Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 review (PlayStation 3)

Slowdown. Frame-rate. AI. Fumbles. Replays. Goalkeepers. Look on any forum that has a thread about PES 2008 and those are some of the words that you’ll see featured time after time. But why use multiple words when one will do: unacceptable.

PES 6, last years offering from Konami, was already looking more than a little tired and in desperate need of a makeover and many thought that this year Seabass’ PR wagon might actually come to fruition and deliver at least half of what was being promised. As usual though it turned out to be little more than hyperbole.

What exactly has Konami been doing in the last 12 months?

That right there is a good question. What exactly has it been doing? There are no new significant features to speak of (unless you think diving is significant, and not some needless and quite frankly unwanted addition) and the addition that I enjoyed most from PES 6, the random match generator, has even been removed.

It’s bad enough that it doesn’t build on PES 6 in any significant way, but when it introduces some game destroying issues, it’s simply unacceptable (there’s that word again). The frame-rate varies wildly from almost unplayable to virtually perfect depending on what type of TV you are playing it on, the resolution it’s set to and the set-up of your PS3. I tried it on three different PS3’s and three different TV’s; two Hi-Def and one CRT. On the CRT it was almost unplayable with constant frame-rate dips in and around the midfield area and penalty area. On one Hi-Def TV it was improved but still noticeable and on another (both set to 720p) the frame-rate was almost perfect. Almost perfect that is until you tried to watch a replay. Replays are, quite frankly, an abomination. The frame-rate is so poor during these segments that they should really carry an epilepsy warning!

Another thing that didn’t change no matter what set-up or TV I played it on is the online mode. Again I tried this on three machines (be warned, each copy of PES only enables one account to be used so if you want to sell it on you’ll have to give the buyer your log-in details which is not ideal) and on every single one I could not play an acceptable match. Each one of the seven games I tried to play became unplayable within a few seconds of kick off, with my winger playing a cross in one minute only for the ball to suddenly be in my net the next not an uncommon scene. Scanning some forums it did appear that you are sometimes able to get the odd game without any hiccups, but those are definitely in the minority.

But what about the Teamvision AI?

What about it! Sure Seabass and Konami may have been building up the Teamvision AI as PES 2008’s greatest saviour, but the truth is it still falls for the same tricks over and over again. Running down the wing and cutting back into the area to curl a shot into the far corner is still an almost guaranteed goal every time. Running down the wing to cross is a new almost guaranteed goal every time as defenders don’t seem to want to pick up players in the box. Even getting a clear run down the wing isn’t hard, as a simple delayed one-two with your fullback is enough to fox both the opposing fullback and winger into running maniacally at your fullback while he plays a lofted through-ball to the winger. They fall for it every single time Through-balls in general are too powerful, easily splitting open defences with very little aiming or timing required. I’ve even had occasions where the opposing defender has seemingly given up tracking the ball and just stopped dead in his tracks, enabling me to run on to the ball and go one-on-one with the keeper.

For the sake of not wanting to ruin the game I won’t even mention the guaranteed goal from the halfway line…oops, sorry! Suffice to say that when I did go online, despite the frame-rate issues, everybody I played tried to score a goal using this method, which obviously gets tiresome very quickly.

Goalkeepers were obviously left out from any AI improvements as well. It would appear to be quite obvious that the programmers at Konami were sent a DVD entitled ‘Paul Robinson’s Goalkeeping Tips’ as they have decided that all goalkeepers should palm weak shots into the path of a striker and that they will stand there bemused and often looking in another direction as a cross or corner is floated into the box. You can also write them off from free kicks, as any half-decent player and the AI are able to find the net at least seven times out of every ten attempts from a free kick, with the other three either going over or hitting the woodwork. I’ve not yet had a goalkeeper get anywhere near a free kick either I, or the AI has taken. Perhaps this is why the game insists on placing walls for every free kick, even those that are 40 yards away from goal!

Due to these goalkeeping AI issues, cheap goals are far too common an occurrence. It’s hard to get the same feeling of elation that you used to get playing previous versions when scoring a goal, when you’ve just scored you’re fourth goal of the match from a goalkeeping error.

But it’s on the PS3! That means the graphics are lush right?

That’ll be a resounding no, and go and sit in the corner and recite the words ‘I must not use the word lush unless I am Trinny Woodall’ five hundred times. The best thing you can say to describe PES 2008’s graphics is that it looks like PES 6 being upscaled. Even then I can’t quite work out why all the players seem to run like they’ve shat themselves or quite how the goalkeepers can clip through the posts.

