Pro Evolution Soccer 2010

Talarin reviews PES2010 - a game which has massive highs and lows.

Intro

Pro Evolution Soccer has been one of my mainstay games for the last few years. Lowstress have played it online together since PES5 and we've enjoyed moments of pleasure as we scored screamers from outside the box and frustration as Bisi took the piss once again with Manchester United. The vast bulk of development time on the previous versions of our website were dedicated to online leagues and competitions in which we'd battle it out in 1 vs 1 and 2 vs 2 games.

It was my favourite online game.

The last couple of versions have been less fulfilling, as Konami introduced online problems which effectively crippled the game - mainly their poorly thought out central server system which routed all traffic through Japan and so introduced massive amounts of lag.

It probably sums up my opinion of Konami to say that they didn't care about their customers in Europe as the Asian version of the game, Winning Eleven, didn't suffer from the same issues and so the game went through two incarnations (PES08 and PES09) without addressing this problem. It was with no small delight that I read that Konami had reverted to direct IP connections to play the games and I dared to think that the game would return to it's previous glory.

An introduction to PES2010



Konami have taken a lot of feedback on board about their "quirky" style in finding your way around the game and I have to say that I'd consider the new menus and accompanying music (which is excellent by the way, including tracks from the likes of Keane, Paul Weller and the Stereophonics) are easily the equal of EA's console-based contender - FIFA10.

As soon as you launch the game; the layout is simple, but easy to navigate and doesn't feel as half-hearted as previous editions of the game.

The Match Day



The core of the game is obviously the match experience, and I have to say that the game doesn't disappoint. Konami's Next Gen engine has continued to improve. You're immediately blown away by the graphical detail, especially with regard to the player likenesses, which in my opinion are vastly superior to anything else out on the market.

Commentary is provided by the old stalwarts of John Champion and Mark Lawrenson. I've got to say that it doesn't flow anywhere near as well as FIFA's effort and some lines are quite obviously re-used from previous incarnations of the game. (Some of Lawrenson's lines are blatently read from a script, which is very annoying.)

The game itself flows very well - and the engine is a good example of a game which is easy to play but difficult to master. Passing is crisp and responsive (once you've learned to let the players balance before passing - a touch I like) and the through ball has been nerfed, so you've got to pass it around to make space if you want to play a possession game.

The game still has a habit of occasionally picking a player that you didn't mean to pass to in the logic, but once you've got the feel for the game its easy to recognise times in which that's a danger and play accordingly.

Top players (such as Messi and Torres) have been toned down a bit, although in the right hands are still devastating - but I find it makes the game a little more accessible to the average player (like me).



Game Modes

Konami's traditional master league is still present, and again the new look and feel of the game works really well. They've even moved away from the "point's currency" and introduced real money to add some context to your financial dealings and transfers. At the same time, if you're expecting a Football Manager style transfer engine then you'll be very disappointed as the game logic is very simple and valuations don't feel right at all.

UEFA have continued their endorsement of the game, and so Champions League and Europa Cup competitions are present in the game. The Europa League is only available via the Master League mode, but the Champions League (complete with licensed music) is a joy to play and you do get a sense of achievement of even making it to the final at the higher difficulty levels of the game.

One criticism of this mode is that Konami have failed to secure licensing for all of the real CL entrants, so the likes of North London and London FC are present, while some real life entrants aren't present at all. (More on this later.)

Be A Legend returns and it much unchanged from last year's version. One new touch that I do approve of is the ability to register your BAL player in the standard team rosters - making him available to play in a new master league or Champions League competition. Also, extra feedback from your manager is included - so you can get a feel for how well you did without hunting down your match rating.

The now-standard ability to create your own cups and leagues is present, which is fine if you fancy something a little more unusual - but I really haven't played with too much.

Licensing

Although this is the version of the game with the most amount of licenses yet, it is still tremendously poor compared to EA's offering. Large chunks of the Premiership and La Liga are not licensed. along with a number of International teams. While it makes little practical difference to the game as a whole, it's an area in which really gets "should do better" remarks.

Online

With a dedicated community mode (good for competitions from us) and direct IP connections, you'd expect that I'd be happy with the online mode. However, the current issue with Intel vs. AMD processors (which you can see earlier articles on elsewhere in the site) really ruins what should be an outstanding game from the online gaming clan's point of view.

When it works, it's crisp and a vast improvement over the last two generations. However, when it doesn't work it's immensely frustrating and you do find yourself asking how the problems made it through testing - especially when Konami went to a lot of effort to test the game on the console versions.

In summary

In areas, this is exactly the game that it should be - an evolution of previous versions of the game with improvements to some areas and new features across the board. If I didn't have to caveat that statement with "in areas", this game would be getting a 9 from me in this review.

FIFA10 on the PC is vastly inferior and Konami almost win the platform battle by default as EA have treated the PC community as idiots, offering a version which is cut down from the PS2 version of the game and they've still managed to break huge chunks of it.

However, the continuation of the now traditional online shambles (which I suspect will never be fixed) and the fact that I've bought the game specifically for online leads me to question what I'll be looking for in 2011. If EA pull their finger out and actually do a "next gen" version of FIFA then that might be the way that I go next year.

I'd agree with other views that I've read; that PES2010's gameplay is more absorbing and satisfying - but it means nothing if I can't enjoy it online and Konami have managed to score an own goal in this area for the third year running.

4 points deducted for not bothering to test online on the PC and then thinking that stopping AMDs and Intels playing each other in quick match mode constitutes a "fix".

Tal