Another year and another round in the endless fight between EA and Konami over who can produce the better football game.

PES 2010 is the latest in a long line of football games which have evolved over these many years. This time Konami have said that they have listened to the criticisms of the fans to produce a superior gaming experience and this turns out to be partially true.

Before we get to the game the visuals need a mention. Now I’m not generally a fan of sports games but this just blew me away. Games like this really shine on the next gen consoles. The opening sequence is designed to impress and it succeeds, even the pre match likenesses of the footballers is pretty spot on, if a little soft, and the in game graphics are enough to keep you entertained. Add to this the sound of the crowd and the commentary and the experience is pretty close to watching a match on television.

I had thought that, as the game wasn’t in a genre I usually play, learning the controls would be a nightmare, but if all you want to do is kick a ball around you can get up and running just by using intuition, I’m not going to pretend that at this level you're going to get the best out of the game as the variables which are open to the gamer are enormous. For real fans of this type of game I would imagine that there are hours of fun to be had choosing your players, deciding on tactics and trying both out on another team.

There is however a problem for hard core gamers here. Konami seems to have made a decision to give the game a more arcade feel, on the plus side this means games will be fast and furious, but this is at the cost of some levels of reality. The AI seems a little on the stupid side, now I like winning, I’m just not sure that there is enough challenge in a game which allows you to win too many times. Whilst the player may spend time on tactics the AI seems to run around in the hope of getting the ball whilst at the same time hoping that the player won’t tackle. I guess it will come down to what you’re looking for in a football game.

The game does come with some enhancements over its predecessor; the 360 degree dribbling was fun, though it adds little to the overall game. You also get to play with your team’s style of football, making them more or less aggressive and affecting the fluidity of their movement on the pitch, though having played with this for a while I’m at a loss to say what difference it actually makes as there is little discernable difference in actual game play.

Having given it a bit of a kicking, it would also be fair to say that the game looks great and is a great deal of fun to play. With the vast number of options for various types of match and championship PES 2010 is likely to steal a great deal of your time.

7

Charles Packer