Pro Evolution Soccer 2008
Review
Soccer flipped upside down
by Dynamo
reviewed on WII
Trading and experience (cntd.)
This mode also features an experience system; after each match, those who played for your team will gain ‘experience’ in some of their stats. Once the stats bar is full, the gamer is allowed to choose an attribute to place onto the player, improving aspects such as strength and shot accuracy.
The game still features the usual slew of standard formations but if you’re looking to try something new, it’s as simple as pointing to a player and dragging him to where you want to play. There isn’t much else in terms of customizable content though, with gamers only given the choice of changing club and player names.
In addition to the standard split-screen multiplayer, the game features online play. Like other Wii games, human interaction is minimal and although defeating the purpose of online play somewhat, it is still nice to play against a human player. Gamers can either play against friends or a free match against anyone on their continent. Strangely enough it appeared to me that it is not possible to play against friends that live on a different continent, even after exchanging friend codes.
Let’s face the facts; if you’re after graphics then you’re probably better off looking at other versions of the game. The Wii version of Pro Evo is barely better than the Playstation 2 version in terms of graphics. I do feel that the developers could have pushed the technical boundaries a little further. Still, in the grand scheme of things, this is a moot issue. The Wii control scheme demands a zoomed-out view of the ground to be most effective, so close detail isn’t exactly a priority. One gripe I have is that some of the stadium surface textures looked absolutely horrendous and were irritating to play over.
The audio track is nothing special and certainly doesn’t compare to FIFA’s usual collection of licensed tracks. The constant “lananana” of the menu music is damn near infuriating after a while. Jon Champion and Mark Lawrenson take up the task of commentating in this game. While not the best commentary found in a sports game, they handled the job well. They could have sounded a little more excited at times and hearing Jon Champion say “opportunity” five times a minute may just drive you up the wall after a while. There are a few hiccups here and there where comments are not accurately representing what was happening on the screen but these are minor issues.
Catering to the hardcore crowd
Many Wii games are seen to cater more towards the so-called casual audience as opposed to the hardcore gamer. This certainly was the case with FIFA 08 which completely missed the boat in terms of single player offerings. The Wii version of Pro Evolution Soccer 2008, however, seems to be a healthy blend between the two, leaning more towards the hardcore crowd. While features such as being able to utilize Mii characters in matches might be something to catch a casual gamer’s eye (who wouldn’t want to play as themselves), unprecedented control is provided, bringing with it a high level of complexity. In this aspect, the Wii version is the most hardcore, if not traditional, soccer game currently on the marker.
While Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 may not be the entire package, it delivers strong gameplay, giving players one of, if not the best soccer game to date. Konami took a gamble and it has paid off in a big way.
9.0
fun score
No Pros and Cons at this time
