but if you are going to do it at least do it properly. For example Liverpool’s Fernando Torres scored 33 goals in 40 odd games last season yet his stats have gone down from Evo 07. Keeper Pepe Riena has been given 72/100 for goal keeping stats yet has the most clean sheets in the league over the last 3 seasons. To prove I’m not being biased towards Liverpool’s players, Arsenal’s Bacary Sagna was one of the best defenders in the league last season and won rave reviews yet Konami only rate him as 68/100. Funnily enough the South Asian players (where the game is made) have stats that defy belief. Regarding transfers Berbatov is still at Spurs and so too is Malbranque. Robihno is still at Madrid. These transfers happened on the last day of the transfer window which was 01/09/08 – giving Konami 6 weeks to put the players in their new teams but they haven’t bothered. EA done it so why couldn’t Konami?

Game Play:
Now the game play. This is really important to Konami as it is the game play which has kept Pro Evo at the top of the charts. At first the game loads up and looks impressive but when the game starts that’s when you finally get the hump. It’s been slowed down from last year’s release and that’s a good thing but not when fast players look like they are running through treacle and don’t seem to get anywhere. The players seem to bunch in the middle of the field and they are joined by the ref so it looks a one big bundle in the centre of the park. Shooting is more difficult than previous versions which is fine but would a forward blast over from 6 yards every time? I wouldn’t have thought so. Keepers since Evo 06 haven’t been able to hold onto shots and nothing has changed in that sense. One minute they are pulling of world class saves only to parry the softest of shots into the path of a forward for an easy tap in the next. Passing has improved and players will point to where they want the ball which is a nice touch. You can still run your centre half from one end of the field to the other unchallenged which was a major flaw in the last 2 versions. Refs are as fussy as ever with the first foul of the game often resulting in a caution or red card. The in game graphics are OK but are not NG standard as the players are not flexible and seem robot like. It may be windy and raining but their shorts don’t move in the wind or when they run. Players can only turn in 8 directions which makes a submarine turning seem quick. This might be a bit anal but the goal nets are annoying. Not only are they the same at every ground (even Wembley) so you can’t tell what stadium you are at, but even when you tap the ball into an open goal the ball pings around the net like a pinball. They may have the official Liverpool and Man U teams but there is no Anfield or Old toilet – sorry Old Trafford to play your home games at.
So all in all not a great deal of improvement from last season it’s just been slowed down.

Online Play:
I have played 3 games online and only 1 has been playable due to serious lag. Just getting a game started online is time consuming and has taken me up to 15 minutes. In my first game I lost 0-5 but for 3 of those goals my player had the ball, the picture froze and when it came back the opposition had smacked the ball into the net. Also players teleport. They are there one minute but not the next only to re-appear at the other end of the pitch. Keepers seem to run out for the ball but don’t dive at the players feet so annoying gaols are conceded. Konami say they will be fixing broken servers every night but the lag really needs to be looked at.

Summary:
The question is this….Have Konami learned their lesson or noticed they have lost fans to Fifa and brought out the most amazing game their loyal fan base deserves? In a word the answer is a big fat NO. The reason for this is simple. Pro Evo 2009 is still not a Next Gen game. OK its available on the next gen consoles but that’s it.

I really wanted this game to be brilliant especially after the last few versions but it’s not. I can’t decide whether the game has gone backwards or just stood still. I think it’s probably a bit of both. Konami have won the battle V’s EA for 12 years but have lost the 12 year war. It’s the first time I have played a Pro Evo game and not felt excited by it. As a fan of Pro Evo I accept that there will be no licences and real players names but now they have not put most teams in their correct colours, made the game Next Gen or really improved the game play I (and many others) have finally had enough. Pro Evo’s 1-5  were brilliant but with 6 being the first 360 release and being such a disappointment Konami have had another 2 versions to get it right but they haven’t. They are releasing substandard games due to complacency.  If someone like me, a PES Fan boy, prefers FIFA this year to Pro Evo 2009 then how many more will feel the same? FIFA have this year finally got the game play perfect. It’s taken them since 1994 but they have tried over the years to match Pro Evo and when they did they then wanted to overtake Konami and have. Konami really need to go back to the drawing board and start again from scratch. They need to remember why people bought them instead of EA in the first place. Pro Evo fans are not fussed about real kits and names but they need and deserve great game play to make up for it and that is missing from Pro Evo 2009. Yes I can buy a transfer data kit for £10 and have all but Premiership real names from option files available on the net, but why should I after already forking out £34 for the game? Now the game play isn’t there it doesn’t really matter.

Humberside Orange V North London Red anyone? Thought not……….

Rating:

5/10 – Go buy FIFA09 and play real football.

Today I have received my copy of Pro Evo 2009 today thanks the the guys at www.shopto.net

Once I have played it a few times I will post a review.

The shops will be selling this from 17/10/08 but a few stores will start selling early.

17th October 2008.

new Evo cover

PSP users will have to wait until Nov 08 and Wii users will have to wait until early 2009

The full kit editing mode is back and the play ability is like PES5 which means this game will be superb.

Liverpool and Man Utd (boo!) will be the official licensed teams this year from the Premier League

Game features a new “Be a legend” mode in which you see the game through the eyes of a player.

I for one cant wait