Getting the right angle on the world's favourite sport is no easy task, especially when there are so many others trying to do exactly the same. With both
Real Football and
FIFA having already played their considerable hands this season, the latest
Pro Evolution Soccer has a lot to contend with, and while both of its rivals (to varying degrees of success) have attempted to notch up the realism stakes, in terms of both physical play and presentation,
Pro Evo 2009 might feel a little stagnant by comparison.
It all comes down to those angles, and in this case you can apply the literal sense of that word –
Pro Evo is soccer squared. With a distinctinctly retro feel, Konami and Glu's collaboration feels like a carbon copy of the kind of football games that started the ball rolling the in early nineties. It makes it a very tough game to evaluate because, even though
Pro Evo is the least realistic of the three brands of football leading the way on your mobile, it it not without a distinct sense of charm and a bucket or two of fun of its own. It's a damn good gamer's game, in short.
Pro Evo's latest revival encourages a more patient approach than either
Real Football or
FIFA. Though the end result never feels wholly authentic, it's possible to slowly build up your attack, switching sides with ease and dancing your way into the box to score.
It's also worth nothing that, of the three,
Pro Evo's goals are by far the most entertaining, with the ball positively lashing into the top corner on occassion. Scoring is a little more straightforward, too. With the controls themselves (in Standard mode, at least) following precedents set long ago – '5' to pass, '0' to shoot – hitting the back of the net is more about approaching the goal from an angle and applying a decent amount of pressure to the strike, rather than having to employ some kind of tedious trickery upon the goalkeeper.
As was the case last year,
Pro Evo also employs a 'one touch' control method for those new to the game, which attempts to assign all major actions – passing, shooting, tackling – to the '5' key, with the game gauging what action you wish to take by the situation the player you're controlling is in. In practice, it's not the option to pick if you intend on taking part in a full league or cup campaign (it can limit the breadth of your play), but it's an interesting selling point that distinguishes
Pro Evo from its rivals.
And distinction is key here as, like
Real Football, many team names are absent from the line-up (Manchester City replaced by Manchester Blue, and so forth), since EA's
FIFA has a stranglehold on the official license. But, in truth, it's rather fitting that
Pro Evo, like many games of old, has to employ a little creativity when it comes to team names. It only adds to the game's old skool feel – something that's reflected right down to the way your team's score flashes on the screen during the post goal celebration.
While all this means
Pro Evolution 2009 can't compete with either
FIFA or
Real Football when it comes to moving the genre forward, it does allow it to offer a distinctly different alternative that could, in practice, actually complement its competitors. It's not difficult to imagine many gamers who've already shelled out for a football game this year also taking a punt on this latest
Pro Evo, so unique is its appeal,
meaning Konami might well have scored a late leveller in this season's footie fiesta.
Joined:
Nov 2008
Post count:
5
A good improvement on 2008, the game plays much harder, which is definitely a good thing, but does result in a lot of frustrating 0-0 draws (which is more realistic of course).
It is a shame that players' clubs have not been fully updated (Berbatov is still with Spurs, Robinho still at Real Madrid), although some have been (Keane at Liverpool), and I'm also not sure about the combined Euro league option as the only option, whereas in 2008 we had the option to play each of the English, Spanish, Italian and French top leagues.
It is still fun to play a two-season challenge league, running a concurrent UEFA Cup and then Champions League campaign for the second season, if you finish in a good enough position that is.
The game requires more skill than 2008, as you can now add lots of aftertouch, though a little goes a long way, and you can also dip balls. No longer will shots go in automatically from the tightest of angles; you have to apply bend and swerve as necessary (though I'm still a bit confused as to which button will send the ball which way with the aftertouch on my N95, it seems to change depending which end you are at, and which side of the pitch you are on (left or right of the penalty spot).
All in all, an improvement, and something to keep the addicts like myself going for another year, though as ever, big improvements could have been made by having the players at their correct clubs at the time of release (which was a full month after transfer deadline day), allowing individual countries' leagues to be played, and perhaps linking a season with a league and Champs league campaign (you can do this, but you have to pretend in your head, which is always fun). Oh, and perhaps a better description of how to apply the aftertouch would have been useful as well, rather than just 'press direction button'. Maybe I should write to Konami and ask for a job?
The mini-games are a nice little distraction as well; the fastest goal competition was something I used to run in my head in the old game anyway, so it's nice to see it here, and the free kick competition is quite taxing, and offers good practice for the matches themselves.
All in all, straight to the top of the table for me.