Player likenesses are all over the place. Some players’ look like their real-life counterparts (Portuguese Ronaldo, Owen, Henry), some look vaguely familiar (Van Persie, Robbie Keane), while others are genuinely ‘AWTFAY’ moments!

The audio fares very little better, as while John Champion delivers his lines very well, Mark Lawrenson is his usual abysmal self (reading his lines like he’s being held at gunpoint) and the less said about the awful euro-pop tunes the better. The in-game sound also under-performs with none of the team-centric chants that you get with FIFA and very weak sound effects, but then us seasoned PES fans would expect nothing else.

But the gameplay’s still awesome right?

On occasions yes it is. When PES 2008 is performing at it’s best, it is as enjoyable as ever. The game is very fluid and the controls are more responsive than ever. But there’s no doubt that PES 2008 harks back to the series’ earlier arcade days and whether that’s a positive or negative depends on what you want. I preferred the slower, more considered approach of PES 5 out of all of them, but the faster-paced arcade-esque action didn’t disappoint when everything was working as it should. Unfortunately those moments were few and far between.

Despite the fact that no progress seems to have been made at all (yes the Master League is still as dull as ever and players still can’t play more than three games in a row due to fitness levels) what hurts the most is the lack of any attention to detail! Some of the player (and therefore team) stats are so out of touch with the real ‘beautiful game’ that it makes you wonder where they have got their information. Shevchenko is apparently nearly as fast as Thierry Henry. Fabregas is apparently no better at passing than the entire Norwegian midfield. Worse still Konami seems to have based its decisions on who should be in the starting eleven by picking up a copy of The Sun one weekend and seeing who played. The result is a Chelsea team with no Terry or Drogba playing and a Manchester Utd team with Silvestre at left back, Evra on the left wing and Giggs up front. Well it would have been Chelsea and Manchester United anyway if Konami hadn’t yet again failed to deliver official licensing.

Playing the game for an extended period really makes you wonder if it was actually play-tested at all. In addition to all of the above bugs and foibles, the game lists the wrong controls in the help menu (with shoot as cross and vice-versa) and when you try to put curl on to a corner and the camera angle changes just before the corner is taken, you’re cross will curl the opposite way to that which you intended as it has now reversed the controls. Cue many corners going out for a goal kick or flying out of the penalty area!

So does it get anything right?

At times without a doubt it does. The AI does now vary its attacks and will try to play keep ball when it’s defending a 1-0 lead late on or will go all out on the attack to try and get a late goal if it’s a goal down. Signs that the Teamvision AI had potential. The controls are also incredibly fluid and result in a much more controlled experience than FIFA’s (pre-patched) offering. And without a doubt there are still some absolutely joyous occasions when you score a cracker that wasn’t a direct result of dumb AI or poor goalkeeping errors. It’s still undeniably PES and at times it’s still an absolute joy to play. But at numerous times during my 27 hours with the game, I just wanted to play PES 5 or 6 again. Sure it’s always been a case of the new version of PES needing a few hours to ‘click’, but this isn’t a case of it requiring time to click, this is a case of poor game design and quality control.

Konami has promised a patch to improve the online lag issues and the awful in-game and replay frame-rates but it’s highly unlikely that it will patch the AI shortcomings that the outfield players and more importantly goalkeepers seem to suffer from, let alone the other less significant but equally frustrating issues. Also whereas patches are somewhat acceptable on a PC where there are a myriad of potential hardware configurations, I fail to understand how a console game is allowed to slip through the net with so many faults that it needs patching just to make it playable.

The important thing to consider is whereas previously PES’s gameplay was so far ahead of the pack that it made up for Konami’s lack of ostentation and a repudiation of fans calls for better presentation, a more in-depth Master League and official licenses, that is no longer the case. FIFA has closed the gap considerably and, judging by the posts on various forums, for many now it would seem has even replaced PES as their football game of choice. Unless Konami really put in the effort next year, they may well find themselves losing ground that they may not be able to pull back again.

Taking into account the design flaws, AI inconsistencies, the lack of progression and that the PS2 version is arguably a lot better (and cheaper) than the ‘next-gen’ versions yet again (albeit very little different to PES 6 save for some subtle differences), but also taking into account that for some people the frame-rate issues and online play aren’t as bad as they are for others, PES 2008 still just about manages to scrape a six.