Needless to say, the PS2 port of this year’s Pro Evolution Soccer is going to see a fair amount of neglect come this Christmas: those stragglers still wishing to go current-generation will no doubt see their wishes go fulfilled, and the players that are hesitant will surely look at the titles on offer this December, and make that monetary plunge into modern gaming, and about time too.
The problem with football games is that it’s all about keeping up to date – continual renewal of updates, visuals and tinkering on gameplay and mechanics are a standard, and probably the sole reason why both the FIFA and Konami camps get away with releasing a new iteration every 12 months. The downloadable patches now available online for the Xbox 360 and PS3 surely fix the problem of having to update strips and player rosters every year, so what I want to know is just how long will it be before EA or Konami purposefully don’t release a new football game, because their old one, with some updates, will be perfectly good enough? I think we all know the answer to that one, really. Never. Never ever, because football equals money, and people equal football. And somehow the world continues to spin.
With this idea of continual renewal in mind, it’s difficult to approach the new PES title for PS2, mainly because it’s on PS2. It’s dated from the start – it’s like being asked to review Tony Hawk’s 2 instead of that new RIDE thing (although frankly that would seem like something of a favour, given its muted reception). So clearly I can’t begin to compare it to the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions, for starters because it looks just the same as PES 5 which I played all those years ago for the same console.
That’s fine, of course. I can’t expect to return to the PS2 after its years of inactivity and be overwhelmed by the aesthetics – it’s a compliment, really, that I wasn’t repelled by them. The game looks absolutely fine, for a PS2 title, so no complaints in the visual department. At least no valid ones, anyway, but what this does remind me is that this is the PS2, and clearly a different animal from the current generation titles. I haven’t played the real new versions, and can’t possibly comment as to their relationship to this one, but it wouldn’t surprise me to discover that this strand of the PES web is substantially more restricted than the others.
So over to the gameplay, which as we’re constantly reminded boasts ‘new stuff’ and ‘things that weren’t there before’. Poor Konami: after years of undoubtedly topping the pile when it comes to football simulation, they’ve now seen the tables turned and are fully learned now in what it feels like to be the trailing competition. PES 2010 wants to be FIFA 10: it’s like an exuberant PES toddler’s got all dressed up in his FIFA costume which has taken him all year and is bouncing round the room thinking he’s done it, and I for one do not want to be the soul that’s responsible for breaking the news. PES 2010 seems to ditch the idea of football simulation in favour of a more fast-paced, arcade-like experience where shots go on target and men run very quickly. Animations have taken a good overhaul, and move nicely enough on the turn and during encounters, but this is undone by the dribbling system. Players are on very limiting rails of movement: lacklustre when you consider FIFA’s recent 360 degree dribbling feature. Knocking the ball past opponents is all too easy with a quick flick in a diagonal direction, and players will find themselves running some pretty admirable distances on the ball in the designated courses of movement. In front of goal, things loosen up as well: the challenge of long range shooting from previous titles is slightly removed, as shots ping off the players’ feet with a surprising amount of accuracy and pace. It all adds up to immediacy, and while PES 2010 can claim to have had some life pumped into it in its development, which pays off during the initial stages of play, its not long before the simulation play is missed.
As for the selection of modes, PES maintains its lengthy Master League mode complete with the Champions League, and all the sponsor managing and transfer-market hustling intact. To its credit, the Master League mode is as complete as a single player football experience needs to be. It’s simple, and the licenses do go amiss again – especially in the Champions League mode, where not all the teams you’d expect to feature in the tournament are actually available – but ultimately, it’s a full experience that’s well worth the time if the player is so inclined.
The catch-up game is difficult in the world of virtual football, especially now for PES. They lack the glamour and the licensing of FIFA – despite maintaining the Champions League game mode – and there’s little they can do to alter that. Their compromises in gameplay to make themselves more appealing are valid, but not effectively carried-out. Look at our hip young soundtrack, PES boasts, as Klaxons burst into life on the title screen. This is wholly representative of this PS2 edition: the fact that this same track was more than likely featured in FIFA 2006 suggests quite rightly that PES are just dragging behind, and what’s more, loosing confidence with every title. Now, I haven’t played the Xbox 360 or PS3 version, so there’s every chance this is down to compromises made for the PS2 – of which there are bound to be some, not just graphically – but I do know that this version, the one I’ve played, does not close the gap between itself and the EA leaders but widen it.
VideogameUK verdict: 5/10
