Pro Evolution Soccer 2008
Review
New AI, new visuals, same great gameplay
by William Thompson
reviewed on PC
Watching the game from the sidelines
Graphically, PES2008 is excellent. The player animations are superb and you can actually tell who the player is when watching the replay of your latest score or near miss. The stadiums too are well rendered and the pitches have that ‘just mowed’ look about them that so many sports games adopt. The highlights are great, enabling the gamer to watch (and save if you so wish) their goals from multiple angles. Watching the ball hit the back of the net with 80-plus minutes on the clock is just that much better when you get to watch it from various sides. Even better is the fact that the game can be played on a modest machine at the highest settings with virtually no reduction in the quality of the players themselves. One disappointing feature, as far as visuals go, is the crowd. On anything but the highest setting, the crowd is poorly detailed and almost becomes a blur. Of course, you don’t really notice this whilst playing, except during the highlights. But still, this sort of detail could surely be added to improve the game in future editions.
The crowd also leads me to my next disappointment with the game, one which many games tend to execute. That is the fact that the crowd always seems to be on your side. After a match has been won, the entire stadium seems to be made up of your supporters, with banners and flags waving to show their support. This is all well and good if you are playing on home soil, but ‘away’ games should not give you this support. I guess this may be a minor gripe, but it is one that continues to frustrate me with games of this genre.
Spectator involvement
Apart from that small problem, the crowd -does- do a wonderful job of letting you know how you are performing during a match, with huge cheers for scoring and the typical ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ when you hit the crossbar or miss by the narrowest margins. In fact, audio is one of my favourite parts of the game. The commentary is exceptional. It’s always interesting and informative and the commentators have the required excitement when goals are scored as well as condemning the players for erratic tackles. The commentary continues to seem fresh after playing for a long period, despite that fact that they may have been repeating themselves many times over. Music during the half time interval and at full time can be a little hit-or-miss, depending on what style you prefer. There are a number of styles available, so there should be something for everyone.
Controlling the play
As with most football (soccer) games on the market, controls are tremendously simple and indeed the control system in PES2008 is extremely intuitive especially if you own a Playstation or Xbox style controller. Passing and shooting are simple one-touch moves that even newcomers to the system will be able to grasp immediately. As mentioned, a console controller would be handy to have. I found the game easier to play on the controller, due to the layout of the keyboard controls - the standard controls are OK, but the extra moves such as running whilst shooting almost require a third hand to execute. Having said that, after a short period of play keyboard users will become accustomed to the required controls and be on a par with their console-controller brethren.
Other sections of the game interface are done well too. The menu system is easy to navigate, while substituting fatigued players, changing tactics and formations are only a couple of button presses away.
Pass or score
As far as soccer games go, PES2008 is still worthy of the number one spot. As mentioned prior, apart from the graphic enhancements and the Teamvision AI, there isn’t much difference between this and previous incarnations of the PES series. But having said that, there isn’t much need for change. The minor let-downs such as the lack of officially licensed teams, and the poor crowd animations are more than made up by the fluid gameplay, which is the most important part of the game. It is smooth and intuitive and will be difficult to improve. Visuals are sufficient for a soccer game, whilst audio does a better than average job of keeping the game upbeat and interesting. The controls, although being a console port, are simple enough for newcomers to manage and indeed are especially instinctive on the console-style controller. Overall, PES2008 deserves to be in a football fan’s Christmas stocking if you haven’t gone out and got it already.
8.0
fun score
No Pros and Cons at this time
